Cinchona alkaloid-based polymer-bound phase-transfer catalysts: Efficient enantioselective alkylation of benzophenone imine of glycine esters

Summary Cross-linked polystyrene-bound and poly(ethylene glycol)-bound phase-transfer catalysts as well as homopolymers of cinchona alkaloid derivatives have been synthesised. Both soluble and insoluble polymers have been investigated. The enantioselective alkylation of N-diphenyl methylene glycine t-butyl ester has been successfully carried out in heterogeneous and homogeneous systems. High enantioselectivities (up to 96%) have been obtained. The polymer-bound catalysts have been easily recovered and conditions for efficient recycling have been studied.     

Spectral hole burning measurement thulium-doped fiber amplifiers

An accurate technique was implemented to measure spectral hole burning in rare-earth amplifiers at room temperature, showing that thulium-doped fiber amplifiers exhibit hole depths four times lower than those of C -band erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.     

Experimental test of the numerical renormalization-group theory for inelastic scattering from magnetic impurities

We present measurements of the phase coherence time taupsi in quasi-one-dimensional Au/Fe Kondo wires and compare the temperature dependence taupsi of with a recent theory of inelastic scattering from magnetic impurities [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 107204 (2004)10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.107204]. A very good agreement is obtained for temperatures down to 0.2T(K). Below the Kondo temperature T(K), the inverse of the phase coherence time varies linearly with temperature over almost one decade in temperature.     

Characterisation of cw Nd : YAG laser keyhole dynamics

The paper concerns laser–matter interaction characterisation. In this work, we use a rapid CCD camera located coaxially to the laser beam and we compare recorded images with those obtained by numerical modelling. Because images are difficult to understand, we compute thermal radiation emitted by a keyhole of fixed geometry and we adjust it trying to approach the camera record. The modelling treats radiative heat transfer within the keyhole and determines the sensor illumination map. By adjusting the geometrical characteristics of the hole, we seek to obtain the image that corresponds as well as possible to the realised experiment. Results are compared with other experimental methods simultaneously performed plume characterisation with an electric probe and spectrometric analysis. They show the existence of two distinct behaviours of the keyhole: a pseudo-steady state associated with regular and pseudo-constant keyhole shapes, low frequencies of electric current in the plume, and generally good welding results, and a highly dynamic mode associated with irregular and rapidly varying keyhole shapes, high frequencies in the plume current and generally poor welding results.     

Optimal Stability of Advection-Diffusion Lattice Boltzmann Models with Two Relaxation Times for Positive/Negative Equilibrium

Despite the growing popularity of Lattice Boltzmann schemes for describing multi-dimensional flow and transport governed by non-linear (anisotropic) advection-diffusion equations, there are very few analytical results on their stability, even for the isotropic linear equation. In this paper, the optimal two-relaxation-time (OTRT) model is defined, along with necessary and sufficient (easy to use) von Neumann stability conditions for a very general anisotropic advection-diffusion equilibrium, in one to three dimensions, with or without numerical diffusion. Quite remarkably, the OTRT stability bounds are the same for any Peclet number and they are defined by the adjustable equilibrium parameters. Such optimal stability is reached owing to the free (“kinetic”) relaxation parameter. Furthermore, the sufficient stability bounds tolerate negative equilibrium functions (the distribution divided by the local mass), often labeled as “unphysical”. We prove that the non-negativity condition is (i) a sufficient stability condition of the TRT model with any eigenvalues for the pure diffusion equation, (ii) a sufficient stability condition of its OTRT and BGK/SRT sub-classes, for any linear anisotropic advection-diffusion equation, and (iii) unnecessarily more restrictive for any Peclet number than the optimal sufficient conditions. Adequate choices of the two relaxation rates and the free-tunable equilibrium parameters make the OTRT sub-class more efficient than the BGK one, at least in the advection-dominant regime, and allow larger time steps than known criteria of the forward time central finite-difference schemes (FTCS/MFTCS) for both, advection and diffusion dominant regimes.     

Fast oscillations in an optical parametric oscillator

We report on the observation of fast oscillations at frequencies of a few MHz in a triply resonant optical parametric oscillator. These oscillations can appear alone, or superimposed on slow oscillations due to thermo-optical instabilities, and display a great variety of waveforms. The analysis of the regimes observed experimentally leads us to conjecture that the mechanism responsible for this instability is not the Hopf bifurcation of the single-mode mean-field model, but that it is based on the interaction of two signal fields oscillating in cavity modes with neighboring frequencies. This interpretation is supported by numerical simulations of the mean-field model with two coupled modes, which reproduce well the behaviors observed experimentally. We also find chaotic solutions of this model, which unveils another possible scenario leading to deterministic chaos in this system.     

On the particle inertia-free collision with a partially contaminated spherical bubble

The collision between a contaminated spherical bubble and fine particles in suspension is considered for r_p/r_b ? 1 (r_p being the radius of the particles in suspension and r_b the radius of the bubble). The collision probability or efficiency is defined as the number of particles colliding the bubble surface to the number of particles initially present in the volume swept out by the bubble. In this note we show that the collision probability can be expressed as P_c(r_p/r_b,Re) = g(r_p/r_b)f(Re) for both mobile and immobile interfaces. For partially contaminated bubbles a linear or quadratic dependency in r_p/r_b is found depending on the level of contamination and the value of r_p/r_b. These behaviors are given by the flux of particles near the surface which is controlled by the tangential velocity for mobile interfaces and by the velocity gradient for immobile interfaces. The threshold value (r_p/r_b)_th between the r_p/r_b and (r_p/r_b)² evolution is shown to vary as sin^n(Re)(θ_clean/n(Re))sin(3θ_clean/4), θ_clean being the angle describing the front clean part of the bubble and n(Re) varying from n = 2 to n = 1 from small to large Reynolds number.     

Laser-based measurements of gas-phase chemistry in non-equilibrium pulsed nanosecond discharges

Detailed experimental investigation of a non-equilibrium nanosecond pulsed discharge in premixed CH₄/air mixtures at atmospheric pressure has been carried out. The experiments demonstrated significant reductions in ignition delay and increased lean burn capability relative to conventional spark ignition. Advanced laser diagnostics have been used to identify the physical processes which lead to these improvements. The electron temperature and density properties were measured using laser Thomson scattering (LTS). Temperature measurements were performed using N₂ CARS thermometry to quantify the energy transfer in the gas mixture. Effect of the discharge on the local temperature shows the existence of the ignition of the gas mixture for equivalence ratio between 0.7 and 1.3. Fast development of a flame kernel is then observed. The experiment also shows that the flame can be sustained above the discharge due the repetitive ignition of the flame at the plasma repetition rate. Finally, OH and CH PLIF experiments were performed to confirm the large OH and CH streamer-induced production over the discharge volume. To cite this article: F. Grisch et al., C. R. Mecanique 337 (2009).