A comparison of regularization techniques for atmospheric trace gases retrievals

A comparison of regularization techniques aimed at maximizing the information content for atmospheric trace gas retrievals at an acceptable total error is presented. The total error of a retrieval is associated with the condition number of the regularized inverted matrix, which amplifies the measurement noise when moving from the measurement space to the state space as a noise error, and also together with the characteristics of the stabilizer, injects regularization error into the retrieval. Four different stabilizers: (i) the identity matrix, (ii) the first derivative operator, (iii) the second derivative operator, and (iv) the a-priori covariance matrix are used in this study to characterize the retrieval process under various regularization matrices using the regularized trust region method. For the cases simulated, it is found that the a-priori covariance matrix, which is used in traditional optimal estimation, and the identity matrix, which is used as a regularization in the Levenberg-Marquardt method, produce the highest total error, whereas the discrete one-dimensional Laplace first and second derivative operators produce the least total error at reasonably high information content.     

Untersuchung von Butter, Margarine, Tran und anderen Fetten

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Nanostructure changes in protic ionic liquids (PILs) through adding solutes and mixing PILs

The effect of adding primary n-alcohols with aliphatic chains and hexane on the nanostructure of a series of 14 protic ionic liquids (PILs) was explored using small and wide angle X-ray scattering (SAXS and WAXS). PILs were investigated with primary, secondary and tertiary ammonium cations containing different alkyl chain lengths, with and without hydroxyl substitution of the alkyl chain. Formate or nitrate anions were paired with these cations. The PILs which had no identified intermediate range order between 5-16 ? had very low solubilities of the solutes. The other PILs, which had non-polar domains present, were mostly miscible with the primary alcohols of ethanol, propanol and butanol. When the alkyl chain length of the alcohols was similar to the PILs then the alcohols co-partitioned with the alkylammonium cation components of the PILs and caused either an increase or decrease in the size of the non-polar domains, depending on whether the alcohol chain length was longer or shorter than that of the cation in the PIL respectively. For ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) with propanol or butanol and propylammonium nitrate (PAN) with butanol, the difference between the alcohol chain length and the alkyl chain length was too great to lead to a modified nanostructure, and instead large aggregates were present. The solubility of hexane in the alkylammonium nitrate PILs had a very strong correlation to the alkyl chain length. The addition of hexane had very little effect on the non-polar domain sizes, which was attributed to it not being orientated in alignment with the alkylammonium cations in the non-polar domains. Lastly, seven binary PIL-PIL solution series were investigated using SAXS and WAXS to show how the nanostructure of these systems can be fine tuned to control the size and structure of the non-polar domains.     

Solutions of negatively charged graphene sheets and ribbons

Negatively charged graphene layers from a graphite intercalation compound spontaneously dissolve in N-methylpyrrolidone, without the need for any sonication, yielding stable, air-sensitive, solutions of laterally extended atom-thick graphene sheets and ribbons with dimensions over tens of micrometers. These can be deposited on a variety of substrates. Height measurements showing single-atom thickness were performed by STM, AFM, multiple beam interferometry, and optical imaging on Sarfus wafers, demonstrating deposits of graphene flakes and ribbons. AFM height measurements on mica give the actual height of graphene (ca. 0.4 nm).     

Dendritic Carrier Based on PEG: Design and Degradation of Acid‐sensitive Dendrimer‐like Poly(ethylene oxide)s

Degradable dendrimer‐like PEOs were designed using an original ABC‐type branching agent featuring a cleavable ketal group, following an iterative divergent approach based on the anionic ring opening polymerization (AROP) of ethylene oxide and arborization of PEO chain ends. A seventh generation dendrimer‐like PEO carrying 192 peripheral hydroxyls and exhibiting a molar mass of 446 kg · mol⁻¹ was obtained in this way. The chemical degradation of these dendritic scaffolds was next successfully accomplished under acidic conditions, forming linear PEO chains of low molar mass (≈2 kg · mol⁻¹), as monitored by ¹H NMR, SEC, and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry as well as by AFM.

     

Asymmetric synthesis of allylic secondary alcohols: a new general approach for the preparation of α-amino acids

A new general approach for the synthesis of optically active α-amino acids has been developed. The key steps involve a ruthenium catalysed cross-coupling reaction to give a range of α,β-unsaturated ketones, which were then reduced to allylic secondary alcohols in the presence of a chiral CBS oxazaborolidine. A thermal Overman rearrangement was used to prepare a series of allylic trichloroacetimidates and these were converted under standard conditions to the target α-amino acids in good overall yields.     

Selective method for the preparation of isomeric N-alkyl and N-aryl-3(5)-amino-5(3)-hydroxy-1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamides

As part of a program to develop novel mechanism based skeletal muscle relaxants we identified 5-amino-3-hydroxy-1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamide (1) as a potential structural lead. This highly functionalized pyrazole was prepared via a published procedure [1] (Scheme 1, R¹ = R¹ = H), which utilized 3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamide as an aminocarbonyl transfer reagent, to give with cyanoacethydrazide the semicarbazide intermediate 6 . Base catalyzed cyclization of 6 afforded the initial lead compound. This reaction scheme was extended to the synthesis of additional 4-alkyl- and 4-aryl-5-amino-3-hydroxy-1H-pyrazole-1-carboxamides (Table 1).