A new class of isoquinoline alkaloids: The indenobenzazepines

The dark yellow indenobenzazepine alkaloids lahorine ($\text{1}$) and lahoramine ($\text{2}$) have been found in $\text{Fumaria}$$\text{parviflora}$ Lam. (Fumariaceae). In a transformation with biogenetic implications, treatment of the spirobenzylisoquinolines dihydrofumariline ($\text{4}$) and dihydroparfumidine ($\text{7}$) with methanesulfonyl chloride and triethylamine in dry THF, followed by iodine oxidation, provided $\text{1}$ and $\text{2}$, respectively.     

The existence of ferrous ferricyanide

Evidence in the literature on the synthesis of ferrous ferricyanide is critically discussed. Pyrolysis and pressure effects on Prussian Blue lead to ferrous ferrocyanide together with decomposition by-products, and not to ferrous ferricyanide. The latter compound could be a precursor in the formation of Turnbull's Blue or an excited state of Prussian Blue, but it is not a stable chemical species.     

The use of emulsions for the determination of methylmercury and inorganic mercury in fish-eggs oil by cold vapor generation in a flow injection system with atomic absorption spectrometric detection

An on-line time based injection system used in conjunction with cold vapor generation atomic absorption spectrometry and microwave-aided oxidation with potassium persulfate has been developed for the determination of the different mercury species in fish-eggs oil samples. A three-phase surfactant-oil-water emulsion produced an advantageous flow when a peristaltic pump was used to introduce the highly viscous sample into the system. The optimum proportion of the oil-water mixture ratio was 2:3 v/v with a Tween 20 surfactant concentration in the emulsion of 0.008% v/v. Inorganic mercury was determined after reduction with sodium borohydride while total mercury was determined after an oxidation step with persulfate prior to the reduction step to elemental mercury with the same reducing agent. The difference between total and inorganic mercury determined the organomercury content in samples. A linear calibration graph was obtained in the range 0.1-20 micrograms l-1 of Hg2+ by injecting 0.7 ml of samples. The detection limits based on 3 sigma of the blank signals were 0.11 and 0.12 microgram l-1 for total and inorganic mercury, respectively. The relative standard deviation of ten independent measurements were 2.8 and 2.2% for 10 micrograms l-1 and 8.8 and 9.0% for 0.1 microgram l-1 amounts of total and inorganic mercury, respectively. The recoveries of 0.3, 0.6 and 8 micrograms l-1 of inorganic and organic mercury added to fish-eggs oil samples ranged from 93.0 to 94.8% and from 100 to 106%, respectively. Good agreement with those values obtained for total mercury content in real samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry was also obtained, differences between mean values were < 7%. With the proposed procedure, 22 proteropterous catfish-eggs oil samples from the northwestern coast of Venezuela were measured; while the organic mercury lay in the range 2.0 and 3.3 micrograms l-1, inorganic mercury was not detected.     

Approximation by Nörlund means of double fourier series to continuous functions in two variables

We study the rate of uniform approximation by Nörlund means of the rectangular partial sums of double Fourier series of continuous functionsf(x, y), 2π-periodic in each variable. The results are given in terms of the modulus of symmetric smoothness defined by $$\begin{gathered} \omega _2 \left( {f,\delta _1 ,\delta _2 } \right) = \mathop {\sup }\limits_{x,y} \mathop {\sup }\limits_{\left| u \right| \leqslant \delta _1 ,\left| v \right| \leqslant \delta _2 } \left| {f\left( {x + u,y + v} \right)} \right. + f\left( {x + u,y - v} \right) + f\left( {x - u,y + v} \right) \hfill \\ + \left. {f\left( {x - u,y - v} \right) + 4f\left( {x,y} \right)} \right| for \delta _1 ,\delta _2 \geqslant 0. \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ As a special case we obtain the rate of uniform approximation to functionsf(x,y) in Lip({α, β}), the Lipschitz class, and inZ({α, β}), the Zygmund class of ordersα andβ, 0<α,β ≤ l, as well as the rate of uniform approximation to the conjugate functions \(\tilde f^{(1,0)} (x,y), \tilde f^{(0,1)} (x,y)\) and \(\tilde f^{(1,1)} (x,y)\) .     

Parity violation in the 17/2−–17/2+ doublet in93Tc

The parity-violating mixing of the 17/2^– and 17/2⁺ levels in⁹³Tc nuclei, polarized by the tilted multifoil interaction, was measured by the observation of the forward-backward-ray asymmetry. The nuclear polarization, induced by the tilted multifoils, was measured directly for the neighboring^88,90Zr isomers. The forward to backward asymmetry was determined to be A=(2.5±2.1) 10^–3 which implies a parity violating matrix element ¦H _PV )¦=(4.0±3.7)meV.     

Problems and results on additive properties of general sequences,V

A very special case of one of the theorems of the authors states as follows: Let 1a ₁a ₂... be an infinite sequence of integers for which all the sumsa _i +a _j , 1ij, are distinct. Then there are infinitely many integersk for which 2k can be represented in the forma _i +a _j but 2k+1 cannot be represented in this form. Several unsolved problems are stated.Dedicated to our friend Professor E. Hlawka on the occasion of his seventieth birthday