Coupled Si and O isotope measurements of meteoritic material by laser fluorination isotope ratio mass spectrometry

We present a procedure for the determination of the isotopic ratios of silicon and oxygen from the same aliquot of anhydrous silicate material. The sample is placed in a bromine pentafluoride atmosphere as it is heated with a CO₂ laser system releasing silicon tetrafluoride and oxygen gasses. The oxygen gas is then purified to remove other reaction by‐products through several liquid nitrogen traps before being captured onto a molecular sieve and transferred to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The silicon tetrafluoride gas is then purified using a supplementary line by repeatedly freezing to ?196°C with liquid nitrogen and then thawing with an ethanol slurry at ?110°C through a series of metal and Pyrex traps. The purified gas is then condensed into a Pyrex sample tube before it is transferred to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer for silicon isotope ratio measurements. This system has silicon yields of greater than 90% for pure quartz, olivine, and garnet standards and has a reproducibility of ±0.1‰ (2σ) for pure quartz for both oxygen and silicon isotope measurements. Meteoritic samples were also successfully analyzed to demonstrate this system's ability to measure the isotopic ratio composition of bulk powders with precision. This unique technique allows for the fluorination of planetary material without the need for wet chemistry. Though designed to analyze small aliquots of meteoritic material (1.5 to 3 mg), this approach can also be used to investigate refractory terrestrial samples where traditional fluorination is not suitable.     

Biological characteristics of Edgeworthia tomentosa (Thunb.) Nakai flowers and antimicrobial properties of their essential oils

Edgeworthia tomentosa (Thunb.) Nakai belongs to Thymelaeaceae family, its alabastrum is used as the traditional Chinese medicine ‘Buddleja Officinalis Maxim’. The present study was to elucidate the ultrastructure characteristics of the flower, the phytochemical composition of the aroma essential oils (EOs) and the relevant antimicrobial properties. There were exclusive characters of calyx, ovule, anther and pollen grain of the flowers under scanning electron microscopy. A total of 40 phytochemical components representing 98% of the EOs were successfully identified: monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were the dominant terpenoids according to Kovats retention index and MS database. EOs exhibited a broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, the best bacteriostatic effect was against Diplococcus pneumonia with MIC and MBC values ranging between 7.8 and 62.5 and 26.0–71.0 μg/mL, respectively. These results demonstrate that the surface microscopic morphological characteristics of Edgeworthia chrysantha Lindl. flowers, are full-scale chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of the EOs.     

On fractional programming containing support functions

Optimality conditions are derived for a nonlinear fractional program in which a support function appears in the numerator and denominator of the objective function as well as in each constraint function. As an application of these optimality conditions, a dual to this program is formulated and various duality results are established under generalized convexity. Several known results are deduced as special cases.     

Probing the stereoselectivity of P-glycoprotein-synthesis, biological activity and ligand docking studies of a set of enantiopure benzopyrano[3,4-b][1,4]oxazines

A series of enantiomerically pure benzopyrano[3,4-b][1,4]oxazines have been synthesised and tested for their ability to inhibit P-glycoprotein. Reducing the conformational flexibility of the molecules leads to remarkable differences in the activity of diastereoisomers. Docking studies into a homology model of human P-gp provide first insights into potential binding areas for these compounds.     

Sensitized Photooxidation of Ortho-Prenyl Phenol: Biomimetic Dihydrobenzofuran Synthesis and Total 1O2 Quenching†

The sensitized photooxidation of ortho-prenyl phenol is described with evidence that solvent aproticity favors the formation of a dihydrobenzofuran [2-(prop-1-en-2-yl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran], a moiety commonly found in natural products. Benzene solvent increased the total quenching rate constant (k_T) of singlet oxygen with prenyl phenol by ~10-fold compared to methanol. A mechanism is proposed with preferential addition of singlet oxygen to prenyl site due to hydrogen bonding with the phenol OH group, which causes a divergence away from the singlet oxygen ‘ene’ reaction toward the dihydrobenzofuran as the major product. The reaction is a mixed photooxidized system since an epoxide arises by a type I sensitized photooxidation.