Spirodionic acid, a novel metabolite from Streptomyces sp., part 1: structure elucidation and Diels-Alder-type biosynthesis

Spirodionic acid (1), a novel microbial metabolite with a spiro[4.5]decene skeleton, the 6-ethyl-2H-pyrone 5, dihydrosarkomycin (6), and other metabolites were isolated from the strain Streptomyces sp. Tü 6077. Structural elucidation was accomplished by NMR spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric studies, and the biosyntheses of compounds 1, 5, and 6 were investigated by feeding experiments with (13)C-labeled precursors. All results indicate a biogenetic sequence with metabolite 5 and sarkomycin (7) as precursors in the formation of spirocyclus 1 through an intermolecular Diels-Alder-type reaction.     

Sample Covariance Matrix for Random Vectors with Heavy Tails

We compute the asymptotic distribution of the sample covariance matrix for independent and identically distributed random vectors with regularly varying tails. If the tails of the random vectors are sufficiently heavy so that the fourth moments do not exist, then the sample covariance matrix is asymptotically operator stable as a random element of the vector space of symmetric matrices.     

Percolation in carbon black filled epoxy resin

The conditions to form a conductive network in carbon black filled epoxy resin were examined. It was found that the formation is controlled by particle-particle interaction which can be influenced by shear forces or by the ionic concentration of the resin. Therefore the network morphology and thus the percolation threshold depends strongly upon the processing route. On best conditions the percolation threshold was reduced to 0.06 vol.-%. That a continuous network can form with such a low volume fraction can be explained by the fractal dimension of agglomerates the network is made of.     

A Law of the Iterated Logarithm for Randomly Stopped Sums of Heavy Tailed Random Vectors

 Let be an i.i.d. sequence of -valued random vectors belonging to the generalized domain of semistable attraction of some nonnormal law. Assume further that is a sequence of positive integer valued random variables such that for some for some discrete positive random variable D, where we do not assume that and are independent. Let . Then various laws of the iterated logarithm for the norm of as well as the radial projection onto a unit vector θ are presented.     

Characterization of Highly Porous Materials from Cellulose Carbamate

Highly porous cellulose was formed by gelation of cellulose carbamate solutions in caustic soda. Two methods for gel preparation were optimized for the formation of beads and bulky materials – the chemical precipitation from dilute sulfuric acid and the thermal gelation by annealing at elevated temperatures. Various methods were used for characterizing of the pores of low density materials: scanning electron microscopy, small angle X-ray scattering, mercury intrusion and nitrogen sorption. These methods were optimized and used for characterizing the complete pore system from micro to macro pores. The effects of different preparation (cellulose carbamate concentration in caustic soda) and processing (precipitation, drying and pyrolysis) on the pore structure were studied by the set of complementary methods. Aerocell samples with a minimum density of 0.06 g/cm³ were prepared from cellulose carbamate. They are characterized by a broad pore size distribution ranging from 0.5 nm to 1 mm, specific internal surfaces of up to 660 m²/g and total pore volumes of up to 18 cm³/g.     

Synthesis of Novel 2-Aminothiophene-3-carboxylates by Variations of the Gewald Reaction

Summary.  The synthesis of the title compounds through variations of the Gewald reaction is presented. Knoevenagel condensation of methylketone derivatives with methyl cyanoacetate and subsequent treatment of the α,β-unsaturated nitriles with sulfur and amine resulted in the corresponding 2-aminothiophenes 5 or isomers 9 and 10. Reaction of methylketone derivatives bearing a leaving group at the methyl group under modified Gewald conditions selectively led to the formation of 4-substituted 2-aminothiophenes 9a and 12. The introduction of the sulfur atom occurs through nucleophilic displacement with sodium sulfide. Received July 5, 2000. Accepted (revised) August 23, 2000     

Electrochemical polymerization of functionalized thiophene derivatives for the immobilization of proteins

The hydroxy group of 3-(2-hydroxyethyl)thiophene was protected as methyl ether 1 and as dimethyl tert-butyl silyl ether 5 before anodic polymerization. The poly[3-(2-methoxyethyl)thiophene] 2 was prepared by electrochemical homopolymerization of 1 . Ether cleavage was carried out in the polymer film 2 and the resulting poly [3-(2-hydroxyethyl)thiophene] ( 3 ) was activated with cyanogen bromide to immobilize alcohol dehydrogenase. Silylether 5 did not undergo homopolymerization but copolymerization of 5 with 3-methylthiophene ( 4 ) was successful. After cleavage of the protecting group the resulting copolymer 7 was activated by cyanuric chloride, and chymotrypsin was immobilized. Electrocopolymerization of thiophene-3-acetic acid ( 8 ) and 3-methylthiophene ( 4 ) under various conditions produces copolymer 9 . By activation of the carboxylic groups with N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCC) lactate oxidase (LOD) was bond to the surface of the electrode to form a lactate sensor.     

Oxygen Functionalization of Hexagonal Boron Nitride on Ni(111)

The interaction of single-layer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) on Ni(111) with molecular oxygen from a supersonic molecular beam led to a covalently bonded molecular oxygen species, which was identified as being between a superoxide and a peroxide. This is a rare example of an activated adsorption process leading to a molecular adsorbate. The amount of oxygen functionalization depended on the kinetic energy of the molecular beam. For a kinetic energy of 0.7 eV, an oxygen coverage of 0.4 ML was found. Near-edge X-ray adsorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy revealed a stronger bond of h-BN to the Ni(111) substrate in the presence of the covalently bound oxygen species. Oxygen adsorption also led to a shift of the valence bands to lower binding energies. Subsequent temperature-programmed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the oxygen boron bonds are stable up to approximately 580 K, when desorption, and simultaneously, etching of h-BN set in. The experimental results were substantiated by density functional theory calculations, which provided insight to the adsorption geometry, the adsorption energy and the reaction pathway.