Convergent total synthesis of the racemic HIF-1 inhibitor laurenditerpenol

The convergent total synthesis of the HIF-1 inhibitor laurenditerpenol 1a is reported. The key step is the Julia olefination-reduction process between the two components, the sulfone 4 (prepared from the dimethylfuran-maleic anhydride Diels-Alder adduct) and the aldehyde 3 (prepared from 3-methylcyclohexenone).     

Copper diisobutyl-t-butoxyaluminum hydride: A novel reagent for chemoselective reduction of tertiary amides over esters

We demonstrate that copper diisobutyl-t-butoxyaluminum hydride, readily prepared from lithium diisobutyl-t-butoxyaluminum hydride and CuI, effectively and chemoselectively reduces tertiary amides over esters at ambient temperature, affording the corresponding aldehydes in excellent yields.     

Systematic Study of Stability of Super Heavy Nuclei

A systematic overview on the characteristics of super heavy nuclei from Z = 101 to Z = 130 based on the data by P. Moller et al. is presented. The nuclei which have the biggest mean binding energy in each of their isotope chain show systematic regular behavior, indicating that the mean binding energy is a good criterion to classify super heavy nuclei by their stabilities. Further investigation on the nuclear data at and after Z=127 has been suggested.     

Fringe element reconstruction for front tracking for three‐dimensional incompressible flow analysis

Fringe element reconstruction technique for tracking the free surface in three‐dimensional incompressible flow analysis was developed. The flow field was calculated by the mixed formulation based on a four‐node tetrahedral element with a bubble function at the centroid (P1+/P1). Since an Eulerian approach was employed in this study, the flow front interface was advected by the flow through a fixed mesh. For accurate modelling of interfacial movement, a fringe element reconstruction method developed can provide not only an accurate treatment of material discontinuity but also surface tension across the interface. The effect of surface tension was modelled by imposing tensile stress directly on the constructed surface elements at the flow front interface. To verify the numerical approach developed, the developed algorithm was applied to two examples whose solutions are available in references. Good agreement was obtained between the simulation results and these solutions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal Stabilization of EDFA gain by hybrid concatenation of antimony-doped silica EDF

Sb-doped silica EDF showed an opposite temperature dependent gain profile compared to Al-doped silica EDF. Concatenation of those two EDFs showed a gain variation less than ± 0.4 dB over 40nm of C-band with the 15dB gain, in the temperature range of - 40 to + 80℃.     

Efficient upconversion fluorescence in a blue-emitting spirobifluorene-anthracene copolymer doped with low concentrations of Pt(II)octaethylporphyrin

Upconversion-induced fluorescence in platinum-octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP)-doped thin films of a spirobifluorene-anthracene copolymer has been investigated. Upon exciting in the range of the absorption band (2.31 eV, 537 nm) of the guest molecules, blue fluorescence (2.75 eV, 450 nm) from the spirobifluorene host was observed. The intensity of the upconverted emission was found to be one order of magnitude higher than from a PtOEP doped but anthracene-free spirobifluorene copolymer and than previously reported for metallated porphyrin-doped polyfluorene samples. It is argued that the efficient upconversion originates from the triplet energy transfer from the phosphorescent dopant to the sensitive unit of the host polymer, followed by triplet-triplet annihilation and finally blue emission from the spirobifluorene host polymer backbone.     

Facile, alternative synthesis of lanthanum phosphate nanocrystals by ultrasonication

Highly luminescent, rhabdophane (Ce(0.33)La(0.66))PO4.nH2O nanorods and nanoparticles were prepared in aqueous solutions by ultrasonication, at pH 1 and pH 12, respectively. Both nanorods (5 to 9 nm wide and several tens to several hundreds nm long) and nanoparticles (elongated, connected 5 nm particles) were as small and as uniform as products obtained from methods that utilize complexing agents or surfactants, only with no complexing agent. This method of synthesis by ultrasonication is a fast and simple method and it is expected to be applicable for the synthesis of other nanocrystalline lanthanide phosphates.     

Nitric acid oxidation of Si (NAOS) method for low temperature fabrication of SiO2/Si and SiO2/SiC structures

We have developed low temperature formation methods of SiO₂/Si and SiO₂/SiC structures by use of nitric acid, i.e., nitric acid oxidation of Si (or SiC) (NAOS) methods. By use of the azeotropic NAOS method (i.e., immersion in 68 wt% HNO₃ aqueous solutions at 120 °C), an ultrathin (i.e., 1.3-1.4 nm) SiO₂ layer with a low leakage current density can be formed on Si. The leakage current density can be further decreased by post-metallization anneal (PMA) at 200 °C in hydrogen atmosphere, and consequently the leakage current density at the gate bias voltage of 1 V becomes 1/4-1/20 of that of an ultrathin (i.e., 1.5 nm) thermal oxide layer usually formed at temperatures between 800 and 900 °C. The low leakage current density is attributable to (i) low interface state density, (ii) low SiO₂ gap-state density, and (iii) high band discontinuity energy at the SiO₂/Si interface arising from the high atomic density of the NAOS SiO₂ layer.For the formation of a relatively thick (i.e., ≥10 nm) SiO₂ layer, we have developed the two-step NAOS method in which the initial and subsequent oxidation is performed by immersion in ∼40 wt% HNO₃ and azeotropic HNO₃ aqueous solutions, respectively. In this case, the SiO₂ formation rate does not depend on the Si surface orientation. Using the two-step NAOS method, a uniform thickness SiO₂ layer can be formed even on the rough surface of poly-crystalline Si thin films. The atomic density of the two-step NAOS SiO₂ layer is slightly higher than that for thermal oxide. When PMA at 250 °C in hydrogen is performed on the two-step NAOS SiO₂ layer, the current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics become as good as those for thermal oxide formed at 900 °C.A relatively thick (i.e., ≥10 nm) SiO₂ layer can also be formed on SiC at 120 °C by use of the two-step NAOS method. With no treatment before the NAOS method, the leakage current density is very high, but by heat treatment at 400 °C in pure hydrogen, the leakage current density is decreased by approximately seven orders of magnitude. The hydrogen treatment greatly smoothens the SiC surface, and the subsequent NAOS method results in the formation of an atomically smooth SiO₂/SiC interface and a uniform thickness SiO₂.