Novel generation of an o-quinone methide from 2-(2'-cyclohexenyl)phenol by excited state intramolecular proton transfer and subsequent C-C fragmentation

Formation of an o-quinone methide via C-C fragmentation of a zwitterion formed by intramolecular excited state proton transfer from an o-allylphenol derivative is reported for the first time.     

Carbonates,thiocarbonates, and the corresponding monoalkyl derivatives: III. The 13C chemical shift tensors in potassium carbonate,bicarbonate and related monomethyl derivatives

The principal values of the 13C chemical shift tensors in potassium carbonate (K2CO3), trithiocarbonate (K2CS3), bicarbonate (KHCO3), methylcarbonate (KO2COCH3), S-methyl-monothiocarbonate (KO2CSCH3), O-methyl-monothiocarbonate (KOSCOCH3), S-methyl-dithiocarbonate (KOSCSCH3), and O-methyl-dithiocarbonate (KS2COCH3), were measured in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. Chemical shift tensor calculations on the corresponding isolated anions were used to assign the chemical shift tensor orientations in the molecular frames of all anions. The correlation between experimental and calculated principal values improves significantly when the calculations are performed on isolated anions with proton-optimized X-ray geometries rather than on isolated anions with fully optimized geometries. Further considerable improvement in the correlation is achieved by utilizing the embedded ion method, which was recently developed to include electrostatic crystal potentials in chemical shift tensor calculations on ionic compounds. Similarities and differences in the chemical shift tensor orientations and principal values of the trigonal sp2 carbon atoms in the carbonate and thiocarbonate anions are compared with those known for condensed polyaromatic hydrocarbons.     

Self-assembling porphyrin-modified peptides

[structure: see text] We report the synthesis and characterization of a novel supramolecular assembly that features long-range electronic coupling between porphyrins covalently attached to a designed peptide scaffold. The resulting construct self-assembles to form extended organized aggregates in which the porphyrins engage in exciton coupling.     

Origin of the asymmetric magnetization reversal behavior in exchange-biased systems: competing anisotropies

The magnetization reversal in exchange-biased ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic (FM-AFM) bilayers is investigated. Different reversal pathways on each branch of the hysteresis loop, i.e., asymmetry, are obtained both experimentally and theoretically when the magnetic field is applied at certain angles from the anisotropy direction. The range of angles and the magnitude of this asymmetry are determined by the ratio between the FM anisotropy and the interfacial FM-AFM exchange anisotropy. The occurrence of asymmetry is linked with the appearance of irreversibility, i.e., finite coercivity, as well as with the maximum of exchange bias, increasing for larger anisotropy ratios. Our results indicate that asymmetric hysteresis loops are intrinsic to exchange-biased systems and the competition between anisotropies determines the asymmetric behavior of the magnetization reversal.     

New source of dense, cryogenic positron plasmas

We have developed a new method, based on the ballistic transfer of preaccumulated plasmas, to obtain large and dense positron plasmas in a cryogenic environment. The method involves transferring plasmas emanating from a region with a low magnetic field (0.14 T) and relatively high pressure (10(-9) mbar) into a 15 K Penning-Malmberg trap immersed in a 3 T magnetic field with a base pressure better than 10(-13) mbar. The achieved positron accumulation rate in the high field cryogenic trap is more than one and a half orders of magnitude higher than the previous most efficient UHV compatible scheme. Subsequent stacking resulted in a plasma containing more than 1.2 x 10(9) positrons, which is a factor 4 higher than previously reported. Using a rotating wall electric field, plasmas containing about 20 x 10(6) positrons were compressed to a density of 2.6 x 10(10) cm(-3). This is a factor of 6 improvement over earlier measurements.     

Measurement of geometric phase for mixed states using single photon interferometry

Geometric phase may enable inherently fault-tolerant quantum computation. However, due to potential decoherence effects, it is important to understand how such phases arise for mixed input states. We report the first experiment to measure mixed-state geometric phases in optics, using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and polarization mixed states that are produced in two different ways: decohering pure states with birefringent elements; and producing a nonmaximally entangled state of two photons and tracing over one of them, a form of remote state preparation.     

Ince-Gaussian series representation of the two-dimensional fractional Fourier transform

We introduce the Ince-Gaussian series representation of the two-dimensional fractional Fourier transform in elliptical coordinates. A physical interpretation is provided in terms of field propagation in quadratic graded-index media whose eigenmodes in elliptical coordinates are derived for the first time to our knowledge. The kernel of the new series representation is expressed in terms of Ince-Gaussian functions. The equivalence among the Hermite-Gaussian, Laguerre-Gaussian, and Ince-Gaussian series representations is verified by establishing the relation among the three definitions.