Hydroxyapatite-supported copper(II)-catalyzed azide-alkyne [3+2] cycloaddition with neither reducing agents nor bases in water

Copper(II)-exchanged hydroxyapatite, prepared by ion-exchanging of Ca(II) in calcium hydroxyapatite [Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂] with Cu(NO₃)₂ at 70 °C in water, functions as a reusable heterogeneous catalyst with neither reducing agents nor bases for azide-alkyne [3+2] cycloaddition at 50 °C in water under air.     

Preparation and physical properties of flame retardant acrylic resin containing nano-sized aluminum hydroxide

Poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) shows high strength and transparency but is a flammable material. In this study, the surface of aluminum hydroxide was modified with methacrylate containing phosphoric acid moieties before dispersion in MMA, and organic-inorganic nano-hybrid materials were obtained by bulk polymerization in the presence of the surface-modified aluminum hydroxide. The resulting hybrid materials retained the high transparency of PMMA, with transparency values similar to that of pure PMMA. Moreover, the flame resistance of the hybrid materials was improved in comparison with that of pure PMMA, with depression of the horizontal burning rate becoming a maximum at an inorganic content of 3 wt%. These results suggest that the use of aluminum hydroxide surface-modified with phosphoric acid groups is an efficient method for obtaining good performance fire-resistant polymer materials.     

Monte carlo simulations for blue-phase structure in liquid crystals

Blue-phase liquid crystals form three-dimensional structures in a self-organizing manner and are similar to living tissue structures such as the teeth of mice and collagen tissues. This study presents numerical results regarding the conditions under which blue-phase liquid crystals occur. The Monte Carlo simulations are performed by employing an improved Lennard–Jones potential that considers anisotropy and chirality. The conditions for the formation of the blue phase, which vary with respect to the chirality, are examined first. The relationship between the anisotropic parameters and the chiral parameter for the formation of the blue phase is discussed. Identical blue-phase structures are obtained, even when the cell size and molecular number are varied drastically. This discussion is useful for considering the scale-up problem, which is almost always a difficult issue for molecular-scale simulations.     

Diisobutylaluminum hydride-promoted cyclization of silylated 1,3-dien-5-ynes: Application to total synthesis of a 20-norabietane derivative

The diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAL-H)-promoted benzocyclization, recently developed by this group, was adopted for the synthesis of a natural product containing a 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene skeleton to demonstrate its synthetic utility. One of the extracts from the roots of Salvia hydrangea DC. ex Bentham (Lamiaceae), a 20-norabietane derivative, was selected as the target molecule. The key step forming the 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene skeleton was achieved by the DIBAL-H-promoted cyclization of a silylated 1,3-dien-5-yne easily accessible from a substituted α-tetralone.     

Time-resolved fluorometric analysis of carbohydrates labeled with amino-aromatic compounds by reductive amination

We examined the formation of complexes between terbium ion (Tb3+) and carbohydrates labeled with aminobenzene compounds. Of the examined compounds, carbohydrates labeled with 4-aminosalicylic acid showed intense fluorescence with Tb3+ in the presence of cetylpyridinium chloride at pH 6.0. Calibration curves for maltose derivative showed good linearity between 5 pmol and at least 600 pmol, with good reproducibility. We applied the proposed technique to binding studies between manno-oligosaccharides and Concanavalin A.     

Experimental evaluation of the ξ-function for an atmospheric argon plasma near 104 K

The ξ-functions for an atmospheric argon plasma have been evaluated within an accuracy of ±9% over the visible region (400–800 nm) at several temperatures in the 10⁴ K region. The plasma has been produced by a low-voltage, high-current arc jet and its parameters have been determined by using a recently published value for the atomic transition probability.     

Supersymmetric quantum-Hall effect on a fuzzy supersphere

Supersymmetric quantum-Hall liquids are constructed on a supersphere in a supermonopole background. We derive a supersymmetric generalization of the Laughlin wave function, which is a ground state of a hard-core OSp(1/2) invariant Hamiltonian. We also present excited topological objects, which are fractionally charged deficits made by super Hall currents. Several relations between quantum-Hall systems and their supersymmetric extensions are discussed.     

Electromagnetically induced transparency with squeezed vacuum

The squeezed vacuum resonant on the (87)Rb D1 line (probe light) was injected into an optically dense rubidium gas cell with a coherent light (control light). The output probe light maintained its quadrature squeezing within the transparency window caused by the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). The results reported here are the first realization of EIT in the full quantum regime.