An Alternative Approach to the Synthesis of Parvistone C

A stereoselective total synthesis of parvistone C, an oxygenated natural styryllactone, has been accomplished in excellent overall yield by employing asymmetric aldol reaction, asymmetric epoxidation and regioselective epoxide ring opening as the key steps. Our synthetic strategy is very simple, concise and no use of protecting groups.     

Effect of the Cathode Catalyst Layer Thickness on the Performance in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Catalyst deposition control is one of the overlooked areas of fuel cell fabrication and research that can affect the overall performance and cost of the fuel cell to manufacture for mass production. The effect of the different individual catalyst layer thicknesses and loadings of the cathode compartment of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) was investigated. The drawdown method was performed at thicknesses varying from 1 mil to 8 mils with platinum loadings ranging from 0.25 mg cm^?2 to 2.0 mg cm^?2. The membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) with thicker individual layers (8 mil and 4 mil) performed better overall compared to the ones prepared with thinner individual layers (1 mil). The power density maxima for the different loading levels followed an exponential decrease of platinum utilization at the higher loading levels. The painted MEAs tended to display the similar performance characteristics as the drawdown MEA layers closest to the thickness at the respective loadings.     

Deprotection and cleavage of peptides bound to Merrifield resin by stable dimethyl ether-poly(hydrogen fluoride) (DMEPHF) complex. a new and convenient reagent for peptide chemistry

The newly developed stable DMEPHF (1/15) complex was found to be a highly effective reagent for the cleavage of peptides from Merrifield resins; ease of handling and its simple, complete removal from the reaction mixture make the reagent system a very useful HF equivalent for applications in solid-phase peptide synthesis.     

On the calculation of multiphoton transition amplitude in intense electromagnetic radiation

It has been shown that if all order corrections are taken into account in the momentum translation approximation there would not be any contribution to the multiphoton transition amplitude due to momentum translation factor exp (ie A·x). Thus the calculations performed using the momentum translation approximation method, without any consideration to higher order corrections, are incorrect.     

Complexes of guanidinium ion (NH2)3C+ with super Lewis acidic XH4+(X = B and Al): comparison with XH3 complexes and protonated and methylated guanidinium dications

Structures of the complexes (1 and 8) of the guanidinium ion (H(2)N)(3)C(+) with super Lewis acidic BH(4)(+) and AlH(4)(+) were calculated using the DFT method at the B3LYP/6-311+G** level. (13)C NMR chemical shifts were also calculated by the GIAO-MP2 method. Each of the dicationic complexes contains a hypercoordinate boron or aluminum atom with a two-electron three-center (2e-3c) bond. Guanidinium ion was found to form a strong complex with BH(4)(+) but a relatively weak one with AlH(4)(+). On the other hand, complexations of guanidinium ion with neutral BH(3) and AlH(3) lead only to very weak complexes (5 and 9). The structures of mono- and dicationic complexes were compared with the structures of protonated and methylated guanidinium dications.     

Reduction of carbonyl groups to the corresponding methylenes with Ni-Al alloy in water

The reduction of carbonyl compounds 1a-h using Ni-Al alloy in water under reflux proceeded to give the corresponding methylene compounds 2a-h within 2 h in 89.0-99.8% relative yields.     

Effective atomic numbers for materials of dosimetric interest

Effective atomic numbers (Z_eff) for different materials of dosimetric interest have been calculated for total photon interaction in the energy region 1 keV–20 MeV. The calculations are made using the mass attenuation coefficients data from Tables of X-ray Mass Attenuation Coefficients and Mass Energy-absorption Coefficients 1 keV to 20 MeV for elements Z = 1 to 92 and 48 Additional Substances of Dosimetric Interest, J. H. Hubbell and S. M. Seltzer (Hubbell and Seltzer, 1995), NISTIR-5632. The variation of Z_eff value with energy is discussed.