Structural characterization of crystalline ternary inclusion compounds at the air-water interface

Crystalline ternary inclusion monolayers consisting of a two-dimensional hydrogen-bonded host network of guanidinium (G) ions and organosulfonate (S) amphiphiles, and biphenylalkane guests, can be generated at the air-water interface through synergistic structural enforcement by hydrogen bonding and host-guest packing. Surface pressure-area isotherms of the 4'-hexadecylbiphenyl-4-sulfonate (C16BPS) amphiphile in the presence of G, with or without guest, are characterized by lift-off molecular areas expected for the GS sheet based on single-crystal X-ray structures of homologous bulk crystals. Intercalation of biphenylalkane guests (4-C(n)()H(2)(n)()(+1)-C(6)H(4)-C(6)H(5), n = 1, 4, 6, 10, 16; denoted CnBP) between organosulfonate hydrophobes, which define pocketlike cavities in the GS monolayer host, afford ternary inclusion monolayers with a 1:1 host-guest stoichiometry. These inclusion monolayers are less compressible than the guest-free host, consistent with dense packing of the biphenylalkane moieties of the host and the biphenylalkane guests. The inclusion monolayers are distinguished from the amorphous guest-free host and from selected guanidinium-free mixed monolayers by structural characterization with grazing-angle incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD). The GIXD data for the ternary (G)C16BPS:C16BP and (G)C16BPS:C6BP inclusion monolayers obtained upon compression are consistent with a rectangular unit cell. The dimensions of these unit cells and refinement of the GIXD data suggest a "rotated shifted ribbon" GS hydrogen-bonding motif similar to that observed in some bulk GS crystals, including (G)(ethylbiphenylsulfonate). GIXD reveals that (G)C16BPS:C16BP and (G)C16BPS:C6BP are more crystalline than the corresponding guanidinium-free mixed monolayers. The (G)C16BPS:C6BP inclusion monolayer is stable upon compression, even though the alkyl-alkyl host-guest interactions are reduced due to the shorter hexyl substituents of the guest, demonstrating an important reinforcing role for the hydrogen-bonded GS sheet. The structure of a C16BPS:tetracosane (C24) mixed monolayer is independent of G; the unit cell symmetry and dimensions suggest a structure governed by alkyl-alkane interactions that prohibit formation of a GS network. These results illustrate that the existence of ternary inclusion monolayers with an intact GS network requires guest molecules that are structurally homologous with the hydrophobes of the host, in this case biphenylalkanes. The observation of these inclusion compounds suggests an approach for introducing functional nonamphiphilic molecules to an air-water interface through inclusion in a well-defined host.     

Layer-resolved magnetic moments in Ni/Pt multilayers

The magnetic moments in Ni/Pt multilayers are thoroughly studied by combining experimental and ab initio theoretical techniques. SQUID magnetometry probes the samples' magnetizations. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism separates the contribution of Ni and Pt and provides a layer-resolved magnetic moment profile for the whole system. The results are compared to band-structure calculations. Induced Pt magnetic moments localized mostly at the interface are revealed. No magnetically "dead" Ni layers are found. The magnetization per Ni volume is slightly enhanced compared to bulk NiPt alloys.     

Continuity of Information Transport in Surjective Cellular Automata

We introduce a local version of the Shannon entropy in order to describe information transport in spatially extended dynamical systems, and to explore to what extent information can be viewed as a local quantity. Using an appropriately defined information current, this quantity is shown to obey a local conservation law in the case of one-dimensional reversible cellular automata with arbitrary initial measures. The result is also shown to apply to one-dimensional surjective cellular automata in the case of shift-invariant measures. Bounds on the information flow are also shown.     

Towards a programmable magnetic bead microarray in a microfluidic channel

A new hybrid magnetic bead separator that combines an external magnetic field with 175 μm thick current lines buried in the back side of a silicon wafer is presented. A microfluidic channel was etched into the front side of the wafer. The large cross-section of the current lines makes it possible to use larger currents and obtain forces of longer range than from thin current lines at a given power limit. Guiding of magnetic beads in the hybrid magnetic separator and the construction of a programmable microarray of magnetic beads in the microfluidic channel by hydrodynamic focusing is presented.     

Te-defect interaction in GaSb: donor–vacancy pair or DX-center?

Hyperfine Interactions - We have studied 119Te donor atoms in GaSb incorporated by a recoil implantation technique by applying emission Mössbauer spectroscopy on 119Sn. Since 119Te decays via...     

Runge-Kutta methods for third order weak approximation of SDEs with multidimensional additive noise

A new class of third order Runge-Kutta methods for stochastic differential equations with additive noise is introduced. In contrast to Platen’s method, which to the knowledge of the author has been up to now the only known third order Runge-Kutta scheme for weak approximation, the new class of methods affords less random variable evaluations and is also applicable to SDEs with multidimensional noise. Order conditions up to order three are calculated and coefficients of a four stage third order method are given. This method has deterministic order four and minimized error constants, and needs in addition less function evaluations than the method of Platen. Applied to some examples, the new method is compared numerically with Platen’s method and some well known second order methods and yields very promising results.     

Reaction of naphthalene‐2,3‐dicarbaldehyde with cyanide; A unique oxidative condensation product

Naphthalene‐2,3‐dicarbaldehyde (NDA), a reagent used for the fluorescent detection of amino acids in the presence of cyanide, self‐condenses in the presence of cyanide ion and methanol at room temperature to yield a unique crystalline product 2, 15‐hydroxybenzo[g]benzo[6,7]isochromeno[4,3‐c]isochromen‐7(15H)‐one. The product is proposed to result from facile air oxidation of NDA to a methyl ester in combination with benzoin condensation. Product 2 does not to form in the absence of air. The gHMBC spectrum of 2 distinguishes it from a possible alternative isomeric condensation product.     

Continuous weak approximation for stochastic differential equations

A convergence theorem for the continuous weak approximation of the solution of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) by general one-step methods is proved, which is an extension of a theorem due to Milstein. As an application, uniform second order conditions for a class of continuous stochastic Runge–Kutta methods containing the continuous extension of the second order stochastic Runge–Kutta scheme due to Platen are derived. Further, some coefficients for optimal continuous schemes applicable to Itô SDEs with respect to a multi–dimensional Wiener process are presented.     

Synthesis and characterization of a series of diverse poly(2‐oxazoline)s

This article describes the synthesis and characterization of a variety of new poly(2‐oxazoline)s. With regard to functional polymers, 2‐oxazolines represent an interesting class of monomers because of the easy variation of the substituent in 2‐position. Starting from the corresponding nitriles, different 2‐oxazolines were obtained containing a diverse set of 2‐substituents, including thioether bonds ( M11 ), trifluoromethyl groups ( M8 , M10 ), and alkyl‐ or aryl groups ( M1 – M7 ). The subsequent polymerization of the majority of these monomers proceeded in a living manner, which was demonstrated by linear first‐order kinetics, a linear increase of molar mass with conversion, and relatively narrow molar mass distributions. In addition, selected thermal and surface properties of the polymers were studied utilizing DSC and contact‐angle measurements to determine the effects of different 2‐substituents on the macroscopic properties. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3829–3838, 2009