Synthesis of linear and hyperbranched sugar‐grafted polysiloxanes using N‐hydroxysuccinimide‐activated esters

A straightforward method for the preparation of polysiloxanes grafted with carbohydrate side groups is described. Two kinds of backbones have been functionalized, namely one‐dimensional, linear polysiloxanes, and hyperbranched poly(siloxysilane)s based on cyclotetrasiloxanes. The method enables us to keep a good integrity of the polysiloxane backbone. The introduction of intermediate activated esters as side groups on the polysiloxane backbone ensures a complete homogeneity of the reaction medium during sugar grafting in dimethyl sulfoxide, and consequently an easy grafting with the unprotected amino sugar. Solubility of the resulting polysiloxanes has been tested in various solvents. The sugar‐grafted polysiloxanes are good candidates for applications such as silicone formulations, hydrophilic silicone elastomers, interactions with metallic nanoparticles, and suspension stabilization, or as starting point for the design of more complex polysiloxanes for molecular recognition. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013, 51, 3607–3618     

Physical-chemistry of silica/alkaline silicate interactions during consolidation. Part 1: Effect of cation size

The purpose of this work is to identify the effect of the cation nature on mechanisms of the sand consolidation with alkaline silicate solution at low temperature (70 °C). Three diluted lithium, sodium and potassium silicate solutions with [Si] = 2.8 mol/l were used to agglomerate sand composed of grains which mean diameter is 340 μm. According to the cation, different behaviors were observed in terms of the drying time and the material cohesion. Essentially, the drying time increases with decreasing cation size. In contrast, the compressive strength raises when the cation size increases inducing intra-granular rupture highlighted by SEM observations. This could find an explanation in the cation hydration sphere of cations. The strength of the cation–water electrostatic interaction becomes less important as the size of the cations increase leading to more ionic bonds. Despite their strong consolidation, potassium-based materials have a high solubility in water. This result is consistent with the ionic nature of bonds.     

Trinuclear tin salicylaldoximate cluster‐catalyzed selective acylation of alcohols

The reactivity and catalytic potential of the tin salicylaldoximate cluster [(Me₂Sn)₂(Me₂SnO)(OCH₃) (HONZO)(ONZO)] ( 1 ), with HONZOH = o‐HON?CH? C₆H₄OH, on the acylation reaction of various alcohols with ethyl acetate is reported. The catalyst is active toward primary and unhindered secondary alcohols, but inefficient toward tertiary and secondary bulky alcohols and phenols. A possible mechanism for the transesterification reaction catalyzed by 1 , accounting for the influence of steric factors, is proposed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Triangulations in CGAL

This paper presents the main algorithmic and design choices that have been made to implement triangulations in the computational geometry algorithms library .     

Numerical calculations of modes of optical waveguides with two-dimensional refractive index profiles by a field correction method

Abstact We describe a numerical method devised to calculate the lower-order modes of optical waveguides with two-dimensional transverse index profiles. This method is based on finite-difference approximation of the scalar wave equation and the minimization of the error in the field shape of a mode. The field correction method can be applied to waveguides with large index steps and generates the mode's scalar propagation constant and its field. To test the field correction method, it is applied to a three-layer optical fibre and the results are compared with exact solutions. The error in the calculations of the modal effective indices is found to be of the order of 10^-6. Example mode calculations are given for fused couplers and rib waveguides.     

Simplified liquid chromatographic determination of glyphosate and metabolite residues in environmental water using post-column fluorogenic labelling

Glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid in environmental water can be preconcentrated with an anion-exchange column, eluted with potassium citrate solution and determined directly by liquid chromatography with a post-column reactor and a fluorescence detector. The limit of detection and average recovery are 1 μg 1^?1 and 89.3% for glyphosate and 0.4 μg l^?1 and 86.3% for the metabolite.     

Total Synthesis of Albicidin: A Lead Structure from Xanthomonas albilineans for Potent Antibacterial Gyrase Inhibitors

The peptide antibiotic albicidin, which is synthesized by the plant pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas albilineans, displays remarkable antibacterial activity against various Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative microorganisms. The low amounts of albicidin obtainable from the producing organism or through heterologous expression are limiting factors in providing sufficient material for bioactivity profiling and structure–activity studies. Therefore, we developed a convergent total synthesis route toward albicidin. The unexpectedly difficult formation of amide bonds between the aromatic amino acids was achieved through a triphosgene‐mediated coupling strategy. The herein presented synthesis of albicidin confirms the previously determined chemical structure and underlines the extraordinary antibacterial activity of this compound. The synthetic protocol will provide multigram amounts of albicidin for further profiling of its drug properties.