A highly efficient asymmetric Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction catalyzed by cationic chiral palladium(ii) complexes

Cationic chiral palladium(ii) complexes are shown to catalyze the asymmetric coupling reaction of aryl boronates and aryl halides within a short period of time in good yield and enantioselectivity.     

Mechanism of an alcohol-trapping reaction in the direct and benzophenone-sensitized photodenitrogenation of a spiroepoxy-substituted azoalkane: solvent effects and stereochemical deuterium labeling

The spin-state-dependent reactivity, singlet versus triplet, of the 2-spiroepoxy-1,3-cyclopentane-1,3-diyl DR2 has been assessed through alcohol-trapping reactions for which the effect of solvent acidity on the product distribution of the alcohol trapping products 2 versus 3 + 4 and stereochemical deuterium-labeling studies have been performed. The proposed mechanism for the solvent effect on the product ratio (2/3 + 4) reveals the importance of the hydrogen-bonded intermediates I1 and I2 in the trapping reactions; the stereochemical deuterium-labeling results clarify the dipole structure trapped by the alcohol. The dipoles DP1 and DP2, in which the configuration between the epoxide oxygen and the deuterium atoms is retained, are inferred for the direct photodenitrogenation reactions (singlet state), whereas for the benzophenone-sensitized photoreactions (triplet state), after ISC, the ring-opened dipole DP3 is implied as the intermediate that is trapped by the alcohol.     

Highly regioselective hydrogenolysis of bis(alpha-methylbenzyl)amine derivatives affected by the trifluoromethyl substituent on the aromatic ring

[reaction: see text] The highly regioselective hydrogenolysis of bis(alpha-methylbenzyl)amine derivatives proceeded with influence not from the electronic effect but from the steric effect of the trifluoromethyl substituent on the aromatic ring to provide a practical asymmetric synthesis of trifluoromethyl-substituted alpha-phenylethylamines.     

Electric conductance of metal nanowires at mechanically controllable break junctions under electrochemical potential control

We have developed the mechanically controllable break junction setup with an electrochemical cell (EC-MCBJ) to measure the electric conductance of metal nanowires under electrochemical potential control. The electric conductance of Au nanowires was investigated in 0.1 M Na₂SO₄ solution using EC-MCBJ. The conductance of the Au nanowires was quantized in units of G₀ (=2e²/h), showing clear features in the conductance histogram. The atomic contact with a specific conductance value was kept for >5 s, indicating the relatively high stability of the present EC-MCBJ system.     

Optical probe using eccentric optics for optical coherence tomography

We propose and demonstrate an OCT optical probe using eccentric optics. This probe enabled both forward imaging and side imaging by dividing a circular scanning area into two semicircular scanning areas using an external motor to rotate the flexible tube. The outer diameter of the probe was 2.6 mm, and its rigid portion length was 10 mm. The lateral resolution was 23 μm, and the eccentric radius was 1.1 mm. The circumferential length in scanning was 6.9 mm, and the working distance was 5 mm. OCT images of 1.5 mm × 6.9 mm (in tissue, axial × circumference), including forward image and side image, were measured with the axial resolution of 19 μm in air and a frame rate of one frame per second. The epidermis, dermis, and sweat gland of in vivo human ventral finger tips were observed.     

Rapid Separation of Hydrophobic Compounds by UPLC: in Case of Bisindolylmaleimides, Indolocarbazoles or Fullerene C60 Derivatives

Rapid separation of hydrophobic compounds such as bisindolylmaleimides, indolocarbazoles or fullerene C₆₀ derivatives by ultra performance liquid chromatography was developed. Bisindolylmaleimides and indolocarbazoles were separated within 7 and 5 min, respectively. The linear ranges for the determination of bisindolylmaleimides and indolocarbazoles were 1.25?500 pmol and 0.5?50 pmol per injection (r > 0.99), respectively. Fullerene C₆₀ derivatives were separated within 9 min, and the linear range for the determination of fullerene C₆₀ derivatives was 0.1?10 pmol per injection (r > 0.99).     

An improvement of discrete Tardos fingerprinting codes

It has been proven that the code lengths of Tardos’s collusion-secure fingerprinting codes are of theoretically minimal order with respect to the number of adversarial users (pirates). However, the code lengths can be further reduced as some preceding studies have revealed. In this article we improve a recent discrete variant of Tardos’s codes, and give a security proof of our codes under an assumption weaker than the original Marking Assumption. Our analysis shows that our codes have significantly shorter lengths than Tardos’s codes. For example, when c = 8, our code length is about 4.94% of Tardos’s code in a practical setting and about 4.62% in a certain limit case. Our code lengths for large c are asymptotically about 5.35% of Tardos’s codes. A part of this work was presented at 17th Applied Algebra, Algebraic Algorithms, and Error Correcting Codes (AAECC-17), Bangalore, India, December 16–20, 2007.