The Impact of Aggregation on the Photophysics of Spiro‐Bridged Heterotriangulenes

We report on the impact of the central heteroatom on structural, electronic, and spectroscopic properties of a series of spirofluorene‐bridged heterotriangulenes and provide a detailed study on their aggregates. The in‐depth analysis of their molecular structure by NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography was further complemented by density functional theory calculations. With the aid of extensive photophysical analysis the complex fluorescence spectra were deconvoluted showing contributions from the peripheral fluorenes and the heteroaromatic cores. Beyond the molecular scale, we examined the aggregation behavior of these heterotriangulenes in THF/H₂O mixtures and analyzed the aggregates by static and dynamic light scattering. The excited‐state interactions within the aggregates were found to be similar to those found in the solid state. A plethora of morphologies and superstructures were observed by scanning electron microscopy of drop‐casted dispersions.     

Thermodynamic protonation constants of vardenafil by the nonlinear regression of multiwavelength pH-spectrophotometric titration data

pH-spectrophotometric titration data were used to determine protonation constants of vardenafil at different ionic strengths I and temperatures of 25°C and 37°C. The use of two different multiwavelength and the multivariate treatment of spectral data, SPECFIT32 and SQUAD(84) nonlinear regression analyses and INDICES factor analysis is presented. The reliability of the protonation constants of the drug was proven with goodness-of-fit tests of the pH-spectra. The thermodynamic protonation constants log K _T ⁱ were estimated by a nonlinear regression of (log K, I) data using the Debye-Hückel equation, yielding log K ₄ ^T = 3.59(1) and 3.26(1), log K ₃ ^T = 5.64(1) and 5.81(1), log K ₂ ^T = 9.41(1) and 8.59(2), log K ₁ ^T = 10.92(2) and 10.05(1) at 25°C and 37°C, where the figure in brackets is the standard deviation in last significant digit. Concurrently, the experimental determination of four thermodynamic protonation constants was combined with the computational prediction of the MARVIN program based on knowledge of the chemical structures of the drug and was in good agreement with its experimental value. The factor analysis of spectra in the INDICES program predicts the correct number of light-absorbing components when the instrument error is known and when the signal-to-error ratio SER is higher than 10.      

Numerical evidence for critical behavior of the two-dimensional nonequilibrium zero-temperature random field Ising model

We give numerical evidence that the two-dimensional nonequilibrium zero-temperature random field Ising model exhibits critical behavior. Our findings are based on the results of scaling analysis and collapsing of data, obtained in extensive simulations of systems with sizes sufficiently large to clearly display the critical behavior.     

Crystal Structure and Physical Characterisation of [Zn<Subscript>2</Subscript>(Benzoato)<Subscript>4</Subscript>(Caffeine)<Subscript>2</Subscript>]·2 Caffeine

Abstract  

The crystal structure of [Zn₂(benzoato)₄(caffeine)₂]·(caffeine)₂ was determined by direct method and Fourier technique. The structure was refined by full-matrix least-squares method to a weighted R factor of 0.0582. The structure consists of centrosymmetric dimeric units where the two zinc(II) atoms are coordinated by four bridging benzoates in a syn–syn arrangement and two caffeine ligands at the apices of a bicapped square prism. Remaining two caffeines are bound only by hydrogen bonds. The Zn–Zn distance is 2.961(1) ?. The Zn(II) atoms are displaced by 0.365 ? from the basal plane containing four oxygen atoms towards the apical caffeine molecules. The dimeric structure of the complex is consistent with spectrum and thermal data. The structural data are compared with those found in similar [Zn₂(RCOO)₄(NL)₂] complexes.     

Rethinking the Process of Animal Mummification in Ancient Egypt: Molecular Characterization of Embalming Material and the Use of Brassicaceae Seed Oil in the Mummification of Gazelle Mummies from Kom Mereh,Egypt

The study of animal mummification in ancient Egypt has recently received increasing attention from a number of modern scholars given the fact that this part of ancient Egyptian funerary and religious history is a practice yet to be fully understood. In this study, nine samples of embalming matter were extracted from six gazelle mummies from the archaeological site of Kom Mereh (modern village of Komir), dated to the Roman period of dominance in ancient Egypt. All samples were analyzed for the presence of inorganic and organic matter applying a multi-analytical approach based on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Furthermore, in order to identify more specific compounds such as bitumen and beeswax in studied balms, each sample was subjected to a solid phase extraction (SPE) and saponification separation process, respectively. The results of this study revealed that the majority of the analyzed embalming substances sampled from six gazelle mummies from Kom Mereh were complex mixtures of plant oils, animal fats, conifer resin, and beeswax. In this regard, this study was able to report a practice until now unmentioned in the scientific literature, namely, the use of cruciferous oil, derived from seeds of Brassicaceae plants, in animal mummification.