Lateral and vertical nanophase separation in Langmuir-Blodgett films of phospholipids and semifluorinated alkanes

It has recently been found that monodisperse surface micelles (hemimicelles) were formed in Langmuir monolayers of the semifluorinated alkane C8F17C16H33 (F8H16) after transfer onto silicon wafers. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction studies have demonstrated that compression of mixed Langmuir monolayers made from combinations of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylethanolamine (DPPE) and diblock F8H16 in various molar ratios resulted in the complete expulsion of the diblock molecule at high surface pressure. F8H16 then formed a second layer on top of a DPPE-only monolayer, demonstrating a novel type of reversible, pressure-induced, vertical phase separation. Using atomic force microscopy and X-ray reflectivity, we show now that mixed DPPE/F8H16 (1:1.3) Langmuir-Blodgett films transferred onto silicon wafers below 10 mN m(-1) are laterally phase separated and consist of domains of F8H16 surface micelles in coexistence with a monolayer of DPPE. The density of the network of F8H16 surface micelles increases when the surface pressure of transfer increases. Around 10 mN m(-1), the F8H16 surface micelles start to glide on the DPPE monolayer, progressively overlying it, until total coverage is achieved.     

Hygrometric Determination of Water Activities and Osmotic and Activity Coefficients of NH4Cl–KCl–H2O at 25°C

Relative humidities have been measured for mixed aqueous electrolyte system of ammonium and potassium chlorides by the hygrometric method at total molalities from 0.3 to 6 mol-kg^–1for ionic-strength fractions yof NH₄Cl of 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3 at 25°C. The data allow the calculation of new water activities and osmotic coefficients. The proposed ECA (extended composed additivity) rule of calculation of water activity in mixed aqueous electrolyte solutions from the water activities of a single component is extended to this system. The experimental results and the predictions of the ECA rule are compared with the Robinson–Stokes, Reilly–Wood–Robinson, the Pitzer, and the Lietzke–Stoughton II models. Predictions made using these models are, in general, consistent with our results. From these measurements, the Pitzer mixing ionic parameters are determined and used to predict the solute activity coefficients in the mixture for different ionic-strength fractions.     

Prediction of the decay resistance of heat treated wood on the basis of its elemental composition

The effect of heat treatment temperature on the elemental composition of Scots pine sapwood (Pinus sylvestris) has been investigated in the range of temperatures between 220 and 250 °C. The results revealed an important increase of carbon content, while oxygen content significantly decreases. Independently of the heat treatment temperature, elemental composition is strongly correlated with the mass losses due to thermal degradations. Carbon content as well as O/C ratio seem to represent valuable markers to estimate wood degradation after heat treatment. Heat treated specimens were exposed to fungal decay using the brown rot fungus Poria placenta and the weight losses due to fungal degradation were determined. Correlations between weight losses recorded after fungal exposure and elemental composition indicated that carbon content or O/C ratio can be used to predict wood durability conferred by heat treatment allowing us to envisage the development of a proper method to evaluate the quality of heat treated wood and predict its durability. These results also confirm that chemical modifications of wood cell wall polymers are the main factors responsible for wood durability improvement against fungal decay after heat treatment.     

Multi‐correlation Fourier transform spectroscopy with the resolved modes of a frequency comb laser

An instrument achieving 100 KHz spectral precision using multiple correlation Fourier transform spectroscopy has been demonstrated. The instrument can measure the individual frequency comb modes of 100 MHz frequency comb lasers in air. The experiments show ～400,000 resolved modes at linewidths of 85 MHz in the region of 829 nm and ～ 182,000 resolved modes at linewidths of 28 MHz in the region of 1.5 μm, with a recording time of few minutes. The precision of the instrument, defined by the frequency positioning, attains sub‐MHz even when the scan is performed in air.     

Energetics of ion transport in a peptide nanotube

Ion channels constitute an important family of integral membrane proteins responsible for the regulation of ion transport across the cell membrane. Yet, the underlying energetics of the permeation events and how the latter are modulated by the environment, specifically near the mouth of the pore, remain only partially characterized. Here, a synthetic membrane channel formed by cyclic peptides of alternated d- and l-hydrophobic alpha-amino acids was considered. The free energy delineating the translocation of a sodium ion was measured along the conduction pathway by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The free-energy profiles that underly the permeation of the open-ended tubular structure are shown to not only depend on the characteristics of the latter but also inherently on the location of the mouth of the synthetic channel with respect to the membrane surface.     

On the invariant spectrum on

Motivated by the work of Abreu and Freitas 1 , we study the invariant spectrum of the Laplace operator associated to hermitian line bundles endowed with invariant metrics over .     

Improved Copper(I)–NHC Catalytic Efficiency on Huisgen Reaction by Addition of Aromatic Nitrogen Donors

A simple addition with a large impact : Addition of aromatic amines such as phenanthroline and 4‐DMAP (4‐dimethylaminopyridine) increases copper(I)‐catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) catalytic activity of [CuCl(SIMes)] at a large range of temperatures in such a way that efficient catalysis can safely take place in hydro‐alcoholic solvents (see scheme).

     

Synthesis of Spiro and Fused Five Membered <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-Heterocycles from Alkylidenephosphoranes

Summary. Triketoindan-2-oxime reacted readily with ethoxycarbonylmethylene triphenylphosphorane to give mainly the corresponding spiro-pyrrole (38%) along with the fused 1-hydroxydihydropyrrole (14%), whereas the spiro-dimer (29%) was obtained from the reaction of the oxime with methoxycarbonylmethylenetriphenyl phosphorane in addition to the corresponding 1-hydroxydihydropyrrole (31%). Conversely, Wittig products, mono-olefin (52%) and diolefin (<7%) along with the reduced substrate (10%), were observed when the oxime was treated with a cyano ylide. The reactions of the oxime with allyl- and vinyl phosphonium salts proceeded under phase-transfer catalysis to afford fused oxazole (46%) and spiro[2]oxazole (17%), while with the latter the fused 1-hydroxypyrrole (55%) was produced.Received February 26, 2003; accepted (revised) March 19, 2003 Published online August 28, 2003