Isotopic production cross sections of residues in reactions induced by relativistic heavy ions with protons and deuterons

The isotopic production cross sections of heavy residues in relativistic heavy-ion collisions have been investigated in inverse kinematics. The primary reaction products were fully identified in mass and atomic number prior to beta decay using the fragment separator FRS. The huge collection of data obtained helps in the understanding of the two main reaction mechanisms involved: fragmentation and fission. These data provide basic information for future radioactive ion beam facilities and for technical applications like intense neutron sources by means of spallation targets.     

A practical access to novel 2-amino-5-arylidene-1,3-thiazol-4(5H)-ones via sulfur/nitrogen displacement under solvent-free microwave irradiation

A new effective approach to the synthesis of a small library of 2-amino-5-arylidene-1,3-thiazol-4(5H)-ones was reported using solvent-free reaction conditions under microwave irradiation. In the first step, rhodanines were subjected to Knoevenagel condensation with aryl aldimines according to a facile one-pot protocol. Then the (5Z)-5-arylidene rhodanine derivatives were transformed directly into the corresponding 2-amino-1,3-thiazol-4(5H)-ones by sulfur/nitrogen displacement reaction under microwaves with retention of configuration and good overall yields.     

Palladium-catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling of aryl halides with aryl boronic acids in the presence of glucosamine-based phosphines

Carbohydrate-substituted phosphines are easily obtained in quite good yields by coupling of protected or non-protected d-glucosamine with the corresponding diphenylphosphino acid. These neutral ligands, in association with palladium acetate, are very active catalysts in the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. The polyhydroxy phosphines are more active than the peracetylated phosphines. The process tolerates electron-rich as well as electron-poor substituents. Excellent turnovers, up to 97?000 are observed.     

Energetic Bio-Activation of Some Organic Molecules and Their Antioxidant Activity in the Pulp of the Moroccan Argan Tree «Argania spinosa L.»

Argania spinosa L. Skeels is an emblematic tree in Morocco, known worldwide for its medicinal and nutritional value. Its fruits contain kernels used to prepare an edible oil, the leaves are used to feed livestock, and its wood is used as fuel. If the oil acquires high importance, the other components of the fruit of the argan are undervalued. Our objective is to invest the waste of the argan industry. Particularly, our study aimed to assess the effect of thermal activation of argan pulp on its therapeutic value, its phenolic profile and its functional and physicochemical properties. After heat treatment, the HPLC analysis for the average total phenolic content varied from 2% to 37%, depending on temperature. The antioxidant activity was increased with heat treatment. Higher values of antioxidant activity, polyphenol and pigment content were recorded at 70 °C. Functional properties analysis indicated that water solubility index and water absorption capacity were significantly affected by heat stress. Physicochemical analysis showed that moisture content, titratable acidity and soluble solids were affected.     

Novel Copolymers of 2-Phenyl-1,1-dicyanoethylene with 4-Fluoro- and Pentafluorostyrene

Copolymerization of 2-phenyl-1,1-dicyanoethylene (PDE) with 4-fluorostyrene and pentafluorostyrene in solution with radical initiation (ABCN) at 70°C yielded random copolymers with PDE alternating units. The composition of the copolymers was calculated from nitrogen analysis and the structure was analyzed by IR, ¹H and ¹³C-NMR. The order of relative reactivity (1/r₁) and the tendency toward alternation of monomer units in the copolymer for these two monomers, is 4-fluorostyrene (1.96) > pentafluorostyrene (0.51). Higher glass transition temperature of the copolymers in comparison with that of homopolymers indicates a decrease in chain mobility of the copolymer due to the high dipolar character of the trisubstituted ethylene monomer unit.     

A study of morphological,thermal, rheological and barrier properties of Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-Co-3-Hydroxyvalerate)/polylactide blends prepared by melt mixing

The paper aims to study blend properties of biodegradable polymers of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and polylactide (PLA) prepared by melt mixing. Blend compositions based on PHBV/PLA were investigated according to the following weight ratios, i.e. 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75 and 0/100 wt%. The study showed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that blends of PHBV/PLA are not miscible. This is consistent with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data which indicate the presence of two distinct glass transition temperatures (T_g) and melting temperatures (T_m), attributed to the neat polymers, over all the range of blend compositions. Water and oxygen barrier properties of PHBV/PLA blends are significantly improved with increasing the PHBV content in the blend. Further, morphological analyzes indicated that increasing the PHBV content in the polymer blends results in increasing the PLA crystallinity due to the finely dispersed PHBV crystals acting as a filler and a nucleating agent for PLA. On the other hand, the addition of PLA to the blend results in a very impressive increase in the complex viscosity of PHBV. Moreover, the rheological data showed that, excluding the specific behavior of the neat polymers at low frequencies, i.e. less than 0.1 Hz, the complex viscosity of PHBV/PLA blends fits the mixing law well.     

Electrospun copper oxide nanoparticles as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for N-arylation of indole

The N-arylation of indoles with a variety of aryl bromides is reported using copper oxide nanoparticles as a heterogeneous catalyst. These copper oxide nanoparticles, which were produced in a novel, facile, and scalable fashion via an electrospinning technique, resulted in an excellent product yield under mild conditions. Moreover, the catalyst was easily recovered and reused several times without significant loss of activity.     

Order-Unity 13C Nuclear Polarization of [1-13C]Pyruvate in Seconds and the Interplay of Water and SABRE Enhancement

Signal Amplification By Reversible Exchange in SHield Enabled Alignment Transfer (SABRE-SHEATH) is investigated to achieve rapid hyperpolarization of ¹³C₁ spins of [1-¹³C]pyruvate, using parahydrogen as the source of nuclear spin order. Pyruvate exchange with an iridium polarization transfer complex can be modulated via a sensitive interplay between temperature and co-ligation of DMSO and H₂O. Order-unity ¹³C (>50 %) polarization of catalyst-bound [1-¹³C]pyruvate is achieved in less than 30 s by restricting the chemical exchange of [1-¹³C]pyruvate at lower temperatures. On the catalyst bound pyruvate, 39 % polarization is measured using a 1.4 T NMR spectrometer, and extrapolated to >50 % at the end of build-up in situ. The highest measured polarization of a 30-mM pyruvate sample, including free and bound pyruvate is 13 % when using 20 mM DMSO and 0.5 M water in CD₃OD. Efficient ¹³C polarization is also enabled by favorable relaxation dynamics in sub-microtesla magnetic fields, as indicated by fast polarization buildup rates compared to the T₁ spin-relaxation rates (e. g., ∼0.2 s⁻¹ versus ∼0.1 s⁻¹, respectively, for a 6 mM catalyst-[1-¹³C]pyruvate sample). Finally, the catalyst-bound hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate can be released rapidly by cycling the temperature and/or by optimizing the amount of water, paving the way to future biomedical applications of hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]pyruvate produced via comparatively fast and simple SABRE-SHEATH-based approaches.