Broad-band spectroscopy of a vanadyl porphyrin: a model electronuclear spin qudit

We explore how to encode more than a qubit in vanadyl porphyrin molecules hosting a S = 1/2 electronic spin coupled to a I = 7/2 nuclear spin. The spin Hamiltonian and its parameters, as well as the spin dynamics, have been determined via a combination of electron paramagnetic resonance, heat capacity, magnetization and on-chip magnetic spectroscopy experiments performed on single crystals. We find low temperature spin coherence times of micro-seconds and spin relaxation times longer than a second. For sufficiently strong magnetic fields (B > 0.1 T, corresponding to resonance frequencies of 9–10 GHz) these properties make vanadyl porphyrin molecules suitable qubit realizations. The presence of multiple equispaced nuclear spin levels then merely provides 8 alternatives to define the ‘1’ and ‘0’ basis states. For lower magnetic fields (B < 0.1 T), and lower frequencies (<2 GHz), we find spectroscopic signatures of a sizeable electronuclear entanglement. This effect generates a larger set of allowed transitions between different electronuclear spin states and removes their degeneracies. Under these conditions, we show that each molecule fulfills the conditions to act as a universal 4-qubit processor or, equivalently, as a d = 16 qudit. These findings widen the catalogue of chemically designed systems able to implement non-trivial quantum functionalities, such as quantum simulations and, especially, quantum error correction at the molecular level.

We show that a sizeable electronuclear entanglement of the S = 1/2 and I = 7/2 spins of a vanadyl porphyrin provides the conditions to act as a universal 4-qubit processor, and thus implement quantum error correction at the molecular level.     

1-Methoxycarbonyl-substituiertes 2,3-Dihydropyridin-4(1H)-on (= Methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-4-oxopyridin-1-carboxylat) als Chromophor für die photochemische [2 + 2]-Cycloaddition

1-Methoxycarbonyl-Substituted 2,3-Dihydropyridin-4(1H)-one(= Methyl 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-4-oxopyridine-1-carboxylate) as Chromophore for Photochemical [2 + 2]-Cycloadditions With olefins having an electron-acceptor as well as with olefins having an electron-donor substituent, 1-methoxycarbonyl-substituted dihydropyridinone 12 undergoes [2 + 2] cycloaddition in good preparative yields. The photochemical cycloaddition is highly regioselective. For preparative purposes, the ring junction can be equilibrated to the thermodynamically more stable cis-junction. Only the ‘endo’/‘exo’ selectivity at the C-atom bearing the olefin substituent cannot be controlled. The photodimerization of 12 is the only side reaction. Using a slight excess of the olefin, the photodimerization can be suppressed. The protecting group at the N-atom of the dihydropyridinone can be varied in order to introduce an internal sensitizer, as shown with 1-acyl-substituted compound 29 , which underwent the cycloaddition process even with sunlight.     

Analysis of neem oils by LC–MS and degradation kinetics of azadirachtin-A in a controlled environment

Since it was first isolated, the oil extracted from seeds of neem (Azadirachtin indica A juss) has been extensively studied in terms of its efficacy as an insecticide. Several industrial formulations are produced as emulsifiable solutions containing a stated titer of the active ingredient azadirachtin-A (AZ-A). The work reported here is the characterization of a formulation of this insecticide marketed under the name of Neem-azal T/S and kinetic studies of the major active ingredient of this formulation. We initially performed liquid–liquid extraction to isolate the neem oil from other ingredients in the commercial mixture. This was followed by a purification using flash chromatography and semi-preparative chromatography, leading to ¹³C NMR identification of structures such as azadirachtin-A, azadirachtin-B, and azadirachtin-H. The neem extract was also characterized by HPLC–MS using two ionization sources, APCI (atmospheric pressure chemical ionization) and ESI (electrospray ionization) in positive and negative ion modes of detection. This led to the identification of other compounds present in the extract—azadirachtin-D, azadirachtin-I, deacetylnimbin, deacetylsalannin, nimbin, and salannin. The comparative study of data gathered by use of the two ionization sources is discussed and shows that the ESI source enables the largest number of structures to be identified. In a second part, kinetic changes in the main product (AZ-A) were studied under precise conditions of pH (2, 4, 6, and 8), temperature (40 to 70 °C), and light (UV, dark room and in daylight). This enabled us to determine the degradation kinetics of the product (AZ-A) over time. The activation energy of the molecule (75±9 kJ mol^–1) was determined by examining thermal stability in the range 40 to 70 °C. The degradation products of this compound were identified by use of HPLC–MS and HPLC–MS–MS. The results enabled proposal of a chemical degradation reaction route for AZ-A under different conditions of pH and temperature. The data show that at room temperature and pH between 4 and 5 the product degrades into two preferential forms that are hydrolyzed to a single product over time and as a function of pH change.     

Anionic copper complex fragmentations from enkephalins under low-energy collision-induced dissociation in an ion trap mass spectrometer

Peptide metallation with Cu2+ was explored in the negative ESI mode using an ion trap mass spectrometer. Under these conditions, the [(M-3H) + CuII]- species formed were investigated under low-energy collision-induced dissociation conditions. MS2 experiments indicate a very different behavior of CuII metallated complexes compared with [M-H]- species. CuII induces an easy loss of CO2 and specific side-chain cleavages (by radical losses) at the C-terminal residue, as observed previously by prompt 'in source' dissociation experiments. The loss of CO2 yields an unstable carbylide that leads to further dissociations involving the migration of a proton or a hydrogen radical (through the reduction of CuII). Multistage MS3 experiments were carried out to rationalize this behavior. Fragmentation pathways are proposed in order to explain the product ions observed. The side-chain radical loss at the C-terminus was demonstrated to be a consecutive process. Finally, evidence is provided that the specific side-chain cleavages can be used for the differentiation of Leu/Ile and Gln/Lys residues when they are located at the C-terminus. The existence of a zwitterionic form in the case of the anionic YGGFK-CuII complex is proposed.     

The determination of10B by prompt proton spectrometry

Boron was analysed in ore and glass samples by prompt proton spectrometry, using deuterons of 2.7 MeV to coincide with a region where the excitation function of the¹⁰B(d, p)¹¹B reaction did not vary appreciably with energy. Targets of approximately 300 μg/cm² thick of powdered samples were prepared by centrifugation. Concentrations down to 0.2% were determined. Possible interference by other elements, particularly nitrogen, magnesium and titanium, was investigated.     

Nouveaux exemples d'acétonides d'aldéhydosucres furanniques

Further examples of O-isopropylidenaldehydosugars in the furanose series Formyl-bearing furanose derivatives 1–3 (α-D -xylo or α-D -erythro configurations) and 5–8 (configurations α-D -ribo, α-D -lyxo, β-L -threo and D -arabino) have been prepared by classical synthetic steps and their properties mainly spectroscopic, reported. The coupling constant between the formyl and the vicinal proton is always small. Like other members of the series, these new aldehydosugars constitute very useful and flexible synthetic intermediates.     

Preparation of new monomers aza-β-aminoacids for solid-phase syntheses of aza-β-peptides

The preparation of new N^β-Fmoc-protected aza-β³-amino acids (aza-β³-aa) with proteinogenic side chains as well as their N^β-Fmoc, N^β-Cbz or N^β-Boc aza-β³-amino esters (from Pro, Asn, Asp, Glu, Gln) by successive nucleophilic substitutions will be described.     

Enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions with N-hydroxy-N-phenylacrylamide

[reaction: see text] The use of hydroxamic acids as templates for Lewis acid catalyzed enantioselective Diels-Alder reactions has been examined. A very simple chiral Lewis acid, prepared by mixing optically pure binaphthol with 3 equiv of trimethylaluminum, catalyzes the [4 + 2] cycloaddition of N-hydroxy-N-phenylacrylamide with cyclopentadiene at 0 degrees C in high yield (>96%) and with a fairly good level of enantioselectivity (91% ee). Facile conversion of the products to the corresponding alcohols or aldehydes makes the hydroxamic acid intermediates particularly useful.     

Synthesis of models of metabolites: Oxidation of variously substituted chromenes including acronycine,by a porphyrin catalytic system

The influence of chemical neighbouring on oxidation of substituted 2,2‐dimethylchromenes derivatives 5‐8 by a biomimetic catalytic system was first studied. It was then applied to acronycine an anti‐cancer drug in order to obtain in one single step oxidized products resulting from the reactivity of the 1,2‐double bond in the pyranic D‐ring. These 2,2‐dimethylchromenes constitute the structural moiety responsible for the activity of acronycine. This oxidation showed the sensitivity of the ethylenic bond, leading to the formation of the corresponding epoxides, diols and/or ketoalcohol. In the case of 5‐dimethylamino‐2,2‐dimethylchromene 8 , the double bond was not sensitive to oxidation, but the N‐methyl groups reacted to lead to the formamide derivative 16 and an imino‐alcohol 17 . This methodology applied to acronycine molecule 1 , allowed to obtain in one step, two oxidized compounds, a trans‐diol 3 and a ketoalcohol 4 under preparative conditions.     

Novel "Potentially antiaromatic", acidichromic quinonediimines with tunable delocalization of their 6 pi-electron subunits

We present a novel family of "potentially antiaromatic" alkyl-substituted p-benzoquinonediimine pH-dependent chromophores. It appears from the structural data that these overall 12 pi-electron molecules should be better considered as constituted by two chemically connected but electronically not conjugated 6 pi-electron subunits. Molecule 5 appears to be the first example of two separated, conjugated, and localized 6 pi-electron systems that can be tuned by reversible protonation to become delocalized. The mono- and diprotonated derivatives have been characterized by spectroscopic methods and X-ray diffraction. These systems develop supramolecular interactions in the solid state that clearly reflect the degree of protonation and depend on the nature of the counterion. These compounds constitute new chromophores for which the color can be tuned depending on the degree of protonation, going in solution from yellow for 5 to red for 5.HCl and blue for 5.2HCl. Theoretical calculations have provided a deeper insight into the electronic structure of these molecules and allowed an assignment of the experimental UV-vis spectra. The visible and near-UV spectrum of the neutral and protonated benzoquinonediimines can be classically assigned from the coupling of two 6 pi-electron polymethine units. TD-DFT calculations confirm the observed red shift of the two lowest pi --> pi* transitions of the benzoquinonediimines upon protonation and relate it to the moderate energy lowering of the HOMO --> LUMO transition induced by the delocalization of the polymethine pi system.