Multireference Brillouin-Wigner coupled cluster method with singles, doubles, and triples: efficient implementation and comparison with approximate approaches

We have developed an efficient implementation of the multireference Brillouin-Wigner coupled cluster method with full iterative treatment of connected singles, doubles, and triples. Its computational costs are too high for applications to larger molecules; however, it can be used as a useful tool for benchmarking approximate methods. Performance of the method has been tested on the ground and low-lying excited states of the oxygen molecule and on the singlet-triplet gap in methylene; the results are in good agreement with experimental data.     

Optimization of plasmonic enhancement of fluorescence on plastic substrates

In this work, we report on the uniform deposition of tailored plasmonic coatings on polymer substrates and on the distance dependence of the plasmonic enhancement of a fluorescent dye. Silver, gold, and silver/gold alloy nanoparticles (NPs) with a range of diameters were synthesized using chemical techniques and characterized using UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Reproducible polyelectrolyte (PEL) layers, which were deposited on plastic microwell plates using a layer-by-layer technique, served as both a stable and uniform substrate for deposition of the NPs as well as providing spacer layers of known thickness between the NPs and the fluorescent dye. A maximum enhancement factor of approximately 11 was measured for 60 nm diameter pure silver NPs, for a dye-NP separation of approximately 3 nm. A shift in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength as a function of the effective refractive index of the PEL layers was also observed, and the measured shifts show a similar trend with theoretical predictions. This work will contribute toward the rational design of optical biochip platforms based on plasmon-enhanced fluorescence.     

Application of double ionization state-specific equation of motion coupled cluster method to organic diradicals

The state-specific equation of motion coupled cluster method is applied to three systems of diradical character: automerization of cyclobutadiene, singlet-triplet gaps of trimethylmethylene, and Bergman reaction. The aim of the paper is to assess the performance of the method and test numerically the importance of orbital optimization, three-body terms in transformed Hamiltonian, and the choice of cluster equations.     

cis-endo-Bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane-1,2,3,4- tetracarboxylic acid and its derivatives

[reaction: see text] We report the synthesis of cis-endo-bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane-1,2,3,4-tetracarboxylic acid and several of its derivatives with differentiated bridgehead and bridge positions, starting with tetracyclo[3.2.0.0(1,6).0(2,6)]heptane.     

Simultaneous determination of eight biologically active thiol compounds using gradient elution-liquid chromatography with Coul-Array detection

The most active form of sulfur in biomolecules is the thiol group, present in a number of biologically active compounds. Here we present a comprehensive study of thiol analysis using flow injection analysis/HPLC with electrochemical detection. The effect of different potentials of working electrodes, of organic solvent contents in the mobile phase, and of isocratic and gradient elution on simultaneous determination of thiol compounds (cysteine, cystine, N-acetylcysteine, homocysteine, reduced and oxidised glutathione, desglycinephytochelatin, and phytochelatins) are described and discussed. These thiol compounds were well separated and detected under optimised HPLC-electrochemical detection conditions (mobile phase: 80 mM trifluoroacetic acid and methanol with a gradient profile starting at 97:3 (TFA:methanol), kept constant for the first 8 min, then decreasing to 85:15 during one minute, kept constant for 8 min, and finally increasing linearly up to 97:3 from 17 to 18 min; the flow rate was 0.8 mL/min, column and detector temperature 25 degrees C, and the electrode potential 900 mV). We were able to determine tens of femtomoles (3 S/N) of the thiols per injection (5 microL), except for phytochelatin5 whose detection limit was 2.1 pmole. This technique was consequently used for simultaneous determination of compounds of interest in biological samples (maize tissue and human blood serum).     

Organic-organic epitaxy of incommensurate systems: quaterthiophene on potassium hydrogen phthalate single crystals

Hot-wall epitaxy and molecular-beam epitaxy have been employed for growing quaterthiophene thin films on the (010) cleavage face of potassium hydrogen phthalate, and the results are compared in terms of film properties and growth mode. Even if there is no geometrical match between substrate and overlayer lattices, these films are epitaxially oriented. To investigate the physical rationale for this strong orientation effect, optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray diffraction are employed. A clear correlation between the morphology of the thin films and the crystallographic orientation is found. The results are also validated by surface potential calculations, which demonstrate the primary role played by the corrugation of the substrate surface.     

Preliminary results of the conditional analysis of wall friction during laminar-turbulent transition of a rough wall boundary layer

The conditional analysis of the instantaneous wall friction is applied on time records made in transitional boundary layers originating on smooth surface or surface covered by sand paper (grits 60) under turbulent free stream. The applied intermittency analysis of measurement allowed the evaluations of turbulent and non-turbulent zone averages. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)