Properties of functions in an auxiliary spline space

Summary This note examines functions in an auxiliary spline space related to geometrically continuous splines. Previous work [3, 4] required results about the existence and number of zeros of certain functions in this space, as well as results on how to combine these functions. This note provides improved versions of these results.     

Investigation of 2-D electromagnetic transients in a circular cylinder with time discontinuity in permittivity via the resolvent method

The resolvent method approach is proposed for analytically solving the time domain Volterra integral equation (TDVIE) which describes the electromagnetic fields in 2-D cylindrical structures with time changes in the permittivity. It is shown that the approach allows investigation of the electromagnetic field transformation due to an abrupt time change in dielectric permittivity inside a circular cylinder as well as the construction of the Green’s function for an initial-boundary value problem. Key mechanisms of electromagnetic field transformation are investigated and a qualitative distinction of the processes is shown that depends on an initial field configuration.     

Direct observation of spin-forbidden formation of O(D) in the near-UV photolysis of ozone

Time-of-flight measurements have been made of the O(¹D) fragment following the photolysis of ozone in the near-UV. At 321.9 nm fragments are seen with kinetic energies the values of which are those expected from spin-forbidden dissociation with ground state O₂(X³Σ_g⁻) molecules as the co-product. Spin-allowed dissociation of internally excited ozone molecules is also seen to produce translationally cold O(¹D) and O₂(a¹Δ_g) products. The implications for the dissociation of tropospheric ozone are briefly discussed.     

Shape parameter deletion for Pólya curves

We present a simple change of basis technique for transforming one type of Pólya curve to another closely related Pólya curve form. Repeated use of this method yields algorithms for transforming one arbitrary Pólya form to another, as well as algorithms for evaluating, subdividing, and differentiating Pólya curves. These procedures can be applied to almost all Pólya curves, including Bézier curves and Lagrange interpolating polynomials.     

Calcium-mediated dearomatization, C-H bond activation, and allylation of alkylated and benzannulated pyridine derivatives

A facile and general synthetic pathway for the production of dearomatized, allylated, and C? H bond activated pyridine derivatives is presented. Reaction of the corresponding derivative with the previously reported reagent bis(allyl)calcium, [Ca(C₃H₅)₂] ( 1 ), cleanly affords the product in high yield. The range of N‐heterocyclic compounds studied comprised 2‐picoline ( 2 ), 4‐picoline ( 3 ), 2,6‐lutidine ( 4 ), 4‐tert‐butylpyridine ( 5 ), 2,2′‐bipyridine ( 6 ), acridine ( 7 ), quinoline ( 8 ), and isoquinoline ( 9 ). Depending on the substitution pattern of the pyridine derivative, either carbometalation or C? H bond activation products are obtained. In the absence of methyl groups ortho or para to the nitrogen atom, carbometalation leads to dearomatized products. C(sp³)? H bond activation occurs at ortho and para situated methyl groups. Steric shielding of the 4‐position in pyridine yields the ring‐metalated product through C(sp²)? H bond activation instead. The isolated compounds [Ca(2‐CH₂‐C₅H₄N)₂(THF)] ( 2 b ?(THF)), [Ca(4‐CH₂‐C₅H₄N)₂(THF)₂] ( 3 b ?(THF)₂), [Ca(2‐CH₂‐C₅H₃N‐6‐CH₃)₂(THF)_n] ( 4 b ?(THF)_n; n=0, 0.75), [Ca{2‐C₅H₃N‐4‐C(CH₃)₃}₂(THF)₂] ( 5 c ?(THF)₂), [Ca{4,4′‐(C₃H₅)₂‐(C₁₀H₈N₂)}(THF)] ( 6 a ?(THF)), [Ca(NC₁₃H₉‐9‐C₃H₅)₂(THF)] ( 7 a ?(THF)), [Ca(4‐C₃H₅‐C₉H₇N)₂(THF)] ( 8 b ?(THF)), and [Ca(1‐C₃H₅‐C₉H₇N)₂(THF)₃] ( 9 a ?(THF)₃) have been characterized by NMR spectroscopy and metal analysis. 9 a ?(THF)₄ and 4 b ?(THF)₃ were additionally characterized in the solid state by X‐ray diffraction experiments. 4 b ?(THF)₃ shows an aza‐allyl coordination mode in the solid state. Based on the results, mechanistic aspects are discussed in the context of previous findings.     

Histone deacetylase inhibitors as a tool to up-regulate new fungal biosynthetic products: isolation of EGM-556, a cyclodepsipeptide, from Microascus sp

The histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) was used to turn on the biosynthesis of EGM-556, a new cyclodepsipeptide of hybrid biosynthetic origin, isolated from the Floridian marine sediment-derived fungus Microascus sp. The absolute configurations of three chiral centers were determined by Marfey's derivatization. EGM-556 represents one of the few examples in which silent biosynthetic genes, encoding a new secondary metabolite, were activated by means of epigenetic manipulation of the fungal metabolome.     

Fluoroalkyl and alkyl chains have similar hydrophobicities in binding to the "hydrophobic wall" of carbonic anhydrase

The hydrophobic effect, the free-energetically favorable association of nonpolar solutes in water, makes a dominant contribution to binding of many systems of ligands and proteins. The objective of this study was to examine the hydrophobic effect in biomolecular recognition using two chemically different but structurally similar hydrophobic groups, aliphatic hydrocarbons and aliphatic fluorocarbons, and to determine whether the hydrophobicity of the two groups could be distinguished by thermodynamic and biostructural analysis. This paper uses isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to examine the thermodynamics of binding of benzenesulfonamides substituted in the para position with alkyl and fluoroalkyl chains (H(2)NSO(2)C(6)H(4)-CONHCH(2)(CX(2))(n)CX(3), n = 0-4, X = H, F) to human carbonic anhydrase II (HCA II). Both alkyl and fluoroalkyl substituents contribute favorably to the enthalpy and the entropy of binding; these contributions increase as the length of chain of the hydrophobic substituent increases. Crystallography of the protein-ligand complexes indicates that the benzenesulfonamide groups of all ligands examined bind with similar geometry, that the tail groups associate with the hydrophobic wall of HCA II (which is made up of the side chains of residues Phe131, Val135, Pro202, and Leu204), and that the structure of the protein is indistinguishable for all but one of the complexes (the longest member of the fluoroalkyl series). Analysis of the thermodynamics of binding as a function of structure is compatible with the hypothesis that hydrophobic binding of both alkyl and fluoroalkyl chains to hydrophobic surface of carbonic anhydrase is due primarily to the release of nonoptimally hydrogen-bonded water molecules that hydrate the binding cavity (including the hydrophobic wall) of HCA II and to the release of water molecules that surround the hydrophobic chain of the ligands. This study defines the balance of enthalpic and entropic contributions to the hydrophobic effect in this representative system of protein and ligand: hydrophobic interactions, here, seem to comprise approximately equal contributions from enthalpy (plausibly from strengthening networks of hydrogen bonds among molecules of water) and entropy (from release of water from configurationally restricted positions).     

Observation of inductive effects that cause a change in the rate-determining step for the conversion of rhenium azides to imido complexes

The cationic oxorhenium(V) complex [Re(O)(hoz)(2)(CH(3)CN)][B(C(6)F(5))(4)] [1; Hhoz = 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)-2-oxazoline] reacts with aryl azides (N(3)Ar) to give cationic cis-rhenium(VII) oxoimido complexes of the general formula [Re(O)(NAr)(hoz)(2)][B(C(6)F(5))(4)] [2a-2f; Ar = 4-methoxyphenyl, 4-methylphenyl, phenyl, 3-methoxyphenyl, 4-chlorophenyl, and 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]. The kinetics of formation of 2 in CH(3)CN are first-order in both azide (N(3)Ar) and oxorhenium(V) complex 1, with second-order rate constants ranging from 3.5 × 10(-2) to 1.7 × 10(-1) M(-1) s(-1). A strong inductive effect is observed for electron-withdrawing substituents, leading to a negative Hammett reaction constant ρ = -1.3. However, electron-donating substituents on phenyl azide deviate significantly from this trend. Enthalpic barriers (ΔH(?)) determined by the Eyring-Polanyi equation are in the range 14-19 kcal mol(-1) for all aryl azides studied. However, electron-donating 4-methoxyphenyl azide exhibits a large negative entropy of activation, ΔS(?) = -21 cal mol(-1) K(-1), which is in sharp contrast to the near zero ΔS(?) observed for phenyl azide and 4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl azide. The Hammett linear free-energy relationship and the activation parameters support a change in the mechanism between electron-withdrawing and electron-donating aryl azides. Density functional theory predicts that the aryl azides coordinate via N(α) and extrude N(2) directly. For the electron-withdrawing substituents, N(2) extrusion is rate-determining, while for the electron-donating substituents, the rate-determining step becomes the initial attack of the azide. The barriers for these two steps are inverted in their order with respect to the Hammett σ values; thus, the Hammett plot appears with a break in its slope.     

Hydrogen plasma interaction with (100) diamond surfaces

Polycrystalline diamond films exhibiting (100) oriented surfaces have been subject to a low pressure hydrogen plasma for durations up to 20 h. The topography of spatially defined 20 × 20 μm areas of the samples were imaged by atomic force microscopy at intervals during the plasma exposure. The mean surface roughness of individual (100) crystallites decreased from ca. 2.4 nm to <1 nm over the period and was independent of the twist and tilt angles of the crystallite. Whilst small hillock growth features were etched completely by the plasma treatment, there was no evidence for etch pits evident in similar experiments carried out with (100) natural diamond. Very low lateral etch rates of the (100) crystallites of 28 ± 4 nm/h were measured for crystallites bounded by (111) planes. High resolution XPS analysis of the C(1s) and O(1s) transitions of the same samples showed that the surface graphitic phase, present in the as-prepared samples, was removed to below detectable limits. The surface oxygen content was reduced from around 9-10% to ca. 3% after prolonged plasma exposure. The C(1s) and O(1s) band contours revealed the presence of oxygen in the form of ether and carbonyl functional groups. The ether:carbonyl: areal density ratio on (100) crystallites decreased only slightly from 83:17 to 64:37 after 20 h of plasma treatment based on fitting of the O(1s) band envelope. Etching products arising from the plasma interaction with the diamond surface were not detected by either optical emission spectroscopy or mass spectrometry.