The Tris(pentafluoroethyl)silanide Anion

Tris(pentafluoroethyl)silane, which is conveniently accessible by the treatment of Si(C₂F₅)₃X (X=Cl, Br) with Bu₃SnH, was successfully employed for hydrosilylation reactions. In the presence of a palladium catalyst, hydrosilylation of phenylacetylene with Si(C₂F₅)₃H affords the product of an α‐addition whereas the reaction of trimethylsilylacetylene with the silane leads to the β‐trans product. Tris(pentafluoroethyl)silane can be deprotonated by sterically demanding bases such as lithium diisopropylamide at low temperatures to give the corresponding silanide ion. The addition of crown ethers or cryptands to this highly reactive species enabled the isolation and characterization of salt‐like tris(pentafluoroethyl)silanide at room temperature.     

Nucleophilic Transfer Reactions of the [Si(C2F5)3]− Moiety

The tris(pentafluoroethyl)silanide anion is accessible by the deprotonation of Si(C₂F₅)₃H at low temperatures. Subsequent quenching of the resulting salt‐like compounds with suitable electrophiles, such as transition‐metal complexes or Group 14 element halides, leads to a plethora of novel tris(pentafluoroethyl)silane derivatives. This underlines the versatility of Li[Si(C₂F₅)₃] as a powerful nucleophilic transfer reagent.     

Aggregation of donor base stabilized 2-thienyllithium in a single crystal and in solution: distances from X-ray diffraction and the nuclear Overhauser effect

Various 2-thienyllithium derivatives were investigated in the solid state by X-ray diffraction and in solution by 2D NMR experiments. The determined structures of [(Et(2)O)Li(C(4)H(3)S)](4) (1), [(THF)(2)Li(C(4)H(3)S)](2) (2), [(DME)Li(C(4)H(3)S)](2) (3), [(TMEDA)Li(C(4)H(3)S)](2) (4), and [(PMDETA)Li(C(4)H(3)S)] (5) (DME = 1,2-dimethoxyethane, TMEDA = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylene-1,2-diamine, and PMDETA = N,N,N',N",N"-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine) were solved in nondonating toluene and provide firm ground for diffusion-ordered NMR spectroscopy as well as heteronuclear Overhauser enhancement NMR spectroscopy. The distance relation of nuclear Overhauser effects with a factor of r(-6) is employed to gain further insight into the aggregation degree of 1-5 in solution. Comparison of the slope provided by the linear region of the buildup curves and of the ∑r(-6) calculated distances from the crystal structures offers a handle to judge the structure retention versus conversion in solution. The structures of 3-5 are maintained in toluene solution. The data of 2, however, indicate a partial dissociation or a rapid exchange between the vertices of a tetrameric core and free THF molecules. Auxiliary exchange spectroscopy investigations showed that the signals of the nitrogen donor base containing compounds 4 and 5 exchange with the signals of nonlithiated thiophene. This is explained by exchange of the deuterium by a hydrogen atom via lithiation of toluene molecules.     

Estimation of Macrodispersion by Different Approximation Methods for Flow and Transport in Randomly Heterogeneous Media

We present two- and three-dimensional calculations for the longitudinal and transverse macrodispersion coefficient for conservative solutes derived by particle tracking in a velocity field which is based on the linearized flow equation. The simulations were performed upto 5000 correlation lengths in order to reach the asymptotic regime. We used a simulation method which does not need any grid and therefore allows simulations of very large transport times and distances.Our findings are compared with results obtained from linearized transport, from Corrsin's Conjecture and from renormalization group methods. All calculations are performed with and without local dispersion. The variance of the logarithm of the hydraulic conductivity field was chosen to be one to investigate realistic model cases.While in two dimensions the linear transport approximation seems to be very good even for this high variance of the logarithmic hydraulic conductivity, in three dimensions renormalization group results are closer to the numerical calculations. Here Dagan's theory and the theory of Gelhar and Axness underestimate the transverse macrodispersion by far. Corrsin's Conjecture always overestimates the transverse dispersion. Local dispersion does not significantly influence the asymptotic behavior of the various approximations examined for two-dimensional and three-dimensional calculations.     

Separation of Dihydro-Isocoumarins and Dihydro-Stilbenoids from Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata by Use of Counter-Current Chromatography

Previously, different Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata cultivars were investigated by untargeted LC-MS analysis. From this, a list of tentatively identified and unknown compounds that differ significantly between these cultivars was obtained. Due to the lack of reference compounds, especially for dihydro-isocoumarins, we aimed to isolate and structurally characterise these compounds from the cultivar ‘Yae-no-amacha’ using NMR and LC-MS methods. For purification and isolation, counter-current chromatography was used in combination with reversed-phase preparative HPLC as an orthogonal and enhanced purification workflow. Thirteen dihydro-isocoumarins in combination with other metabolites could be isolated and structurally identified. Particularly interesting was the clarification of dihydrostilbenoid glycosides, which were described for the first time in H. macrophylla ssp. serrata. These results will help us in further studies on the biological interpretation of our data.     

Numerical simulation of a single rising bubble by VOF with surface compression

The capability of the direct volume of fluid method for describing the surface dynamics of a free two‐dimensional rising bubble is evaluated using quantities of a recently published benchmark. The model equations are implemented in the open source computational fluid dynamics library OpenFOAM®. Here, a main ingredient of the numerical method is the so‐called surface compression that corrects the fluxes near the interface between two phases. The application of this method with respect to two test cases of a benchmark is considered in the main part. The test cases differ in physical properties, thus in different surface tension effects. The quantities centre of mass position, circularity and rise velocity are tracked over time and compared with the ones given in the benchmark. For test case one, where surface tension effects are more pre‐eminent, deviations from the benchmark results become more obvious. However, the flow features are still within reasonable range. Nevertheless, for test case two, which has higher density and viscosity ratios and above all a lower influence of the surface tension force, good agreement compared with the benchmark reference results is achieved. This paper demonstrates the good capabilities of the direct volume of fluid method with surface compression with regard to the preservation of sharp interfaces, boundedness, mass conservation and low computational time. Some limitation regarding the occurrence of parasitic currents, bad pressure jump prediction and bad grid convergence have been observed. With these restrictions in mind, the method is suitable for the simulation of similar two‐phase flow configurations. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improved load balancing and resource utilization for the Skill Vehicle Routing Problem

The Skill Vehicle Routing Problem (Skill VRP) considers vehicle routing under the assumption of skill requirements given on demand nodes. These requirements have to be met by the serving vehicles. No further constraints, like capacity or cost restrictions, are imposed. Skill VRP solutions may show a tendency to have a bad load balancing and resource utilization. In a majority of solutions only a subset of vehicles is active. Moreover, a considerable share of demand nodes is served by vehicles that have a skill higher than necessary. A reason for that solution behavior lies in the model itself. As no resource restrictions are imposed, the Skill VRP tends to produce TSP-like solutions. To obtain better balanced solutions, we introduce two new approaches. First we propose a minmax model that aims at minimizing the maximal vehicle tour length. Second we suggest a two-step method combining the minmax approach with a distance constrained model. Our experiments illustrate that these approaches lead to improvements in load balancing and resource utilization, but, with different impact on routing costs.     

Enhancement of χ3 in nanoparticle composite media exhibiting electrostriction and quantum confinement

A new model is described that combines the interaction between two physical mechanisms responsible for bulk third-order optical nonlinearity. They are: (1) saturable absorption, due to quantum confinement in nanoparticles, and (2) electrostriction, causing particles to migrate in the fluid host. We show that enhanced nonlinearities are predicted resulting from local field coupling and that oscillations can occur under certain conditions.     

Large Scale Oscillations in the Continuous Casting Process

Long-term oscillations of the flow in a continuous casting tundish are investigated numerically and experimentally. The numerical model is based on the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations (URANS). A comparison between numerical results and experimental data from a water model is presented. Frequencies due to long-term oscillations are resolved in the simulation. These frequencies are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental results of LDA measurements. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)