Transverse energy distributions in Si-nucleus collisions at 10 GeV/nucleon

Transverse energy distributions have been measured for collisions of 10 GeV/nucleon Si with targets of Al, Cu and Pb using a combination of a NaI wall and a uranium based sampling calorimeter. The measured cross sectionsdσ/dE _T anddE _T /dη are consistent with full stopping and an increase, with increasing values ofE _T , of energy flow into large angles.     

Investigations on sample pretreatment for the determination of selected metals and organochlorine compounds in suspended particulate matter of the River Elbe

The River Elbe and some of its tributaries are transporting polluted suspended particulate matter (SPM). Due to the property of SPM to accumulate anthropogenic and nonanthropogenic substances, this matrix is of interest from an analytical point of view. SPM has been collected in 13 sampling devices, placed in monitoring stations along the River Elbe from the Czech border to the North Sea and the embouchures of its tributaries Schwarze Elster, Mulde and Saale. Characterization of the SPM has been carried out by sieving and determining the content of total carbon. Comparative studies with different digestion procedures are presented for the determination of heavy metals and arsenic in the fine grain particle size <20 m of freeze-dried SPM. In a first test the highest concentrations have been found for microwave heating in a closed system when using an acid mixture of HNO₃/HF 3:1. Results of an interlaboratory test show the good practicability of the microwave heating digestion method. The determination of organochlorine compounds in a freeze-dried sample by three different extraction methods including supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CO₂ shows that the highest extraction efficiency is found for the conventional Soxhlet method.     

Fluorogenic peptide sequences--transformation of short peptides into fluorophores under ambient photooxidative conditions

Long-lived proteins are susceptible to nonenzymatic chemical reactions and the evolution of fluorescence; however, little is known about the sequence-dependence of fluorogenesis. We synthesized a library of over half a million octapeptides and exposed it to light and air in pH 7.4 buffer to identify fluorogenic peptides that evolve under mild oxidative conditions. The bead-based peptide library was composed of the general sequence H(2)N-Ala-(Xxx)(6)-Ala-resin, where Xxx was one of nine representative amino acids: Asp, Gly, His, Leu, Lys, Pro, Ser, Trp, and Tyr. Next, we selected five highly fluorescent beads from the library and subjected them to microsequencing, revealing the sequence of the unreacted peptide. All five of the fluorogenic sequences were ionic; lacked Tyr, His, and Leu; and most of the sequences contained only one Trp. We then synthesized the five soluble peptides corresponding to the fluorogenic peptide sequences and exposed them to photooxidative conditions. In general, the soluble peptides reacted slowly, generating nonfluorescent monooxygenated and dioxygenated products. However, one peptide (H(2)N-AlaLysProTrpGlyGlyAspAla-CONH(2)) evolved into a highly fluorescent photoproduct as well as a nonfluorescent monooxygenated photoproduct. The fluorescent photoproduct consisted of a 2-carboxy-quinolin-4-yl moiety fused to the N-terminus of GlyGlyAspAla. The formation of this photoproduct requires cleavage of the peptide backbone and a dramatic reorganization of tryptophan. This work demonstrates that sequencing unreacted peptide on beads can reveal sequences with unique nonenzymatic reactivity. The study also confirms that peptide fluorogenesis is dependent on sequence and not merely on the presence of tryptophan. The potential importance of fluorogenic peptide sequences is two-fold. First, fluorogenic sequences that arise through mutation could prove to be hot spots for human aging. Second, fluorogenic sequences, particularly those compatible with intracellular conditions, may serve as fluorescent tags for proteins or as fluorescent biomaterials.     

Ring enlargement reactions of tetramic acid derivatives

The 4‐hydroxypyridones 7 and 3‐hydroxypyridones 8/9 (azagrevellins) were prepared by reaction of the pyrrolidinetrione 4 and diazoalkanes. The ring enlargement proceeded by anionotropic [1,2]‐rearrangement introducing carbon between C‐3 and C‐4 or, to a lesser extent, between C‐2 and C‐3 due to the different migration aptitudes of the two acyl groups involved. In a cognate manner ring expansion between C‐2 and C‐3 occured by the interaction of diazomethane and the pyrrolidinetrione hydrazone 15 , to give the spiroe‐poxide 16 as the final product. From the reaction of trione 4 and diazomethane, however, the diepoxide 14 was obtained. In this case ring homologation must have taken place by insertion of carbon between C‐4 and C‐5. In a two step ring expansion the pyridones 21 and 22 were obtained from the maleineimides 17.     

Eisen und Stahl

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Insights into long-range structural effects on the stereochemistry of aldol condensations: a practical total synthesis of desoxyepothilone F.

A processable total synthesis of a potent antitumor agent, desoxyepothilone F (dEpoF, 21-hydroxy-12,13-desoxyepothilone B, 21-hydroxyepothilone D), has been accomplished. The route is highly convergent. The new technology has also been applied to a total synthesis of 12,13-desoxyepothilone (dEpoB). The crucial point of departure from previous syntheses of dEpoB and dEpoF involves presentation of the C1-C11 sector for Suzuki coupling with C3 in reduced form. Hitherto, the required S stereochemistry at C3 had been implemented via reduction of a keto function after Suzuki coupling. Whereas that chemistry worked quite well in a synthesis of dEpoB, it was not transferable to a high-yielding synthesis of dEpoF. The reduction of the keto group at C3 via a Noyori protocol after Suzuki coupling had proved to be very difficult. In our current approach, two consecutive aldol reactions are used to fashion the acyl sector. In the first aldol condensation, C6 becomes attached to C7. Following protection at C7, a two-carbon acetate equivalent is used to join C2 and C3 with very high asymmetric induction at C3. Only after this center has been implemented is the Suzuki reaction conducted. This major advance allowed us to synthesize dEpoF in a straightforward fashion. These findings found ready application in the total synthesis of dEpoB. Another part of the study involved analysis of the factors associated with aldol condensations joining C6 to C7. In the work described herein, the consequences of the status of C3 in promoting the C6-C7 aldol coupling are probed in detail. Dramatic stereochemical long-range effects uncovered during the study are described, and a working model to explain these effects has emerged.     

A variational principle giving gravitational “superpotentials,” the affine connection,Riemann tensor,and Einstein field equations

A first-order Lagrangian is given, from which follow the definitions of the fully covariant form of the Riemann tensorR _k in terms of the affine connection and metric; the definition of the affine connection in terms of the metric; the Einstein field equations; and the definition of a set of gravitational superpotentials closely connected with the Komar conservation laws [7]. Substitution of the definition of the affine connection into this Lagrangian results in a second-order Lagrangian, from which follow the definition of the fully covariant Riemann tensor in terms of the metric, the Einstein equations, and the definition of the gravitational superpotentials.Dedicated to Achille Papapetrou on the occasion of his retirement.     

Set the controls for the heart of the Sun

In this paper we describe experiments conducted with high-power lasers that are attempting to replicate, for a very short time and in miniature, conditions found in the Sun. Experiments to date have reached conditions in the outer part of the Sun. To reach the Sun's centre requires compression of material to very much greater than solid density and heating to over ten million degrees. To achieve this, a new class of experiments and a new generation of high-power lasers are required.