Infinitely many singular interactions on noncompact manifolds

We show that the ground state energy is bounded from below when there are infinitely many attractive delta function potentials placed in arbitrary locations, while all being separated at least by a minimum distance, on two dimensional non-compact manifold. To facilitate the reading of the paper, we first present the arguments in the setting of Cartan–Hadamard manifolds and then subsequently discuss the general case. For this purpose, we employ the heat kernel techniques as well as some comparison theorems of Riemannian geometry, thus generalizing the arguments in the flat case following the approach presented in Albeverio et al. (2004).     

Investigation of structural and optical properties of ZnO films co-doped with fluorine and indium

Undoped ZnO film and ZnO films, which are co-doped with F and In (FIZO) at different concentrations, were synthesized by sol–gel technique and the effects of co-doping of F and In on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films were investigated. The concentration ratio of [F]/[Zn] was altered from 0.25 to 1.75 with 0.50 step at.% mole and [In]/[Zn] was altered from 0.25 to 1.00 with 0.25 step at.% mole. X-ray diffraction analysis indicates that the films have polycrystalline nature and the (0 0 2) preferred orientation is the stronger peak. No extra phases involving zinc, fluorine and indium compounds were observed even at high F and In content. The grain size of undoped ZnO and FIZO thin films varied between 15 and 20 nm with a small fluctuation. From the SEM images, although the undoped ZnO had a smooth and particle-shaped surface, FIZO films had nanofiber-networks shapes over the surface with average size of 500 nm. The surface morphologies and crystallite sizes for the F and In doped films were slightly different from than those of undoped film. From the optical study, a slight shrinkage of band gap was backwardly observed from 3.36 to 3.25 eV with the increasing of F and In content.     

Role of electrolyte pH on structural and magnetic properties of Co–Fe films

Co–Fe films were electrodeposited on polycrystalline Titanium substrates from the electrolytes with different pH levels. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to study the crystal structure of the films. The XRD patterns showed that the films grown at the pH levels of 3.70 and 3.30 have a mixed phase consisting of face-centred cubic (fcc) and body-centred cubic, while those grown at pH=2.90 have only fcc structure. It was observed that the film composition, by energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, contain around 88 at% Co and 12 at% Fe for all films investigated in this study. Morphological observations indicated that all films have grainy structure with the slight change of grain size depending on the electrolyte pH. Magnetoresistance measurements, made at room temperature, showed that all films exhibited anisotropic magnetoresistance, which is affected by the electrolyte pH. From the magnetic measurements made by vibrating sample magnetometer, the saturation magnetization increases as the electrolyte pH decreases. Furthermore, all films have in-plane easy-axis direction of magnetization.     

2‐[(4‐Hydroxyphenyl)iminomethyl]­thiophene

The molecular structure of the title compound, C₁₁H₉NOS, has three planar moieties, two of which are rings, namely the hydroxy­phenyl and the thio­phene, with an angle of 20.76 (10)° between them. The crystal structure is stabilized by an O—H?N hydrogen bond and by C—H?O intermolecular interactions. The C?O intermolecular contact distance is 3.443 (2) Å.     

Synthesis of C 2-Symmetric Chiral Amino Alcohols: Their Usage as Organocatalysts for Enantioselective Opening of Epoxide Ring

A series of β-amino alcohols derivatives were synthesized from (R)-2-amino-1-butanol and (S)-1,2-propanediol, and they have been used as organocatalaysts in the racemic ring opening of epoxide in good yields with high enantiomeric excess (up to 97%).     

A modular design of ruthenium(II) catalysts with chiral C2-symmetric phosphinite ligands for effective asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones

Hydrogen-transfer reduction processes are attracting increasing interest from synthetic chemists in view of their operational simplicity. The new chiral C₂-symmetric ligands N,N′-bis-[(1S)-1-sec-butyl-2-O-(diphenylphosphinite)ethyl]ethanediamide, 1 and N,N′-bis-[(1S)-1-phenyl-2-O-(diphenylphosphinite)ethyl]ethanediamide, 2 and the corresponding ruthenium complexes 3 and 4 have been prepared and their structures have been elucidated by a combination of multi-nuclear NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. ¹H–³¹P NMR, DEPT, ¹H–¹³C HETCOR, or ¹H–¹H COSY correlation experiments were used to confirm the spectral assignments. The catalytic activity of complexes 3 and 4 in transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives by iso-PrOH has also been studied. Under optimized conditions, these chiral ruthenium complexes serve as catalyst precursors for the asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of acetophenone derivatives in iso-PrOH and act as excellent catalysts, giving the corresponding chiral alcohols in 99% yield and up to 75% ee. This transfer hydrogenation is characterized by low reversibility under these conditions.     

Pyrrole thin films deposited on paper by pulsed RF plasma

Attempts were made to plasma deposit an oriented π-conjugated polymer of pyrrole (Py) on paper surfaces in order to produce electrically conductive layers. The N/C atomic ratio of 0.13–0.24 was observed for all treatment conditions. This implies the nature of the deposition formed on the paper surface via pulsed plasma is different from that of pyrrole monomer. An increase in conductivity of all pyrrole-plasma treated papers was observed. The 50 W RF-power with 5 min plasma exposed paper sample shows 8.15 × 10⁻⁹ S·cm⁻¹ conductivity. The conductivity measurements indicated a plasma-enhanced ring-opening reaction mechanism of pyrrole.      

The use of the DPE radical polymerization method for the synthesis of chromophore-labelled polymers and block copolymers

Two analogues of diphenylethene carrying phenanthrene (1-(9-phenanthryl)-1-phenylethene (PPE)) and anthracene (1-(2-anthryl)-1-phenylethene (APE)) units were used in radical polymerization of styrene (St) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) at 80 °C using AIBN as initiator. Because of the nature of the polymerization, the resulting polymers possess the corresponding chromophoric groups. Using the methodology of a DPE system, these labelled polymers were further used for the synthesis of block copolymers. In this way poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(styrene) and poly(methyl methacrylate)-b-poly(acrylonitrile) with molar masses of 60,000-90,000 g/mol were synthesized. Incorporation of the chromophoric groups into both homo- and block copolymers was confirmed by spectral measurements.     

(2‐Hydroxy­ethyl)­hydrazinium(2+) dichloride

The crystal structure of the title compound, C₂H₁₀N₂O²⁺·2Cl⁻, is built up from one 2‐hydroxy­ethyl­hydrazinium(2+) cation and two Cl⁻ anions. The mol­ecular structure is stabilized by O—H⋯Cl and N—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. The crystal structure is stabilized by one N—H⋯O and three N—H⋯Cl inter­actions, and the three‐dimensional network of hydrogen bonds stabilizes the crystal packing. All five hydrazinium H atoms are involved in hydrogen bonds to Cl⁻ anions. The Cl⋯H contact distances range from 2.122 (15) to 2.809 (14) Å.     

Optimizing the sputter deposition process of polymers for the Storing Matter technique using PMMA

Quantitative analyses in secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) become possible only if ionization processes are controlled. The Storing Matter technique has been developed to circumvent this so‐called matrix effect, primarily for inorganic samples, but has also been extended to organic samples. For the latter, it has been applied to polystyrene in order to investigate the extent of damage in the polymer, its fragmentation during the sputter deposition process and the effect of the deposition process on the spectra taken by Time‐of‐Flight SIMS (ToF‐SIMS). In this work, a multi‐technique approach, which employs the Storing Matter technique for deposition and ToF‐SIMS and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy for characterization, is used to enhance the control of the deposition process, including the thickness of the deposit, the alteration of the source film and the influence of polymer composition on the Storing Matter process. Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is used for this work. More detailed information about the sticking of polymer fragments on the metal collector is obtained by density functional theory calculations. This work allows for the conclusion that a part of the fragments deposited on the collector surface diffuses on the latter, reacts and recombines to form larger fragments. The behaviour observed for PMMA is similar to polystyrene, showing that oxygen has no major influence on the processes occurring during the sputter deposition process. Additionally, we have developed a new methodology using 2D ToF‐SIMS images of the deposit to monitor the deposit thickness and to identify surface contaminations. The latter are not only located at the position of the deposit but all over the collector surface. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.