Electric-field control of exchange bias in multiferroic epitaxial heterostructures

The magnetic exchange between epitaxial thin films of the multiferroic (antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric) hexagonal YMnO3 oxide and a soft ferromagnetic (FM) layer is used to couple the magnetic response of the FM layer to the magnetic state of the antiferromagnetic one. We will show that biasing the ferroelectric YMnO3 layer by an electric field allows control of the magnetic exchange bias and subsequently the magnetotransport properties of the FM layer. This finding may contribute to paving the way towards a new generation of electric-field controlled spintronic devices.     

Electrostatic potential: A new approach for some mixed boundary value problems

A new approach to the solution of problems of electrostatics, some of them with mixed boundary conditions, is presented. The proposed scheme can be used in cases were we have a formal solution in the form of a series in Legendre polynomials and the boundary or matching conditions are given not on the whole interval (0, π) of the polar variable, θ, but only over the interval (0, π/2) or (π/2, π). Truncation of the series after the Nth term and the projection on the subspace generated by the set of the first N even (or odd) Legendre polynomials allows us to determine the unknown coefficients of the approximate solution. The results show rapid convergence toward the exact values as we increase the number of terms, N, included in the approximate solutions. The procedure allows to solve approximately some problems whose exact solutions, we believe, are not yet known.     

Copper‐Catalyzed Enantioselective Allylboration of Alkynes: Synthesis of Highly Versatile Multifunctional Building Blocks

The first copper‐catalyzed enantioselective allylboration of alkynes is reported. The method employs a multitasking chiral NHC‐Cu catalyst and provides access to densely functionalized molecules from simple starting materials with excellent levels of chemo‐, regio‐, and enantioselectivity. These multifunctional products display highly versatile reactivity as shown by the synthesis of a variety of non‐racemic molecular scaffolds. DFT calculations were conducted to gain insight into the high selectivity levels of this catalytic process.     

Hydration mechanisms of supersulfated cement

Considerable attention has been given to special cements, capable of reducing CO₂ emissions, energy and limestone consumption. Supersulfated cements are made of blast furnace slag (GBFS), calcium sulfate (CS), and small quantities of activator, but achieving their optimal proportions is complex. In this paper, the effects of the both CS and alkali activator (KOH) contents were studied. The main results showed that the compressive strength, heat of hydration, and consumption of anhydrite phase were strongly influenced by the alkaline content, while low calcium sulfate or alkaline content increased the formation of CSH. The instability of ettringite was verified: with low CS, the probable hypothesis was its conversion into monosulfate due to the scarcity of sulfate; with high CS, it was associated with intense, rapid consumption of anhydrite with high KOH content, followed by the precipitation of ettringite on the surface of slag grains and its conversion into monosulfate.     

5α‐Androst‐3‐en‐17‐one oxime

The title compound, C₁₉H₂₉NO, is a C17‐oxime derivative of a potent aromatase inhibitor, which surprisingly has been found to have no inhibitory power. It crystallizes with two independent molecules in the asymmetric unit. C=N—O—H...N hydrogen bonds link pairs of molecules to form dimers almost parallel to the bc plane. Cohesion of the structure is also due to another three C—H...O hydrogen bonds directed along the a axis. This hydrogen‐bonding scheme can be correlated to the almost complete loss of inhibitory power of the title compound.     

Straightforward synthesis of thiodisaccharides by ring-opening of sugar epoxides

3,4-Anhydro hexopyranosides have been prepared by diastereoselective epoxidation of derivatives of 2-propyl 3,4-dideoxy-alpha-D-erythro-hex-3-enopyranoside (5), selectively protected at HO-2 and HO-6. The allylic group at C-2, in 5 and derivatives, plays a critical role in the facial selectivity of the epoxidation reaction. Thus, the free HO-2 in 3 (the 6-O-acetyl derivative of 5) directs the attack of m-chloroperbenzoic acid from the more hindered alpha face of the molecule to give 2-propyl 6-O-acetyl-3,4-anhydro-alpha-D-allopyranoside (7) accompanied by the beta epoxide 6 as a very minor product. Reverse diastereoselectivity has been obtained when the HO-2 in 3 was substituted by a bulky tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) group. In this case, the major isomer was the 2-O-TBS derivative of 6 (alpha-D-galacto configuration). The ring-opening of sugar epoxides by nucleophilic per-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranose (11) was employed as a convenient approach to the synthesis of (1-->3)- and (1-->4)-thiodisaccharides. For example, ring-opening of the oxirane 7 by 11 led to the expected regioisomeric per-O-acetyl thiodisaccharides beta-D-Glc-S-(1-->3)-4-thio-alpha-D-Glc-O-iPr (12) and beta-D-Glc-S-(1-->4)-4-thio-alpha-D-Gul-O-iPr (13). Regioselectivity in the construction of the (1-->4)-thioglycosidic linkage could be achieved by hindering C-3 of the 3,4-anhydro sugar with a bulky silyloxy group at the vicinal C-2. For instance, coupling of the 2-O-TBS derivative of 7 with 11 led regioselectively to the protected thiodisaccharide beta-D-Glc-S-(1-->4)-4-thio-alpha-D-Glc-O-iPr (27). The utility of the approach was demonstrated through the synthesis of sulfur-linked analogues of naturally occurring (laminarabiose and cellobiose) and non-natural disaccharides (i.e., beta-D-Glc-(1-->4)-alpha-D-Gul).     

Synthesis, structural characterization, and antiinflammatory activity of triethylphosphinegold(I) sulfanylpropenoates of the type [(AuPEt3)2xspa] [H2xspa = 3-(aryl)-2-sulfanylpropenoic acid]: an (H2O)6 cluster in the lattice of the complexes [(AuPEt3)2xspa] x 3 H2O

Gold complexes of the type [(AuPEt3)2xspa] were prepared by reacting AuPEt3Cl in basic media with the 3-(aryl)-2-sulfanylpropenoic acids H2xspa [x = p, Clp, -o-mp, -p-mp, -o-hp, -p-hp, diBr-o-hp, f, t, -o-py; p = 3-phenyl, Clp = 3-(2-chlorophenyl)-, -o-mp = 3-(2-methoxyphenyl)-, -p-mp = 3-(4-methoxyphenyl)-, -o-hp = 3-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-, -p-hp = 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-, diBr-o-hp = 3-(3,5- dibromo-2-hydroxyphenyl)-, f = 3-(2-furyl)-, t = 3-(2-thienyl)-, -o-py = 3-(2-pyridyl); spa = 2-sulfanylpropenoato], and 2-cyclopentylidene-2-sulfanylacetic acid (H2cpa). The complexes were characterized by spectroscopic methods (IR, (1)H, (13)C and (31)P NMR) and mass spectrometry, and the complexes [(AuPEt3)2pspa] x 3 H2O, [(AuPEt3)2-p-hpspa] x 3 H2O, [(AuPEt3)2tspa)] x 3 H2O, and [(AuPEt3)2-o-hpspa] by X-ray diffractometry. The crystals of the first three complexes contain (H2O)6 clusters hydrogen bonded to [(AuPEt3)2xspa]2 dimer units, whereas in the -o-hpspa derivative the hydrogen bonds are between the monomer [(AuPEt3)2-o-hpspa] units. The antiinflammatory activity of the complexes against plantar edema induced by carrageenan in rats is generally significant, with the values for the o-hpspa and tspa derivatives being particularly high.