An efficient quasi-Newton method for two-dimensional steady free surface flow

Steady free surface flows are of interest in the fields of marine and hydraulic engineering. Fitting methods are generally used to represent the free surface position with a deforming grid. Existing fitting methods tend to use time-stepping schemes, which is inefficient for steady flows. There also exists a steady iterative method, but that one needs to be implemented with a dedicated solver. Therefore a new method is proposed to efficiently simulate two-dimensional (2D) steady free surface flows, suitable for use in conjunction with black-box flow solvers. The free surface position is calculated with a quasi-Newton method, where the approximate Jacobian is constructed in a novel way by combining data from past iterations with an analytical model based on a perturbation analysis of a potential flow. The method is tested on two 2D cases: the flow over a bottom topography and the flow over a hydrofoil. For all simulations the new method converges exponentially and in few iterations. Furthermore, convergence is independent of the free surface mesh size for all tests.     

Base-free anaerobic Cu(II) catalysed aryl-nitrogen bond formations

The coupling of arylboronic acids with imidazole in the presence of binuclear bis-μ-hydroxy copper(II) complexes is reported. The reactions can be performed in air as well as under nitrogen atmosphere. Reactions are carried out at ambient temperature without the need for base. The presence of water is essential for the reaction to proceed. Ligand effects on the yield and selectivity are reported.     

Interpolation problems,extensions of symmetric operators and reproducing kernel spaces II

By an oversight on the part of the authors this section was not included in the paper previously published in Integral Equations Operator Theory, volume 14/4 (1991), 466–500. Present address:Department of Mathematics Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheva Israel     

Synthesis and conformational analysis of 1-[2,4-dideoxy-4-C-hydroxymethyl-alpha-l-lyxopyranosyl]thymine

Previously different types of nucleosides with a six-membered carbohydrate moiety have been evaluated for their potential antiviral and antibiotic properties and as building blocks in nucleic acid synthesis. However, a pyranose nucleoside with a 1,4-substitution pattern like 1-[2,4-dideoxy-4-C-hydroxymethyl-alpha-l-lyxopyranosyl]thymine (4) has not been studied yet. Modeling suggested that this nucleoside would show the (4)C(1) conformation in contrast to anhydrohexitol nucleosides (1) whose most stable conformation is (1)C(4). The key to the synthesis of 4 involves the stereoselective introduction of the hydroxymethyl group onto the C-4 carbon of the pyranose sugar. Attempts to achieve this via hydroboration/oxidation of a C-4'-exocyclic vinylic intermediate selectively yielded the undesired alpha-directed hydroxymethyl group. Therefore, we envisaged another approach in which the C-4 substituent was introduced upon treatment of 2,3-O-isopropylidene-1-O-methyl-4-O-phenoxythiocarbonyl-alpha-l-lyxopyranose with beta-tributylstannyl styrene. This allowed stereoselective beta-directed introduction of a 2-phenylethenyl group at C-4, which was converted via oxidation/reduction (OsO(4), NaIO(4)/NaBH(4)) into the desired 4-hydroxymethyl group (20). The resulting 1-O-methyl-2,3,6-tri-O-acetyl-protected sugar was coupled with silylated thymine, using SnCl(2) as Lewis acid (22). After suitable protection, Barton deoxygenation of the 2'-hydroxyl function of the obtained ribo-nucleoside yielded the desired 2'-deoxynucleoside 4, indeed showing the expected equatorial orientation of the thymine ring ((4)C(1)).     

Remarkable solvent-dependent excited-state chirality: a molecular modulator of circularly polarized luminescence

The photochemical control of ground- and excited-state chirality of (M)-cis-(1) and (P)-trans-(2)-2-nitro-7-(dimethylamino)-9-(2',3'-dihydro-1'H-naphtho[2,1-b]-thiopyran-1'-ylidene)-9H-thioxanthene is described. It is shown that while ground state chirality can be controlled photochemically by irradiation with light of different wavelengths, the excited state chirality can be tuned either photochemically in a similar way or by appropriate choice of solvent. In benzene solution, circularly polarized luminescence of the two isomers with opposite ground-state helicity, (M)-cis-1 and (P)-trans-2, revealed corresponding excited states of opposite helicity. On the contrary, in n-hexane solution, circularly polarized luminescence was identical for the two forms indicating identical excited state chirality. Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL), steady-state and time-dependent fluorescence, and time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) measurements in both n-hexane and benzene are reported, which provide an explanation for the remarkable solvent dependence of excited-state chirality.     

ICP-AES versus (LA-)IPC-MS: Competition or a happy marriage? – A view supported by current data

An assessment of the practical implementation of several spectroscopic analysis methods in the analytical service department of the reserach laboratory of a large electronic industry is provided. The emphasis is on inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The evolution of these methods in the department in recent years and their present position in the light of the analysis requests is introductory discussed. A “preview” assessment of the methods in terms of their strong and weak points then forms the basis for a subsequent discussion in which representative examples are used to illustrate in detail why in a particular situation a particular method is applied as the preferred one. It is concluded that ICP-AES is the most rugged and flexible, and therefore the most often applied method, while ICP-MS is uniquely suitable for ultra-trace and survey analysis of solutions and LA-ICP-MS is uniquely suitable for direct solids and local analysis. The ultimate conclusion is that neither of the three methods alone can answer all the analytical questions: they supplement and complement each other, and may even require supplementation by classical analytical methods.