XPS spectra of some transition metal and alkaline earth monochalcogenides

The first-row transition-metal monosulfides and alkaline-earth chalcogenides were studied by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is shown that the bonding in the alkaline earth compounds is relatively ionic with XPS evidence for significant charge separation. On the other hand, transition metal sulfides, with the exception of MnS, appear to be principally metallic with little or no charge separation. Values for the inner orbital binding energy shifts are reported for a large number of monochalcogenides.     

Asymmetric Transfer Hydrogenation of gem-Difluorocyclopropenyl Esters: Access to Enantioenriched gem-Difluorocyclopropanes

Catalytic enantioselective access to disubstituted functionalized gem-difluorocyclopropanes, which are emerging fluorinated motifs of interest in medicinal chemistry, was achieved through asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of gem-difluorocyclopropenyl esters, catalyzed by a Noyori–Ikariya (p-cymene)-ruthenium(II) complex, with (N-tosyl-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine) as the chiral ligand and isopropanol as the hydrogen donor. The resulting cis-gem-difluorocyclopropyl esters were obtained with moderate to high enantioselectivity (ee=66–99 %), and post-functionalization reactions enable access to valuable building blocks incorporating a cis- or trans-gem-difluorocyclopropyl motif.     

On-line renewable solid-phase extraction hyphenated to liquid chromatography for the determination of UV filters using bead injection and multisyringe-lab-on-valve approach

For the first time, an automatic sample pre-treatment/detection method is proposed for the multiclass determination of UV filters (namely, benzophenone-3, ethylhexylmetoxycinnamate, butylmethoxydibenzoylmethane and homosalate) in environmental samples. The new methodology comprises in-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) of the target analytes by exploiting the bead injection (BI) concept in a mesofluidic lab-on-valve (LOV) format, with subsequent determination by liquid chromatography (LC). The proposed microanalytical system, using a multisyringe burette as propulsion unit, automatically performed the overall SPE steps, including the renewal of the sorbent in each analytical cycle to prevent sample cross-contamination and the post-extraction adjustment of the eluate composition to prevent chromatographic band broadening effects. In order to expedite the LC separation, a C₁₈ monolithic column was applied and an accelerated isocratic elution was carried out by using a cationic surfactant as mobile phase additive. The LOV-BI-LC method was proven reliable for handling and analysis of complex matrices, e.g., spiked swimming pool water and seawater, with limits of detection ranging between 0.45 and 3.2 μg L⁻¹ for 9 mL sample volume. Linear calibration was attained up to 160 μg L⁻¹ for homosalate and up to 35 μg L⁻¹ for the other target analytes, with good reproducibility (RSD < 13%, for 5 different SPE columns). The hyphenated scheme is able to process a given sample simultaneously and within the same time frame than the chromatographic separation/determination of the formerly pre-treated sample, providing concentration values every 9 min. Hence, the sample throughput was enhanced up to 33 times when compared with previously reported off-line SPE methods. A drastic reduction in reagent consumption and effluent production was also attained, contributing to the development of an environment-friendly analyzer.     

Fixed point free involutions on Riemann surfaces

In this paper, involutions without fixed points on hyperbolic closed Riemann surface are discussed. For an orientable surface X of even genus with an arbitrary Riemannian metric d admitting an involution τ, it is known that min _p∈X d(p, τ(p)) is bounded by a constant which depends on the area of X. The corresponding claim is proved to be false in odd genus, and the optimal constant for hyperbolic Riemann surfaces is calculated in genus 2. The author was supported in part by the Swiss National Science Foundation grants 20-68181.02 and PBEL2-106180.     

Trace-matrix separations for high-purity chromium,molybdenum and tungsten with cellulose collectors

Trace metals (20 elements) in high-purity chromium, molybdenum and tungsten are collected and preconcentrated by precipitation and adsorption on cellulose collectors. The compound methods allow the application of AAS and ICP-AES as determination methods for the production control of highly pure refractory metals under routine conditions.Presented in part at the 1989 European Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry, Reutte, Austria     

A family of rotating disks as sources of the Kerr metric

A method of constructing a family of regular rotating disks as sources of the Kerr metric is discussed. The algebraic type of the energy-momentum tensor is analyzed, and it is found that none of the disks satisfies the dominant energy condition and, in some cases, even the weak energy condition is violated. Therefore, if the constructed family includes the totality of sources for the Kerr metric with a disk-like topology, then any physically satisfactory source will not have a disk structure.     

An algorithm for the global volume conservation constraint in lake circulation

We present an algorithm for introducing a global constraint of volume conservation in lake circulation problems. The algorithm is described for linear problems, and is then generalized to non-linear cases. Numerical examples are presented to show the influence of water-level conditions on convergence and to demonstrate the practical superiority of the global constraint algorithm for obtaining reliable convergent solutions.