Cellulose dimethylphenylcarbamate-bonded carbon-clad zirconia for chiral separation in high performance liquid chromatography.

Porous zirconia particles are very robust material and have received considerable attention as a stationary phase support for HPLC. We prepared cellulose dimethylphenylcarbamate-bonded carbon-clad zirconia (CDMPCCZ) as a chiral stationary phase (CSP) for separation of enantiomers of a set of 14 racemic compounds in normal phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) liquid chromatography. Retention and enantioselectivity on CDMPCCZ were compared to those on CDMPC-coated zirconia (CDMPCZ) to see how the change in immobilization method of the chiral selector affects the retention and chiral selectivity. In NPLC, retention was longer and the number of resolved racemates was smaller on CDMPCCZ than on CDMPCZ. However, chiral selectivity factors for some resolved racemates were better on CDMPCCZ than on CDMPCZ. The longer retention on CDMPCCZ is likely due to strong, non-chiral discriminating interactions with the carbon layer on CDMPCZ. In RPLC only two racemates were resolved on CDMPCCZ, but retention times were shorter than, and resolutions were comparable to, those in NPLC, indicating a potential for improving chromatographic performance of the CDMPCCZ column in RPLC with optimized column preparation and separation conditions.     

Pyrolysis chemical ionization mass spectrometry of cellulose ethers

Pyrolysis ammonia chemical ionization (PyCI) mass spectrometry was performed on hy-droxyethyl-, hydroxypropyl-,methyl-, hydroxypropylmethyl-, and ethylhydroxyethyl cel-luloses. The mass peaks in the PyCI mass spectra of these cellulose ethers could be assigned to the ions of pyrolytic dissociation products which form via the [2 + 2 + 2] cycloreversion and the E_i elimination pyrolysis pathway. Structural information about the residual amount of nonderivatized cellulose, the relative chain length distributions of the substituents in hydroxyalkyl celluloses, and the end-capping of hydroxyalkyl substituents by alkyl groups in the mixed cellulose ethers is obtained. Interference of secondary pyrolysis products in the PyCI mass spectra is found to be of minor importance, especially in the lower mass regions. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Scanning mirror on a vibrating membrane for dynamic optical trapping

A study of the variation of the spectral shape and the harmonic distribution of the high-order harmonics generated from silver plasma on the frequency chirp of the driving laser radiation (793 nm 48 fs) is reported. The results of the systematic study of the harmonic generation from the 21st order up to the 61st order (λ=13 nm) are presented. A tuning of the harmonic wavelength up to 0.8 nm can be accomplished by variation of the laser chirp. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.79.Nv; 52.38.Mf     

Multiferroic TbMnO3 nanoparticles

We report on the synthesis of TbMnO₃ nanoparticles by chemical co-precipitation route and their structural, chemical bonding, magnetic and dielectric properties. It is shown that the interesting multiferroic properties of this system as reflected by the concurrent occurrence of magnetic and dielectric transitions are retained in the nanoparticles (size∼40 nm). However, the nanoparticle constitution and properties are seen to depend significantly on the calcination temperature. While the nanoparticles obtained by calcination at 800 °C correspond very well with the reported properties of single phase TbMnO₃ (all the key magnetic and dielectric features near 7, 27 and 41 K, albeit with reduced dielectric constant) the nanoparticles obtained by calcination at 900 °C develop a Tb deficient skin which softens the transitions, reducing the dielectric constant further.     

Analytical pyrolysis of carbohydrates: I. Chemical interpretation of matrix influences on pyrolysis-mass spectra of amylose using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Inorganic additives, viz. Na₂CO₃, NaOH, HCl, ZnC₂, NaH₂PO₄, Na₂HPO₄, NaCl. MgSO₄ and sea salt, to the pyrolysis matrix change the pyrolysis-mass spectrum of amylose significantly. Carbonyl compounds, acids and their lactones, furans, pyranones anhydrosugars and aromatic substances are found in different ratios under the various conditions, as determined by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS).Carbonyl compounds, acids and lactones are released from alkaline and neutral matrices. Furans and anhydrohexoses are particularly formed under neutral and acidic conditions. Pyranones are specific for phosphate matrices. Unsaturated hydrocarbons and aromatic substances arise from strongly alkaline or dehydrating matrices. Degradation pathways are proposed for various compound categories.The results of pyrolysis-mass spectrometry and Py-GC-MS are highly compatible.     

Syntheses and spectroscopic properties of energy transfer systems based on squaraines

The purpose of this project was to prepare fluorescent dyes that could absorb energy at relatively short wavelengths, and fluoresce in the near-IR region. To achieve this, copper- and palladium-mediated C-N couplings were used to prepare the ‘cassettes’, i.e the carbazole derivative 3b and the carbazole-, phenothiazine-, and phenoazine-squaraines 4b-d. These compounds have carbazole, phenothiazine, and phenoazine donor-components that absorb around about 300-320 nm, and squaraine acceptor-parts that fluoresce in the range 650-700 nm. The efficiencies of energy transfer from the donor to the acceptor, and the overall quantum yields of the cassettes were determined.     

Dynamical systems theory for music dynamics

We show that, when music pieces are cast in the form of time series of pitch variations, the concepts and tools of dynamical systems theory can be applied to the analysis of temporal dynamics in music. (i) Phase space portraits are constructed from the time series wherefrom the dimensionality is evaluated as a measure of the global dynamics of each piece. (ii) Spectral analysis of the time series yields power spectra ( approximately f(-nu)) close to red noise (nu approximately 2) in the low frequency range. (iii) We define an information entropy which provides a measure of the local dynamics in the musical piece; the entropy can be interpreted as an evaluation of the degree of complexity in the music, but there is no evidence of an analytical relation between local and global dynamics. These findings are based on computations performed on eighty sequences sampled in the music literature from the 18th to the 20th century. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.