Planar Iron Hydride Nanoclusters: Combined Spectroscopic and Theoretical Insights into Structures and Building Principles

The controlled assembly of well-defined planar nanoclusters from molecular precursors is synthetically challenging and often plagued by the predominant formation of 3D-structures and nanoparticles. Herein, we report planar iron hydride nanoclusters from reactions of main group element hydrides with iron(II) bis(hexamethyldisilazide). The structures and properties of isolated Fe₄, Fe₆, and Fe₇ nanoplatelets and calculated intermediates enable an unprecedented insight into the underlying building principle and growth mechanism of iron clusters, metal monolayers, and nanoparticles.     

Characterization of Functional Groups in Estuarine Dissolved Organic Matter by DNP-enhanced 15N and 13C Solid-State NMR

Estuaries are key ecosystems with unique biodiversity and are of high economic importance. Along the estuaries, variations in environmental parameters, such as salinity and light penetration, can modify the characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM). Nevertheless, there is still limited information about the atomic-level transformations of DOM in this ecosystem. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy provides unique insights into the nature of functional groups in DOM. A major limitation of this technique is its lack of sensivity, which results in experimental time of tens of hours for the acquisition of ¹³C NMR spectra and generally precludes the observation of ¹⁵N nuclei for DOM. We show here how the sensitivity of solid-state NMR experiments on DOM of Seine estuary can be enhanced using dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) under magic-angle spinning. This technique allows the acquisition of ¹³C NMR spectra of these samples in few minutes, instead of hours for conventional solid-state NMR. Both conventional and DNP-enhanced ¹³C NMR spectra indicate that the ¹³C local environments in DOM are not strongly modified along the Seine estuary. Furthermore, the sensitivity gain provided by the DNP allows the detection of ¹⁵N NMR signal of DOM, in spite of the low nitrogen content. These spectra reveal that the majority of nitrogen is in the amide form in these DOM samples and show an increased disorder around these amide groups near the mouth of the Seine.     

Quantum theory of cavity-assisted sideband cooling of mechanical motion

We present a quantum-mechanical theory of the cooling of a cantilever coupled via radiation pressure to an illuminated optical cavity. Applying the quantum noise approach to the fluctuations of the radiation pressure force, we derive the optomechanical cooling rate and the minimum achievable phonon number. We find that reaching the quantum limit of arbitrarily small phonon numbers requires going into the good-cavity (resolved phonon sideband) regime where the cavity linewidth is much smaller than the mechanical frequency and the corresponding cavity detuning. This is in contrast to the common assumption that the mechanical frequency and the cavity detuning should be comparable to the cavity damping.     

High resolution spectroscopy of (lambda)(12)B by electroproduction

An experiment measuring electroproduction of hypernuclei has been performed in hall A at Jefferson Lab on a 12C target. In order to increase counting rates and provide unambiguous kaon identification two superconducting septum magnets and a ring imaging Cherenkov detector were added to the hall A standard equipment. An unprecedented energy resolution of less than 700 keV FWHM has been achieved. Thus, the observed (Lambda)(12)B spectrum shows for the first time identifiable strength in the core-excited region between the ground-state s-wave Lambda peak and the 11 MeV p-wave Lambda peak.     

Automated and rapid online determination of 15N abundance and concentration of ammonium, nitrite, or nitrate in aqueous samples by the SPINMAS technique

On the basis of the principle of reaction continuous-flow quadrupole mass spectrometry, an automated sample preparation unit for inorganic nitrogen (SPIN) species was developed and coupled to a quadrupole Mass Spectrometer (MAS). The SPINMAS technique was designed for an automated, sensitive, and rapid determination of 15N abundance and concentration of a wide variety of N-species involved in nitrogen cycling (e.g. NH4+, NO3-, NH2OH etc.). In this paper, the SPINMAS technique is evaluated with regard to the determination of 15N abundance and concentration of the most fundamental inorganic nitrogen compounds in ecosystems such as NH4+, NO2-, and NO3-. The presented paper describes the newly developed system in detail and demonstrates the general applicability of the system. For a precise determination of 15N abundance and concentration, a minimum total N-amount of 10 microg NH4+ - N, 0.03 microg NO2- - N, or 0.3 microg NO3- - N has to be supplied. Currently, the SPINMAS technique represents the most rapid and only fully automated all-round method for a simultaneous determination of 15N abundance and total N-amount of NH4+, NO2-, or NO3- in aqueous samples.     

Total Synthesis and Bioactivity Mapping of Geodiamolide H

The first total synthesis of the actin-stabilizing marine natural product geodiamolide H was achieved. Solid-phase based peptide assembly paired with scalable stereoselective syntheses of polyketide building blocks and an optimized esterification set the stage for investigating the key ring-closing metathesis. Geodiamolide H and synthetic analogues were characterized for their toxicity and for antiproliferative effects in cellulo, by characterising actin polymerization induction in vitro, and by docking on the F-actin target and property computation in silico, for a better understanding of structure-activity relationships (SAR). A non-natural analogue of geodiamolide H was discovered to be most potent in the series, suggesting significant potential for tool compound design.     

Highly Emissive 9-Borafluorene Derivatives: Synthesis,Photophysical Properties and Device Fabrication

A series of 9-borafluorene derivatives, functionalised with electron-donating groups, have been prepared. Some of these 9-borafluorene compounds exhibit strong yellowish emission in solution and in the solid state with relatively high quantum yields (up to 73.6 % for FMesB-Cz as a neat film). The results suggest that the highly twisted donor groups suppress charge transfer, but the intrinsic photophysical properties of the 9-borafluorene systems remain. The new compounds showed enhanced stability towards the atmosphere, and exhibited excellent thermal stability, revealing their potential for application in materials science. Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) devices were fabricated with two of the highly emissive compounds, and they exhibited strong yellow-greenish electroluminescence, with a maximum luminance intensity of >22 000 cd m⁻². These are the first two examples of 9-borafluorene derivatives being used as light-emitting materials in OLED devices, and they have enabled us to achieve a balance between maintaining their intrinsic properties while improving their stability.     

Stage-I fatigue crack studies in order to validate the dislocation-free zone model of fracture for bulk materials

Stage-I fatigue cracks are commonly described by the model of Bilby, Cottrell and Swinden (BCS model). However, since several experimental investigations have shown a dislocation-free zone (DFZ) in front of crack-tips, it is necessary to validate the new DFZ model and to examine the deviations to the BCS model. Therefore, the dislocation density distribution is derived from height profiles of slip lines in front of stage-I fatigue cracks in CMSX4® single crystals measured by contact-mode atomic force microscopy. This is possible, because the cracks are initiated at notches milled by focused ion beam technique directly on slip planes with a high Schmid factor. Consequently, the directions of the Burgers vectors are well known; it is possible to calculate the dislocation density distributions from the height profiles. The measured distributions are compared to the calculated distribution function of the DFZ model proposed by Chang et al. The additionally measured microscopic friction stress of the dislocations is then used to calculate the influence of grain boundaries on the dislocation density distribution in front of stage-I cracks. The calculation is done by the extended DFZ model of Shiue et al. and compared with the measured distribution function in polycrystalline specimens. Finally, the crack-tip sliding displacement as a measure for the crack propagation rate is compared for the DFZ model and the BCS model with the experimentally revealed values. The important result: the often used BCS model does not reflect the experimental measurements. On the contrary, the DFZ model reflects the measurements at stage-I cracks qualitatively and quantitatively.