Release of nitrosating species in the course of reduction of benzo-1,2,3,4-tetrazine 1,3-dioxides

[reaction: see text] The reduction of benzo-1,2,3,4-tetrazine 1,3-dioxides (BTDOs) 1 with Na(2)S(2)O(4) or SnCl(2) is suggested to proceed via intermediate N-nitrosobenzotriazoles 3 to afford benzotriazoles 2. The (15)N-labeling experiments exhibit that the N-3 atom of the tetrazine ring is incorporated into the nitroso group of 3 that is ultimately released into solution. It is possible that the biological activity of BTDOs is due to their ability to release nitrosating species, i.e., N-nitrosotriazol 3 or HNO(2), in the course of reduction.     

Generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation for dispersive susceptibility and permeability: application to negative index materials

A new generalized nonlinear Schr?dinger equation describing the propagation of ultrashort pulses in bulk media exhibiting frequency dependent dielectric susceptibility and magnetic permeability is derived and used to characterize wave propagation in a negative index material. The equation has new features that are distinct from ordinary materials (mu=1): the linear and nonlinear coefficients can be tailored through the linear properties of the medium to attain any combination of signs unachievable in ordinary matter, with significant potential to realize a wide class of solitary waves.     

Lorentz violation in supersymmetric field theories

We construct supersymmetric Lorentz violating operators for matter and gauge fields. We show that in the supersymmetric standard model the lowest possible dimension for such operators is five, and therefore they are suppressed by at least one power of an ultraviolet energy scale, providing a possible explanation for the smallness of Lorentz violation and its stability against radiative corrections. Supersymmetric Lorentz noninvariant operators do not lead to modifications of dispersion relations at high energies thereby escaping constraints from astrophysical searches for Lorentz violation.     

Halide-induced supramolecular ligand rearrangement

A novel reaction involving the halide-induced rearrangement of ligands within supramolecular Rh(I) complexes containing hemilabile ligands is presented. Three analogous bis- and trishemilabile ligands have been synthesized to construct bi- and trimetallic Rh(I) macrocyclic complexes. An intentionally added halide source results in the formal rotation of only one hemilabile ligand along the axis that is perpendicular to the plane defined by the aryl backbone of the hemilabile ligands. X-ray structures, as determined by X-ray crystallography, of key intermediates and products are presented.     

High-dimensional model representations generated from low order terms--lp-RS-HDMR

High-dimensional model representation (HDMR) is a general set of quantitative model assessment and analysis tools for improving the efficiency of deducing high dimensional input-output system behavior. RS-HDMR is a particular form of HDMR based on random sampling (RS) of the input variables. The component functions in an HDMR expansion are optimal choices tailored to the n-variate function f(x) being represented over the desired domain of the n-dimensional vector x. The high-order terms (usually larger than second order, or equivalently beyond cooperativity between pairs of variables) in the expansion are often negligible. When it is necessary to go beyond the first and the second order RS-HDMR, this article introduces a modified low-order term product (lp)-RS-HDMR method to approximately represent the high-order RS-HDMR component functions as products of low-order functions. Using this method the high-order truncated RS-HDMR expansions may be constructed without directly computing the original high-order terms. The mathematical foundations of lp-RS-HDMR are presented along with an illustration of its utility in an atmospheric chemical kinetics model.     

On a single discrete scale for preventive maintenance with two shock processes affecting a complex system

A new approach to optimal maintenance of systems (networks) is suggested. It is applied to systems subject to two external independent shock processes. A system ‘consists’ of two parts, and each shock process affects only its own part. A new notion of bivariate signature is suggested and used for obtaining survival characteristics of a system and further optimization of the preventive maintenance actions. The preventive maintenance optimization is considered in the univariate discrete scale that counts the overall numbers of shocks of both types. An example of a transportation network is considered. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Spiro-Cyclohexane Substitution of Nitroxyl Biradicals on Dynamic Nuclear Polarization

Spiro-substituted nitroxyl biradicals are widely used as reagents for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), which is especially important for biopolymer research. The main criterion for their applicability as polarizing agents is the value of the spin–spin exchange interaction parameter (J), which can vary considerably when different couplers are employed that link the radical moieties. This paper describes a study on biradicals, with a ferrocene-1,1′-diyl-substituted 1,3-diazetidine-2,4-diimine coupler, that have never been used before as DNP agents. We observed a substantial difference in the temperature dependence between Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectra of biradicals carrying either methyl or spirocyclohexane substituents and explain the difference using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation results. It was shown that the replacement of methyl groups by spirocycles near the N-O group leads to an increase in the contribution of conformers having J ≈ 0. The DNP gain observed for the biradicals with methyl substituents is three times higher than that for the spiro-substituted nitroxyl biradicals and is inversely proportional to the contribution of biradicals manifesting the negligible exchange interaction. The effects of nucleophiles and substituents in the nitroxide biradicals on the ring-opening reaction of 1,3-diazetidine and the influence of the ring opening on the exchange interaction were also investigated. It was found that in contrast to the methyl-substituted nitroxide biradical (where we observed the ring-opening reaction upon the addition of amines), the ring opening does not occur in the spiro-substituted biradical owing to a steric barrier created by the bulky cyclohexyl substituents.     

Synthesis and structures of Mo3Se7Te2Br10, Mo3Se7TeI6, and Mo6Te21I22 containing TeX3- (X=Br, I) ligands coordinated to a triangular cluster core

New ternary and quaternary molybdenum cluster chalcohalides were obtained by high-temperature reactions between Mo, chalcogens, and halogens in evacuated ampules. The crystal structures of [Mo3Se7(TeBr3)Br2]2[Te2Br10] (1), [Mo3Se7(TeI3)I2]I (2), and [Mo3Te7(TeI3)3]2(I)(TeI3) (3) were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structures of 1 and 2 consist of positively charged zigzag chains infinity1 [Mo3Se7(TeX3)X4/2] (X=Br, I), with Te2Br102- and I-, respectively, as counterions. The TeI3- and TeBr3- ions function as bidentate ligands in 1 and 2. In 3, TeI3- is not coordinated to the metal but acts as a counterion to the [Mo3Te7(TeI3)3]+ cluster cation.     

Effect of Laser-Induced Optical Breakdown on the Structure of Bsa Molecules in Aqueous Solutions: An Optical Study

The influence of laser radiation of a typical surgical laser on the physicochemical properties of the Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) protein was studied. It was established that the physicochemical characteristics of optical breakdown weakly depend on the concentration of protein molecules. At the same time, the patterns observed for an aqueous solution of BSA irradiated with a laser for different time periods were extremely similar to the classical ones. It was established that after exposure to laser radiation, the optical density of protein solutions increases. At the same time, the intensity of BSA fluorescence due to aromatic amino acid residues decreases insignificantly after exposure to laser radiation. In this case, the position of the excitation and emission maximum does not change, and the shape of the fluorescence spot on 3D maps also does not change significantly. On the Raman spectrum after exposure to laser radiation, a significant decrease in 1570 cm⁻¹ was observed, which indicates the degradation of α-helices and, as a result, partial denaturation of BSA molecules. Partial denaturation did not significantly change the total area of protein molecules, since the refractive index of solutions did not change significantly. However, in BSA solutions, after exposure to laser radiation, the viscosity increased, and the pseudoplasticity of aqueous solutions decreased. In this case, there was no massive damage to the polypeptide chain; on the contrary, when exposed to optical breakdown, intense aggregation was observed, while aggregates with a size of 400 nm or more appeared in the solution. Thus, under the action of optical breakdown induced by laser radiation in a BSA solution, the processes of partial denaturation and aggregation prevail, aromatic amino acid residues are damaged to a lesser extent, and fragmentation of protein molecules is not observed.     

Large‐acceptance diamond planar refractive lenses manufactured by laser cutting

For the first time, single‐crystal diamond planar refractive lenses have been fabricated by laser micromachining in 300 µm‐thick diamond plates which were grown by chemical vapour deposition. Linear lenses with apertures up to 1 mm and parabola apex radii up to 500 µm were manufactured and tested at the ESRF ID06 beamline. The large acceptance of these lenses allows them to be used as beam‐conditioning elements. Owing to the unsurpassed thermal properties of single‐crystal diamond, these lenses should be suitable to withstand the extreme flux densities expected at the planned fourth‐generation X‐ray sources.