Domain wall motion in perpendicular anisotropy nanowires with edge roughness

We study field-driven domain wall (DW) motion in nanowires with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy using finite element micromagnetic simulations. Edge roughness is introduced by deforming the finite element mesh, and we vary the correlation length and magnitude of the roughness deformation separately. We observe the Walker breakdown both with and without roughness, with steady DW motion for applied fields below the critical Walker field H(c), and oscillatory motion for larger fields. The value of H(c) is not altered in the presence of roughness. The edge roughness introduces a depinning field. During the transient process of depinning, from the initial configuration to steady DW motion, the DW velocity is significantly reduced in comparison to that for a wire without roughness. The asymptotic DW velocity, on the other hand, is virtually unaffected by the roughness, even though the magnetization reacts to the edge distortions during the entire course of motion, both above and below the Walker breakdown. A moving DW can become pinned again at some later point ('dynamic pinning'). Dynamic pinning is a stochastic process and is observed both for small fields below H(c) and for fields of any strength above H(c). In the latter case, where the DW shows oscillatory motion and the magnetization in the DW rotates in the film plane, pinning can only occur at positions where the DW reverses direction and the instantaneous velocity is zero, i.e., at the beginning or in the middle of a positional oscillation cycle. In our simulations pinning was only observed at the beginnings of cycles, where the magnetization is pointing along the wire. The depinning field depends linearly on the magnitude of the edge roughness. The strongest pinning fields are observed for roughness correlation lengths that match the domain wall width.     

Near field guided chemical nanopatterning

This article demonstrates the possibility of creating well-defined and functional surface chemical nanopatterns using the optical near field of metal nanostructures and a photosensitive organic layer. The intensity distribution of the near field controlled the site and the extent of the photochemical reaction at the surface. The resulting pattern was used to guide the controlled assembly of colloids with a complementary surface functionality onto the substrate. Gold colloids of 20 nm diameter were covalently bound to the activated nanosites and proved the functionality of the suboptical wavelength structures and enabled direct visualization by means of electron microscopy. Our results prove, for the first time, the possibility of using optical near field to perform chemical reactions and assembly at the nanoscale.     

Metal-Free Intermolecular C−H Borylation of N-Heterocycles at B−B Multiple Bonds

Carbene-stabilized diborynes of the form LBBL (L=N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) or cyclic alkyl(amino)carbene (CAAC)) induce rapid, high yielding, intermolecular ortho-C−H borylation at N-heterocycles at room temperature. A simple pyridyldiborene is formed when an NHC-stabilized diboryne is combined with pyridine, while a CAAC-stabilized diboryne leads to activation of two pyridine molecules to give a tricyclic alkylideneborane, which can be forced to undergo a further H-shift resulting in a zwitterionic, doubly benzo-fused 1,3,2,5-diazadiborinine by heating. Use of the extended N-heteroaromatic quinoline leads to a borylmethyleneborane under mild conditions via an unprecedented boron-carbon exchange process.     

Case Study of N-iPr versus N-Mes Substituted NHC Ligands in Nickel Chemistry: The Coordination and Cyclotrimerization of Alkynes at [Ni(NHC)2]

A case study on the effect of the employment of two different NHC ligands in complexes [Ni(NHC)₂] (NHC=ⁱPr₂Im^Me 1^Me , Mes₂Im 2 ) and their behavior towards alkynes is reported. The reaction of a mixture of [Ni₂(ⁱPr₂Im^Me)₄(μ-(η² : η²)-COD)] B / [Ni(ⁱPr₂Im^Me)₂(η⁴-COD)] B’ or [Ni(Mes₂Im)₂] 2 , respectively, with alkynes afforded complexes [Ni(NHC)₂(η²-alkyne)] (NHC=ⁱPr₂Im^Me: alkyne=MeC≡CMe 3 , H₇C₃C≡CC₃H₇ 4 , PhC≡CPh 5 , MeOOCC≡CCOOMe 6 , Me₃SiC≡CSiMe₃ 7 , PhC≡CMe 8 , HC≡CC₃H₇ 9 , HC≡CPh 10 , HC≡C(p-Tol) 11 , HC≡C(4-^tBu-C₆H₄) 12 , HC≡CCOOMe 13 ; NHC=Mes₂Im: alkyne=MeC≡CMe 14 , MeOOCC≡CCOOMe 15 , PhC≡CMe 16 , HC≡C(4-^tBu-C₆H₄) 17 , HC≡CCOOMe 18 ). Unusual rearrangement products 11 a and 12 a were identified for the complexes of the terminal alkynes HC≡C(p-Tol) and HC≡C(4-^tBu-C₆H₄), 11 and 12 , which were formed by addition of a C−H bond of one of the NHC N-ⁱPr methyl groups to the C≡C triple bond of the coordinated alkyne. Complex 2 catalyzes the cyclotrimerization of 2-butyne, 4-octyne, diphenylacetylene, dimethyl acetylendicarboxylate, 1-pentyne, phenylacetylene and methyl propiolate at ambient conditions, whereas 1^Me is not a good catalyst. The reaction of 2 with 2-butyne was monitored in some detail, which led to a mechanistic proposal for the cyclotrimerization at [Ni(NHC)₂]. DFT calculations reveal that the differences between 1^{M e} and 2 for alkyne cyclotrimerization lie in the energy profile of the initiation steps, which is very shallow for 2 , and each step is associated with only a moderate energy change. The higher stability of 3 compared to 14 is attributed to a better electron transfer from the NHC to the metal to the alkyne ligand for the N-alkyl substituted NHC, to enhanced Ni-alkyne backbonding due to a smaller C_NHC−Ni−C_NHC bite angle, and to less steric repulsion of the smaller NHC ⁱPr₂Im^Me.     

Using Swap-Based Search Trees to obtain Solutions for Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problems

The high level of complexity in modern construction projects causes the problem of scheduling the involved tasks under precedence and resource constraints to be a great challenge. Additionally applications on real construction sites require non linear and non continuous constraints and objective functions. In order to optimize large scale construction sites in practice, this paper proposes a new optimization approach based on creating search trees from swapping and delaying tasks. The convergence of the proposed algorithm is analyzed and its complexity is compared to other available algorithms. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Eight new crystal structures of 5‐(hydroxymethyl)uracil, 5‐carboxyuracil and 5‐carboxy‐2‐thiouracil: insights into the hydrogen‐bonded networks and the predominant conformations of the C5‐bound residues

In order to examine the preferred hydrogen‐bonding pattern of various uracil derivatives, namely 5‐(hydroxymethyl)uracil, 5‐carboxyuracil and 5‐carboxy‐2‐thiouracil, and for a conformational study, crystallization experiments yielded eight different structures: 5‐(hydroxymethyl)uracil, C₅H₆N₂O₃, (I), 5‐carboxyuracil–N,N‐dimethylformamide (1/1), C₅H₄N₂O₄·C₃H₇NO, (II), 5‐carboxyuracil–dimethyl sulfoxide (1/1), C₅H₄N₂O₄·C₂H₆OS, (III), 5‐carboxyuracil–N,N‐dimethylacetamide (1/1), C₅H₄N₂O₄·C₄H₉NO, (IV), 5‐carboxy‐2‐thiouracil–N,N‐dimethylformamide (1/1), C₅H₄N₂O₃S·C₃H₇NO, (V), 5‐carboxy‐2‐thiouracil–dimethyl sulfoxide (1/1), C₅H₄N₂O₃S·C₂H₆OS, (VI), 5‐carboxy‐2‐thiouracil–1,4‐dioxane (2/3), 2C₅H₄N₂O₃S·3C₆H₁₂O₃, (VII), and 5‐carboxy‐2‐thiouracil, C₁₀H₈N₄O₆S₂, (VIII). While the six solvated structures, i.e. (II)–(VII), contain intramolecular S(6) O—H…O hydrogen‐bond motifs between the carboxy and carbonyl groups, the usually favoured R₂²(8) pattern between two carboxy groups is formed in the solvent‐free structure, i.e. (VIII). Further R₂²(8) hydrogen‐bond motifs involving either two N—H…O or two N—H…S hydrogen bonds were observed in three crystal structures, namely (I), (IV) and (VIII). In all eight structures, the residue at the ring 5‐position shows a coplanar arrangement with respect to the pyrimidine ring which is in agreement with a search of the Cambridge Structural Database for six‐membered cyclic compounds containing a carboxy group. The search confirmed that coplanarity between the carboxy group and the cyclic residue is strongly favoured.     

6‐Propyl‐2‐thiouracil versus 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil: enhancing the hydrogen‐bonded synthon motif by replacement of a methylene group with an O atom

The understanding of intermolecular interactions is a key objective of crystal engineering in order to exploit the derived knowledge for the rational design of new molecular solids with tailored physical and chemical properties. The tools and theories of crystal engineering are indispensable for the rational design of (pharmaceutical) cocrystals. The results of cocrystallization experiments of the antithyroid drug 6‐propyl‐2‐thiouracil (PTU) with 2,4‐diaminopyrimidine (DAPY), and of 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil (MOMTU) with DAPY and 2,4,6‐triaminopyrimidine (TAPY), respectively, are reported. PTU and MOMTU show a high structural similarity and differ only in the replacement of a methylene group (–CH₂–) with an O atom in the side chain, thus introducing an additional hydrogen‐bond acceptor in MOMTU. Both molecules contain an ADA hydrogen‐bonding site (A = acceptor and D = donor), while the coformers DAPY and TAPY both show complementary DAD sites and therefore should be capable of forming a mixed ADA/DAD synthon with each other, i.e. N—H…O, N—H…N and N—H…S hydrogen bonds. The experiments yielded one solvated cocrystal salt of PTU with DAPY, four different solvates of MOMTU, one ionic cocrystal of MOMTU with DAPY and one cocrystal salt of MOMTU with TAPY, namely 2,4‐diaminopyrimidinium 6‐propyl‐2‐thiouracilate–2,4‐diaminopyrimidine–N,N‐dimethylacetamide–water (1/1/1/1) (the systematic name for 6‐propyl‐2‐thiouracilate is 6‐oxo‐4‐propyl‐2‐sulfanylidene‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyrimidin‐1‐ide), C₄H₇N₄⁺·C₇H₉N₂OS⁻·C₄H₆N₄·C₄H₉NO·H₂O, (I), 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil–N,N‐dimethylformamide (1/1), C₆H₈N₂O₂S·C₃H₇NO, (II), 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil–N,N‐dimethylacetamide (1/1), C₆H₈N₂O₂S·C₄H₉NO, (III), 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil–dimethyl sulfoxide (1/1), C₆H₈N₂O₂S·C₂H₆OS, (IV), 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil–1‐methylpyrrolidin‐2‐one (1/1), C₆H₈N₂O₂S·C₅H₉NO, (V), 2,4‐diaminopyrimidinium 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracilate (the systematic name for 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracilate is 4‐methoxymethyl‐6‐oxo‐2‐sulfanylidene‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydropyrimidin‐1‐ide), C₄H₇N₄⁺·C₆H₇N₂O₂S⁻, (VI), and 2,4,6‐triaminopyrimidinium 6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracilate–6‐methoxymethyl‐2‐thiouracil (1/1), C₄H₈N₅⁺·C₆H₇N₂O₂S⁻·C₆H₈N₂O₂S, (VII). Whereas in (I) only an AA/DD hydrogen‐bonding interaction was formed, the structures of (VI) and (VII) both display the desired ADA/DAD synthon. Conformational studies on the side chains of PTU and MOMTU also revealed a significant deviation for cocrystals (VI) and (VII), leading to the desired enhancement of the hydrogen‐bond pattern within the crystal.     

Chemistry computation without a sub-grid PDF model in LES of turbulent non-premixed flames showing moderate local extinction

The use of the Eulerian Stochastic Fields (ESF) method to model the sub-grid turbulence-chemistry interaction (TCI) in the LES context can be computationally expensive if detailed chemistry mechanisms are involved. This work aims to assess whether it is possible to neglect the modelling of the TCI on sufficiently refined meshes while using finite rate chemistry, provided that at least 80 % of the turbulent kinetic energy scales are resolved. Turbulent non-premixed methane-air flames showing a moderate degree of local extinction are selected as benchmark. Results obtained for the Sandia flame E with and without transporting the ESF on three different meshes are discussed. Sensible deviations are visible on the fuel-rich side from section x/D = 30, by reducing the grid refinement. The influence of three finite rate chemistry solvers is further investigated on flame D, without the sub-grid scale chemistry model. All simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data and show a weak dependence on the chemistry involved. A trade-off assessment between computational time and accuracy is provided, in order to extend the validation to a more severe extinction regime.     

Boundary element and finite element analysis for the efficient simulation of fluid-structure interaction and its application to mold filling processes

Metal casting and polymer molding are widely used for the economical shape processing of complex geometries. In these manufacturing processes, a liquid melt (metal, mineral or synthetic) is filled into a mold with a cavity of the desired shape. Cooling and solidification of the melt results in a product with almost the same shape as the cavity. Numerical simulations can be employed to increase the accuracy of the process. To this end, boundary element method for Stokes flow and a finite element formulation for liquid membranes are investigated in this work. (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)