Chemical Reactivity of Tetrasulfur Tetranitride: Synthesis,Physical Properties,and Structural Characterization of the Amorphous Phase Cu7S4N4

Tetrasulfur tetranitride, S₄N₄, reacts with elemental Cu within inert solvents to a black‐blue material of approximate composition Cu₇S₄N₄ which is totally amorphous to X‐rays and which cannot be made crystalline by either thermal treatment or electron radiation. Cu₇S₄N₄ explodes if heated above 234 °C or when subjected to mechanical shock to eventually yield copper(I) sulfide; this together with the characteristic infrared spectrum of Cu₇S₄N₄ indicates the presence of molecular S₄N₄ units inside the amorphous phase. The metastable nature of Cu₇S₄N₄ is also mirrored by electron microscopy which furthermore allows the structural characterization of its degradation products. Based on experimental EXAFS data offering characteristic Cu—N and Cu—S distances, a theoretical crystalline approximant of Cu₇S₄N₄ was suggested and structurally optimized by density‐functional total‐energy calculations including periodic boundary conditions. This model incorporates a central S₄N₄ unit bonded to three shells of Cu atoms of different functionalities; in addition, a partial rupture of the S₄N₄ unit is likely to allow for a lowering of the total energy of the metastable phase. The latter observation supports the impossibility to make Cu₇S₄N₄ crystallize using ₄N₄ crystallize using whatever kind of measures.     

Weak boson plus jet production in 2nd-order QCD

We calculate cross sections for the production ofW ⁺ andZ bosons in association with 1 and 2 jets at \(p\bar p\) collider energies. The expected rates for these processes in second-order QCD are presented as a function of the cuts on the transverse momenta of the jets and are compared with jet rates measured by UA1.     

Investigation of the character of the exchange interaction in the system Hg1−xMnxSe

A new method is proposed for determining the magnetic characteristics (magnitude and sign of the exchange interaction energy and the average size of clusters of magnetic ions) of dilute solid solutions of semimagnetic semiconductors at low temperatures based on oscillation measurements. The method makes it possible to find the magnetic characteristics of the indicated systems at temperatures between the point of the transition into the spin glass state and the temperature corresponding to the characteristic binding energy of magnetic atoms in clusters, for which standard methods based on the measurement of the magnetic susceptibility are not effective. The method is used to study the character of the exchange interaction in the system of solid solutions Hg_1–xMn_xSe as a function of their composition as well as under conditions of hydrostatic compression. To this end the oscillations of the magnetoresistance (Shubnikov-de Haas (SH) effect) in single-crystalline samples of Hg_1–xMn_xSe in the region of compositions 0.001 x 0.23 in magnetic fields H up to 65 kOe at temperatures T = (0.4–20) K and pressures up to 16 kbar were studied.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 29–39, November, 1989.     

"Breaking the Rules": A Planar Phosphonium Cation

Long-standing tenets of a discipline must be questioned in an effort to fully understand the fundamentals of science. This is exemplified by the synthesis of planar-tetracoordinate compounds, such as the square-planar phosphonium ion 1 by Driess et al., which provide exceptions to van't Hoff - Le Bel rules.     

Wavelength independence of Eu quantum yields

A quantitative comparison between the excitation and absorption spectra of Eu³⁺ in aqueous solution is given which leads to the conclusion that fluorescence quantum yields are independent of the excitation wavelength. Use is made therefore of the series of homologous lines ⁵D₃, ⁵D₂, ⁵D₁, ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₁.     

Total synthesis of (-)-callystatin A

An effective total synthesis of (-)-callystatin A (1), member of the leptomycin family of antibiotics, has been achieved. The synthesis features Evans extended aldol methodology to construct the northern polypropionate subunit and two separate Julia olefinations to assemble the conjugated dienes. The total synthesis proceeded in 2.3% overall yield with the longest linear sequence of 15 steps.