p-sulfonic acid calix[4]arene: An efficient reusable organocatalyst for the synthesis of bis(indolyl)methanes derivatives in water and under solvent-free conditions

In this work, a green, simple and highly efficient procedure for the synthesis of bis(indolyl)methanes is described. The condensation of indoles catalyzed by p-sulfonic acid calix[4]arene in water and under solvent-free conditions afford the title compounds in high yields and relatively short reaction times.     

Noetherian rings with almost injective simple modules

We characterize right Noetherian rings over which all simple modules are almost injective. It is proved that R is such a ring, if and only if, the complements of semisimple submodules of every R-module M are direct summands of M, if and only if, R is a finite direct sum of right ideals I_r, where I_r is either a Noetherian V-module with zero socle, or a simple module, or an injective module of length 2. A commutative Noetherian ring for which all simple modules are almost injective is precisely a finite direct product of rings R_i, where R_i is either a field or a quasi-Frobenius ring of length 2. We show that for commutative rings whose all simple modules are almost injective, the properties of Kasch, (semi)perfect, semilocal, quasi-Frobenius, Artinian, and Noetherian coincide.     

Solid state radiolysis of non-proteinaceous amino acids in vacuum: astrochemical implications

The analysis of the amino acids present in Murchison meteorite and in other carbonaceous chondrites has revealed the presence of 66 different amino acids. Only eight of these 66 amino acids are proteinaceous amino acids used by the present terrestrial biochemistry in protein synthesis, the other 58 amino acids are somewhat “rare” or unusual or even “unknown” for the current terrestrial biochemistry. For this reason in the present work a series of “uncommon” non-proteinaceous amino acids, namely, l-2-aminobutyric acid, R(?)-2-aminobutyric acid, 2-aminoisobutyric acid (or α-aminoisobutyric acid), l-norleucine, l-norvaline, l-β-leucine, l-β-homoalanine, l-β-homoglutamic acid, S(?)-α-methylvaline and dl-3-aminoisobutyric acid were radiolyzed in vacuum at 3.2 MGy a dose equivalent to that emitted in 1.05 × 10⁹ years from the radionuclide decay in the bulk of asteroids or comets. The residual amount of each amino acid under study remained after radiolysis was determined by differential scanning calorimetry in comparison to pristine samples. For optically active amino acids, the residual amount of each amino acid remained after radiolysis was also determined by optical rotatory dispersion spectroscopy and by polarimetry. With these analytical techniques it was possible to measure also the degree of radioracemization undergone by each amino acid after radiolysis. It was found that the non-proteinaceous amino acids in general do not show a higher radiation and radioracemization resistance in comparison to the common 20 proteinaceous amino acids studied previously. The unique exception is represented by α-aminoisobutyric acid which shows an extraordinary resistance to radiolysis since 96.6 % is recovered unchanged after 3.2 MGy. Curiously α-aminoisobutyric acid is the most abundant amino acid found in carbonaceous chondrites. In Murchison meteorite α-aminoisobutyric acid represents more than 20 % of the total 66 amino acids found in this meteorite.     

Cellulose-Supported Ni(NO3)2 · 6H2O/2,4,6-Trichloro-1,3,5-triazine (TCT) as a Mild,Selective, and Biodegradable System for Nitration of Phenols

Nitration of certain phenols and naphthols in the presence of biodegradable cellulose-supported Ni(NO₃)₂ · 6H₂O/2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine was carried out in acetonitrile at room temperature. Ortho nitrated phenols were obtained regioselectively within a short reaction time with good yields. The reaction condition was mild, and the employed cellulose could be recovered several times for further use.      

Determination of abamectin in citrus fruits using SPE combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and HPLC–UV detection

A new pretreatment method, SPE combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction, was proposed for the determination of abamectin in citrus fruit samples for the first time. In this method, fruit samples were extracted by ultrasound‐assisted extraction followed by SPE. Then, the SPE was used as a disperser solvent in the next dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction step for further purification and enrichment of abamectin. The effects of various parameters on the extraction efficiency of the proposed method were investigated and optimized. Good linearity of abamectin was obtained from 0.005 to 10.0 mg/kg for B_1a and from 0.05 to 10.0 mg/kg for B_1b with correlation coefficient (r²) of 0.998 for B_1a and 0.991 for B_1b, respectively. The LODs were 0.001 and 0.008 mg/kg (S/N = 3) for B_1a and B_1b, respectively. The relative recoveries at three spiked levels were ranged from 87 to 96% with the RSD less than 11% (n = 3). The method has been successfully applied to the determination of abamectin in citrus fruit samples.     

Magnetic metal-organic frameworks for the extraction of trace amounts of heavy metal ions prior to their determination by ICP-AES

Microchimica Acta - The authors describe the preparation of two kinds of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), referred to as TMU-8 and TMU-9. The MOFs were applied to the preconcentration of the ions...     

Influence of a nanosecond pulsed laser on aluminium alloys: Distribution of oxygen

Nanosecond laser pulses may produce both thermal melting (as femtosecond and picosecond pulses) or ultrafast nonthermal melting depending on the pulse fluence. This was demonstrated experimentally by Sokolowski-Tinten et al. [1], who found that the transformation of GaAs into its liquid state occurs within several tens of picoseconds at fluences close to the melt threshold due to thermal melting under highly superheated conditions or within several hundred femtoseconds via carrier excitation for very high fluences. The processes occurring under high energetic fs pulse irradiation could be described more precisely with the help of the theoretical work of Stampfli et al. In this work, a nanosecond pulsed laser (Nd:Yag) is used to irradiate an aluminum alloy sample. The oxygen distribution is studied as a function of distance in order to get an idea about the temperature distribution.     

The Performance of the Time-Frequency Analysis Software (TF32) in the Acoustic Analysis of the Synthesized Pathological Voice

The purpose of this study was to examine the algorithm-measuring capabilities used in the Time-Frequency Analysis Software Program for 32-bit Windows (TF32) for measuring fundamental frequency (F0), its dependent measures, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The stability, accuracy, and linearity of its algorithm to systematic changes in aspiration noise and/or spectral slope (to mimic the perceptual characteristics of breathiness, roughness, and hoarseness) were evaluated using its analysis output to five female and five male synthesized voices. TF32 was used to calculate F0, Jitter%, Shimmer%, and SNR for each of the synthesized signals. The findings indicate that although TF32 produced stable results for male synthesized samples, they were not accurate when measuring F0, Jitter%, and Shimmer% with the addition of noise and variations in open quotient independently and in combination. In contrast, TF32 was neither stable nor accurate in making the same measurements for female synthesized samples. However, TF32 was stable and accurate in measuring SNR for male and most of female voices. These results point to an inappropriate F0 extraction algorithm in TF32 and stress the need for further research to remediate the algorithm or to identify a superior one.