UHF-CI studies of energy barriers for the abstraction and exchange reactions in the system H + CH4

UHF and CI calculations, using the direct CI method, and double-zeta plus polarization functions basis sets, have been performed on the more important parts of the energy hypersurface for CH₅. The abstraction H + CH₄ → H₂ + CH₃ and the inversion substitution reaction H′ + CH₄ → CH₃H′ + H have been studied in detail. The predicted barriers for these two reactions are 13.5 and 36.6 kcal/mol, respectively. The abstraction reaction is, in agreement with experiment, found to be almost thermo-neutral with a heat of reaction of 1.5 kcal/mol.     

Inclusion of dynamic σ-π polarization in π-electronab initio calculations

Summary A method is presented, whereby dynamic - polarization, i.e. the correlation effect expressed by simultaneous (-*, -*) excitations, can be approximately included in a multi-reference configuration interaction (MRCI) or multi-configurational self-consistent field (MC-SCF) calculation, without need to explicitly correlate the sigma orbitals. The method, which we call the capacitance matrix method, is based on the use of conventional one-electron integrals, from which a polarization potential (SPP) contribution is computed and added to the one- and two-electron Hamiltonian. In the present form, the method requires one parameter for each type of atom, and one for each type of bond. These parameters were adjusted to reproduce the dynamic - polarization energy, computed by restricted multi-reference CI calculations, of a number of states of different hydrocarbons, and the agreement was within a few percent. Using the same parameters in CAS (Complete Active Space) SCF calculations of various states of benzene gives excitation energies, when SPP is included, which is comparable to those obtained by much more elaborate MRCI calculations.     

Determination of90Sr in environmental and biological materials with combined HDEHP solvent extraction-low liquid scintillation counting technique

Low level⁹⁰Sr in environmental and biological samples is determined using a combined HDEHP solvent extraction-liquid scintillation procedure. Yttrium-90 is selectively extracted from nitric acid solution into 5% di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) in toluene, and⁹⁰Y in the organic phase is measured directly using an ultra low level liquid scintillation spectrometer.The working program of the Quantulus counter has been optimized. As the counting efficiency using liquid scintillation counting is high and the stripping and precipitation of Yttrium-90 oxalate is omitted, this procedure is simpler and more timesaving than traditional methods. The chemical recoveries of⁹⁰Y were 85.1% for soil, 75.7% for milk and 65.3% for bone. The detection limit is 8 mBq.     

Solutions of the Strominger System via Stable Bundles on Calabi-Yau Threefolds

We prove that a given Calabi-Yau threefold with a stable holomorphic vector bundle can be perturbed to a solution of the Strominger system provided that the second Chern class of the vector bundle is equal to the second Chern class of the tangent bundle. If the Calabi-Yau threefold has strict SU(3) holonomy then the equations of motion derived from the heterotic string effective action are also satisfied by the solutions we obtain.     

Assessment of high-resolution methods for numerical simulations of compressible turbulence with shock waves

Flows in which shock waves and turbulence are present and interact dynamically occur in a wide range of applications, including inertial confinement fusion, supernovae explosion, and scramjet propulsion. Accurate simulations of such problems are challenging because of the contradictory requirements of numerical methods used to simulate turbulence, which must minimize any numerical dissipation that would otherwise overwhelm the small scales, and shock-capturing schemes, which introduce numerical dissipation to stabilize the solution. The objective of the present work is to evaluate the performance of several numerical methods capable of simultaneously handling turbulence and shock waves. A comprehensive range of high-resolution methods (WENO, hybrid WENO/central difference, artificial diffusivity, adaptive characteristic-based filter, and shock fitting) and suite of test cases (Taylor–Green vortex, Shu–Osher problem, shock-vorticity/entropy wave interaction, Noh problem, compressible isotropic turbulence) relevant to problems with shocks and turbulence are considered. The results indicate that the WENO methods provide sharp shock profiles, but overwhelm the physical dissipation. The hybrid method is minimally dissipative and leads to sharp shocks and well-resolved broadband turbulence, but relies on an appropriate shock sensor. Artificial diffusivity methods in which the artificial bulk viscosity is based on the magnitude of the strain-rate tensor resolve vortical structures well but damp dilatational modes in compressible turbulence; dilatation-based artificial bulk viscosity methods significantly improve this behavior. For well-defined shocks, the shock fitting approach yields good results.     

Ionization by pH and Anionic Surfactant Binding Gives the Same Thickening Effects of Crosslinked Polyacrylic Acid Derivatives

Physical properties of aqueous solutions of hydrophobically modified crosslinked polyacrylic acids change quite extensively as the polymer is charged up. A study is carried out concerning the similarities between two polymer ionization processes, that is, by pH increment and anionic surfactant addition. The two processes charge the polymer by distinctly different mechanisms. At sufficiently high pH the carboxylic groups of the polymer are virtually all ionized and the polymer is, therefore, fully charged. The effective repulsion among the charged groups due to the entropy of the counterions promotes an increased stiffness as well as an expansion of the polymer particles. We investigate here how the ionization and swelling will be if, instead of high pH, the polymer is at low pH conditions but associated to ionic surfactants. Surfactants associate to the polymer both in a noncooperative way by the binding of individual surfactant molecules and in a cooperative way as micelles since the polymer promotes surfactant self-assembly. This binding leads to a highly charged polymer-surfactant complex and leads to an osmotic swelling as well. The swelling and the gelation were monitored by rheology and dynamic light scattering, of polymer solutions by varying the pHs and adding ionic surfactants at low pH. The results show that ionization by surfactants and by pH lead to approximately the same gelation degree, as can be seen by similar viscosity values. Both processes result in dramatic viscosity increases, up to 8 orders of magnitude. More hydrophobic surfactants, with longer alkyl chain, are shown to be more efficient as enhancers of swelling and gelation. The network that is formed at high pH or at sufficiently high concentration of surfactant can be weakened or even disrupted if monovalent or divalent salts are added, demonstrating the role of counterion entropy.     

Synthesis of Glycosylated Amino Acids for Use in Solid Phase Glycopeptide Synthesis,Part 2: N-(9-Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl)-3-0-[2,4,6-TRI-0-Acetyl-3-0-(2,3,4-TRI-0-Acetyl-α-D-Xylopyranosyl)-β-D-Glucopyranosyl]-L-Serine

Abstract

FMOC-serine phenacylester was glycosylated with a derivative of the disaccharide α-D-Xylp-(1→3)-β-D-Glcp, and the product was treated with zinc to remove the phenacyl group. The title derivative is useful for synthesis of blood clotting factor IX glycopeptide fragments by the solid-phase approach.     

Synthesis of 2,6-Dideoxy-6-Thio Derivatives of KDO

ABSTRACT

Ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-D-manno-2-octenoate (8), ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-D-glycero-D-talo-octanoate (10a), ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-D-glycero-D-galacto-octanoate (10b) and ammonium 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-oxa-D-glycero-D-galacto-octanoate (13) have been synthesised as potential inhibitors of the enzyme CMP-KDO synthetase. The key step in the synthesis of 8 was the elimination of water from methyl 3,6-dideoxy-4,5:7,8-di-O-isopropylidene-6-thio-D-manno-2-octulosonate (4) using chlorodiphenylphosphine, imidazole and bromine to give the unsaturated methyl 2,3,6-trideoxy-2,6-epithio-4,5:7,8-di-O-isopropylidene-D-manno-2-octenoate (5). For the synthesis of 10a and 10b, zinc reduction of methyl 3,6-dideoxy-4,5:7,8-di-O-isopropylidene-6-S-(4-methoxybenzyl)-6-thio-2-O-(trichloro-tert-butoxycarbonyl)-D-manno-2-octenoate (2) gave an epimeric mixture of an α-hydroxyester 6 which was ring closed by in situ activation of the hydroxyl group using triphenylphosphine and tri-iodoimidazole followed by cleavage of the p-methoxybenzyl group to give 7a and 7b, which then were deprotected to give 10a and 10b.