New Acyclic β-Functionnalized (E) Allyl Alcohols and their Bromomethyldimethylsilyl Ethers as Cyclopentanoids Precursors

The syntheses of new acyclic (E) allyl alcohols β-functionnalized by various radical trapping functions and their corresponding bromomethyl-dimethylsilyl ethers are reported.     

A New Enantioselective Synthesis of (2S)-Pipecolic Acid

A synthesis of enantiomerically pure (2S)-pipecolic acid, involving a highly diastereoselective reaction between iminium ion and vinylsilane moieties, is described.     

New variants of bundle methods

In this paper we describe a number of new variants of bundle methods for nonsmooth unconstrained and constrained convex optimization, convex—concave games and variational inequalities. We outline the ideas underlying these methods and present rate-of-convergence estimates.Corresponding author.     

Direct sum decomposition of geometries based on maximal subgroups

In 1961 J. Tits described a way to define a geometry from a group and a collection of subgroups. Such incidence geometries are now studied by the team of F. Buekenhout in Brussels. Here we present theorems about decomposition of PRI geometries into direct sums and we find the full direct sum decomposition of PRI geometries on solvable groups.     

Towards antihydrogen confinement with the ALPHA antihydrogen trap

ALPHA is an international project that has recently begun experimentation at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility. The primary goal of ALPHA is stable trapping of cold antihydrogen atoms with the ultimate goal of precise spectroscopic comparisons with hydrogen. We discuss the status of the ALPHA project and the prospects for antihydrogen trapping.     

Interfacial friction of thin PDMS network films

This study focuses on developing dry, surface‐tethered polymeric lubricant coatings capable of significantly decreasing friction and wear of nano‐ and micrometer scale machines. Vinyl‐terminated polydimethylsiloxane chains are spin‐coated with a crosslinking agent and platinum catalyst onto silicon wafers functionalized with a self‐assembling monolayer containing reactive vinyl groups. Lateral force microscopy (LFM) measurements employing a bead probe are used to quantify the coefficient of friction (COF) and adhesion characteristics of the PDMS‐SAM surface tethered networks. The combined polymer network and SAM layer manifest extremely low friction coefficients, μ = 4 × 10^?3, which is nearly one order of magnitude lower than the friction coefficient of the bare silicon substrate. The lowest friction forces are measured using silicon substrates covered with nanometer thick, peroxide crosslinked PDMS networks; though poorly crosslinked, these networks display COFs as much as ten‐times lower than a solitary SAM coating layer. Micrometer thick end‐linked optimal networks also manifest attractive interfacial friction properties, with COFs approximately three times larger than the thinner, imperfect networks. These observations are discussed in terms of the structure of the polymer networks and the role of adhesion forces on interfacial friction. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 46: 1773–1787, 2008     

A facile synthesis of optically pure valerolactone and β-hydroxy valerolactone from a common sugar-derived precursor

Both title compounds were obtained in four steps from 2R, 3R-dihydroxy-4R-valerolactone 5 readily available from D-ribonolactone.