Synthesis and X-ray crystal structures of imido and ureato derivatives of titanium(IV) phthalocyanine and their application in the catalytic formation of carbodiimides by metathesis from isocyanates

The imido titanium phthalocyanine complex [PcTi(NDip)] (Dip = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) 2a was synthesized from [PcTiO] 1 and one eq. of DipNCO. Due to the steric demand of the Dip group, addition of another isocyanate molecule to the Ti = N functionality of 2a does not occur even at high molar ratios of DipNCO. However, 1 reacts with 2 eq. of arylisocyanates containing sterically less demanding aryl groups producing N,N'-diarylureatotitanium(iv)phthalocyanines [PcTi{κ(2)-(NR)C(O)(N'R)}] (R = p-tolyl (Tol) 3a or mesityl (Mes) 3b). The N,N' coordination (III) of the ureato ligand in 3a and 3b was proven by a single set of resonances for the aryl groups in their (1)H-NMR spectra. An N,O coordination (IV) can therefore be excluded. This is also confirmed by the X-ray crystal structure of 3a. Upon heating [PcTiO] and an excess of aryl isocyanates for 6 days, a steady evolution of CO(2) was observed and a white precipitate, identified as the corresponding diarylcarbodiimides (V), could be isolated. Therefore this reaction was applied in the metathetic conversion of two isocyanate molecules into diarylcarbodiimides (V) and CO(2). Additionally, imido titanium Pc's 2b (R = tBu) and 2c (R = Mes) were prepared by a more general synthetic strategy, reacting the potassium salt of the ligand PcK(2) with appropriate imido titanium precursors.     

Novel microwell-based spectrophotometric assay for determination of atorvastatin calcium in its pharmaceutical formulations

The formation of a colored charge-transfer (CT) complex between atorvastatin calcium (ATR-Ca) as a n-electron donor and 2, 3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone (DDQ) as a π-electron acceptor was investigated, for the first time. The spectral characteristics of the CT complex have been described, and the reaction mechanism has been proved by computational molecular modeling. The reaction was employed in the development of a novel microwell-based spectrophotometric assay for determination of ATR-Ca in its pharmaceutical formulations. The proposed assay was carried out in 96-microwell plates. The absorbance of the colored-CT complex was measured at 460 nm by microwell-plate absorbance reader. The optimum conditions of the reaction and the analytical procedures of the assay were established. Under the optimum conditions, linear relationship with good correlation coefficient (0.9995) was found between the absorbance and the concentration of ATR-Ca in the range of 10-150 μg/well. The limits of detection and quantitation were 5.3 and 15.8 μg/well, respectively. No interference was observed from the additives that are present in the pharmaceutical formulation or from the drugs that are co-formulated with ATR-Ca in its combined formulations. The assay was successfully applied to the analysis of ATR-Ca in its pharmaceutical dosage forms with good accuracy and precision. The assay described herein has great practical value in the routine analysis of ATR-Ca in quality control laboratories, as it has high throughput property, consumes minimum volume of organic solvent thus it offers the reduction in the exposures of the analysts to the toxic effects of organic solvents, and reduction in the analysis cost by 50-fold. Although the proposed assay was validated for ATR-Ca, however, the same methodology could be used for any electron-donating analyte for which a CT reaction can be performed.     

Nonclassical Properties of Squeezed Finite-Dimensional Pair Coherent State

We study the effect of the squeeze operator on the finite pair-coherent state. The state is a type of a correlated two-mode state in finite dimension based on the resonant ion-cavity interaction. We have discussed some statistical properties for such state, especially the quadrature variances as well as the second-order correlation function. Furthermore we have also considered the variance in the photon number sum and difference in addition to the linear correlation function. It is shown that the strong correlation occurs for a large value of the photon number difference. Our discussion is extended to include the quasiprobability distribution functions (W-Wigner and Q-functions). In the meantime we have considered the quadrature distribution function and phase distribution. It has been shown that the squeezed finite pair coherent state is sensitive to the variation in the state parameter, ξ and the squeeze parameter, r, as well as the q parameter which in fact plays a crucial role of controlling the behavior of the system.     

Nanoscale water condensation on click-functionalized self-assembled monolayers

We have examined the nanoscale adsorption of molecular water under ambient conditions onto a series of well-characterized functionalized surfaces produced by Cu(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC or "click") reactions on alkyne-terminated self-assembled monolayers on silicon. Water contact angle (CA) measurements reveal a range of macroscopic hydrophilicity that does not correlate with the tendency of these surfaces to adsorb water at the molecular level. X-ray reflectometry has been used to follow the kinetics of water adsorption on these "click"-functionalized surfaces, and also shows that dense continuous molecular water layers are formed over 30 h. For example, a highly hydrophilic surface, functionalized by an oligo(ethylene glycol) moiety (with a CA = 34°) showed 2.9 ? of adsorbed water after 30 h, while the almost hydrophobic underlying alkyne-terminated monolayer (CA = 84°) showed 5.6 ? of adsorbed water over the same period. While this study highlights the capacity of X-ray reflectometry to study the structure of adsorbed water on these surfaces, it should also serve as a warning for those intending to characterize self-assembled monolayers and functionalized surfaces to avoid contamination by even trace amounts of water vapor. Moreover, contact angle measurements alone cannot be relied upon to predict the likely degree of moisture uptake on such surfaces.     

Synthesis of Nano-Cadmium Sulfide by Pulsed Laser Ablation in Liquid Environment

A pulsed laser-assisted in liquid environment method has been developed successfully to synthesize size-tunable (5–12 nm) and different shapes (sphere, rod, rope) of nano II–VI semiconductor (cadmium sulfide). This method can be carried out in two ways; the first one is the top-down technique, which has been discussed in publications in the last few decades, and the other one is the bottom-up technique, which appears for the first time in this paper. X-ray diffraction, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy confirm that the nanoparticles are crystalline. The methods lead to the production of nanomaterials, which are important for photonics and biosensing applications. Both synthesized methods can be applied in all materials because of their ability to ablate almost all kinds of materials due to the ultrahigh energy density and control over the growth process by manipulating the process parameters such as intensity, wavelength, and so on.     

Positive Solutions in the Space of Lipschitz Functions for Fractional Boundary Value Problems with Integral Boundary Conditions

In this paper, we study the existence of positive solutions for a class of nonlinear fractional boundary value problems with integral boundary conditions in Hölder spaces. Our analysis relies on a sufficient condition for the relative compactness in Hölder spaces and the classical Schauder fixed point theorem.     

同步荧光光谱法测定石油中的晕苯

用苯做溶剂对原油样品进行逐级稀释,恒波长同步荧光法对原油样品中晕苯进行定性、定量分析。分别从溶剂选择、波长差、狭缝宽度等参数对其测定的光谱条件进行优化。实验结果表明：用苯为溶剂、Δλ=6nm,狭缝宽度为2.5nm,为原油样品中晕苯的最佳测试条件。所建立方法测定晕苯的线性范围为0.5—100μg/mL,校准曲线的相关系数r大于0.99,相对标准偏差小于3%（n=5）。该法分析快速、准确,对石化工厂中对原油样品中晕苯的快速检测具有一定的应用价值。     

On the Coefficients of Some Subclasses of Univalent Functions

In this paper we consider the class L_c*(,,) consisting of analytic and univlent functions with negative coefficients and with fixed second coefficient. The object of the present paper is to show coefficient estimates, convex linear combinations, some distortion theoems and radii of starlikeness and convexity for f(z) in the class L_c*(,,). The results are generalized to families with finitely many fixed coefficients.AMS Subject Classification (1991) 30C45     

Interpreting early land management through compound specific stable isotope analyses of archaeological soils

Compound specific stable isotope analyses of managed soils using isotope ratio mass spectrometry have been undertaken as a means of determining early land use practices. delta (15)N amino acid signals demonstrate differences between manured grassland, unmanured grassland and continuous cereal cultivation under long-term experimental land use control conditions, with delta (15)N in hydrophobic amino acids providing the most distinctive signals. Analysis of early modern/medieval and of Bronze age anthropogenic soils from Orkney demonstrates that such signals are retained in archaeological contexts. delta (13)C analyses of n- alkanoic acid components of the fossil, Bronze Age, anthropogenic soils suggest a major terrestrial input to these soils, with uniform composition of formation materials. Surficial soils demonstrate the assimilation of isotopically lighter carbon, providing a means of assessing the mobility of the n- alkanoic acids within soils and sediments. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.