CP violation and Fritzsch mass matrices

We discuss a form for the quark mass matrices which produces maximal weak but no string CP violation. The quark mass matrices are of the Fritzsch type, with all phases equal to multiples of $\text{1}\text{2}\text{π}$. We show that these matrices can be produced in an SO(10) model with CP violated spontaneously at the GUT scale. The model successfully predicts the entire K-M matrix. Radiative corrections to $\text{θ}$, however, are several orders of magnitude too large in the model, and $\text{θ}$ is naturally of O(10^?5).     

Geometry of the nets in equiaffine spaces

The derivation formulae of the vector fields of an arbitrary net belonging to the n-dimensional equiaffine spaceEqA _n are introduced and the conditions which satisty their coefficients are found. The following special nets: Chebyshev of the first and second kind, strongly parallel of the first kind, geodesic, generalized metrical Chebyshev and symmetric nets are studied. Their characteristics by the coefficients of the derivation equations are obtained. Chebyshev and geodesic curvatures of the lines of the net belonging toEqA _n and Chebyshev and geodesic vectors of the nets are introduced. Equiaffine spaces containing above mention special nets are defined.The present investigation is partially supported by the Nacional Science Fund of the Ministry of Science and Education, Republic of Bulgaria under grant MM 64.     

Enantiomeric separation of D/L-carnitine using HPLC and CZE after derivatization

Summary Carnitine is an essential component in tissues of animals, higher plants and many microorganisms. Whereas the L-carnitine enantiomer plays an important role in the metabolism of long chain fatty acids, D-carnitine has a considerable toxic influence on biochemical processes. The analytical separation of D-and L-carnitine depends upon derivatization with UV-or fluorescently active substances, e.g. FMOC and (+)/(–)-FLEC. The separation of diastereomeric (+)- and (–)-FLEC carnitine esters was performed successfully with capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and HPLC, after optimization of the derivatization process and of the composition and pH of the buffer, using UV- and fluorescence detection. With HPLC separation a detection limit of the carnitine esters of 5 mol/l when using fluorescence detection was achieved. With both separation systems baseline resolution and short analysis times could be obtained. The enantiomeric FMOC derivatives could be separated using the electrophoretic system and acidic buffers with high concentrations of an osmotic flow modifier together with -cyclodextrine as chiral selector. The applicability of the optimized separation conditions are demonstrated in the analysis of agar culture medium inoculated withPseudomonas putida and of pharmaceutical formulations. In all samples very low amounts of D- or L-carnitine could be determined in the presence of the other enantiomeric form. Problems caused by the impurity of the carnitine standards or the derivatization agent (+)/(–)-FLEC are discussed.     

Theoretical study of the o-OH participation in catechol ester ammonolysis

The possible catalytic effect of the vicinal hydroxyl group during the ammonolysis of acetylcatechol has been studied by first principle calculations. A very efficient intramolecular catalysis was found to occur when the catechol ester o-OH group is deprotonated: the activation energy of the ammonolysis decreases by 24 kcal mol(-1) as compared to that of acetylphenol ammonolysis. Using this value, the o-oxyanion-catalysed intramolecular ammonolysis was estimated to be orders of magnitude faster than the ammonolysis of acetylphenol or nonionised acetylcatechol. The analogy with the aminolysis of peptidyl-tRNA that occurs during protein biosynthesis implies several orders of magnitude acceleration due to complete or partial deprotonation of its 3'-terminal adenosine 2'-OH providing a mechanistic possibility for general acid-base catalysis by the ribosome.     

Comparison of all sites for Ti substitution in zeolite TS-1 by an accurate embedded-cluster method

We studied the preferential location of Ti centers in the framework of the Ti-containing MFI zeolite TS-1 using a hybrid DFT/MM embedding method developed recently. This "covalent elastic polarizable environment" (covEPE) cluster embedding allows a complete and self-consistent treatment of solid covalent systems such as zeolites. For the present study, we used a gradient-corrected density functional approach. The resulting structural features of both Si- and Ti-substituted forms of the zeolite framework fit well with available experimental information. The calculated substitution energy of Ti at the 12 crystallographically different tetrahedral sites of the MFI structure vary within 19 kJ/mol with T12 and T2 as most and least preferred sites, respectively. On the basis of these computational results and the preferential sites for Ti substitution reported from different experimental investigations, we concluded that the Ti distribution in the TS-1 framework is not governed by the thermodynamic stability of the pure material.     

X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of LiFe0.5Ti1.5O4 – A new primitive cubic ordered spinel

LiFe_0.5Ti_1.5O₄ was synthesized by solid-state reaction carried out at 900 °C in flowing argon atmosphere, followed by rapid quenching of the reaction product to room temperature. The compound has been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect spectroscopy (MES). It crystallizes in the space group P4₃32, a = 8.4048(1) Å. Results from Rietveld structural refinement indicated 1:3 cation ordering on the octahedral sites: Li occupies the octahedral (4b) sites, Ti occupies the octahedral (12d) sites, while the tetrahedral (8c) sites have mixed (Fe/Li) occupancy. A small, about 5%, inversion of Fe on the (4b) sites has been detected. The MES data is consistent with cation distribution and oxidation state of Fe, determined from the structural data.The title compound is thermally unstable in air atmosphere. At 800 °C it transforms to a mixture of two Fe³⁺ containing phases – a face centred cubic spinel Li_(1+y)/2Fe_(5−3y)/2Ti_yO₄ and a Li_(z−1)/2Fe_(7−3z)/2Ti_zO₅ – pseudobrookite. The major product of thermal treatment at 1000 °C is a ramsdellite type lithium titanium iron(III) oxide, accompanied by traces of rutile and pseudobrookite.     

Alkaline earth metal ions mediated self-assembly in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline, nitrate and tetrafluoroborate anions

1,10-Phenanthroline (phen) was reacted with various combinations of two and in one of the cases with three alkaline earth metal cations taken in equimolar ratio. In all the competitive reactions it was obtained only one product free of any impurities, which is in accordance with the theory of self-assembly processes. The compound [Ca(phen)2(H2O)2(NO3)]NO3 was synthesized in all the reactions where Ca(2+) was involved. In contrast, none of the reactions led to the preparation of a strontium complex. Two of the reactions, in which participated Be(2+), resulted in the compound (phen)3(H+)2(NO(-)(3))2. The second group of competitive reactions was carried out with 1,10-phenanthroline and a given alkaline earth metal cation in the presence of the anions NO(3)(-) and BF(4)(-). These led to the compounds Mg(phen)4(BF4)2(H2O)3, [Ca(phen)2(H2O)2(NO3)]BF4, Sr(phen)4(OH)(BF4)(H2O) and Ba(phen)3.5(BF4)2(H2O). All the newly synthesized substances were characterized by elemental analysis, IR- and FAB-mass-spectra.     

IR-Dichroism of metal dithiocarbamate single crystals by attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy

Reliable assignments of most of the bands of vibrational molecular spectra suffer from ambiguous interaction of atomic displacements. Various experimental methods must be used to ascertain the assignment. By means of dichroic measurements of vibrational bands additional information can be obtained to reach this goal. Thus FT-IR ATR spectra of single crystals of Cd(DEDTC)₂ were recorded. If the molecular site with respect to the crystallographic cell is taken into account, the symmetry of certain vibrational modes can be determined.For aC _2h factor group of the monoclinic cell it is possible to distinguish betweenA _u andB _u symmetry species by the different dichroic ratios of the vibrational bands. This method supports vibrational assignment being verified by force constant refinement calculations.As a result a correlation between molecular site, symmetry and dichroic ratios of vibrational modes of single crystals is presented.