Out of shear plane deformations in nematic liquid crystals

The stability of the director field to deformations out of the plane of shear is examined by use of the Taylor expansion method based on catastrophe theory. For simple shear flow of nematics, the coming out of the shear plane is found for suitable surface alignment and not too high twist elastic constant. The role of these parameters is pointed out. Non-flow-aligning nematics are also considered, and results consistent with earlier reports are obtained.     

Thiocarbonyl-imide aus der Umsetzung von 2,2,4,4-Tetramethyl-3-thioxocyclobutanon mit Aryl-aziden

Thiocarbonyl Imides from the Reaction of 2,2,4,4-Tetramethyl-3-thioxocylobutanone and Aryl Azides Reaction of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-3-thioxocylobutanone ( 6 ) and 4-methoxyphenyl, phenyl, and 4-nitrophenyl azide ( 7a–c , respectively), at 80°, leads to the 11-aryl-5,10-dithia-11-azadispiro[3.1.3.2]undecane-2,8-diones 8a–c (Scheme 3), respectively, in 67–83% yield. The structure of 8b has been established by X-ray crystallography. The formation of the products may be explained via an intermediate thiocarbonyl imide of type D (Scheme 4), generated by the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of the aryl azide with the C? S bond of 6 and elimination of N₂.     

A new, mild preparation of sulfonyl chlorides

A new method was developed for the preparation of sulfonyl chlorides from sulfonic acids under neutral conditions using 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine as chlorinating agent.     

Selective and sensitive detection of nitrite based on NO sensing on a polymer-coated rotating disc electrode

A new effective way of nitrite detection in complex samples is presented. It is based on chemical conversion of nitrite to nitric monoxide (NO) in acidic aqueous solution containing hexacyanoferrate(II) as a reductor. NO is then detected on a poly-eugenol coated platinum electrode. When the electrode is rotating and the reduction medium is continuously purged with nitrogen, the addition of a nitrite-containing sample produces narrowed current spikes. The peak current is proportional to nitrite content in the sample over the range of 5.0–100 μM and detection limit is 0.6 μM. The method is simple and highly reproducible. Relative standard deviation of 10 repetitions is less than 4%. Practical utility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by nitrite determination in human saliva.     

Total Synthesis of Cryptophycins via a Chemoenzymatic Approach

A highly convergent synthesis of cryptophycins in their enantiomerically-pure forms was achieved. Our strategy consists of the synthesis of the two units 3 and 4 and linking them together to form the macrocyclic ring. The upper unit 3 was prepared from 10 in four steps, and the lower unit 4 was prepared from 20 in three steps. Enantioselective biocatalytic methodology was used to prepare the requisite chiral building blocks, (R)-11 and (R)-19. The stereochemical versatility of this synthetic approach is demonstrated by the synthesis of cryptophycin A and the four diastereomers of cryptophycin C.     

Electrochemical detection of nitric oxide using polymer modified electrodes

Electrochemical sensors based on chemical surface modification are very attractive because they combine high sensitivity of amperometry with new dimensions of selectivity and stability provided by the surface modifier. This review shows a few strategies employed to facilitate the detection, determination and monitoring of nitric oxide using polymer modified electrodes. Conducting and nonconducting polymer films and composite films are considered. The most significant achievements reached in this field, during the last decade, are critically reviewed. The collected data are also presented in three tables.     

Ligand.Info small-molecule Meta-Database

Ligand.Info is a compilation of various publicly available databases of small molecules. The total size of the Meta-Database is over 1 million entries. The compound records contain calculated three-dimensional coordinates and sometimes information about biological activity. Some molecules have information about FDA drug approving status or about anti-HIV activity. Meta-Database can be downloaded from the http://Ligand.Info web page. The database can also be screened using a Java-based tool. The tool can interactively cluster sets of molecules on the user side and automatically download similar molecules from the server. The application requires the Java Runtime Environment 1.4 or higher, which can be automatically downloaded from Sun Microsystems or Apple Computer and installed during the first use of Ligand.Info on desktop systems, which support Java (Ms Windows, Mac OS, Solaris, and Linux). The Ligand.Info Meta-Database can be used for virtual high-throughput screening of new potential drugs. Presented examples showed that using a known antiviral drug as query the system was able to find others antiviral drugs and inhibitors.     

On exchange-repulsion non-additivity in the interaction of three argon atoms

The non-additive contribution to the exchange repulsion for the argon trimer in the equilateral-triangle configuration has been calculated in the first order of symmetry-adapted perturbation theory. Approximation of the non-additivity by the interaction of outer-shell electron is as efficient as for Ne₃. The role of higher-order contributions to the non-additivity is discussed.     

Kinetics of 2-methyl-2-pentene epoxidation with tert-butyl hydroperoxide

The reaction rate at the initial period during the epoxidation of 2-methyl-2-pentene with tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of Mo(CO)₆ as catalyst varies linearly in the range of lower concentrations of olefin, hydroperoxide and catalyst. The reaction is losing the first order character in the region of higher concentrations due to the inhibition with the reaction products. This finds the confirmations in a discrepancy between the concentration and the instantaneous (temporal) reaction order.