XRD-Studies of SiC/Si layers on carbon substrates

Structural investigations of thin films of SiC, SiC with free silicon and various titanium suicides (TiSi₂, TiSi and Ti₅Si₃) are described. The crystal phases have been identified using X-ray diffractometry. The growth of reaction products from surface reactions between silicon and deposited titanium can be observed.Dedicated to Professor Dr. rer.nat. Dr. h.c. Hubertus Nickel on the occasion of his 65th birthday     

The relative importance of temperature and isotope effects on the dipole oscillator strength distribution of H2

Summary The calculation of the effects of temperature and isotopic composition on the energy weighted moments of the dipole oscillator strength distribution of H₂ in the random phase approximation to the polarization propagator are reported. It is seen that the effect of isotopic composition is small, while that of temperature is of an order accessible to experiment. We find that all the mean excitation energiesI , for =–1, 0, 1, decrease with temperature as does the dipole oscillator strength momentS() for >0, while the opposite is true for <0. These effects are interpreted in terms of the bond length dependence of the excitation energies.     

Aggressive dereplication using UHPLC–DAD–QTOF: screening extracts for up to 3000 fungal secondary metabolites

In natural-product drug discovery, finding new compounds is the main task, and thus fast dereplication of known compounds is essential. This is usually performed by manual liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (LC-UV) or visible light-mass spectroscopy (Vis-MS) interpretation of detected peaks, often assisted by automated identification of previously identified compounds. We used a 15 min high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection (UHPLC–DAD)–high-resolution MS method (electrospray ionization (ESI)⁺ or ESI^?), followed by 10–60 s of automated data analysis for up to 3000 relevant elemental compositions. By overlaying automatically generated extracted-ion chromatograms from detected compounds on the base peak chromatogram, all major potentially novel peaks could be visualized. Peaks corresponding to compounds available as reference standards, previously identified compounds, and major contaminants from solvents, media, filters etc. were labeled to differentiate these from compounds only identified by elemental composition. This enabled fast manual evaluation of both known peaks and potential novel-compound peaks, by manual verification of: the adduct pattern, UV–Vis, retention time compared with log D, co-identified biosynthetic related compounds, and elution order. System performance, including adduct patterns, in-source fragmentation, and ion-cooler bias, was investigated on reference standards, and the overall method was used on extracts of Aspergillus carbonarius and Penicillium melanoconidium, revealing new nitrogen-containing biomarkers for both species.     

A Theory of Electron Transfer in Bridged and Supramolecular Systems

Expressions are derived for the tunnel electric current between two metals produced by the adiabatic transitions of the electrons through a bridge electron level. A new possible physical phenomenon is discussed, viz. electronically driven oscillations of the electron bridge level between two molecular wires.     

On Excited States of Alkyl Bridged [14] Annulenes

The linear dichroic absorption spectrum of 1,3,6,8-trans-15, 16-hexamethyl-dihydropyrene has been measured in stretched polyethylene at 77K, and CNDO-CI calculations with inclusion of singly and doubly excited configurations have been carried out on a series of alkyl bridged [14] annulenes with pyrene- and anthracene-shaped perimeters. Transitions to e_3g → e_4u type ¹B states are well described, and the results indicate that additional low-energy excited states originate from e_3g→ e_5g and e_2u → e_4u type configurations interacting strongly with doubly excited configurations of the e_3g, e_3g → e_4u, e_4u type. The second excited singlet state responsible for the weak transition observed between the ¹L bands may be assigned to one of these additional states, but it is probably of complex nature, similar to the ‘phantom’ state in linear polyenes.