Reconciling slip measurements in symmetric and asymmetric systems

In the past decade, the slip of simple liquids on solid surfaces has been demonstrated by many groups. However, the slip of liquids on wettable surfaces is heavily debated. Using colloid probe atomic force microscopy (AFM), we found the slip length of di-n-octylphthalate in a symmetric wettable system (silica) to be around 11 nm, which raises the question of what the measured slip length in an asymmetric hydrophilic-hydrophobic system would be. To answer this question, we investigated liquid slip in one symmetric nonwettable system (hydrophobic DCDMS or OTS) and in one asymmetric hydrophilic (silica)-hydrophobic (DCDMS) system by the same method at driving velocities of between 10 and 80 μm/s. The slip results obtained from the three systems are in agreement with each other, and this comparison provides a means to self-assess the accuracy and reproducibility of the measured force curves and the fitted slip length in our systems. Furthermore, this method provides access to reliable values of the actual slip length on any investigated flat surface in an asymmetric system, avoiding the difficulty of preparing a symmetric probe/flat surface system in a colloid probe AFM force measurement.     

The electronic structures of diruthenium complexes containing an oligo(phenylene ethynylene) bridging ligand, and some related molecular structures

The complexes [{Cp'(L(2))Ru}C≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CC(6)H(2)(OMe)(2)C≡CC(6)H(4)C≡C{Ru(L(2))Cp'}](L(2) = (PPh(3))(2), Cp' = Cp; L(2) = dppe, Cp' = Cp*) in which the metal centres are bridged by an oligomeric phenylene ethynylene (OPE) ligand have been prepared and the electronic structure of these representative ruthenium-capped OPEs investigated using a combination of electrochemical, UV-vis-NIR and IR spectroelectrochemical methods, and DFT-based calculations. The diruthenium complexes are oxidised to the thermodynamically stable dications [Cp'Ru(L(2))C≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CC(6)H(2)(OMe)(2)C≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CRu(L(2))Cp'](2+), which on the basis of the spectroelectrochemical and computational results can be described in terms of two non-interacting Ru(C≡CAr)(L(2))Cp' moieties. X-ray structures of the oligophenyleneethynylene HC≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CC(6)H(2)(OMe)(2)C≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CH, the bis(gold) complex Ph(3)PAuC≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CC(6)H(2)(OMe)(2)C≡CC(6)H(4)C≡CAuPPh(3) and the precursor 1-ethynyl-4-(trimethylsilylethynyl)benzene are also reported.     

Optimal Mathematical Models for Nonlinear Dynamical Systems

We propose a new method for the optimal causal representation of nonlinear systems. The proposed approach is based on the best constrained approximation of mappings in probability spaces by operators constructed from matrices of special form so that the approximant preserves the causality property. It is supposed that the observable input is contaminated with noise. The approximant minimises the mean-square difference between a desired output signal and the output signal of the approximating model. The method provides a numerically realisable mathematical model of the system. An analysis is given of the error associated with this representation.     

Monitoring metal ion binding in single-layer Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms using ATR-IR spectroscopy

The binding of metal ions to Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 cells attached to a ZnSe surface has been observed in this research through cation exchange experiments using ATR-IR spectroscopy. A biofilm consisting of a single layer of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 cells was formed on a ZnSe prism by flowing a bacterial suspension in a 0.03 mol L(-)(1) NaNO(3) solution at pH 5.0 across its surface. Exposure of the biofilm to chromium(III) nitrate solution resulted in increases in all band absorbances. This absorbance increase has been attributed to the binding of chromium(III) to the bacterial exopolymers associated with the prism surface. The chromium(III) binding causes the exopolymers to contract and move the bacterial cell closer to the ZnSe surface. Further study of chromium(III) ion exchange using a mutant P. aeruginosa with a truncated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) chain resulted in much smaller absorbance changes. This observation supports the view that the extension of bacterial exopolymers and hence the distance of the bacterial cell from the surface is strongly influenced by environmental factors such as the presence of metal cations. Following chromium(III) cation exchange, the bacterial band absorbances remained constant even when the bacteria were washed with a 0.03 mol L(-)(1) NaNO(3) solution, indicating that the chromium(III) was irreversibly bound. Ion exchange with nickel(II) and cobalt(II) nitrate solutions within identical biofilms showed that these cations caused relatively small increases in absorbances that were reversible, indicating that nickel(II) and cobalt(II) are less strongly bound than chromium(III) within P. aeruginosa biofilms. The absence of discernible IR spectral changes with metal binding appears to indicate a predominantly electrostatic mechanism for binding of Cr(III), Ni(II), and Co(II) ions by bacteria in the early stages of biofilm formation.     

Nitric oxide decomposition on small rhodium clusters, Rh(n)+/-

The decomposition of nitric oxide on small charged rhodium clusters Rh(n)(+/-) (6 < n < 30) has been investigated by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry. For both cationic and anionic naked clusters, the rates of reaction with NO increase smoothly with cluster size in the range studied without the dramatic size-dependent fluctuations often associated with the reactions of transition-metal clusters. The cationic clusters react significantly faster than the anions and both exhibit rate constants exceeding collision rates calculated by average dipole orientation theory. Both the approximate magnitude and the trends in reactivity are modeled well by the surface charge capture model recently proposed by Kummerl?we and Beyer. All clusters studied here exhibit pseudo-first-order kinetics with no sign of biexponential kinetics often interpreted as evidence for multiple isomeric structures. Experiments involving prolonged exposure to NO have revealed interesting size-dependent trends in the mechanism and efficiency of NO decomposition: For most small clusters (n < 17), once two NO molecules are coadsorbed on a cluster, N(2) is evolved, generating the corresponding dioxide cluster. By analogy with experiments on extended surfaces, this observation is interpreted in terms of the dissociative adsorption of NO in the early stages of reaction, generating N atoms that are mobile on the surface of the cluster. For clusters where n < 13, this chemistry, which occurs independently of the cluster charge, repeats until a size-dependent, limiting oxygen coverage is achieved. Following this, NO is observed to adsorb on the oxide cluster without further N(2) evolution. For n = 14-16 no single end-point is observed and reaction products are based on a small range of oxide structures. By contrast, no evidence for N(2) production is observed for clusters n = 13 and n > 16, for which simple sequential NO adsorption dominates the chemistry. Interestingly, there is no evidence for the production of N(2)O or NO(2) on any of the clusters studied. A simple general mechanism is proposed that accounts for all observations. The detailed decomposition mechanisms for each cluster exhibit size (and, by implication, structure) dependent features with Rh(13)(+/-) particularly anomalous by comparison with neighboring clusters.     

Effect of a perfluorocyclopentene core unit on the structures and photoluminescence of fluorene- and anthracene-based compounds

A novel series of blue luminescent compounds, in which three identical functional groups, such as fluorene, anthracene, and spiro-bifluorene, are linked distortedly around a perfluorocyclopentene core, have been synthesized and characterized. The introduction of a perfluorocyclopentene linkage into the molecular framework leads to an enhancement of the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency and thermal stability. All compounds exhibit intense blue photoluminescence, which has been attributed to fluorene- or anthracene-based π→π* transitions. The maximum emission wavelengths of all compounds at room temperature are in the region of 420-480 nm, with higher PL quantum efficiencies than in 9,10-diphenylanthracene. The electroluminescent (EL) properties of compound 4, 1,2-bis(9,9′-spirobifluoren-2-yl)-3,3,4,4,5,5-hexafluorocyclopentene, were investigated. A multilayer EL device with the configuration of ITO/2TNATA(60 nm)/NPB(20 nm)/ADN:2%-compound-4(35 nm)/Alq₃(20 nm)/LiF(2 nm)/Al has been successfully fabricated.     

Statistical mechanical theory for steady state systems. IV. Transition probability and simulation algorithm demonstrated for heat flow

Two microscopic transition theorems are given for the probability of nonequilibrium work performed on a subsystem of a thermal reservoir along the trajectory in phase space of the subsystem. The resultant transition probability is applied to the case of heat flow down an applied temperature gradient. A combined molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo algorithm is given for such a nonequilibrium steady state. Results obtained for the thermal conductivity are in good agreement with previous Green-Kubo and nonequilibrium molecular dynamics results.     

Synthesis of Substituted Coumarins via Brønsted Acid Mediated Condensation of Allenes with Substituted Phenols or Anisoles

Coumarins were obtained from the condensation of electron-rich arenes with allenes in the presence of TfOH in good yield. Depending on the substituent pattern of allenes employed, the general synthetic method of 4-substituted and 3,4-disubstituted 3-arylcoumarins has been developed. Readily available allenes were employed as the three-carbon atom sources constituting the coumarin skeleton.     

Intermolecular Ritter-type C-H amination of unactivated sp3 carbons

Intermolecular Ritter-type C-H amination of unactivated sp(3) carbons has been developed. This new reaction proceeds under mild conditions using readily available reagents and an inexpensive source of nitrogen (acetonitrile). A broad scope of substrates can be aminated with this method since many functional groups are tolerated. This reaction also allows for the direct, innate C-H amination of a variety of hydrocarbons such as cyclohexane without the need of prefunctionalization or installation of a directing group.