Photon interaction studies using 241Am γ-rays

We have carried out some photon interaction measurements using 59.54 keV γ-rays from a ²⁴¹Am source. These include γ attenuation studies as well as photoelectric absorption studies in various samples. The attenuation studies have been made using leaf and wood samples, samples like sand, sugar etc., which contain particles of varying sizes as well as pellets and aqueous solutions of rare earth compounds. In the case of the leaf and wood samples, we have used the γ-ray attenuation technique for the determination of the water content in fresh and dried samples. The variation of the attenuation coefficient with particle size has been investigated for sand and sugar samples. The attenuation studies as well as the photoelectric studies in the case of rare earth elements have been carried out on samples containing such elements whose K-absorption edge energies lie below and close to the γ-energy used. Suitable compounds of the rare earth elements have been chosen as mixture absorbers in these investigations. A narrow beam good geometry set-up was used for the attenuation measurements. A well-shielded scattering geometry was used for the photoelectric measurements. The mixture rule was invoked to extract the values of the mass attenuation coefficients for the elements from those of the corresponding compounds. The results are consistent with theoretical values derived from the XCOM package.     

Subtilisin catalysis of substrate anchored in cyclodextrin

The N-benzoyl-l-tyrosine ethyl ester (BTEE) anchored in cyclodextrin (β and β-methyl CD) serves as an excellent substrate for subtilisin Carlsberg catalysis. The rate of hydrolysis was found to be approximately twofold higher than that of the methanolic substrate. The K_mapp and V_max values for the CD anchored substrates were significantly higher than the methanol-solubilized BTEE.     

A one-pot synthesis of novel sugar derived 5,6-dihydro-quinazolino[4,3-b]quinazolin-8-ones: an entry towards highly functionalized sugar-heterocyclic hybrids

An efficient and practical one-pot method for the synthesis of novel diversified sugar derived dihydro-quinazolino[4,3-b]quinazolin-8-ones has been reported. Various protected sugar hemiacetals were used to synthesize the hybrid tetracyclic ring system. The one-step reductive transformation of 2-(2-nitrophenyl)-3H-quinazolin-4-one with different sugar hemiacetals furnished the desired tetracyclic product in good yields and with high purity.     

Transport of excitation energy in a doped molecular aggregate. III. numerical investigation of exciton hopping with various exciton-depleting processes

A brute-force numerical investigation has been carried out on the hopping of excitons in a three-dimensional molecular aggregate. Possibilities of vibronic decay, rapid chemical reactions of saturated species, radiative decay of overpopulated molecules, and cooperative chemical reactions involving saturated exciton populations on traps of two different types have been considered. Investigation have been performed with two types of initial distribution of excitons—facial and random—and for 10,000 or, sometimes, for 20,000 time steps each of duration 1ps. Several interesting observations have been made from this computer experiment: (1) The total number of occurrences of fast reactions depends upon the initial distribution of excitons. (2) It decreases if other exciton depleting processes are at work. (3) It also depends on the pattern of placement of traps. (4) The location of impurities also affects the rate of occurrence of these reactions. Thus, more reactions occur when the excitons are initially concentrated on one face and traps are suitably located on the path of flow of these excitons. A random initial distribution tends to equilibrate the excitons quickly over all the lattice points, thus giving rise to fewer reactions. (5) The number of reactions need not necessarily increase with the number of reaction centers; in fact, it decreases as more centers are added when the supply of excitons is severely limited. (6) A Complicated dynamics results when different types of additional processes, viz., enhanced fluorescence, radiative emissions, and cooperative chemical reactions are simultaneously allowed. The cooperative process has been clearly found to dominate. A first-order rate constant of about 10⁸ s-¹ has been calculated for the occurrence of the cooperative process. This rate is affected when other nonconserving processes are switched on. Observations (1), (4), and (5) are the most important conclusions of our work. They lie outside the scope of traditional models such as the random walk model, the diffusion model, and the lattice model for the migration of excitons in a molecular aggregate. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Interactive effects of ultraviolet-B radiation and temperature on cotton physiology, growth, development and hyperspectral reflectance

Current conditions of 2-11 kJ m(-2) day(-1) of UV-B radiation and temperatures of >30 degrees C during flowering in cotton cultivated regions are projected to increase in the future. A controlled environment study was conducted in sunlit growth chambers to determine the effects of UV-B radiation and temperature on physiology, growth, development and leaf hyperspectral reflectance of cotton. Plants were grown in the growth chambers at three day/night temperatures (24/16 degrees C, 30/22 degrees C and 36/28 degrees C) and three levels of UV-B radiation (0, 7 and 14 kJ m(-2) day(-1)) at each temperature from emergence to 79 days under optimum nutrient and water conditions. Increases in main stem node number and the node of first fruiting branch and decrease in duration to first flower bud (square) and flower were recorded with increase in temperature. Main effects of temperature and UV-B radiation were significant for net photosynthetic rates, stomatal conductance, total chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations of uppermost, fully expanded leaves during squaring and flowering. A significant interaction between temperature and UV-B radiation was detected for total biomass and its components. The UV-B radiation of 7 kJ m(-2) day(-1) reduced boll yield by 68% and 97% at 30/22 degrees C and 36/28 degrees C, respectively, compared with yield at 0 kJ m(-2) day(-1) and 30/22 degrees C. No bolls were produced in the three temperature treatments under 14 kJ m(-2) day(-1) UV-B radiation. The first-order interactions between temperature, UV-B radiation and leaf age were significant for leaf reflectance. This study suggests a growth- and process-related temperature dependence of sensitivity to UV-B radiation.     

Dialing in color with rare earth metals: facile photoluminescent production of true white light

Combining polymeric architectures with metal ions produces hybrid materials with extremely rich properties. We are studying polymers containing terpyridine in the side chain. In this report, the chelation of lanthanide ions, Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, and Dy³⁺ resulted in metal functionalized copolymers that exhibited excellent emission of red, green, and blue light respectively. The polymer architecture easily allows incorporation of all three colors into the material, which leads to the facile production of true white light in solution or the solid state. Quantum efficiencies for the polymer systems were determined. The white light system had an efficiency of 5%. Various combinations of colors were achieved from the basic RBG colors by simply varying the metal ion ratios in the polymer backbone. This easy tuning of the color makes these systems attractive. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low Reynolds Number Interactions between Colloidal Particles near the Entrance to a Cylindrical Pore

The interaction between stable colloidal particles arriving at a pore entrance was studied using a numerical method for the case where the particle size is smaller than but of the same order as the pore size. The numerical method was adapted from a front-tracking technique developed for studying incompressible, multifluid flow by S. O. Unverdi and G. Tryggvason (J. Comp. Phys. 100, 25, 1992). The method is based on the finite difference solution of Navier-Stokes equation on a stationary, structured, Cartesian grid and the explicit representation of the particle-liquid interface using an unstructured grid that moves through the stationary grid. The simulations are in two dimensions, considering both deformable and nondeformable particles, and include interparticle colloidal interactions. The interparticle and particle-pore hydrodynamic interactions, which are very difficult to determine using existing analytical and semi-numerical, semi-analytical techniques in microhydrodynamics, are naturally accounted for in our numerical method and need not be explicity determined. Two- and three-particle motion toward a pore has been considered in our simulations. The simulations demonstrate how the competition between hydrodynamic forces and colloidal forces acting on particles dictate their flow behavior near the pore entrance. The predicted dependence of the particle flow behavior on the flow velocity and the ratio of pore size to particle size are qualitatively consistent with the experimental observations of V. Ramachandran and H. S. Fogler (J. Fluid Mech. 385, 129, 1999). Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Pulsed double resonance in the pure quadrupole regime: off-resonant DRRF technique for detection of rare quadrupolar nuclei

A scheme for the detection of rare quadrupolar nuclei based on off-resonant pulse excitation of the abundant quadrupolar nuclei coupled to the rare ones in the sample has been outlined and demonstrated. Pure quadrupole resonance spectrum of ²³Na in poly-crystalline samples of sodium chlorate has been thus recorded at room temperature. The present double resonance scheme in the pure quadrupole regime is marked by a substantial reduction in spectrometer transmitter power and hardware requirements.     

Structures of two ketals derived from a pentacyclic cage diketone

The structure of a compound derived from a symmetrical cage diketone in which one of the ketone C=O groups has been converted into a ketal is reported. An investigation into reasons for the selective functionalization resulted in the isolation of acis, cisoid, cis linear triquinane derivative in which both ketones are converted to ketals that share a transannular oxygen atom. Crystal data:2, monoclinic,P2₁/c,a=7.6298(9),b=7.673(3),c=22.125(3)Å,=97.59(1)°,V=1283.9(5)ų, andR=0.048 (1001 reflections);4, triclinic,P¯1,a=7.3864(9),b=9.6362(9),c=10.3889(9)Å,=75.749(6),=76.300(8), =83.100(8)°,V=694.8(4)ų, andR=0.088 (1284 reflections).     

Synthesis of homoallylic chiral tertiary alcohols via chelation-controlled diastereoselective nucleophilic addition on alpha-alkoxyketones: application for the synthesis of the C(1)-C(11) subunit of 8-epi-fostriecin

[reaction: see text] Chiral beta-syn-alkoxyhomoallylic alcohols derived from alkoxyallylboration of aldehydes upon oxidation provided the corresponding chiral ketones. Chelation-controlled nucleophilic addition to these ketones occurred in a highly stereoselective manner to afford anti-homoallylic tertiary alcohols. This methodology has been applied for the synthesis of the C(1)-C(11) subunit of C(8)-epi-fostriecin.