Boundary effects on the electrophoretic motion of cylindrical particles: concentrically and eccentrically-positioned particles in a capillary

The bounded electrophoretic motion of a cylindrical particle in a circular cylindrical microchannel is explored for two cases: (1) the particle is located on the centerline of a channel (concentrically), with a symmetric wall boundary condition since gap width is constant throughout; and (2) the particle is at an eccentric location in the channel, with an asymmetric boundary condition set by the walls. The objective is to determine the effect of different boundary conditions, geometries, and physical properties on the velocity and orientation of the cylinder with respect to the boundary. A theoretical model for the motion of the cylinder is presented and the problem is solved numerically. The steady-state simulations show that the velocity of the cylinder is reduced at small gap widths for the concentric case, but the velocity is increased at small gap widths for the eccentric case. When the cylinder is angled with respect to the horizontal in the symmetric case or is near the boundary in the asymmetric case, vertical and rotational components of velocity are predicted. In such cases, transient simulations are appropriate for most accurately representing particle motion. Two such simulations are included herein and show both horizontal and vertical translation plus rotation of the particle as a function of time.     

Direct measurement of forces between a colloidal particle and a phospholipid bilayer

Colloidal interaction forces between a silica particle and a solid-supported Langmuir-Schaefer phospholipid bilayer were directly measured using a gradient optical trap and evanescent wave light scattering. A small custom-built Langmuir trough was integrated with an optical trapping microscope to allow force measurements on a single particle within the subphase of the trough after the dip of the substrate was completed. The novel method allows the force measurements to be conducted without transferring the substratum across an air/water interface. The fluctuating particle position near the bilayer was tracked by evanescent wave light scattering to determine the deflection due to surface forces, and the relaxation time of particle fluctuations was measured to simultaneously determine the viscous forces. Measured equilibrium and viscous force-distance profiles of silica microspheres with diameters of 1 and 5 microm on bilayers of dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC) were markedly different than force-distance on bare mica and DPPC monolayers under the same electrolyte conditions.     

A short total synthesis of (+/-)-aspidospermidine

[STRUCTURE: SEE TEXT] A cascade radical cyclization starting from an amidyl radical has been used for the construction of (+/-)-aspidospermidine. This approach has also been developed for the preparation of a tricycle whose framework is contained in the stemona alkaloids.     

Degeneracy in the length spectrum for metric graphs

In this note we show that the length spectrum for metric graphs exhibits a very high degree of degeneracy. More precisely, we obtain an asymptotic for the number of pairs of closed geodesics (or closed cycles) with the same metric length.     

Hydrogen bonding and the cryoprotective properties of glycerol/water mixtures

Molecular dynamics simulations and infrared spectroscopy were used to determine the hydrogen bond patterns of glycerol and its mixtures with water. The ability of glycerol/water mixtures to inhibit ice crystallization is linked to the concentration of glycerol and the hydrogen bonding patterns formed by these solutions. At low glycerol concentrations, sufficient amounts of bulk-like water exist, and at low temperature, these solutions demonstrate crystallization. As the glycerol concentration is increased, the bulk-like water pool is eventually depleted. Water in the first hydration shell becomes concentrated around the polar groups of glycerol, and the alkyl groups of glycerol self-associate. Glycerol-glycerol hydrogen bonds become the dominant interaction in the first hydration shell, and the percolation nature of the water network is disturbed. At glycerol concentrations beyond this point, glycerol/water mixtures remain glassy at low temperatures and the glycerol-water hydrogen bond favors a more linear arrangement. High glycerol concentration mixtures mimic the strong hydrogen bonding pattern seen in ice, yet crystallization does not occur. Hydrogen bond patterns are discussed in terms of hydrogen bond angle distributions and average hydrogen bond number. Shift in infrared frequency of related stretch and bend modes is also reviewed.     

Fabry Perot etalon with polymer cholesteric liquid-crystal mirrors

We present what we believe to be the first implementation of a Fabry-Perot (FP) etalon using polymer cholesteric liquid-crystal mirrors. These polymer mirrors have each been fabricated onto a single substrate, which allows the FP cavity spacing to be only a few micrometers wide. For the experimental results presented, cavity lengths of 13.8 and 7.6 mum yield near-infrared free spectral ranges of 24.8 and 45.6 nm, respectively. The measured finesse of 14.31 is approaching the limitation imposed by the reflectivity of the mirrors.     

Redox reactions involving rhenium and uranium hexafluorides,a convenient synthesis of β-uranium pentafluoride

Rhenium and uranium hexafluorides oxidise elemental iodine in iodine pentafluoride at ambient temperature to give the I₂⁺ cation. With UF₆ an additional reaction occurs to give β-uranium pentafluoride as one product, β-UF₅ is soluble in acetonitrile without disproportionation and is also formed from the reduction of UF₆ by MeCN. Copper, cadmium, and thallium metals are oxidised by ReF₆ in MeCN giving Cu^I, Cd^II, and Tl^I hexafluororhenates(V) but the reactions are complicated by reaction between ReF₆ and the solvent.     

The effect of alkene configuration on the partitioning between the carbenic reactions and the 1,7-electrocyclisation of α-)o-alkenylaryl)diazoalkanes

The 1,7-electroclyclisation of α-($\text{o}$-alkenylaryl)diazoalkenes to 1$\text{H}$-2,3-benzodiazepines is blocked by the $\text{cis}$ substituent in $\text{Z}$ alkenyl groups and the diazo-compounds then react via alternative routes including a new intramolecular carbene reaction to give naphtho[a]cycloheptenes.