Synthesis of alkenes from tertiary esters utilizing the triphenylphosphine-iodine system

The treatment of tertiary esters with triphenylphosphine and iodine under mild conditions gives the most stable alkene in good yield. Formates, acetates and trifluoroacetates were studied.     

100-TW femtosecond laser based on parametric amplification

In experiments on the parametrical amplification of femtosecond pulses in wide-aperture DKDP crystals, a power of more than 100 TW has been reached, which is much higher than the record level achieved in such lasers. The energy efficiency obtained for the parametric amplifier is equal to 27%. The energy of a 72-fs pulse is equal to 10 J.     

Degradative chain transfer in vinyl acetate polymerizations using toluene as solvent

In this work, we propose that retardation in vinyl acetate polymerization rate in the presence of toluene is due to degradative chain transfer. The transfer constant to toluene (C_trs) determined using the Mayo method is equal to 3.8 × 10^?3, which is remarkably similar to the value calculated from the rate data, assuming degradative chain transfer (2.7 × 10^?3). Simulations, including chain‐length‐dependent termination, were carried out to compare our degradative chain transfer model with experimental results. The conversion–time profiles showed excellent agreement between experiment and simulation. Good agreement was found for the M_n data as a function of conversion. The experimental and simulation data strongly support the postulate that degradative chain transfer is the dominant kinetic mechanism. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 3620–3625, 2007     

Polarization locking and nonparaxial spatial solitons in media with electronic Kerr nonlinearity

The polarization structure of nonparaxial spatial solitons in a transparent medium with the electronic mechanism of Kerr nonlinearity is studied theoretically. It is demonstrated analytically in the weak nonparaxiality approximation that the regime of polarization locking, in which all the field components have the same propagation constant, is the only stable regime. Estimates of the rate of transition of the initial metastable regime of rotation of the polarization ellipse to the regime of polarization locking are presented. Based on a numerical solution of the nonlinear Maxwell equations, the presence of the nonparaxial regime of polarization locking is confirmed and the main characteristics of the corresponding spatial solitons are obtained.     

Creating, detecting and locating ultracold molecules in a surface trap

Ultracold molecules have been produced by photoassociation of Cs atoms trapped in a mirror magneto-optical trap. The molecules were detected by resonantly enhanced multi-photon ionization followed by time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. The time-of-flight ofatomic and molecular ions was investigated in the presence of a dc bias voltageapplied to the conducting mirror. This technique provides a new tool for determining the distance between the cold molecules and the mirror surface. This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Determination of Calcium,Magnesium, Iron,Copper, Zinc,and Phosphorus in Blood Serum by Arc Atomic Emission Spectrometry

The results of the elemental analysis of blood serum are often used for the diagnosis of different diseases associated with derangements of mineral metabolism. In this work, we studied the main sources of a systematic error in the atomic-emission spectrometric (AES) analysis of blood serum and developed a procedure for the AES determination of Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, P, and Zn in the human blood serum. The repeatability relative standard deviations of determinations varied from 10 to 24%.     

Determination of electron temperature based on a semicoronal model in Hall accelerator plasma flows

We present the results of a spectroscopic study of a nonequilibrium plasma in a Hall accelerator, in particular for such an important parameter as the electron temperature. For the studied conditions, we used the semicoronal equilibrium model, which relates the intensity ratios for two successive ionization steps for the same element. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 74, No. 1, pp. 93–96, January–February, 2007.     

Phase liquid-crystalline transitions in hydroxypropylcellulose-ethanol and hydroxypropylcellulose-acetic acid systems under deformation

The phase transitions and phase state of hydroxypropylcellulose mixtures with ethanol and acetic acid under static conditions and in the shear field have been studied by the turbidity-point method and polarization microscopy with the use of a polarization-photoelectric setup and a modified plastoviscometer. The deformation of solutions leads to a decrease in the temperature of mesomorphic phase formation and to a change in the type of liquid crystals from cholesteric to nematic.