Synthesis of (--)-Muricatacin via alpha- and alpha'-C-H bond functionalization of tetrahydrofuran

(--)-Muricatacin, a potent cytotoxic (4R,5R)-5-hydroxyheptadecan-4-olide, has been synthesized through alpha-C--H hydroxyalkylation and alpha'-C--H oxidation of tetrahydrofuran. This study presents a novel method for C--H bond functionalization as a means for preparing gamma-(hydroxyalkyl)-gamma-butyrolactones.     

Electrolytic synthesis of ammonia in molten salts under atmospheric pressure

Ammonia was successfully synthesized by using a new electrochemical reaction with high current efficiency at atmospheric pressure and at lower temperatures than the Haber-Bosch process. In this method, nitride ion (N3-), which is produced by the reduction from nitrogen gas at the cathode, is anodically oxidized and reacts with hydrogen to produce ammonia at the anode.     

Optimization of hollow fiber pulse compression using pressure gradients

We present a study on the optimization of multi-mJ spectral broadening in neon-filled hollow fibers using pressure gradients. It is found that the intensity of the laser pulse at the entrance of the hollow fiber should be below or at the level where multi-photon ionization (MPI) starts to occur. If the intensity is higher than the threshold value for MPI, ionization can significantly reduce the throughput efficiency. The extension of the scheme to a terawatt power level is also addressed. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.65.Jx; 42.65.k     

Precision measurement of vector and tensor analyzing powers in elastic deuteron-proton scattering

High-precision vector and tensor analyzing powers of elastic deuteron-proton ( d + p) scattering have been measured at intermediate energies to investigate effects of three-nucleon forces. Angular distributions in the range of 70^°-120^° in the center-of mass frame for incident-deuteron energies E _d ^lab = 130 and 180 MeV were obtained using the RIKEN facility. The beam polarization was unambiguously determined by measuring the ^12C (d, α)^10B(2⁺) reaction at 0^°. Results of the measurements are compared with state-of-the-art three-nucleon calculations. The present modeling of nucleon-nucleon forces and its extension to the three-nucleon system is not sufficient to describe the high-precision data consistently and requires, therefore, further investigation.     

Two types of diffusions at the cathode/electrolyte interface in IT-SOFCs

Analytical transmission electron microscopy, in particular with the combination of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), has been performed to investigate the microstructure and microchemistry of the interfacial region between the cathode (La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.8Fe_0.2O₃, LSCF) and the electrolyte (Gd-doped ceria, GDC). Two types of diffusions, mutual diffusion between cathode and electrolyte as well as the diffusion along grain boundaries, have been clarified. These diffusions suggest that the chemical stability of LSCF and GDC are not as good as previously reported. The results are more noteworthy if we take into consideration the fact that such interdiffusions occur even during the sintering process of cell preparation.     

IMEX Runge–Kutta schemes for reaction–diffusion equations

A fundamental research is carried out into convergence and stability properties of IMEX (implicit–explicit) Runge–Kutta schemes applied to reaction–diffusion equations. It is shown that a fully discrete scheme converges if it satisfies certain conditions using a technique of the B-convergence analysis, developed by Burrage, Hundsdorfer and Verwer in 1986. Stability of the schemes is also examined on the basis of a scalar test equation, proposed by Frank, Hundsdorfer and Verwer in 1997.     

Uniform perfectness of the limit sets of Kleinian groups

In this note, we show, in a quantitative fashion, that the limit set of a non-elementary Kleinian group is uniformly perfect if the quotient orbifold is of Lehner type, i.e., if the space of integrable holomorphic quadratic differentials on it is continuously contained in the space of (hyperbolically) bounded ones. This result covers the known case when the group is analytically finite. As applications, we present estimates of the Hausdorff dimension of the limit set and the translation lengths in the region of discontinuity for such a Kleinian group. Several examples will also be given.