Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

New ligands and structural insights into the catalytic asymmetric addition of organozinc reagents to ketones

The catalytic asymmetric addition of alkyl groups to ketones has received considerable attention. Outlined herein is the synthesis of two new ligands based on the C₂-symmetric 11,12-diamino-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene. The scope of the new ligands has been evaluated in the catalytic asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to a variety of ketones. Enantioselectivities as high as 99% have been achieved. The structures of two of these ligands have been determined by X-ray crystallography and are compared with related structures. Additionally, the structure of a titanium complex bound to a bis(sulfonamide) diol ligand is reported.     

Stereospecific synthesis of polyfunctionalized carbacephams induced by titanocene(III) chloride

Enantiomerically pure N-substituted epoxyalkene-2-azetidinones reacted with titanocene monochloride to give stereospecifically polyfunctionalized bicyclic beta-lactams. Four isomeric epoxyaldehydes 2 reacted with TiCp2Cl to give exclusively the respective carbacephams 7 while under the same reaction conditions the epoxyesters 1, which are more hindered for an intramolecular addition, gave the cyclization products 6 (only two isomers) and/or the elimination products 5 (all isomers).     

Catalytic asymmetric hydrosilylation of acetophenone with new chiral thiourea ligands containing the (S)-α-phenylethyl group

New chiral thioureas 1–8 containing 1,2-ethylendiamine or trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane as the carbon skeleton, and containing an (S)-α-phenylethyl group have been prepared (79–98% yield). Thioureas 1–8 were used as ligands for the zinc-based catalyzed asymmetric hydrosilylation of acetophenone with polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS). The best result was achieved with monothiourea 1 (up to 75% ee), in toluene and a catalyst load of 5 mol %.     

The influence of a transverse magnetic field on a subnormal glow discharge in air

In subnormal glow discharge under d.c. excitation at different pressure in a varying transverse magnetic field (0 to 30 G) some measurements have been carried out for various initial average tube currents. The voltage across the discharge increases and average tube current and residual current decreases in the magnetic field. With the help of Beckman’s expression [4] for the axial field and the electron density distribution in a transverse magnetic field the observed variation of current and voltage can be satisfactorily explained. The variation of axial electric field with transverse magnetic field can be represented to a fair degree of accuracy by the derived equation. The behaviour of residual current with magnetic field has been observed in these oscillations.     

Integral equation formulation for buoyancy-driven convection problems

An integral equation formulation for buoyancy-driven convection problems is developed and illustrated. Buoyancy-driven convection in a bounded cylindrical geometry with a free surface is studied for a range of aspect ratios and Nusselt numbers. The critical Rayleigh number, the nature of the cellular motion, and the heat transfer enhancement are computed using linear theory. Green's functions are used to convert the linear problem into linear Fredholm integral equations. Theorems are proved which establish the properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the linear integral operator which appears in these equations.     

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomics with Double Pulsed-Field-Gradient Echo and Automatized Solvent Suppression Spectroscopy for Multivariate Data Matrix Applied in Novel Wine and Juice Discriminant Analysis

The quality of foods has led researchers to use various analytical methods to determine the amounts of principal food constituents; some of them are the NMR techniques with a multivariate statistical analysis (NMR-MSA). The present work introduces a set of NMR-MSA novelties. First, the use of a double pulsed-field-gradient echo (DPFGE) experiment with a refocusing band-selective uniform response pure-phase selective pulse for the selective excitation of a 5–10-ppm range of wine samples reveals novel broad ¹H resonances. Second, an NMR-MSA foodomics approach to discriminate between wine samples produced from the same Cabernet Sauvignon variety fermented with different yeast strains proposed for large-scale alcohol reductions. Third a comparative study between a nonsupervised Principal Component Analysis (PCA), supervised standard partial (PLS-DA), and sparse (sPLS-DA) least squares discriminant analysis, as well as orthogonal projections to a latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA), for obtaining holistic fingerprints. The MSA discriminated between different Cabernet Sauvignon fermentation schemes and juice varieties (apple, apricot, and orange) or juice authentications (puree, nectar, concentrated, and commercial juice fruit drinks). The new pulse sequence DPFGE demonstrated an enhanced sensitivity in the aromatic zone of wine samples, allowing a better application of different unsupervised and supervised multivariate statistical analysis approaches.     

Synthesis and reactivity against Cp2TiCl of 4-isoprenyl-β-lactams. Trapping of N-titanoimidoyl radicals from cyanoformyl-2-azetidinones

A Staudinger reaction between methoxyketene and two different imines formed from citral afforded, after chemical transformation, the (E/Z)-4-alkenylepoxy-2-azetidinones 2, 3 and 4. These compounds, by reaction with Cp₂TiCl, did not cyclize to afford the expected polycyclic β-lactams, but the corresponding allylic alcohols 12, 13 and 15 were obtained instead. Unexpectedly, the treatment of cyanoepoxide (E)-3 with Cp₂TiCl also gave the hydroxyl aldehyde (E)-14 whose formation suggests to us that a possible radical reduction of the cyano group might have occurred, and we lastly succeeded in the capture of the N-titanoimidoyl radicals. The behaviour observed for the isoprenoid side chain in the Staudinger reaction, the reactions with Cp₂TiCl, as well as the trapping of N-titanoimidoyl radicals generated from benzocyanoformyl-2-azetidinones with the Ti(III) reagent, are discussed.