Cyclic and telechelic ladder polymers derived from tetrahydroxytetramethylspirobisindane and 1,4‐dicyanotetrafluorobenzene

5,5′,6,6′‐Tetrahydroxy‐3,3,3′,3′‐tetramethylspirobisindane was polycondensed with 1,4‐dicyanotetrafluorobenzene in four different solvents at 70 °C. In dimethylformamide, N‐methylpyrrolidone, and sulfolane exclusively, cyclic polymers were detectable by matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometry up to masses around 13,000 Da. In dimethyl sulfoxide, linear byproducts were also found. Higher temperatures caused degradation reactions catalyzed by potassium carbonate. Polycondensations performed with the addition of 4‐tert‐butyl catechol or 2,2′‐dihydroxy binaphthyl yielded linear telechelic oligomers. Equimolar mixtures of linear and cyclic ladder polymers were examined by MALDI‐TOF mass spectra to determine how the end groups and the cyclic structure influenced the signal‐to‐noise ratio. The results suggested a preferential detection of the linear chains. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5344–5352, 2006     

On the existence of equilibrium states in local quantum field theory

It is shown that any local quantum field theory admits thermodynamical equilibrium states (KMS-states) for all positive temperatures provided it satisfies a nuclearity condition, proposed by Wichmann and one of the authors, which restricts the admissible number of local degrees of freedom.Dedicated to E. H. Wichmann on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Minimization of water vapor interference in the analysis of non-methane volatile organic compounds by solid adsorbent sampling

Water vapor can be a significant interference in the analysis of air for non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) using solid-adsorbent sampling techniques. The adsorbent materials used in sampling cartridges have different hydrophobic characteristics, and it is therefore necessary to characterize solid-adsorbent cartridges over a wide range of humidity. Controlled humidity experiments were performed to assess the extent of water vapor interference when samples are collected onto AirToxics solid-adsorbent cartridges. It was found that elevating the temperature of the cartridge to 10 degrees C above the temperature of the air sample greatly reduced water vapor adsorption and interferences and resulted in > or = 90% recovery of NMVOCs, biogenic VOCs and chlorofluorocarbons. Similar collection efficiencies were obtained at ambient temperature by reducing the relative humidity to > or = 60% in the sample by dilution with dry, scrubbed ambient air. A procedure also was developed and optimized for dry-purging cartridges prior to analysis. However, under optimized conditions, significant losses of C3-C5 compounds still occurred under highly humid conditions. It was determined that these losses were due to reduced retention during sampling rather than loss during the dry purge procedure. The dry purge method was shown to be adequate at high humidities for sampling NMVOCs with retention indices greater than 500.     

Microchip electrophoresis for chiral separations

Microchip electrophoresis (MCE) is a promising new technique for the separation of enantiomers. This recently introduced technique enables chiral separations to be performed in seconds on tiny micromachined devices. This review is intended to give a brief introduction into the principles of chiral separations with MCE with regard to methodology and instrumentation. Different approaches to realize chiral separations in microfluidic devices are described and discussed. This review gives an overview of original work done in this field with emphasis on approaches to improve detection and resolution in chiral MCE.     

Distribution of mercury in soil organic matter fractions obtained by dissolution/precipitation method

Sequential multistep procedure, usually used for the fractionation and characterization of soil organic matter was tested for Hg content in the individual steps and fractions. Under general laboratory conditions serious problems have arosen during the attempt in the Hg mass balance calculation. Several sources of Hg contamination were recognized. The most serious was the background concentration of Hg even in research grade chemicals (what is in general not declared) and laboratory air. The work on operational Hg speciation as non-humic bound, humic acid, fulvic acid bound proceeds from the established status-quo on distribution of mercury of soil organic matter.     

On quadratic forms of height two and a theorem of Wadsworth

Let and be anisotropic quadratic forms over a field of characteristic not . Their function fields and are said to be equivalent (over ) if and are isotropic. We consider the case where and is divisible by an -fold Pfister form. We determine those forms for which becomes isotropic over if , and provide partial results for . These results imply that if and are equivalent and , then is similar to over . This together with already known results yields that if is of height and degree or , and if , then and are equivalent iff and are isomorphic over .

     

Extensions of automorphisms and gauge symmetries

We characterize the automorphisms of aC ^*-algebra which extend to automorphisms of the crossed product by a compact group dual. The case where the inclusion is equipped with a group of automorphisms commuting with the dual action is also treated. These results are applied to the analysis of broken gauge symmetries in Quantum Field Theory to draw conclusions on the structure of the degenerate vacua on the field algebra.Dedicated to Huzihiro ArakiResearch supported by MURST and CNR, GNAFA