Synthesis of 4-Alkyl-4-alkoxybutenolides Having Unsaturated Side Chains via Chromium Carbene Complex Photochemistry: (+)-Cerulenin

The photochemical reaction between optically active ene carbamates and chromium alkoxycarbene complexes containing unsaturated aliphatic side chains was further developed. Although remote olefinic groups, including conjugated dienes, were tolerated, a homoallylic side chain underwent intramolecular reaction to give a strained cyclobutanone. (+)-Cerulenin was synthesized utilizing the photochemical reaction of an alkynylcarbene complex with an optically active ene carbamate and the bis(pi-crotyl)nickel halide alkylation of a vinyl bromide as key steps.     

Quantification of β-Sitosterol in Hairy Root Cultures and Natural Plant Parts of Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea L.)

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A simple normal-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method has been developed for the quantification of...     

Permutation-symmetric multicritical points in random antiferromagnetic spin chains

We present a general theory of a class of multicritical points in the phase diagrams of random antiferromagnetic spin chains. We show that low-energy properties of these points are almost completely determined by a permutation symmetry of the effective theory not shared by the microscopic Hamiltonian. One case provides an analytic theory of the quantum critical point in the random spin-3/2 chain, studied in a recent work by Refael, Kehrein, and Fisher.     

Fractional spin textures in the frustrated magnet SrCr(9p)Ga(12-9p)O₁₉

We consider the archetypal frustrated antiferromagnet SrCr(9p)Ga(12-9p)O?? in its well-known spin-liquid state, and demonstrate that a Cr(3+) spin S=3/2 ion in direct proximity to a pair of vacancies (in disordered p<1 samples) is cloaked by a spatially extended spin texture that encodes the correlations of the parent spin liquid. In this spin-liquid regime, our analytic theory predicts that the combined object has a magnetic response identical to a classical spin of length S/2=3/4, which dominates over the small intrinsic susceptibility of the pure system. This fractional-spin texture leaves an unmistakable imprint on the measured ?1Ga nuclear magnetic resonance line shapes, which we compute using Monte Carlo simulations and compare with experimental data.     

Effect of gadolinium substitution on the linear thermal expansion of barium sodium niobate

Ba₂NaNb₅O₁₅ (BSN) exhibits a large thermal contraction in its c-axis between 350° and 750°C. This behaviour contributes to a serious cracking problem during its crystal growth. The substitutions of Gd for Ba and/or Na in BSN can be made with either anion or cation compensation. The former, namely, type A, compositions were found to eliminate the thermal contraction behaviors, and had small variations in their linear thermal expansion coefficients, α, between 50° and 650°C. With good ferroelectric and dielectric properties, they showed potentials to replace the BSN crystal in electro-optic devices.     

Application of thermogravimetric equations in the thermal decomposition of manganese(II) soaps

Summary Thermal decomposition of manganese(II) soaps of general composition, Mn(O₂CR)₂ (where R = C₁₇H₃₃, C₁₁H₂₃, C₉H₁₉, C₇H₁₅) has been studied by t.g.a. and a probable mechanism of decomposition is proposed. The activation energies have been determined using the different equations of Horowitz and Metzger and of Coats and Redfern. The results obtained are consistent.     

Charge state distribution studies of pure and oxygen mixed krypton ECR plasma – signature of isotope anomaly and gas mixing effect

We report the charge state distributions of the pure, 25% and 50% oxygen mixed krypton plasma to shed more light on the understanding of the gas mixing and the isotope anomaly [A. G. Drentje, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 63 (1992) 2875 and Y Kawai, D Meyer, A Nadzeyka, U Wolters and K Wiesemann, Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 10 (2001) 451] in the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) plasmas. The krypton plasma was produced using a 10 GHz all‐permanent‐magnet ECR ion source. The intensities of the highly abundant four isotopes, viz. ⁸²Kr (~11.58%), ⁸³Kr (~11.49%), ⁸⁴Kr (~57%) and ⁸⁶Kr (17.3%) up to ~ +14 charge state have been measured by extracting the ions from the plasma and analysing them in the mass and the energy using a large acceptance analyzer‐cum‐switching dipole magnet. The influence of the oxygen gas mixing on the isotopic krypton ion intensities is clearly evidenced beyond +9 charge state. With and without oxygen mixing, the charge state distribution of the krypton ECR plasma shows the isotope anomaly with unusual trends. The anomaly in the intensities of the isotopes having quite closer natural abundance, viz. ⁸²Kr, ⁸⁶Kr and ⁸³Kr, ⁸⁶Kr is prominent, whereas the intensity ratio of ⁸⁶Kr to ⁸⁴Kr shows a weak signature of it. The isotope anomaly tends to disappear with increasing oxygen mixing in the plasma. The observed trends in the intensities of the krypton isotopes do not follow the prediction of linear Landau wave damping in the plasma. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Retardance properties of Twisted Ferro-electric Liquid Crystal

The present work presents, for the first time, the dynamic evolution of the hysteresis loops R(V), specifically based onto the total retardance polarimetric parameter R(t) extracted from the Mueller Matrix (MM) of Twisted Ferro-electric Liquid Crystal (TwFLC) samples. This evolution is given for increased exposure time T_exp to a rectangular periodic electric field E_app preliminary applied to the sample, before performing the polarimetric measurements. The Mueller Matrix formalism used is found as a relevant non-destructive and non invasive full-optical method to characterize and to monitor the Twisted Ferro-electric Liquid Crystal cell dynamic behaviour under external applied electric field, before reaching the so-called stripes regime.