New Syntheses of Retinal and Its Acyclic Analog γ‐Retinal by an Extended Aldol Reaction with a C6 Building Block That Incorporates a C5 Unit after Decarboxylation. A Formal Route to Lycopene and β‐Carotene

Since the C₁₅ β‐end‐group aldehyde 10 ((β‐ionylidene)acetaldehyde), an excellent intermediate in the syntheses of retinoids, can be synthesized in many ways from β‐ionone, and since the corresponding acyclic C₁₅ ψ‐end‐group aldehyde 5 can easily be synthesized from citral ( 1 ) (Scheme 3), we applied the C₁₅+C₅ route to the syntheses of γ‐retinal ((all‐E)‐ 8 ) (Scheme 3) and retinal ((all‐E)‐ 13 ) (Scheme 4), and therefore, by coupling (2×C₂₀→C₄₀), to the preparation of lycopene ( 14 ) and β‐carotene ( 15 ) (Scheme 5). Our new syntheses of retinal ((all‐E)‐ 13 ) and γ‐retinal ((all‐E)‐ 8 use an extended aldol reaction with a C₆ building block that incorporates a C₅ unit after decarboxylation.     

High-precision measurements of seawater Pb isotope compositions by double spike thermal ionization mass spectrometry

A new method for the determination of seawater Pb isotope compositions and concentrations was developed, which combines and optimizes previously published protocols for the separation and isotopic analysis of this element. For isotopic analysis, the procedure involves initial separation of Pb from 1 to 2 L of seawater by co-precipitation with Mg hydroxide and further purification by a two stage anion exchange procedure. The Pb isotope measurements are subsequently carried out by thermal ionization mass spectrometry using a ²⁰⁷Pb–²⁰⁴Pb double spike for correction of instrumental mass fractionation. These methods are associated with a total procedural Pb blank of 28 ± 21 pg (1sd) and typical Pb recoveries of 40–60%. The Pb concentrations are determined by isotope dilution (ID) on 50 mL of seawater, using a simplified version of above methods. Analyses of multiple aliquots of six seawater samples yield a reproducibility of about ±1 to ±10% (1sd) for Pb concentrations of between 7 and 50 pmol/kg, where precision was primarily limited by the uncertainty of the blank correction (12 ± 4 pg; 1sd). For the Pb isotope analyses, typical reproducibilities (±2sd) of 700–1500 ppm and 1000–2000 ppm were achieved for ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, respectively. These results are superior to literature data that were obtained using plasma source mass spectrometry and they are at least a factor of five more precise for ratios involving the minor ²⁰⁴Pb isotope. Both Pb concentration and isotope data, furthermore, show good agreement with published results for two seawater intercomparison samples of the GEOTRACES program. Finally, the new methods were applied to a seawater depth profile from the eastern South Atlantic. Both Pb contents and isotope compositions display a smooth evolution with depth, and no obvious outliers. Compared to previous Pb isotope data for seawater, the ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios are well correlated with ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb, underlining the significant improvement achieved in the measurement of the minor ²⁰⁴Pb isotope.     

Amino acid-pyrrole N-conjugates; a new class of antioxidants II. Effectiveness of singlet oxygen quenching by luminescence measurements

The pyrrole-amino acid and peptide N-conjugates synthesized from tyrosine, histidine and glutathione very effectively quench the 1270 nm singlet oxygen luminescence, at rates ranging from 10⁸ to 10⁹ M⁻¹ s⁻¹. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy suggests that the electron-donating properties of the methyl groups after 2,5-dimethyl substitution on the pyrrole ring are probably an important determinant of the reactivity of singlet oxygen with the N-conjugate of glutathione. However, intramolecular interactions between the pyrrole ring and the side chain may also modulate the reactivity of the antioxidant as suggested by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies carried out on tyrosine derivatives. Efficient fluorescence quenching of the phenol ring by the pyrrole ring occurs in the tyrosine derivatives. The reactivities of these antioxidants with ¹O₂ are comparable in methanol, ethanol and D₂O.     

Atypical Oxidation Reaction by Thionyl Chloride: Easy Two‐Step Synthesis of N‐Alkyl‐1,4‐dithiines

Easy two‐step synthesis of a series of dithiines was performed from succinic anhydride via cyclization of the corresponding 4‐(alkylamino)‐4‐oxobutanoic acids (succinamic acids). The reaction, carried out in polar aprotic solvents, gave 4,8‐dithiine‐indacene‐1,3,5,7‐tetraones (diimides 3) via 3,7‐bis‐4,8‐dithia‐indacene‐1,5‐diones (diisoimides 2), which could be isolated. Surprisingly, in this reaction, thionyl chloride appeared as an oxidant, and this process seemed to be useful for the syntheses of S‐containing heterocyclic compounds such as 1,4‐dithiins. A mechanistic pathway was considered.     

Synthesis of a New C-15 Phosphorus Ylide Used for the Preparation of Some β-End-Group Retinoid Derivatives

A synthesis of a new C-15 phosphorus ylide from a C-14 enaminone is reported. This reagent, which undergoes selective 1,2- or 1,4-additions with saturated and unsaturated aldehydes, may find some synthetic use for the preparation of β-end-group retinoid derivatives.     

Maximal Hilbert Functions

The set of Hilbert functions of standard graded algebras is considered as a partially ordered set under numerical comparison. For the set of algebras H(d, e₀), of a given dimension d and multiplicity e₀, we describe the requirements its maximal elements must satisfy; under fairly general conditions, the extremal functions arise from Cohen-Macaulay algebras. We also examine the subset H(d, e₀, e₁), of those functions whose first two coefficients of their Hilbert polynomials are assigned. Finally, we show how these results and the use of certain extended multiplicities can be used to prove finiteness theorems for the number of corresponding functions.     

On the Development of Titanium κ1-Amidinate Complexes,Commercialized as Keltan ACE™ Technology,Enabling the Production of an Unprecedented Large Variety of EPDM Polymer Structures

ARLANXEO Elastomers has developed and commercialized Keltan ACE™ technology, a class of half-sandwich cyclopentadienyl κ¹-amidinate metal complexes, which are extremely active for the production of first-class ethylene/propylene/diene copolymers (EPDM). In this review, the development and some of the key features of the Keltan ACE™ catalyst system are presented. Many different ACE catalysts have been synthesized over the past years, including bridged and bimetallic catalysts. With Keltan ACE™, a complete range of EPDM products with similar polymer characteristics as their Ziegler–Natta (ZN) counterparts can be produced, including variations containing very high 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene (ENB) contents, controlled long chain branching, very high molecular weight, as well as oil-extended products. Moreover, other EPDM structures can be polymerized. The Keltan ACE™ catalyst technology also allows the production of EPDMs with very high amounts of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD) or 5-vinyl 2-norbornene (VNB) without excessive gelation and reactor fouling, that is, products that cannot or are extremely difficult to obtain via classical ZN catalysis. In a next step, high-VNB-EPDM can be postreactor modified, for example, via metathesis chemistry. In addition, EPDM polymers with a very broad or even bimodal molecular weight distribution can be obtained in a single reactor with certain ACE catalyst structures at particular activator/precatalyst ratios. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2877–2891     

Quasiparticle spectra, charge-density waves, superconductivity, and electron-phonon coupling in 2H-NbSe2

High-resolution photoemission has been used to study the electronic structure of the charge-density wave (CDW) and superconducting dichalcogenide, 2H-NbSe2. From the extracted self-energies, important components of the quasiparticle interactions have been identified. In contrast to previously studied TaSe2, the CDW transition does not affect the electronic properties significantly. The electron-phonon coupling is identified as a dominant contribution to the quasiparticle self-energy and is shown to be very anisotropic (k dependent) and much stronger than in TaSe2.     

Cohen-Macaulay Local Rings of Embedding Dimension e + d - 3

In this paper we determine the possible Hilbert functions ofa Cohen–Macaulay local ring of dimension d and multiplicitye, in the case where the embedding dimension v satisfies v =e + d – 3 and the Cohen–Macaulay type is less thanor equal to e – 3. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification:primary 13D40; secondary 13P99.     

Temperature dependent scattering rates at the fermi surface of optimally doped Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta)

For optimally doped Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta), scattering rates in the normal state are found to have a linear temperature dependence over most of the Fermi surface. In the immediate vicinity of the (pi, 0) point, the scattering rates are nearly constant in the normal state, consistent with models in which scattering at this point determines the c-axis transport. In the superconducting state, the scattering rates away from the nodal direction appear to level off and become temperature independent.