Quasi-distribution of tunneling time

Using real time Feynman histories, a quasi-distribution of tunneling time Q(τ) is introduced. For the tunneling time of resident time type, an explicit expression for Q is shown for square barriers. Q becomes oscillatory as the barrier becomes opaque. Some well-known tunneling times fall within the range of τ where Q takes non-negligible values. The formal “average” and the “variance” of the tunneling time are found to be related to known tunneling times. It is thus demonstrated that the quasi-distribution extracts the temporal information about tunneling from real time Feynman histories.     

The effect of ionising radiation on poly(methyl methacrylate) used in intraocular lenses

Gamma radiation is increasingly being used to sterilise intraocular lenses (IOLs) made from poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). In this study, samples of PMMA used in the fabrication of IOLs were exposed to irradiation doses typically used for their sterilisation. The effect of this treatment on the polymer was analysed by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), UV-visible and infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The PMMA was found to have undergone chain scission, decarboxylation and colour change following the irradiation.     

Classical trajectory calculations of intramolecular vibrational energy redistribution. I. Methanol-water complex

Intramolecular vibrational energy redistributions of the O-H stretching (nuOH) vibration for the methanol monomer and its water complex, the methanol-water dimer, are investigated by using ab initio full-dimensional classical trajectory calculations. For the methanol monomer, in the high-energy regime of the 5nuOH overtone, the time dependence of the normal-mode energies indicates that energy flowed from the initial excited O-H stretching mode to the C-H stretching mode. This result confirms the experimental observation of energy redistribution between the O-H and C-H stretching vibrations [L. Lubich et al., Faraday Discuss. 102, 167 (1995)]. Furthermore, a lot of dynamical information in the time domain is contained in the power spectra, whose density is given by the Fourier transformation of the total momentum obtained from trajectory calculations. For the methanol-water hydrogen-bonded complex, at the high-energy level of the 5nuOH overtone, the calculated power spectrum shows considerable splitting and broadening, indicating significant energy redistribution through strong coupling between the O-H stretching vibration and other vibrations. It is thus clear that the A-H...B hydrogen-bond formation facilitates energy redistribution subsequent to the vibrational excitation of the hydrogen-bonded A-H stretching mode.     

New catalytic cycle for couplings of aldehydes with organochromium reagents

[reaction: see text] A new catalytic cycle has been developed to effect all three subgroups of Cr-mediated couplings, i.e., (1) Ni/Cr-mediated alkenylation, alkynylation, and arylation, (2) Co/Cr-mediated 2-haloallylation, alkylation, and propargylation, and (3) Cr-mediated allylation. In the presence of chiral sulfonamide ligands, good asymmetric inductions can be achieved for some of the Ni/Cr-mediated alkenylation, Co/Cr-mediated 2-haloallylation and propargylation, and Cr-mediated allylation.     

The effect of humidity on thermal process of zinc acetate

The thermal decomposition of zinc acetate dihydrate Zn(CH₃CO₂)₂·2H₂O in some humidity-controlled atmospheres has been successfully investigated by novel thermal analyses, which are sample-controlled thermogravimetry (SCTG), thermogravimety combined with evolved gas analysis using mass spectrometry (TG–MS) and simultaneous measurement of differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffractometry (XRD–DSC). The thermal processes of anhydrous zinc acetate in dry gas atmosphere by conventional linear heating experiment initiated with the sublimation around 180 °C, followed by the fusion and the decomposition over 250 °C. SCTG was useful to interpret clearly the successive reaction because the high-temperature parallel decompositions were effectively inhibited. The thermal behavior changed dramatically by introducing water vapor in the atmosphere and the thermal process was quite different from that in dry gas atmosphere. Zinc oxide (ZnO) was formed only in a humidity-controlled atmosphere, and could be easily synthesized at temperatures below 300 °C. XRD–DSC equipped with a humidity generator revealed directly the crystalline change from Zn(CH₃CO₂)₂ to ZnO. A detailed thermal process of Zn(CH₃CO₂)₂·2H₂O and the effect of water vapor are discussed.     

Medicinal foodstuffs. XVII. Fenugreek seed. (3): structures of new furostanol-type steroid saponins, trigoneosides Xa, Xb, XIb, XIIa, XIIb, and XIIIa, from the seeds of Egyptian Trigonellafoenum-graecum L

Six new furostanol-type steroid saponins called trigoneosides Xa, Xb, XIb, XIIa, XIIb, and XIIIa were isolated from the seeds of Egyptian Trigonella foenum-graecum L. (Leguminosae) together with six known furostanol-type steroid saponins: trigoneosides Ia, Ib, and Va, glycoside D, trigonelloside C, and compound C. The structures of trigoneosides Xa, Xb, Xlb, XIIa, Xllb, and XIIIa were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence as 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(25S)-5alpha-furostane-2alpha+ ++,3beta,22xi,26-tetraol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-,beta-D-glucopyranoside, 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(25R)-5alpha-furostane-2 alpha,beta,22xi,26tetraol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(l -->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(25R)-5alpha-furostane2alpha++ +,beta,22xi,26-tetraol 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl(l -->4)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(25S)-furost-4-ene-3beta,22xi,26- triol 3-O-Ca-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(25R)-furost-4-ene-3beta,22xi+ ++,26-triol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside, and 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl(25S)-furost-5-ene-3beta,22xi,26-t riol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl (1-->3)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1--4)]-beta-D-glucopyranoside, respectively.     

Influence of amino acid side chain packing on Fe-methionine coordination in thermostable cytochrome C

Paramagnetic NMR and optical studies of the oxidized forms of mesophile Pseudomonas aeruginosa cytochrome c(551) and its quintuple mutant (F7A/V13M/F34Y/E43Y/V78I), and thermophile Hydrogenobacter thermophilus cytochrome c(552) demonstrated that the amino acid side chain packings in the protein interior influence the coordination bond between the heme iron and the axial methionine in the proteins. The strength of heme axial coordinations was found to correlate with the overall protein thermostability.     

Isolation,chemical characterization and structure of ansamitocin,a new antitumor ansamycin antibiotic

In this paper we report the isolation, chemical characterization and structural elucidation of Ansamitocin, a new antitumor antibiotic obtained from Nocardia No. C-15003 (N-1). Ansamitocin P-3, P-3' and P-4 with molecular formulae C₃₂H₄₃ClN₂O₉, C₃₂H₄₃ClN₂O₉ and C₃₃H₄₅ClN₂O₉, respectively, were identified as novel antibiotics. Their UV spectra resemble that of maytansine obtained from a plant source. Analysis of the PMR spectrum and spin-decoup studies of P-3 demonstrated that its skeletal structure was the same as that of maytansine. Reductive cleavage of each antibiotic gave maytansinol (P-0). Alkali hydrolysis of P-3, P-3' and P-4 gave isobutyric, butyric and isovaleric acids, respectively. P-3, P-3' and P-4 were concluded to be the isobutyrate, butyrate and isovalerate ester of maytansinol at C-3, respectively. An antitumor plant product, maytanacine, and its semisynthetic derivative, maytansinol propionate, were also produced by the same strain.     

Preparation of novel,high‐modulus,swollen‐ or jungle‐gym‐type polyimide gels end‐crosslinked with 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl)benzene

A novel preparation approach for high‐performance polyimide gels that are swollen or have a jungle‐gym‐type structure is proposed. A new rigid and symmetric trifunctional amine, 1,3,5‐tris(4‐aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB), was synthesized as a crosslinker. Three different kinds of amic acid oligomers derived from pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), 4,4′‐oxydiphthalic anhydride (ODPA), p‐phenylenediamine (PDA), and 4,4′‐oxydianiline (ODA) were end‐crosslinked with TAPB at a high temperature to make polyimide networks with different structures. Transparent polyimide gels were obtained from the ODPA–ODA/TAPB series with high compression moduli of about 1 MPa at their equilibrium swollen states in N‐methylpyrrolidone. Microscopic phase separation occurred during the gelation–imidization process when polyimide networks were generated from PMDA–PDA/TAPB and PMDA–ODA/TAPB. After these opaque polyimide networks were dried, a jungle‐gym‐like structure was obtained for the PMDA–PDA/TAPB and PMDA–ODA/TAPB series; that is, there was a high void content inside the networks (up to 70%) and little volume shrinkage. These polyimide networks did not expand but absorbed the solvent and showed moduli as high as those of solids. Therefore, using the highly rigid crosslinker TAPB combined with the flexible monomers ODPA and ODA and the rigid monomers PMDA and PDA, we prepared swollen, high‐performance polyimide gels and jungle‐gym‐type polyimide networks, respectively. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2501–2512, 2002