Synthesis of new derivatives of α-mangostin (microreview)

Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds - This microreview presents the current state of research on functionalization of α-mangostin, a natural hydroxyxanthone. Examples of transformations are...     

Characterisation of oxygen defects in calciumdifluoride

We study the aggregation of oxygen dipoles well dispersed in a CaF₂ crystal upon annealing at temperatures ranging from 370 to 420 K. The concentration of oxygen dipoles is monitored by measuring the intensity of the ionic thermocurrent peak as well as by absorption and luminescence spectroscopies. Results from three methods agree within experimental error and yield an activation energy of (1.2±0.1) eV for the diffusion of isolated oxygen centres in the crystal.     

Retrieval of the vertical distribution of chemical components in the mesosphere from simultaneous measurements of ozone and hydroxyl distributions

We propose a method for retrieval of directly unmeasurable concentrations of minor gas constituents of the mesosphere from available experimental data using simplified models of atmospheric photochemical systems. The method is used for processing of the results of simultaneous measurements of ozone and hydroxyl concentrations within the framework of the CRISTA-MAHRSI satellite experiments. As a result, vertical distributions of concentrations of three more key chemical components of the mesosphere, namely, atomic oxygen, atomic hydrogen, and hydroperoxide, were retrieved. It is shown that a limiting altitude-dependent ratio between OH and O₃ concentrations is valid in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. It is found that CRISTA-MAHRSI data satisfy this ratio up to an altitude of 87 km, but a strong discrepancy between theory and experiment arises in the upper region. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 49, No. 9, pp. 760–769, September 2006.     

A New Differential Method Applied to the Study of Arbitrary Cross Section Microstructured Optical Fibers

The present work adapts a recent grating theory called “Fast Fourier factorization” to cylindrical coordinates in order to study microstructured optical fibers (MOFs). Compared with the classical differential method, this new differential method takes into account the truncation of Fourier series and the discontinuities of the fields across the diffracting surface with the help of new factorization rules. The main advantage of this method is that the directrix of the diffracting cylindrical surface is arbitrary and permits anisotropic and inhomogeneous media although its numerical application needs longer computation time, compared with other well-known numerical methods. The S-propagation algorithm is used to avoid numerical contaminations. The numerical results are validated and compared with the well-established Multipole method in the case of a MOF with six circular cylinders. Further, a new cross-sectional profile (with sectorial inclusions) that the Multipole method cannot consider is studied.     

K2[(UO2)As2O7] – the First Uranium Polyarsenate

Yellowish crystals of K₂[(UO₂)As₂O₇] ( 1 ) have been synthesized by solid‐state reactions method. The structure of 1 [orthorhombic, Pmmn, a = 12.601(2), b = 13.242(2), c = 5.621(1) Å, V = 937.9(3) ų, Z = 4] has been solved by direct methods and refined to R₁ = 0.049, wR₂ = 0.1060 for 1059 observed reflections. The structure of 1 is based upon [(UO₂)As₂O₇]^2? sheets formed by corner sharing between [UO₆]^6? distorted octahedra and [As₂O₇]^4? polyarsenate groups. The K⁺ cations are either in eightfold or tenfold coordination and are located between the sheets. The topology of the uranyl arsenate sheet is related to silicate minerals of the melilite group and related synthetic silicate, aluminate and germanate compounds.     

Kinetics and mechanism of the Co(II)-assisted oxidation of thioureas by dioxygen

Catalytic oxidation of N,N'-dimethylthiourea and thiourea by dioxygen in water using a new cobalt(II) complex of octasulfophenyltetrapyrazinoporphyrazine was performed under mild conditions. The reaction is shown to include the formation of an intermediate anionic five-coordinate complex followed by an unusual two-electron oxidation to produce the corresponding urea and elemental sulfur (S8). Kinetic and thermodynamic parameters for the different reaction steps of the process were determined. Drastic differences in catalytic activity of cobalt and iron octasulfophenyltetrapyrazinoporphyrazines were observed.     

A simple direct enzyme immunoassay of antibodies based on the differences in diffusion rates in a gel of a synthetic antigen and of its complex with antibodies

A simple direct enzyme immunoassay for semiquantitative detec tion of antibodies is suggested. It is based on the difference in diffusion rates in a gel for a synthetic low-mol-wt antigen and of its complexes with antibodies to be detected. Sensitivity and specificity of the devel oped assay are equal to an ELISA method. The assay has been tested with antibodies against HIV protein gp41 in rabbit serum. Possible applications and limitations of the method are discussed.     

Supramolecular Assembly Formation in Monolayers of tert-Butyl Substituted Copper Phthalocyanine and Tetrabenzotriazaporphin

The effect is studied of the layer formation conditions on the molecular arrangement of copper tetra- tert-butyl phthalocyanine (CuPctBu₄) and copper tetra- tert-butyl tetrabenzotriazaporphin (CuThptBu₄) at the air–water interface. The decrease in initial surface concentration of these compounds is shown to affect the molecular orientation, as indicated by the increase in the area per molecule. The data are interpreted in terms of formation of CuPctBu₄ and CuThptBu₄ monolayers with a face-on molecular arrangement when the initial surface concentration is sufficiently small (N less than 1.6 × 10^–7 mole/m² for CuPctBu₄ and N less than 4 × 10^–7 mole/m² for CuThptBu₄) and changes in the molecular orientation to edge-on when the N values are higher. It is emphasized that the edge-on orientation on the water surface is not only a molecular but a collective property of the azaporphyrine supramolecular assembly.     

Sorption Properties of Gel Films of Bacterial Cellulose

The structure and sorption properties of gel films of bacterial cellulose were studied in its interaction with polyvinylpyrrolidone and silver nanoparticles stabilized by this compound.