The determination of the past and the future of a physical system in quantum mechanics

The determination of the past and the future of a physical system are complementary aims of measurements. An optimal determination of the past of a system can be achieved by an informationally complete set of physical quantities. Such a set is always strongly noncommutative. An optimal determination of the future of a physical system can be obtained by a Boolean complete set of quantities. The two aims can be reconciled to a reasonable degree with using unsharp measurements.This work was partly supported by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, Bonn, the Research Institute for Theoretical Physics, Helsinki, and the University of Turku Foundation, Turku.     

Coherent States and Number-Phase Uncertainty Relations

The number-phase uncertainty relations arerevisited in view of the recent discovery of a propercovariant phase observable. The high-amplitude limits ofthe coherent-state expectations of the moment operators of the phase observable are determined and thebehavior of the number-phase uncertainty product in thatlimit is investigated.     

Hardy's inequality and the boundary size

We establish a self-improving property of the Hardy inequality and an estimate on the size of the boundary of a domain supporting a Hardy inequality.

     

Synthesis of new 7-aminosterol squalamine analogues with high antimicrobial activities through a stereoselective titanium reductive amination reaction

A series of 7-amino- and polyaminosterol analogues of squalamine and trodusquemine were synthesized involving a new stereoselective titanium reductive amination reaction in high chemical yields of up to 95% in numerous cases. These derivatives were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial properties against human pathogens. All the compounds present excellent activities against Gram-positive bacteria exhibiting similar results against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus faecalis with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) varying from 2.5 to 10 μg/mL. Numerous derivatives possess also MICs against Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria (MICs varying from 2.5 to 10 μg/mL) suggesting that nature of the amino group attached to the sterol moiety plays an important role on the activities of such products.     

Gas-chromatographic determination of the product distribution in the synthesis of sodium borohydride

A gas-chromatographic method has been developed for determination of the sodium borohydride and methanol content of alkaline aqueous solutions of NaBH(4). From the ratio between NaBH(4) and CH(3)OH the product distribution in NaBH(4) synthesis from NaH and B(OCH(3))(3) in mineral oil can be calculated and the amount of the by-product NaBH(OCH(3))(3) formed can be estimated. A separation and extraction procedure for the mineral oil dispersion must precede the gas-chromatographic analysis. Sodium borohydride is determined by measurement of the 2-propanol formed after treatment of the solution with acetone, whereas methanol can be determined directly by gas chromatography, with 1-propanol as internal standard. The analysis of the synthesis products is thus the separation and detection of simple alcohols.     

Chemical studies on antioxidant mechanisms and free radical scavenging properties of lignans

The antioxidant activity, in terms of radical scavenging capacity, of altogether 15 different lignans was measured by monitoring the scavenging of the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The effect of differences in skeletal arrangement or the degree of oxidation of the lignans was investigated in a structure-activity relationship study. A large variety in the radical scavenging capacities of the different lignans was observed and related to some structural features. Lignans with catechol (3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) moieties exhibited the highest radical scavenging capacity, while the corresponding guaiacyl (3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl) lignans showed a slightly weaker scavenging capacity. In addition, the butanediol structure was found to enhance the activity, whereas a higher degree of oxidation at the benzylic positions decreased the activity. Additionally, the readily available lignans (-)-secoisolariciresinol, a mixture of hydroxymatairesinol epimers and (-)-matairesinol were studied in more detail, including kinetic measurements and identification of oxidation products in the reactions with DPPH and ABAP (2,2-azobis(2-methylpropionamidine) dihydrochloride. The identification of reaction products, by GC-MS, HPLC-MS and NMR spectroscopy, showed that dimerisation of the two aromatic moieties was the major radical termination reaction. Also, the formation of adducts was a predominant reaction in the experiments with ABAP. The kinetic data obtained from the reactions between the lignans and DPPH indicated a complex reaction mechanism.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of conserved Hox protein hexapeptides. I. Folding behavior in water solution

Molecular dynamics simulations of hexapeptides TFDWMK and LFPWMR; the highly conserved regions of Hox proteins Hox B1 and Hox B8, respectively, are carried out starting from extended structures to investigate their conformational space in water solution. In addition, we have studied TADWMK and TADAMK, where the aromatic residues Phenylalanine and Tryptophan were successively substituted for Alanine to investigate effects from the presence/absence of aromatic amino acids and interactions between them to folding behavior. The backbone of the hexapeptides in all simulations folds to a similar conformation found in experimental studies in solution. Intramolecular, hydrophobically driven interactions between the aromatic residues and internal hydrogen bonds are found to stabilize the conformations.     

Synthesis and catalytic activity of new chiral unsymmetrical Mn(III)-Schiff-base complexes containing salicylaldehyde and 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ketone units

Two new chiral unsymmetrical (non-C₂-symmetric) Schiff-base ligands containing salicylaldehyde and 1-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ketone units were synthesized from (R,R)-1,2-diphenylethylenediamine as the chiral diamine using a stepwise approach. The Mn(III) complexes of the ligands were subsequently used as catalysts in asymmetric epoxidation of unfunctionalized alkenes and the results were compared with those obtained using typical C₂-symmetric Mn(III)–salen complexes. Possible reasons for the differences in reactivity and selectivity between the two types of catalysts are briefly discussed.