A 300-MHz 25-/spl mu/A/Mb-leakage on-chip SRAM module featuring process-variation immunity and low-leakage-active mode for mobile-phone application processor

An on-chip 1-Mb SRAM suitable for embedding in the application processor used in mobile cellular phones was developed. This SRAM supports three operating modes - high-speed active mode, low-leakage low-speed active mode, and standby mode - and uses a subdivisional power-line control (SPC) scheme. The combination of three operating modes and the SPC scheme realizes low-power operation under actual usage conditions. It operates at 300 MHz, with leakage of 25 /spl mu/A/Mb in standby mode, and 50 /spl mu/A/Mb at the low-leakage active mode. This SRAM also uses a self-bias write scheme that decreases of minimum operating voltage by about 100 mV.     

Selective Propargylation of Carbonyl Compounds and Imines with Barium Reagents

A Barbier‐type regioselective propargylation of aldehydes and ketones with (3‐bromobut‐1‐ynyl)trimethylsilane has been achieved using reactive barium as a low‐valent metal in THF. Especially in the case of ketones, the corresponding homopropargylic alcohols form almost exclusively. In the reaction of α,β‐unsaturated carbonyl compounds, only 1,2‐adducts have been observed. This method is also applicable to propargylation of imines, and the corresponding homopropargylic amines are obtained regiospecifically in good yields with diastereomeric ratios of up to 87:13.     

90-nm process-variation adaptive embedded SRAM modules with power-line-floating write technique

The power consumption of a low-power system-on-a-chip (SoC) has a large impact on the battery life of mobile appliances. General SoCs have large on-chip SRAMs, which consume a large proportion of the whole LSI power. To achieve a low-power SoC, we have developed embedded SRAM modules, which use some low-power SRAM techniques. One technique involves expanding the write margin; another is a power-line-floating write technique, which enables low-voltage write operation. The power-line-floating write technique makes it possible to lower the minimum operating supply voltage by 100 mV. The other techniques involve using a process-variation-adaptive write replica circuit and reducing leakage current. These techniques reduce active power during write operations by 18% and reduce active leakage of the word-line driver by 64%. The prototype SRAM modules achieve 0.8-V operation, and a 512-kb SRAM module achieves 48.4-/spl mu/A active leakage and 7.8-/spl mu/A standby leakage with worst-leakage devices.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of new psi[(E)-CH=CMe]- and psi[(Z)-CH=CMe]-type alkene dipeptide isosteres by organocopper reagents and application to conformationally restricted cyclic RGD peptidomimetics

Diastereoselective synthesis of new psi[(E)-CH=CMe]- and psi[(Z)-CH=CMe]-type alkene dipeptide isosteres corresponding to dipeptides having one N-methylamino acid, and application to bioactive peptides, are described. In a key reaction introducing the chiral alpha-alkyl group of the isosteres, organocopper-mediated alkylation of syn-beta-methylated gamma-mesyloxy-alpha,beta-enoate 26a afforded E- and Z-isomers of anti-S(N)2' products in a solvent-dependent manner. The resulting two isosteres, D-Phe-psi[(E)-CH=CMe]-L-Val 27a and D-Phe-psi[(Z)-CH=CMe]-L-Val 28b, which corresponded to trans- and cis-conformers of D-Phe-L-MeVal, respectively, were utilized in a structure-activity relationship study on cyclic RGD peptides 1 and 2, in company with a psi[(E)-CH=CH]-type alkene dipeptide isostere, D-Phe-psi[(E)-CH=CH]-L-Val. The cyclic isostere-containing pseudopeptides 3, 4, and 40 were synthesized and biological activity against integrin alpha(V)beta(3) and alpha(IIb)beta(3) receptors were also evaluated.     

Synthesis and cation-binding properties of poly-and bis(thiacrown ether)s

Poly- and bis(thiacrown ether) derivatives in which some oxygen atoms of benzocrown ether moiety are replaced by sulfur atoms have been synthesized. Their cation-binding abilities were investigated by using the solvent extraction method. The poly- and bis(benzothiacrown ether)s showed great affinity for silver ion, being more excellent in the affinity than the corresponding monocyclic analogs. They, however, possess very poor cation-binding ability for alkali and alkaline-earth metal ions. The poly- and bis(thiacrown ether)s also bind mercuric ions effectively, whereas the corresponding monomeric analogs do not at all.     

Regiospecific α-dialkoxymethylation of preformed enolates

Reaction of a preformed lithium enolate and trimethyl orthoformate with added boron trifluoride leads to the corresponding α-dimethoxymethyl ketone.     

Important role of molecular permanent dipoles of the Alq3/Al interface studied from first-principles

We have studied the atomic geometries and electronic properties of the tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃)/Al interface using density functional calculations. The calculated interface dipoles agree reasonably well with the experiments and the origin of the interface dipole formation mainly comes from the alignment of the permanent dipoles of Alq₃ molecules. The HOMO levels of the Alq₃ molecules significantly depend on the orientation of the molecular permanent dipoles and the interfacial gap state observed by experiments is ascribed to the co-existence of the two orientations of the molecular dipoles.     

Efficient photochemical oxetane formation from 1-methyl-2,4,5-triphenylimidazole and benzophenones

In contrast to simple imidazoles, 1-methy1–2,4,5-triphenylimidazole ($\text{1}$) produced stable oxetane photoadducts $\text{3b}$ - $\text{e}$ with good efficiency upon irradiation in the presence of benzophenone derivatives $\text{2b}$ - $\text{e}$ in acetonitrile solution. Irradiation in the solid-phase was also studied. The oxetanes $\text{3b}$ - $\text{e}$ readily underwent cycloreversion by acid catalysis or by heating.     

Ion-Pair Solvent Extraction of EDTA Anions with Tetraalkylammonium Ions in Various Organic Solvents

Summary.  The ion-pair solvent extraction behavior of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) anion by various tetraalkylammonium ions was investigated at 25.0 ± 0.1°C. The extraction of EDTA exceeded 90% from the basic aqueous solution into the organic solvents such as n-hexane and benzene derivatives containing tri-n-octylmethylammonium chloride, but EDTA was hardly extracted from acidic solution. Among the chemical species of EDTA in aqueous solution, edta ⁴⁻ is the most extractable one. On the other hand, the extraction of EDTA was less than 1% into chloroform and 1,2-dichloroethane even from the basic aqueous solution. The effect of the structure of alkylammonium ion was also examined. Tetra-n-hexylammonium and tetra-n-octylammonium ions could not extract EDTA even from the basic aqueous solution, while the use of tri-n-octylmethylammonium and di-n-lauryldimethylammonium ions enhances the extraction of EDTA. These results suggest that the steric hindrance in the ion-pair of alkylammonium and EDTA anion in the organic phase affects the extractability of EDTA containing ion-pair. The solution structure of ion-pair in the organic phase was calculated by MMFF force field and the steric effect in the ion-pair was also suggested. From the extraction constants obtained, the possibility of the extraction separation of EDTA has been shown. Present address: Chemistry Department, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China