Pd0‐Catalyzed Intramolecular α‐Arylation of Sulfones: Domino Reactions in the Synthesis of Functionalized Tetrahydroisoquinolines

A new strategy for the synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinolines based on the Pd⁰‐catalyzed intramolecular α‐arylation of sulfones is reported. The combination of this Pd‐catalyzed reaction with intermolecular Michael and aza‐Michael reactions allows the development of two‐ and three‐step domino processes to synthesize diversely functionalized scaffolds from readily available starting materials.     

Potts models with magnetic field: Arithmetic,geometry, and computation

We give a sheaf theoretic interpretation of Potts models with external magnetic field, in terms of constructible sheaves and their Euler characteristics. We show that the polynomial countability question for the hypersurfaces defined by the vanishing of the partition function is affected by changes in the magnetic field: elementary examples suffice to see non-polynomially countable cases that become polynomially countable after a perturbation of the magnetic field. The same recursive formula for the Grothendieck classes, under edge-doubling operations, holds as in the case without magnetic field, but the closed formulae for specific examples like banana graphs differ in the presence of magnetic field. We give examples of computation of the Euler characteristic with compact support, for the set of real zeros, and find a similar exponential growth with the size of the graph. This can be viewed as a measure of topological and algorithmic complexity. We also consider the computational complexity question for evaluations of the polynomial, and show both tractable and NP-hard examples, using dynamic programming.     

Beyond Stereoselectivity,Switchable Catalysis: Some of the Last Frontier Challenges in Ring‐Opening Polymerization of Cyclic Esters

Metal‐based catalysts and initiators have played a pivotal role in the ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters, thanks to their high activity and remarkable ability to control precisely the architectures of the resulting polyesters in terms of molar mass, dispersity, microstructure, or tacticity. Today, after two decades of extensive research, the field is slowly reaching maturity. However, several challenges remain, while original concepts have emerged around new types or new applications of catalysis. This Review is not intended to comprehensively cover all of these aspects. Rather, it provides a personal overview of the very recent progress achieved in some selected, important aspects of ROP catalysis—stereocontrol and switchable catalysis. Hence, the first part addresses the development of new metal‐based catalysts for the isoselective ROP of racemic lactide towards stereoblock copolymers, and the use of syndioselective ROP metal catalysts to control the monomer sequence in copolymers. A second part covers the development of ROP catalysts—primarily metal‐based catalysts, but also organocatalysts—that can be externally regulated by the use of chemical or photo stimuli to switch them between two states with different catalytic abilities. Current challenges and opportunities are highlighted.     

Stationary turbulent closure via the Hopf functional equation

Exact closed-form solutions are exhibited for the Hopf equation for stationary incompressible 3D Navier-Stokes flow, for the cases of homogeneous forced flow (including a solution with depleted nonlinearity) and inhomogeneous flow with arbitrary boundary conditions. This provides an exact method for computing two- and higher-point moments, given the mean flow.     

Mass transport in metals under intensive impulse reactions

An unusually high mobility of atoms under intensive impulse reactions is explained by the behavior of point defects at the shock wave front. It is shown that either a shock wave front or moving dislocations can capture the interstitials, or they can be thermally activated in the direction of the shock wave propagation.     

Cosmic dust and our origins

The small solid particles in the space between the stars provide the surfaces for the production of many simple and complex molecules. Processes involving the effects of ultraviolet irradiation of the thin (hundredth micron) mantles are shown to produce a wide range of molecules and ions also seen in comets. Some of the more complex ones inferred from laboratory experiments are expected to play an important role in the origin of life. An outline of the chemical evolution of interstellar dust as observed and as studied in the laboratory is presented. Observations of comets are shown to provide substantial evidence for their being fluffy aggregates of interstellar dust as it was in the protosolar nebula, i.e. the interstellar cloud which collapsed to form the solar system. The theory that comets may have brought the progenitors of life to the earth is summarized.     

ω-meson photoproduction on nucleons in the near-threshold region

The European Physical Journal A - The ω-meson photoproduction, γ + p→p + ω, is studied in the framework of a model, containing π-meson exchange in t-channel and...     

Approximation of photonuclear interaction cross-sections

Photonuclear interaction cross-sections from the GEANT4 database are approximated for all nuclei and all energies (from the hadron production threshold to about 40 TeV). The approximation methods in the giant-dipole resonance region, nucleon resonance region, and high-energy region are improved with respect to existing approximations. As an application of the approximation for photonuclear cross-sections, an improved method of calculating electronuclear cross-sections is developed. The interaction cross-section of virtual photons with nuclei at high Q² are approximated and a simple algorithm for describing the electronuclear reactions, including high-Q² scattering, is proposed. Received: 22 February 2002 / Accepted: 6 May 2002     

Hamiltonian N2‐locally connected claw‐free graphs

A graph G is N₂‐locally connected if for every vertex ν in G, the edges not incident with ν but having at least one end adjacent to ν in G induce a connected graph. In 1990, Ryjá?ek conjectured that every 3‐connected N₂‐locally connected claw‐free graph is Hamiltonian. This conjecture is proved in this note. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 142–146, 2005