Stabilizing Lead Cathodes with Diammonium Salt Additives in the Deoxygenation of Aromatic Amides

Lead is efficiently protected against cathodic corrosion by the addition of diammonium salts in the electrolyte. The cationic coating of the cathode allows the efficient electroreduction of benzamides to benzylamines. The electrochemical deoxygenation of the amide is achieved without the use of oxophilic agents or sacrificial anodes. The surface of the lead cathode stays smooth and the cathode can be reused for multiple runs, providing <2.5 ppm of the crude product. Cyclic voltammetry studies reveal a shift in the onset potential of the hydrogen evolution reaction by −157 mV.

High-Resolution Chemical Depth Profiling of Solid Material Using a Miniature Laser Ablation/Ionization Mass Spectrometer

High-resolution chemical depth profiling measurements of copper films are presented. The 10 μm thick copper test samples were electrodeposited on a Si-supported Cu seed under galvanostatic conditions in the presence of particular plating additives (SPS, Imep, PEI, and PAG) used in the semiconductor industry for the on-chip metallization of interconnects. To probe the trend of these plating additives toward inclusion into the deposit upon growth, quantitative elemental mass spectrometric measurements at trace level concentration were conducted by using a sensitive miniature laser ablation ionization mass spectrometer (LIMS), originally designed and developed for in situ space exploration. An ultrashort pulsed laser system (τ ∼ 190 fs, λ = 775 nm) was used for ablation and ionization of sample material. We show that with our LIMS system, quantitative chemical mass spectrometric analysis with an ablation rate at the subnanometer level per single laser shot can be conducted. The measurement capabilities of our instrument, including the high vertical depth resolution coupled with high detection sensitivity of ∼10 ppb, high dynamic range ≥10(8), measurement accuracy and precision, is of considerable interest in various fields of application, where investigations with high lateral and vertical resolution of the chemical composition of solid materials are required, these include, e.g., wafers from semiconductor industry or studies on space weathered samples in space research.

High depth-resolution laser ablation chemical analysis of additive-assisted Cu electroplating for microchip architectures

Laser ablation/ionisation mass spectrometry with a vertical resolution at a nanometre scale was applied for the quantitative characterisation of the chemical composition of additive-assisted Cu electroplated deposits used in the microchip industry. The detailed chemical analysis complements information gathered by optical techniques and allows new insights into the metal deposition process.

Reactions of CF3-enones with arenes under superelectrophilic activation: a pathway to trans-1,3-diaryl-1-CF3-indanes, new cannabinoid receptor ligands

4-Aryl-1,1,1-trifluorobut-3-en-2-ones ArCH[double bond, length as m-dash]CHCOCF3 (CF3-enones) react with arenes in excess of Brønsted superacids (TfOH, FSO3H) to give, stereoselectively, trans-1,3-diaryl-1-trifluoromethyl indanes in 35-85% yields. The reaction intermediates, the O-protonated ArCH[double bond, length as m-dash]CHC(OH(+))CF3 and the O,C-diprotonated ArHC(+)CH2C(OH(+))CF3 species, have been studied by means of (1)H, (13)C, (19)F NMR, and DFT calculations. Both types of the cations may participate in the reaction, depending on their electrophilicity and electron-donating properties of the arenes. The formation of CF3-indanes is a result of cascade reaction of protonated CF3-enones to form chemo-, regio- and stereoselectively three new C-C bonds. The obtained trans-1,3-diaryl-1-trifluoromethyl indanes were investigated as potential ligands for cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 types. The most potent compound showed sub-micromolar affinity for both receptor subtypes with a 6-fold selectivity toward the CB2 receptor with no appreciable cytotoxicity toward SHSY5Y cells.

Editorial genesis: From comparing texts (product) to interpreting rewritings (process)

In literary genetics, “editorial genetics” deals with the “public life” of texts, whereas the writing process is affected by edition and diffusion. Editorial genetics frequently has to deal with cases of “editorial rewriting”: in the literary domain for example, authors frequently modify previously published works, so that several versions may co-exist. We are especially interested in Balzac’s La Bourse (translated in English as The Purse) since we know three authorized versions of this specific work.By comparing different texts associated with a single work, the literary geneticist is facing different products that are themselves the result of a writing process. However, different specificities should be outlined: (1) the writing process does not leave any trace: we just have access to different products/texts and (2) since the texts we compare seem to be achieved, differences must be referred, not to programmatic or temporary linguistic structures, but to the reconfiguration of a pre-existing textuality.Do such products still reflect the processes that have given birth to them? Does the comparison between two texts considered as variations of a same text give access to this transformation’s processes? After describing the objects of this particular textual comparison and the terminology that permits to give an account of such phenomenon, this contribution suggests to express these questions differently, as a matter of poetics of transitions between texts, or, further digging, an hermeneutics of the transition between texts.