Towards crystalline ion beams -- the PALLAS ring trap

To experimentally elucidate fundamental issues of crystalline ion beams at low velocities the authors presently set up PALLAS, a table top circular RF quadrupole storage ring for acceleration and laser cooling of, e.g., {sup 24}Mg{sup +} ions. Employing the smooth approximation to PALLAS they compare its beam dynamics to heavy ion synchrotrons like TSR Heidelberg and thereby demonstrate the necessity of the highly symmetric lattice for the attainment of crystalline structures. Furthermore, dedicated molecular dynamics simulations are presented, affirming the feasibility of beam crystallization in PALLAS

Identification of a polyketide synthase required for alternariol (AOH) and alternariol-9-methyl ether (AME) formation in Alternaria alternata

Alternaria alternata produces more than 60 secondary metabolites, among which alternariol (AOH) and alternariol-9-methyl ether (AME) are important mycotoxins. Whereas the toxicology of these two polyketide-based compounds has been studied, nothing is known about the genetics of their biosynthesis. One of the postulated core enzymes in the biosynthesis of AOH and AME is polyketide synthase (PKS). In a draft genome sequence of A. alternata we identified 10 putative PKS-encoding genes. The timing of the expression of two PKS genes, pksJ and pksH, correlated with the production of AOH and AME. The PksJ and PksH proteins are predicted to be 2222 and 2821 amino acids in length, respectively. They are both iterative type I reducing polyketide synthases. PksJ harbors a peroxisomal targeting sequence at the C-terminus, suggesting that the biosynthesis occurs at least partly in these organelles. In the vicinity of pksJ we found a transcriptional regulator, altR, involved in pksJ induction and a putative methyl transferase, possibly responsible for AME formation. Downregulation of pksJ and altR caused a large decrease of alternariol formation, suggesting that PksJ is the polyketide synthase required for the postulated Claisen condensations during the biosynthesis. No other enzymes appeared to be required. PksH downregulation affected pksJ expression and thus caused an indirect effect on AOH production

A novel carbazolophane : a comparison of the performance of two planar chiral CP-TADF emitters

Jürgen Manchot Foundation Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Grant Number: EXC-2082/1–390761711 China Scholarship Council. Grant Number: 202106310038 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Grant Numbers: EP/R035164/1, EP/W015137/1, EP/W524505/1 Helmholtz Association Program Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueThe prototypical example of a (cyclo)phane, [2.2]paracyclophane (PCP), has proven to be a versatile stereogenic moiety within the design of circularly polarized thermally activated delayed fluorescence (CP-TADF) emitters; however, the exploration of other cyclophanes within CP-TADF emitter design has been largely neglected. Here, a comparative study of the photophysical and optoelectronic properties of two cyclophane emitters, (1,7)tBuCzpPhTrz and its isomer (1,4)tBuCzpPhTrz, is presented. The carbazolophane-triazine compound (1,7)tBuCzpPhTrz, obtained via an unprecedented intramolecular rearrangement, is the first example of a planar chiral TADF emitter deviating from the PCP scaffold. Significant geometrical change of the enclosed carbazole in (1,7)tBuCzp results in an attenuation of the donor strength, while the merits of rigidity and steric bulk remain. In particular, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the photoluminescence spectrum in toluene of (1,7)tBuCzpPhTrz is reduced by 34% and blue-shifted by 20 nm compared to that of (1,4)tBuCzpPhTrz. In doped films, the compounds reach high photoluminescence quantum yields (ΦPL) of 91 and 81%, respectively. The chiroptical properties reveal dissymmetry factors |gPL| of up to 5 ? 10?4. These results demonstrate the impact of the cyclophane for the development of CP-TADF materials and add to the currently limited scope of available planar chiral donors.Peer reviewe

"Safe" Coulomb Excitation of 30Mg

We report on the first radioactive beam experiment performed at the recently commissioned REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN in conjunction with the highly efficient gamma spectrometer MINIBALL. Using 30Mg ions accelerated to an energy of 2.25 MeV/u together with a thin nat-Ni target, Coulomb excitation of the first excited 2+ states of the projectile and target nuclei well below the Coulomb barrier was observed. From the measured relative de-excitation gamma ray yields the B(E2; 0+ -> 2+) value of 30Mg was determined to be 241(31) e2fm4. Our result is lower than values obtained at projectile fragmentation facilities using the intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation method, and confirms the theoretical conjecture that the neutron-rich magnesium isotope 30Mg lies still outside the ``island of inversion''