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ABSTRACT This note describes improvements of UV oxidation method that is used to measure carbon isotopes of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) at the National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Facility (NOSAMS). The procedural blank is reduced to 2.6 ± 0.6 μg C, with Fm of 0.42 ± 0.10 and δ 13 C of –28.43 ± 1.19‰. The throughput is improved from one sample per day to two samples per day.

The search for more effective and highly selective C–H bond oxidation of accessible hydrocarbons and biomolecules is a greatly attractive research mission. The elucidating of mechanism and controlling factors will, undoubtedly, help to broaden scope of these synthetic protocols, and enable discovery of more efficient, environmentally benign, and highly practical new C–H oxidation reactions. Here, we reveal the stepwise intramolecular S_N2 nucleophilic substitution mechanism with the rate-limiting C–O bond formation step for the Pd(II)-catalyzed C(sp³)–H lactonization in aromatic 2,6-dimethylbenzoic acid. We show that for this reaction, the direct C–O reductive elimination from both Pd(II) and Pd(IV) (oxidized by O₂oxidant) intermediates is unfavorable. Critical factors controlling the outcome of this reaction are the presence of the η³-(π-benzylic)–Pd and K⁺–O(carboxylic) interactions. The controlling factors of the benzylic vs ortho site-selectivity of this reaction are the: (a) difference in the strains of the generated lactone rings; (b) difference in the strengths of the η³-(π-benzylic)–Pd and η²-(π-phenyl)–Pd interactions, and (c) more pronounced electrostatic interaction between the nucleophilic oxygen and K⁺cation in the ortho-C–H activation transition state. The presented data indicate the utmost importance of base, substrate, and ligand in the selective C(sp³)–H bond lactonization in the presence of C(sp²)–H.

We report a molecular switching ensemble whose states may be regulated in synergistic fashion by both protonation and photoirradiation. This allows hierarchical control in both a kinetic and thermodynamic sense. These pseudorotaxane-based molecular devices exploit the so-called Texas-sized molecular box (cyclo[2]-(2,6-di(1H-imidazol-1-yl)pyridine)[2](1,4-dimethylenebenzene); 1⁴⁺, studied as its tetrakis-PF₆⁻salt) as the wheel component. Anions of azobenzene-4,4′-dicarboxylic acid (2H⁺•2) or 4,4′-stilbenedicarboxylic acid (2H⁺•3) serve as the threading rod elements. The various forms of 2 and 3 (neutral, monoprotonated, and diprotonated) interact differently with 1⁴⁺, as do the photoinducedcisortransforms of these classic photoactive guests. The net result is a multimodal molecular switch that can be regulated in synergistic fashion through protonation/deprotonation and photoirradiation. The degree of guest protonation is the dominating control factor, with light acting as a secondary regulatory stimulus. The present dual input strategy provides a complement to more traditional orthogonal stimulus-based approaches to molecular switching and allows for the creation of nonbinary stimulus-responsive functional materials.

The frequency distributions can characterize the population-potential landscape related to the stability of ecological states. We illustrate the practical utility of this approach by analyzing a forest–savanna model. Savanna and forest states coexist under certain conditions, consistent with past theoretical work and empirical observations. However, a grassland state, unseen in the corresponding deterministic model, emerges as an alternative quasi-stable state under fluctuations, providing a theoretical basis for the appearance of widespread grasslands in some empirical analyses. The ecological dynamics are determined by both the population-potential landscape gradient and the steady-state probability flux. The flux quantifies the net input/output to the ecological system and therefore the degree of nonequilibriumness. Landscape and flux together determine the transitions between stable states characterized by dominant paths and switching rates. The intrinsic potential landscape admits a Lyapunov function, which provides a quantitative measure of global stability. We find that the average flux, entropy production rate, and free energy have significant changes near bifurcations under both finite and zero fluctuation. These may provide both dynamical and thermodynamic origins of the bifurcations. We identified the variances in observed frequency time traces, fluctuations, and time irreversibility as kinematic measures for bifurcations. This framework opens the way to characterizemore »ecological systems globally, to uncover how they change among states, and to quantify the emergence of quasi-stable states under stochastic fluctuations.

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