The high entropy alloys (HEAs) have been developed based on the concept of entropic stabilization associated with a large number of constituent elements. The high configurational entropy in HEAs is expected to cause promising characteristic properties, i.e. high microstructural stability and high mechanical properties. In this study, the equiatomic fcc-structured FeNiCoCrMn and the bcc-structured TiNbHfTaZr single phase high entropy alloys (HEAs) were investigated regarding the effect of multiple atom species on microstructure, intrinsic lattice strain and mechanical properties. In a comparison with the HEAs, the sub-alloys having less chemical complexity were studied. The selected sub-alloys of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA were FeNiCoCr, FeNiCo, FeNi alloys and pure Ni, while equiatomic TiNbHfTa, TiNbHf, TiNb alloys and pure Nb were studied to compare with the TiNbHfTaZr HEA. The samples in this study were prepared by arc-melting, cold-crucible casting and thermomechanical treatment. The thermal phase stability of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA, TiNbHfTaZr HEA and their sub-alloys were observed and no second phase was formed between 300 - 1500 K. In high entropy alloys, the random arrangement of multiple atom species is assumed to cause large atomic displacements at lattice sites, which give rise to a severe lattice distortion. The evidences of lattice distortion in HEAs have been limitedly reported due to a difficulty of experimental investigation. In this work, the pair distribution function (PDF) method was used to assess local strain with analysis of diffuse intensities on total synchrotron X-ray scattering data. The current study found that the level of local lattice strain associated with atomic displacement was a function of atomic size misfit. The local lattice strain of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA was small and comparable to that of the sub-alloys which obtain similar values of the atomic size misfit. In contrast to the FeNiCoCrMn system, the magnitude of the local lattice strain increased with the value of atomic size misfit from the unary Nb sample to the quinary TiNbHfTaZr HEA. The lattice distortion was evident in the TiNbHfTaZr HEA due to large local lattice strain, but the local lattice strain of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA was not anomalously large. The level of lattice strain determines the solid solution hardening as a consequence of the elastic interaction between dislocations and atoms. The comparable level of the lattice strain in the FeNiCoCrMn HEA, its sub-alloys and Ni sample led to narrow range of hardness (64 – 132 HV) and tensile yield strength (60 – 192 MPa). For the bcc-structured samples, the hardness and the yield strength significantly varied depending on the level of local lattice strain, between 80 – 327 HV of hardness and 207 – 985 MPa of tensile yield strength. It is clear from the result that the atomic size misfit influences the level of the local lattice strain and the solid solution hardening. Cold rotary swaging was used to study the work hardening in the HEAs because it can delay fracture by large hydrostatic stresses. The large plastic deformability was observed in the FeNiCoCrMn and TiNbHfTaZr HEAs. The TiNbHfTaZr HEA was cold-swaged by 90% reduction of the cross-sectional area without intermediate annealing. The FeNiCoCrMn HEA was swaged until 85% reduction of the cross-sectional area; however, it was observed that it could be further deformed. The dislocation densities of the HEAs and its sub-alloys after the cold deformation were calculated as in the range between 1014 - 1015 m-2, in a good agreement with reported values of conventional metals after severe plastic deformation. This finding suggested that the level of dislocation density storage was correlated with the number of the constituent elements, the level of lattice distortion associated with atomic size misfit and the intrinsic properties (i.e. the stacking fault energy and the melting point). Whereas the intrinsic lattice strains of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA and its sub-alloys were comparable, the levels of dislocation storage were different possibly due to a difference of stacking fault energy. For the bcc-structured samples, the dislocation densities of the TiNbHfTaZr HEA, TiNbHfTa and TiNbHf alloys were large due to the large atomic size misfits. The high dislocation density leads to strong interactions between dislocations, which results in high resistance to dislocation motions. The high mechanical properties (hardness and yield strength) in the as-deformed FeNiCoCrMn and TiNbHfTaZr HEA were presented with the evidence of high dislocation densities. Moreover, the hardness and yield strength of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA significantly increased by the deformation, while those of the TiNbHfTaZr HEA after the deformation were slightly changed from the undeformed HEA. The large work hardenability of the FeNiCoCrMn HEA is possibly caused by small solid solution hardening and ease of twin formation. The research results suggest a further step towards designing an alloy composition for a development of microstructure and mechanical properties of high entropy alloys. It is evidently clear from the findings that the large number of constituent elements (in a term of high configurational entropy) is not only a factor in the determination of lattice distortion, microstructure and mechanical properties, but the type and the combination of constituent elements including the atomic interactions (i.e. atomic size misfit) have also an effect.:Abstract v Zusammenfassung ix Contents xiii 1. Motivation and objectives 1 2. Fundamentals 5 2.1 Concept of high entropy alloys 5 2.1.1 Phase formation and thermodynamic 5 2.1.2 Four core effects 10 2.2 Alloy classification of high entropy alloys 13 2.3 Mechanical properties of high entropy alloys 14 3. Experiments 19 3.1 Alloy preparation 19 3.1.1 Alloy selection 19 3.1.2 Melting and casting 21 3.1.3 Thermomechanical treatment 23 3.2 Sample characterization 27 3.2.1 Chemical analyses 27 3.2.2 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) 27 3.2.3 Scanning electron microscopy and microstructural analyses 28 3.2.4 X-ray diffraction (XRD) 29 3.2.5 High energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction 29 3.2.6 Mechanical Properties 33 4. Thermal phase stability of single phase high entropy alloys 35 5. An assessment of lattice strain in single phase high entropy alloys 49 5.1 Analysis of micro lattice strain on fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 50 5.2 Analysis of local lattice strain on fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 56 6. Solid solution hardening in single phase high entropy alloys 65 6.1 Hardness of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 65 6.2 Tensile strength of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 70 6.3 Correlation between atomic size misfit and solid solution hardening in Ti-Nb-Hf-Ta-Zr system 82 7. Work hardening in single phase high entropy alloys 91 7.1 Work hardenability of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 91 7.2 Dislocation density of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys after cold swaging 93 8. Summary and outlook 109 8.1 Summary 109 8.2 Outlook 112 References 113 Acknowledgements 131 Erklärung 133 / Die Hochentropielegierungen (HELen) wurden auf der Grundlage des Konzepts der entropischen Stabilisierung entwickelt, was eine große Anzahl von Legierungselementen beinhaltet. Es wird erwartet, dass die hohe Konfigurationsentropie in HELen vielversprechende charakteristische Eigenschaften hervorruft, d.h. hohe mikrostrukturelle Stabilität und hohe mechanische Eigenschaften. In dieser Studie wurden die äquiatomare kfz-strukturierte FeNiCoCrMn und die krz-strukturierte TiNbHfTaZr Einphasen-Hochentropielegierung hinsichtlich der Wirkung mehrerer Atomarten auf das Gefüge, die intrinsische Gitterdehnung und die mechanischen Eigenschaften untersucht. Im Vergleich zu den HELen wurden die Sublegierungen mit geringerer chemischer Komplexität untersucht. Die ausgewählten Sublegierungen der FeNiCoCrMn HEL waren FeNiCoCr, FeNiCo, FeNi-Legierungen und reines Ni, während äquiatomare TiNbHfTa, TiNbHf, TiNbHf, TiNb-Legierungen und reines Nb im Vergleich zur TiNbHfTaZr HEL untersucht wurden. Die Proben in dieser Studie wurden durch Lichtbogenschmelzen, Kalttiegelguss und thermomechanische Behandlung hergestellt. Die thermische Phasenstabilität der FeNiCoCrMn HEL, der TiNbHfTaZr HEL und ihrer Sublegierungen wurde untersucht und es wurde keine zweite Phase zwischen 300 - 1500 K gebildet. Bei Hochentropielegierungen wird angenommen, dass die zufällige Anordnung mehrerer Atomarten zu großen Atomverschiebungen an den Gitterplätzen führt, die eine starke Gitterverzerrung hervorrufen. Aufgrund der Schwierigkeit der experimentellen Untersuchung wurden Beweise für Gitterverzerrungen bei HELen nur begrenzt berichtet. In dieser Studie wurde die Methode der Paarverteilungsfunktion (PDF) verwendet, um die lokale Dehnung mit Analyse der diffusen Intensitäten der gesamten Synchrotron-Röntgenstreuungsdaten zu beurteilen. Die aktuelle Studie ergab, dass die Höhe der lokalen Gitterdehnung, die mit der atomaren Verschiebung einhergeht, eine Funktion der Differenz der Atomgröße ist. Die lokale Gitterdehnung der FeNiCoCrMn HEL war klein und vergleichbar mit der der Sublegierungen, für die ähnliche Werte für die Atomgrößen-Unterschiede ermittelt wurden. Im Gegensatz zum FeNiCoCrMn-System stieg die Größe der lokalen Gitterdehnung mit dem Wert der Atomgrößendifferenz von der unären Nb-Probe bis zur quinären TiNbHfTaZr HEL. Die Gitterverzerrung war in der TiNbHfTaZr HEL aufgrund der großen lokalen Gitterdehnung offensichtlich, wohingegen die lokale Gitterdehnung der FeNiCoCrMn HEL nicht ungewöhnlich groß war. Die Höhe der Gitterdehnung bestimmt die Mischkristallverfestigung als Folge der elastischen Wechselwirkung zwischen Versetzungen und Atomen. Der vergleichbare Wert der Gitterdehnung in der FeNiCoCrMn HEL, seinen Sublegierungen und den Ni-Proben führte zu einem engen Härte- (64 - 132 HV) und Streckgrenzenbereich (60 - 192 MPa). Für die krz-strukturierten Proben variierten die Härte und die Streckgrenze dagegen je nach Höhe der lokalen Gitterdehnung signifikant, d.h zwischen 80 - 327 HV hinsichtlich der Härte und zwischen 207 - 985 MPa hinsichtlich der Streckgrenze. Aus dem Ergebnis ist ersichtlich, dass die Differenz der Atomgröße einen Einfluss auf die Höhe der lokalen Gitterdehnung und die Mischkristallverfestigung hat. Das Kalthämmen wurde für die Untersuchung der Kaltverfestigung in den HELen genutzt, da es den Bruch durch die großen hydrostatischen Spannungen verzögern kann. Die große plastische Verformbarkeit wurde bei den FeNiCoCrMn und TiNbHfTaZr HELen beobachtet. Die TiNbHfTaZr HEL wurde ohne Zwischenglühen um 90% der Querschnittsfläche kaltgehämmert. Die FeNiCoCrMn HEL wurde bis zu einer Verkleinerung der Querschnittsfläche von 85% gehämmert, wobei jedoch eine weitere Verformung möglich gewesen wäre. Die Versetzungsdichten der HELen und ihrer Sublegierungen wurden nach dem Verformung in einem Bereich zwischen 1014 - 1015 m-2 berechnet, was in guter Übereinstimmung mit den berichteten Werten konventioneller Metalle nach starker plastischer Verformung ist. Dieses Ergebnis deutete darauf hin, dass die Höhe der gespeicherten Versetzungsdichte mit der Anzahl der beinhaltenden Elemente, dem Grad der Gitterverzerrung im Zusammenhang mit der Differenz der Atomgröße und den intrinsischen Eigenschaften (d.h. der Stapelfehlerenergie und dem Schmelzpunkt) korreliert. Obwohl die intrinsischen Gitterdehnungen der FeNiCoCrMn HEL und seiner Sublegierungen vergleichbar waren, waren die Werte der gespeicherten Versetzungen unterschiedlich, was möglicherweise an einer Differenz der Stapelfehlerenergie lag. Für die krz-strukturierten Proben waren die Versetzungsdichten der TiNbHfTaZr HEL, der TiNbHfTa- und der TiNbHf-Legierungen aufgrund der großen Atomgrößenunterschiede hoch. Die hohe Versetzungsdichte bewirkt starke Wechselwirkungen zwischen den Versetzungen, was zu einem hohen Widerstand gegen Versetzungsbewegungen führt. Die hohen mechanischen Eigenschaften (Härte und Streckgrenze) in den verformten FeNiCoCrMn und TiNbHfTaZr HELen wurden mit dem Nachweis hoher Versetzungsdichten belegt. Darüber hinaus wurden die Härte und die Streckgrenze des FeNiCoCrMn HEL durch das Kalthämmern deutlich erhöht, während die der TiNbHfTaZr HEL nach dem Hämmerprozess nur leicht gegenüber der unverformten HEL verändert wurden. Die große Kaltverfestigung der FeNiCoCrMn HEL ist möglicherweise auf eine geringe Mischkristallhärtung und eine geringfügige Zwillingsbildung zurückzuführen. Die Forschungsergebnisse empfehlen für die Entwicklung des Gefüges und der mechanischen Eigenschaften von Hochentropielegierungen weitere Schritte hinsichtlich eines zielführenden Legierungsdesigns durchzuführenhin. Aus den Ergebnissen geht eindeutig hervor, dass die große Anzahl an Legierungselementen ( hinsichtlich einer hochkonfigurativen Entropie) nicht die einzige Einflussgrößebei der Bestimmung von Gitterverzerrungen, dem Gefüge und der mechanischen Eigenschaften darstellt, sondern auch die Art und die Kombination der Legierungselementen einschließlich der atomaren Wechselwirkungen (d.h. Atomgrößenunterschiede) einen Effekt haben.:Abstract v Zusammenfassung ix Contents xiii 1. Motivation and objectives 1 2. Fundamentals 5 2.1 Concept of high entropy alloys 5 2.1.1 Phase formation and thermodynamic 5 2.1.2 Four core effects 10 2.2 Alloy classification of high entropy alloys 13 2.3 Mechanical properties of high entropy alloys 14 3. Experiments 19 3.1 Alloy preparation 19 3.1.1 Alloy selection 19 3.1.2 Melting and casting 21 3.1.3 Thermomechanical treatment 23 3.2 Sample characterization 27 3.2.1 Chemical analyses 27 3.2.2 Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) 27 3.2.3 Scanning electron microscopy and microstructural analyses 28 3.2.4 X-ray diffraction (XRD) 29 3.2.5 High energy synchrotron X-ray diffraction 29 3.2.6 Mechanical Properties 33 4. Thermal phase stability of single phase high entropy alloys 35 5. An assessment of lattice strain in single phase high entropy alloys 49 5.1 Analysis of micro lattice strain on fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 50 5.2 Analysis of local lattice strain on fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 56 6. Solid solution hardening in single phase high entropy alloys 65 6.1 Hardness of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 65 6.2 Tensile strength of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 70 6.3 Correlation between atomic size misfit and solid solution hardening in Ti-Nb-Hf-Ta-Zr system 82 7. Work hardening in single phase high entropy alloys 91 7.1 Work hardenability of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys 91 7.2 Dislocation density of fcc- and bcc-structured high entropy alloys after cold swaging 93 8. Summary and outlook 109 8.1 Summary 109 8.2 Outlook 112 References 113 Acknowledgements 131 Erklärung 133

Face au défi des entreprises pour le maintien de leurs équipements au maximum de leur fiabilité, de leur disponibilité, de leur rentabilité et de leur sécurité au coût de maintenance minimum, des stratégies de maintenance telles que le CBM et le PHM ont été développées. Pour mettre en œuvre ces stratégies, comme pour la planification des activités de production il est nécessaire de connaître l’aptitude des systèmes à réaliser les futures tâches afin de réaliser le séquencement des opérations de production et de maintenance. Cette thèse présente les éléments d'une fonction générique qui évalue la capacité des systèmes techniques multi-composants à exécuter les tâches de production de biens ou de services assignées. Ce manuscrit présente une proposition de modélisation de systèmes techniques multi-composants représentant les différentes entités qui les composent, leurs états et leurs relations. Plusieurs types d’entités ont été identifiés. Pour chacun d’eux, des inférences sont proposées pour définir à l’intérieur du système l’aptitude de l’entité à accomplir les futures tâches de production à partir des évaluations de son état présent et futur et des évaluations des états présents et futurs des autres entités avec lesquelles elle est en relation. Ces évaluations des états présents et futurs sont basées sur l’exploitation de pronostics locaux des composants. Ces pronostics sont des prévisions qui intrinsèquement comportent des incertitudes pouvant être aléatoires ou épistémiques. La fonction proposée et les inférences prennent en compte ces deux formes d’incertitudes. Pour cela, les traitements et la fonction proposée exploite des éléments de la théorie de Dempster-Shafer. La modélisation des systèmes multi-composants pouvant être représentée sous la forme de graphes dont les états des nœuds dépendent de données comportant des incertitudes, des éléments des réseaux bayésiens sont également utilisés. Cette fonction fournit des indicateurs, sur l’aptitude de chaque entité du système à accomplir les futures tâches de production mais aussi indique les composants nécessitant une intervention afin d’améliorer cette aptitude. Ainsi, ces indicateurs constituent les éléments d'aide à la décision pour la planification des opérations de maintenance de façon conditionnelle et préventive, mais aussi pour la planification des opérations de production. / One major challenge of companies consists in maintaining their technical production resources at the maximum level of reliability, availability, profitability and safety for a minimum maintenance cost, maintenance strategies such as CBM and PHM have been developed. To implement these strategies, as with production activity planning, it is necessary to know the ability of systems to perform future tasks to order production and maintenance operations. This thesis presents the generic function that evaluates the ability of multi-component technical systems to perform the production tasks of goods or services. This manuscript presents a proposal for the modelling of multi-component technical systems representing the different entities that compose them, their states and their relationships. Several types of entities have been identified. For each of them, inferences are proposed to define within the system the entity's ability to perform future production tasks based on its own assessment of its present and future state and the assessments of the present and future states of the other entities with which it is involved. These assessments of present and future states are based on the use of local prognoses of components. These prognoses are predictions that inherently involve uncertainties that may be aleatory or epistemic. The proposed function and inferences take into account these two kinds of uncertainty. To do this, the inferences and the proposed function uses elements of the Dempster-Shafer theory. Since the modelling of multi-component systems can be represented in the form of graphs whose node states depend on data with uncertainties, elements of Bayesian networks are also used. This function provides indicators on the ability of each system entity to perform future production tasks but also indicates the components that require maintenance to improve this ability. Thus, these indicators constitute the elements of decision support for the planning of maintenance operations in a conditional and preventive way, but also for the planning of production tasks.

The role of sensor technology is obvious in improvement and optimization of many industrial processes. The sensor films, which are considered the core of chemical sensors, have the capability to detect the presence and concentration of a specific chemical substance. Such sensor films achieve selectivity by detecting the interaction of the specific chemical substance with the sensor material through selective binding, adsorption and permeation of analyte. This research focuses on development and verification of a comprehensive mathematical model of mixed metal oxide thin film growth using spray pyrolysis technique (SPT). An experimental setup is used to synthesize mixed metal oxide films on a heated substrate. The films are analyzed using a variety of characterization tools. The results are used to validate the mathematical model. There are three main stages to achieve this goal: 1) A Lagrangian-Eulerian method is applied to develop a CFD model of atomizing multi-component solution. The model predicts droplet characteristics in flight, such as spatial distribution of droplet size and concentration. 2) Upon reaching the droplets on the substrate, a mathematical model of multi-phase transport and chemical reaction phenomena in a single droplet is developed and used to predict the deposition of thin film. The various stages of droplet morphology associated with surface energy and evaporation are predicted. 3) The processed films are characterized for morphology and chemical composition (SEM, XPS) and the data are used to validate the models as well as investigate the influence of process parameters on the structural characteristics of mixed metal oxide films. The structural characteristics are investigated of nano structured thin films comprising of ZnO, SnO2, ZnO+In2O3 and SnO2+In2O3 composites. The model adequately predicts the size distribution and film thickness when the nanocrystals are well-structured at the controlled temperature and concentration.

[pt] O petróleo é constituído por uma cadeia de hidrocarbonetos, os quais se precipitam na forma de partículas sólidas de parafina, quando a sua temperatura cai abaixo de um patamar conhecido como TIAC (Temperatura Inicial de Aparecimento de Cristais). Essas partículas podem se depositar nas paredes internas dos dutos obstruindo o escoamento, podendo gerar prejuízos da ordem de milhões de dólares. Por esse motivo, a habilidade de previsão e controle da deposição de parafina em eventos futuros é de fundamental importância tanto para projetistas como operadores de tubulações. Visando lidar com esse problema, grande esforço vem sendo feito pela comunidade científica com o intuito de aperfeiçoar as metodologias para previsão do depósito de parafina. Frequentemente, a modelagem da difusão das espécies é realizada utilizando a Lei de Fick, válida para misturas binárias, apesar dos hidrocarbonetos presentes no petróleo formarem uma mistura multicomponente. O presente trabalho propõe avaliar o fluxo difusivo de massa das espécies utilizando o modelo Stefan-Maxwell, compatível com sistemas multicomponentes. Para determinar a evolução axial e temporal da espessura do depósito de parafina, o escoamento foi modelado como uma mistura líquido/sólido e equações de conservação de energia, massa, quantidade de movimento linear e continuidade das espécies são resolvidas, acopladas com o modelo termodinâmico de múltiplas soluções sólidas, para determinação da precipitação da parafina. As equações de conservação foram resolvidas utilizando o software de código livre OpenFOAM (marca registrada). Uma comparação das previsões obtidas com a modelagem de Fick e de Stefan-Maxwell com dados experimentais, mostrou que no início do processo de deposição, o impacto do modelo difusivo é desprezível. Porém, observou-se que a medida que o tempo passa, o modelo de Stefan Maxwell prevê um maior incremento da concentração das espécies mais pesadas no interior do depósito de parafina quando comparado com a previsão da modelagem de Fick. / [en] Petroleum is formed by a chain of hydrocarbons, which precipitates in the form of solid particles of paraffin, when its temperature drops below a threshold known as Wax Appearance Temperature (WAT). These particles can be deposited on the inner walls of the pipelines, obstructing the flow, which can generate losses in the order of several millions of dollars. For this reason, the ability to predict and control wax deposition in future events is of fundamental importance for both designers and operators of pipelines. In an attempt to deal with this problem, a great effort has been made by the scientific community aiming to improve wax deposition prediction methodologies. Often, the modeling of species diffusion is performed using Fick s law, valid for binary mixtures, although the hydrocarbons present in the oil form a multicomponent solution. The present work proposes to evaluate the species mass diffusive flux employing the Stefan-Maxwell model, compatible with multicomponent systems. To determine the axial and temporal evolution of the wax deposition thickness, the flow was modelled as a liquid/solid mixture and the conservation equations of energy, mass, linear momentum and species continuity were solved coupled with the thermodynamic model of multiple solid solutions, to determine the paraffin precipitation. The conservation equations were solved using the open-source software OpenFOAM (trademark). A comparison of the predictions obtained with the Fick and Stefan-Maxwell models with experimental data showed that at the beginning of the deposition process, the impact of diffusive model is negligible. However, it was observed that as time passes, the Stefan-Maxwell model predicts a greater increase in the concentration of heaviest species inside the wax deposit when compared to the prediction of Fick s law

Thesis advisor: James P. Morken / This dissertation details the discovery, development, and mechanistic exploration of several enantioselective processes involving organoboronic esters. The first chapter will discuss electrophile-induced metallate rearrangement reactions, the fundamental reactivity that underlies much of the subsequently discussed work. The second chapter details the discovery and mechanistic study of the metal-induced metallate rearrangement reaction and the multi-component conjunctive coupling reaction manifold and related reactions it enables. The factors that govern the competition between metal-induced metallate rearrangement versus transmetallation will be explored. The third chapter will discuss efforts to understand and overcome the initial limitations of the conjunctive coupling reaction including halide inhibition of palladium catalysis and the inability to engage other organometallic reagents such as organomagnesium nucleophiles, and how this allowed the development of a more general reaction. The fourth chapter discusses the development of an enantioselective triamine–nickel-catalyzed conjunctive coupling reaction of alkyl electrophiles as well as a related nickel-promoted radical-polar crossover reaction and the mechanistic features leading to one reaction manifold or the other. A related enantioselective diamine–nickel-catalyzed tandem radical addition cross coupling reaction of alkyl iodides, alkenylboron reagents, and alkyl- or arylzinc reagents will also be discussed. The fifth chapter will cover the discovery of a diamine–nickel-catalyzed enantioselective carbozincation reaction of alkenylboron compounds which produces enantioenriched α-boryl alkylzinc reagents. The mechanistic investigations undertaken and application of these species in a variety of stereospecific transformation will be discussed along with the preliminary discovery and optimization of a diphosphine-Pd-catalyzed stereoconvergent Negishi cross-coupling reaction of racemic α-boryl alkylzinc reagents. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

Répondant à une forte demande de sécurité, d’économie de poids et d’optimisation du volume utile, les réservoirs pour carburants sont actuellement généralement constitués d’une paroi barrière polymère multicouche visant à limiter les émissions de vapeurs dans l’atmosphère. Etre capable de prédire les perméabilités est primordial pour l’optimisation de telles structures. Grâce à des automates conçus au laboratoire, les mesures de sorption et de perméabilité ont été réalisées pour trois polymères leaders du domaine (PEHD, Liant et EVOH) et des mélanges modèles de carburants composés d’éthanol, d’iso-octane et de toluène. Les propriétés de sorption ont été modélisées par UNIQUAC et un nouveau modèle inédit SORPFIT. Les paramètres des lois de diffusion, de type TSVF2 ou Long généralisé, ont aussi été optimisés pour chaque polymère malgré une difficulté particulière pour l’EVOH. Une méthodologie originale a été ensuite proposée pour la prédiction des flux partiels des multicouches à partir des paramètres caractéristiques des monocouches correspondantes. Selon la nature et la disposition de chaque couche, deux cas de figures ont été identifiés : la limitation cinétique et la limitation thermodynamique du transfert, cette dernière étant estimée à partir des modèles de sorption initialement optimisés. La confrontation des calculs avec les mesures expérimentales réalisées pour des films bicouches et tricouches d’Arkema montre des prédictions très satisfaisantes. Cette approche est finalement étendue à la simulation de la perméabilité de structures multicouches plus complexes et plus représentatives des réservoirs pour carburants industriels / Responding to a strong demand for security, weight reduction and volume optimization, the fuel tanks are currently usually made of polymer multi-layer barriers in order to limit vapour emissions into the atmosphere. The prediction of their permeability remains a world-wide critical challenge for the multi-layer optimization. Thanks to original semi-automated experimental set-ups, sorption and permeability measurements were carried out for three leading polymer materials (HDPE, EVOH and Binder) and model fuel mixtures of ethanol, iso-octane and toluene. The modelling of the sorption properties was successfully achieved by the UNIQUAC model and a new model called SORPFIT. The parameters of the diffusion laws according to the TSVF2 or the generalized Long models were also optimized for each polymer despite some difficulty with EVOH. An original methodology was then proposed for predicting the partial fluxes of polymer multi-layers from the characteristic parameters of the corresponding mono-layers. Depending on the nature and disposition of each layer, two scenarios were identified: the kinetics limitation and the thermodynamics limitation of mass transfer, the latter being estimated from the sorption models initially optimized. The comparison of the calculated fluxes with the experimental data obtained for bi-layer and tri-layer films provided by the world-wide industrial company Arkema showed that the predictions were very satisfying. This approach was then extended to the simulation of the permeability of more complex multi-layer structures which are more representative of commercial fuel tanks

<p>This thesis concerns the development and validation of methods for characterization of multi-component preparative LC systems. Measurements of competitive adsorption isotherms are performed to gain detailed information about the interactions inside the chromatography column. This information increases our understanding of the separation process and makes it possible to perform computer simulations and numerical optimizations to find optimal operating conditions.</p><p>The methods under focus are called “the tracer-pulse method”, “the inverse method”, and “the inverse method on plateaus”. They are extensions of existing methods, with new experimental and numerical procedures to enable rapid and accurate multi-component adsorption isotherm determination. In the validation it was shown that they can produce results agreeing with traditional methods and that the acquired adsorption isotherm parameters can be used in simulations to accurately predict the outcome of preparative LC separations.</p><p>The methods were used to characterize several complex LC systems and two phenomena were discovered and theoretically treated: 1) The presence of invisible deformed peaks in single-component systems. 2) Peak deformations encountered with modern chiral stationary phases, caused by strongly adsorbed eluent additives. The latter type of deformation was highly tuneable and it was possible to adjust the enantiomer peak shapes so that the peaks tailed in opposite directions with the sharp sides in between, yielding baseline resolution at remarkably high sample loads.</p><p>In a final applied study both the LC-based perturbation peak method and a biosensor method based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) were used for the first time for detailed characterization of chiral drug-protein interactions. The fundamental properties of the two very different methods were compared and it was found that the LC method is more suitable for multi-component analysis and that the SPR method is more suitable for stronger interactions.</p>

This thesis concerns the development and validation of methods for characterization of multi-component preparative LC systems. Measurements of competitive adsorption isotherms are performed to gain detailed information about the interactions inside the chromatography column. This information increases our understanding of the separation process and makes it possible to perform computer simulations and numerical optimizations to find optimal operating conditions. The methods under focus are called “the tracer-pulse method”, “the inverse method”, and “the inverse method on plateaus”. They are extensions of existing methods, with new experimental and numerical procedures to enable rapid and accurate multi-component adsorption isotherm determination. In the validation it was shown that they can produce results agreeing with traditional methods and that the acquired adsorption isotherm parameters can be used in simulations to accurately predict the outcome of preparative LC separations. The methods were used to characterize several complex LC systems and two phenomena were discovered and theoretically treated: 1) The presence of invisible deformed peaks in single-component systems. 2) Peak deformations encountered with modern chiral stationary phases, caused by strongly adsorbed eluent additives. The latter type of deformation was highly tuneable and it was possible to adjust the enantiomer peak shapes so that the peaks tailed in opposite directions with the sharp sides in between, yielding baseline resolution at remarkably high sample loads. In a final applied study both the LC-based perturbation peak method and a biosensor method based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) were used for the first time for detailed characterization of chiral drug-protein interactions. The fundamental properties of the two very different methods were compared and it was found that the LC method is more suitable for multi-component analysis and that the SPR method is more suitable for stronger interactions.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a disorder affecting cognitive control. These functions are important to achieve goals when different actions need to be executed in close succession. This type of multi-component behavior, which often further requires the processing of information from different modalities, is important for everyday activities. Yet, possible changes in neurophysiological mechanisms have not been investigated in adolescent ADHD. We examined N = 31 adolescent ADHD patients and N = 35 healthy controls (HC) in two Stop-Change experiments using either uni-modal or bi-modal stimuli to trigger stop and change processes. These stimuli were either presented together (SCD0) or in close succession of 300 milliseconds (SCD300). Using event-related potentials (ERP), EEG data decomposition and source localization we analyzed neural processes and functional neuroanatomical correlates of multicomponent behavior. Compared to HCs, ADHD patients had longer reaction times and higher error rates when Stop and Change stimuli were presented in close succession (SCD300), but not when presented together (SCD0). This effect was evident in the uni-modal and bi-modal experiment and is reflected by neurophysiological processes reflecting response selection mechanisms in the inferior parietal cortex (BA40). These processes were only detectable after accounting for intra-individual variability in neurophysiological data; i.e. there were no effects in standard ERPs. Multi-component behavior is not always deficient in ADHD. Rather, modulations in multi-component behavior depend on a critical temporal integration window during response selection which is associated with functioning of the inferior parietal cortex. This window is smaller than in HCs and independent of the complexity of sensory input.

Les phosphatases CDC25 sont des éléments-clé de la régulation du cycle cellulaire chez les eucaryotes; elles activent par une double déphosphorylation les complexes CDK/cyclines permettant ainsi la progression dans les différentes phases du cycle. Leur sur-expression, observée dans des cancers très fréquents, est corrélée à une forte agressivité des tumeurs et un mauvais pronostic ce qui en fait des cibles d’intérêt en cancérologie. Deux nouvelles séries d’inhibiteurs ont été développées à partir d’une thiazolopyrimidinone (TZP), capable d’inhiber l’activité des CDC25, et préalablement identifiée par l’équipe. La première série a été obtenue par dimérisation de deux noyaux thiazolones conduisant à des inhibiteurs avec des CI50 de l’ordre du micromolaire sur CDC25B plus actifs que les mono-thiazolones, ces composés étant sélectifs vs PTP1B et VHR. De plus, ces dimères semblent interagir avec le site actif et la poche de liaison des inhibiteurs. Une deuxième série d’analogues de thiazolidin-4-one a été obtenue par simplification de la structure TZP. Une réaction à quatre composants, utilisant l’énergie micro-onde, a été développée pour préparer rapidement des inhibiteurs de CDC25B avec des CI50 de l’ordre du micromolaire. Enfin, une approche originale pour inhiber CDC25 en ciblant l’interaction CDC25/CDK-Cycline a débutée. Un crible in silico/in vitro sera réalisé afin d’identifier de petites molécules inhibitrices de cette interaction. Des études préliminaires pour la mise en place d’outils permettant l’évaluation de l’affinité de ces molécules pour le site de reconnaissance de CDK2 ont été engagées. / CDC25 phosphatases are key regulators of the cell cycle and its checkpoints. Hence, they are required to dephosphorylate and thus activate the Cdk/Cyclin complexes triggering progression through the different phases. Over-expression of CDC25 has been demonstrated in a large number of human tumors and is often associated with aggressiveness and poor clinical prognosis. CDC25 phosphatases may therefore represent attractive targets for anti-cancer therapy. Starting from a thiazolopyrimidinone (TZP) structure, previously reported as CDC25 inhibitor in our laboratory, two series of new compounds have been developed. Dimerisation of the thiazolone scaffold led to bis-thiazolone derivatives with inhibitory activities in the micromolar range greater than that observed for the mono-thiazolones. Moreover, most of these compounds were selective CDC25 inhibitors. A second scaffold was designed by opening of the pyrimidine ring of the TZP, leading to thiazolidine-4-one derivatives that inhibit CDC25B activities with values of IC50 in the micromolar range. A four-component reaction, using micro-wave irradiation, was developed to rapidly prepare these compounds. Finally, an approach aiming at inhibiting the interactions between phosphatase CDC25 and its substrate CDK2 was engaged. Several virtual chemical libraries will be screened in silico, and the small molecules candidates selected will be assessed for their binding affinity using an in vitro assay, that we sought to develop.