Lead-free potassium–bismuth titanate, K0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (KBT), ferroelectric ceramics were fabricated from the natural sintering of powders prepared by the thermal decomposition of adequate precursor solutions. Their crystal structure was determined by x-ray diffraction, and the temperature dependence of dielectric constants were measured. The results show that KBT may be a kind of order–disorder relaxor ferroelectric with a first-order phase transition below the temperature of dielectric constant maximum.

Two new taxoid metabolites were isolated from the methanol extract of the Taxus mairei seeds. Their structures were established as 2alpha-hydroxy-9alpha,10beta,13alpha-triacetoxy-5alpha-cinnamoyloxytaxa-11-en-4beta,20-epoxide (1) and 2'-acetyl taxol (2) on the basis of spectral analysis.