In this review article, we analyze recent progress in the application of liquid crystal-assisted advanced functional materials for sensing biological and chemical analytes. Multiple research groups demonstrate substantial interest in liquid crystal (LC) sensing platforms, generating an increasing number of scientific articles. We review trends in implementing LC sensing techniques and identify common problems related to the stability and reliability of the sensing materials as well as to experimental set-ups. Finally, we suggest possible means of bridging scientific findings to viable and attractive LC sensor platforms.

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Determination of the content of environment polluting chemical agents is of significant importance. The goal of this study was the development of experimental approaches for detection of concentrations of surfaceactive molecules (surfactants) such as sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and

The chemical reaction of a sample with atmospheric gases causes a significant error in the determinantion of the complex refractive index n = 1 - delta + ibeta in the extreme-ultraviolet region. The protection of samples removes this effect but hampers the interpretation of measurements. To overcome this difficulty, we derive the exact dependences on film thickness of the reflectivity and transmissivity of a protected film. These dependences greatly simplify the determination of delta and beta when the spectra of several films with different thickness and identical protection are measured. They also allow the verification of the delta(omega) obtained from the Kramers-Kronig relation and even make the Kramers-Kronig method unnecessary in many cases. As a practical application, the optical constants of Sc and Ti are determined at h omega = 18-70 eV and 18-99 eV, respectively. The essential feature of our experimental technique is deposition of a film sample directly on a silicon photodiode that allows easy operation with both thin (approximately 10-nm) and thick (approximately 100-nm) films. The comparison of calculated reflectivities of Si-Sc multilayers with the measured values shows the high accuracy of the determined delta(omega) and beta(omega).

Urea derivatives Urea derivatives P 0490Chemistry of Urea Nitro Derivatives. Part 3. Reactions of N,N'-Dinitrourea with Bases. -Salt formation and complexation of title dinitrourea (I) with several monoand divalent metal ions is studied. Additionally, reaction with amines, ammonia, hydrazine and hydroxylamine proceeds with substitution of one nitro group to afford the corresponding N-nitro-N'-alkyl(amino, hydroxy)urea derivatives (III), (IV) or (V), resp., in moderate to good yields. N-Nitrocarbamates like (VII) are formed under mild conditions on dissolution of dinitrourea in alcohols. -(IL'YASOV, S. G.; LOBANOVA, A. A.; POPOV, N. I.; SATAEV, R. R.; Russ.