On the univalence of derivatives of functions which are univalent in angular domains

We consider functions f that are univalent in a plane angular domain of angle απ, 0 < α ≤ 2. It is proved that there exists a natural number k depending only on α such that the kth derivatives f (k) of these functions cannot be univalent in this angle. We find the least of the possible values of for k. As a consequence, we obtain an answer to the question posed by Kir'yatskii: if f is univalent in the half-plane, then its fourth derivative cannot be univalent in this half-plane. © 2007 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd