Effect of the Side‐Chain‐Distribution Density on the Single‐Conjugated‐Polymer‐Chain Conformation

The spatial arrangement of the side chains of conjugated polymer backbones has critical effects on the morphology and electronic and photophysical properties of the corresponding bulk films. The effect of the side‐chain‐distribution density on the conformation at the isolated single‐polymer‐chain level was investigated with regiorandom (rra‐) poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(3‐hexyl‐2,5‐thienylene vinylene) (P3HTV). Although pure P3HTV films are known to have low fluorescence quantum efficiencies, we observed a considerable increase in fluorescence intensity by dispersing P3HTV in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), which enabled a single‐molecule spectroscopy investigation. With single‐molecule fluorescence excitation polarization spectroscopy, we found that rra‐P3HTV single molecules form highly ordered conformations. In contrast, rra‐P3HT single molecules, display a wide variety of different conformations from isotropic to highly ordered, were observed. The experimental results are supported by extensive molecular dynamics simulations, which reveal that the reduced side‐chain‐distribution density, that is, the spaced‐out side‐chain substitution pattern, in rra‐P3HTV favors more ordered conformations compared to rra‐P3HT. Our results demonstrate that the distribution of side chains strongly affects the polymer‐chain conformation, even at the single‐molecule level, an aspect that has important implications when interpreting the macroscopic interchain packing structure exhibited by bulk polymer films.     

Regio‐ and stereo‐selectivity in the silylation of 2,6‐diethyl‐3,4,7,8‐tetramethyl‐1,5‐dihydro‐s‐indacene

Disilylation of 2,6‐diethyl‐3,4,7,8‐tetramethyl‐1,5‐dihydro‐s‐indacene is regioselective and stereoselective. The stereoselectivity was modified by changing the experimental conditions, allowing an understanding of the reaction mechanism. The structure of the ‘meso’ diastereoisomer was established by X‐ray diffraction. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A study of the planarity of the pyrrolone fragment in 2‐isopropyl‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐isoindol‐1‐one

Orthophthalaldehyde (o‐phthalaldehyde, OPA) is an aromatic dialdehyde bearing two electron‐withdrawing carbonyl groups. The reactions of OPA with primary amines are broadly applied for the synthesis of important heterocyclic compounds with biological relevance. A number of such reactions have been investigated recently and several structures of condensation products have been reported, however, the complex reaction mechanism is still not fully understood and comprises concurrent as well as consecutive reactions. The reaction products depend on the primary amine which reacts with OPA, the reaction environment (solvent) and the proportion of the reactants. The title molecule, C₁₁H₁₃NO, the product of the reaction of OPA with isopropylamine, contains a five‐membered pyrrole C₄N ring with a carbonyl substituent, which forms part of the isoindolinone unit. Though this pyrrole ring contains one C atom in the sp³‐hybridized state, it is fairly planar. The title molecule has been compared with similar structures retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database in order to study this phenomenon. The planarity of this fragment has been explained by the presence of partially delocalized C—C, C—N and C—O bonds, and by an inner angle in the planar pentagonal ring (∼108°), which is close to the ideal tetrahedral value for the sp³‐hybridized state of the constituent C atom. Due to this propitious angle, this C atom can be present in states intermediate between sp³‐ and sp²‐hybridized in different structures, while still maintaining the planarity of the ring. There are only weak intermolecular C—H…O hydrogen bonds and C—H…π‐electron ring interactions in the structure. In particular, it is the pyrrole ring which is involved in these interactions.     

Synthesis of 6‐Alkylidene‐5,6‐dihydro‐4H‐1,3‐thiazine Derivatives via the Cyclization of N‐3‐Bromo‐3‐alkenylthioamides

By the treatment of N‐3‐bromo‐3‐alkenylthioamides with sodium hydroxide in DMF‐H₂O in the presence of tetra‐butylammonium bromide, series of 6‐alkylidene‐5,6‐dihydro‐4H‐1,3‐thiazine derivatives were prepared in moderate to good yields. The cyclization is supposed to proceed via both the intramolecular vinylic nucleophilic substitution and the elimination‐addition mechanisms (formation of acetylenic intermediates) in a competitive manner.     

The monohydrates of the four polar dipeptides l‐seryl‐l‐asparagine,l‐seryl‐l‐tyrosine,l‐tryptophanyl‐l‐serine and l‐tyrosyl‐l‐tryptophan

The crystal structures of the four dipeptides l ‐seryl‐l ‐asparagine monohydrate, C₇H₁₃N₃O₅·H₂O, l ‐seryl‐l ‐tyrosine monohydrate, C₁₂H₁₆N₂O₅·H₂O, l ‐tryptophanyl‐l ‐serine monohydrate, C₁₄H₁₇N₃O₄·H₂O, and l ‐tyrosyl‐l ‐tryptophan monohydrate, C₂₀H₂₁N₃O₄·H₂O, are dominated by extensive hydrogen‐bonding networks that include cocrystallized solvent water molecules. Side‐chain conformations are discussed on the basis of previous observations in dipeptides. These four dipeptide structures greatly expand our knowledge on dipeptides incorporating polar residues such as serine, asparagine, threonine, tyrosine and tryptophan.     

Synthesis of the 2‐Alkenyl‐4‐alkylidenebut‐2‐eno‐4‐lactone (=α‐Alkenyl‐γ‐alkylidenebutenolide) Core Structure of the Carotenoid Pyrrhoxanthin via the Regioselective Dihydroxylation of Hepta‐2,4‐diene‐5‐ynoic Acid Esters

A new strategy for the stereoselective synthesis of 4‐alkylidenebut‐2‐eno‐4‐lactones (=γ‐alkylidenebutenolides) with (Z)‐configuration of the exocyclic CC bond at C(4) was developed. It is exemplified by the synthesis of 4‐alkylidenebutenolactone 31 (Scheme 4), which constitutes a substructure of the carotenoids pyrrhoxanthin ( 1 ) and peridinin. The formation of the precursor 4‐(1‐hydroxyalkyl)butenolactone 29 was accomplished either by cyclocarbonylation of the prop‐2‐yn‐1‐ol moiety of 27 (→ 29 ) or by hydrostannylation of the isopropylidene‐protected alkynoic acid ester 26 (→ 28 ) followed by transacetalization/transesterification (→ 30 ). The 4‐alkylidenebutenolactone was formed by the anti‐selective Mitsunobu dehydration 29 → 31 .     

Fate of the Oxygen Atoms in the Diol‐Dehydratase‐Catalyzed Dehydration of meso‐Butane‐2,3‐diol

¹⁸O‐Substituted propane‐1,2‐diols and meso‐butane‐1,2‐diols were synthesized and fed to growing cells of Lactobacillus brevis. Propan‐1‐ol and butan‐2‐ol, prepared from such diols through diol‐dehydratase‐catalyzed dehydration followed by intracellular reduction, were analyzed for their ¹⁸O‐content. For each propane‐1,2‐diol enantiomer, partial retention or complete loss of the isotope appeared to be related to the mode of substrate binding. Specific retention of the O‐atom linked to the (R)‐configured C‐atom of meso‐butane‐1,2‐diol indicates that the diol dehydratase handles this substrate like (R)‐propane‐1,2‐diol.     

From the Lithium‐2‐anilide‐2‐fluoro‐1,3‐diaza‐2‐sila‐cyclopentene‐GaCl3 Adduct to 1,4,6‐Triaza‐5‐gallium‐7‐sila‐cyclo‐3‐heptene ‐ Experimental and Quantum‐chemical Results

The lithium salt (HC–NCMe₃)₂SiFNLiR ( 1 ) R = C₆H₃(2,6‐CHMe₂)₂ reacts with trichlorogallium under displacement of the lithium ion by GaCl₃ to give the adduct [(HC–NCMe₃)₂SiFN]^– [(GaCl₃)R·Li(thf)₄]⁺ ( 1 ). Compound 1 thermally loses LiCl and forms the bicyclic ring intermediates V and VI . Compound  VI adds the aniline H₂NC₆H₃(2,6‐CHMe₂)₂ and the unsaturated, seven‐membered ring compound –NCMe₃–CH₂–CH=NCMe₃GaCl₂–NR–SiFNHR– ( 2 ) is obtained. The addition is accompanied by an enamine‐imine‐tautomerism and proves the Lewis acid character of the silicon atom in an unknown 3‐center‐2‐electron interaction of one nitrogen atom with the silicon and gallium atoms. Quantum chemical calculations of the thermal isomerisation process and crystal structures of 1 and 2 are reported.     

Study of the Reactivity of 6,8‐Dimethyl‐4‐oxo‐4H‐1‐benzopyran‐3‐carboxaldehyde Towards Amino‐6‐oxopyridine‐3‐carboxylate Derivatives

The condensation reactions of 6,8‐dimethyl‐4‐oxo‐4H‐1‐benzopyran‐3‐carboxaldehyde ( 1 ) with equimolar amounts of ethyl 2‐amino‐4‐(4‐chlorophenyl)‐5‐cyano‐1‐[(5,6‐diphenyl‐1,2,4‐triazin‐3‐yl)amino]‐6‐oxo‐1,6‐dihydropyridine‐3‐carboxylate ( 2 ) at different reaction conditions gave different chromanone and chromenone products 3 , 4 , 5 . Also, the condensation reactions of compound 1 with ethyl 5‐cyano‐1,2‐diamino‐4‐(3‐nitrophenyl)‐6‐oxo‐1,6‐dihydropyridine‐3‐carboxylate ( 6 ) in absolute ethanol, dry benzene, acetic acid, and/or dry xylene gave a variety of products 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 depending on the solvent used.     

Analysis and Identification of the Chemical Constituents of Ding‐Zhi‐Xiao‐Wan Prescription by HPLC‐IT‐MSn and HPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS

Ding‐Zhi‐Xiao‐Wan (DZXW) is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, which is composed of four herbs, Ginseng Radix, Poria, Polygala Radix and Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma. It has been popularly used for the treatment of emotional disease, like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, depression, anxiety, forgetfulness and neurasthenia. In this research, a high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with ion‐trap tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐IT‐MSⁿ) method along with a high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (HPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS) method in negative ion mode was established to investigate the major constitutions in DZXW. The extracts were prepared by ultra‐sonication in ethyl acetate, n‐butanol, 95% ethanol and deionized water sequentially as well as in deionized water directly. A Kromasil C18 column was used to separate the extracts of DZXW. Acetonitrile and 0.1% aqueous formic acid (V/V) were used as the mobile phase. A total of 64 components were characterized, including 16 triterpenoids, 14 Polygala saponins, 10 oligosaccharide esters, 6 sucrose esters, 2 xanthone C‐glycosides and 16 ginsenosides.     

1,3‐Dihydro‐1‐hydroxy‐3‐morpholin‐4‐yl‐2,1‐benzoxaborole: product of the reaction of o‐formylphenylboronic acid with morpholine

o‐Formylphenylboronic acid reacts with morpholine to form 1,3‐dihydro‐1‐hydroxy‐3‐morpholin‐4‐yl‐2,1‐benzoxaborole. The typical hydrogen‐bonded dimer motif with a planar benzoxaborole fragment has been obtained in the solid state. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microwave induced synthesis of the thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione motif and the efficient solvent free‐solid phase parallel syntheses of 5‐benzylidene‐thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione and 5‐benzylidene‐2‐thioxo‐thiazolidine‐4‐one compounds

Novel microwave induced method for the synthesis of thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione motif under solvent phase conditions is developed. Further we report an efficient, microwave assisted method for the parallel syntheses of biologically important 5‐benzylidene‐thiazolidine‐2,4‐dione and 5‐benzylidene‐2‐thioxothiazolidine‐4‐one compounds under solid‐phase and solvent‐free conditions. A comparative study between the developed microwave methods and the conventional methods is described. We have also illustrated the possible mechanism behind to address the reason why piperidine, acetic acid and silica gel enhanced the Knoevenagel condensation reaction.     

Conformational study of the 3,6‐dihydro‐2H‐1,4‐oxazin‐2‐one fragment in 8‐tert‐butyl‐7‐methoxy‐8‐methyl‐9‐oxa‐6‐azaspiro[4.5]decane‐2,10‐dione stereoisomers

Unnatural cyclic α‐amino acids play an important role in the search for biologically active compounds and macromolecules. Enantiomers of natural amino acids with a d configuration are not naturally encoded, but can be chemically synthesized. The crystal structures of two enantiomers obtained by a method of stereoselective synthesis, namely (5R ,8S )‐8‐tert‐butyl‐7‐methoxy‐8‐methyl‐9‐oxa‐6‐azaspiro[4.5]decane‐2,10‐dione, (1), and (5S ,8R )‐8‐tert‐butyl‐7‐methoxy‐8‐methyl‐9‐oxa‐6‐azaspiro[4.5]decane‐2,10‐dione, (2), both C₁₄H₂₁NO₄, were determined by X‐ray diffraction. Both enantiomers crystallize isostructurally in the space group P 2₁, with one molecule in the asymmetric unit and with the same packing motif. The crystal structures are stabilized by C—H…O hydrogen bonds, resulting in the formation of chains along the [100] and [010] directions. The conformation of the 3,6‐dihydro‐2H‐1,4‐oxazin‐2‐one fragment was compared with other crystal structures possessing this heterocyclic moiety. The comparison showed that the title compounds are not exceptional among structures containing the 3,6‐dihydro‐2H‐1,4‐oxazin‐2‐one fragment. The planar moiety was more frequently observed in derivatives in which this fragment was not condensed with other rings.     

A new direction in the alkylation of 5‐acetyl‐2‐amino‐6‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐4H‐pyran‐3‐carbonitrile with active methylene reagents

In this paper, we report a new synthesis route to 4H‐pyran derivatives and a plausible reaction mechanism. The interaction of 5‐acetyl‐2‐amino‐6‐methyl‐4‐phenyl‐4H‐pyran‐3‐carbonitrile with different active methylene reagents gives rise to the cleavage and subsequent recyclization of the pyran ring to afford the corresponding 4H‐pyran derivatives.     

Physicochemical characterization of the thermo‐induced self‐assembly of thermo‐responsive PDMAEMA‐b‐PDEGMA copolymers

Diblock copolymers of poly[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate]‐block‐poly[di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate], PDMAEMA‐b‐PDEGMA, were synthesized by reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The block ratio was varied to study the influence on the lower critical solution temperature and the corresponding phase transition in water. Therefore, turbidimetry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and laser Doppler velocimetry were applied. Additionally, asymmetric flow field‐flow fractionation (AF4) coupled to DLS and multiangle laser light scattering (MALLS) was established as an alternative route to characterize these systems in terms of molar mass of the polymer chain and size of the colloids after the phase transition. It was found that AF4–MALLS allowed accurate determination of molar masses in the studied range. Nevertheless, some limitations were observed, which were critically discussed. The cloud point and phase transition of all materials, as revealed by turbidimetry, could be confirmed by DSC. For block copolymers with block ratios in the range of 50:50, a thermo‐induced self‐assembly into micellar and vesicular structures with hydrodynamic radii (R_h) of around 25 nm was observed upon heating. At higher temperatures, a reordering of the self‐assembled structures could be detected. The thermo‐responsive behavior was further investigated in dependence of pH value and ionic strength. Variation of the pH value mainly influences the solubility of the PDMAEMA segment, where a decrease of the pH value increases the transition temperature. An increase of ionic strength leads to a reduction of the cloud point due to the screening of electrostatic interactions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 924–935     

A One‐pot,Four‐component Protocol for the Synthesis of 2‐Aroylimino‐3‐aryl‐4‐methyl‐5‐acetyl‐1,3‐thiazolines

A concise and efficient route for the synthesis of new 2‐aroylimino‐3‐aryl‐4‐methyl‐5‐acetyl‐1,3‐thiazolines in good to excellent yields is described. This involves the one‐pot, four‐component reaction of suitable aroyl chlorides, potassium thiocyanate, anilines, and 3‐chloropentane‐2,4‐dione in the presence of N‐methylimidazole.     

Synthesis of 1‐acyl‐2‐oxo‐3‐pyrrolidinecarbonitriles by the reaction of 2‐acylamino‐4,5‐dihydro‐3‐furancarbonitriles with sodium iodide

The reaction of 2‐acylamino‐4,5‐dihydro‐3‐furancarbonitriles 1 with sodium iodide in N,N‐dimethyl‐formamide gave the corresponding 1‐acyl‐2‐oxo‐3‐pyrrolidinecarbonitriles 2 in good yields. Successive treatment of 1 with titanium(IV) chloride and potassium carbonate resulted in the formation of N‐acyl‐1‐cyanocyclopropanecarboxamides 4 . The same compounds 2 were also obtained by treatment of 4 with sodium iodide. The starting compounds 1 were synthesized by the reaction of 2‐amino‐4,5‐dihydro‐3‐furan‐carbonitrile with acyl chlorides in pyridine.     

5‐Hydroxyalkyl derivatives of tert‐butyl 2‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole‐1‐carboxylate: diastereoselectivity of the Mukaiyama crossed‐aldol‐type reaction

The title compounds, rac‐(1′R,2R)‐tert‐butyl 2‐(1′‐hydroxyethyl)‐3‐(2‐nitrophenyl)‐5‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole‐1‐carboxylate, C₁₇H₂₀N₂O₆, (I), rac‐(1′S,2R)‐tert‐butyl 2‐[1′‐hydroxy‐3′‐(methoxycarbonyl)propyl]‐3‐(2‐nitrophenyl)‐5‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole‐1‐carboxylate, C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₈, (II), and rac‐(1′S,2R)‐tert‐butyl 2‐(4′‐bromo‐1′‐hydroxybutyl)‐5‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole‐1‐carboxylate, C₁₃H₂₀BrNO₄, (III), are 5‐hydroxyalkyl derivatives of tert‐butyl 2‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydropyrrole‐1‐carboxylate. In all three compounds, the tert‐butoxycarbonyl (Boc) unit is orientated in the same manner with respect to the mean plane through the 2‐oxo‐2,5‐dihydro‐1H‐pyrrole ring. The hydroxyl substituent at one of the newly created chiral centres, which have relative R,R stereochemistry, is trans with respect to the oxo group of the pyrrole ring in (I), synthesized using acetaldehyde. When a larger aldehyde was used, as in compounds (II) and (III), the hydroxyl substituent was found to be cis with respect to the oxo group of the pyrrole ring. Here, the relative stereochemistry of the newly created chiral centres is R,S. In compound (I), O—H...O hydrogen bonding leads to an interesting hexagonal arrangement of symmetry‐related molecules. In (II) and (III), the hydroxyl groups are involved in bifurcated O—H...O hydrogen bonds, and centrosymmetric hydrogen‐bonded dimers are formed. The Mukaiyama crossed‐aldol‐type reaction was successful when using the 2‐nitrophenyl‐substituted hydroxypyrrole, or the unsubstituted hydroxypyrrole, and boron trifluoride diethyl ether as catalyst. The synthetic procedure leads to a syn configuration of the two newly created chiral centres in all three compounds.