The NMR Spectra of Styrene-Itaconate Ester Copolymers Obtained by Free Radical Mechanism

Styrene copolymerized with dimethyl itaconate and with methyl benzyl itaconate by use of a free radical initiator.

Monomer reactivity ratios for styrene (M₁)-dimethyl itaconate (M₂) co-polymerization were r₁ = 0.50 and r₂ = 0.06 and for styrene (M₁-methyl benzyl itaconate (M₂), r₁ = 0.42 and r₂ = 0.19. The nonconjugative methoxycarbonyl affected the monomer reactivity of itaconate toward polystyrene radical.

The NMR spectra of styrene-dimethyl itaconate copolymers were very complex and could not be interpreted because the two methoxy groups have similar chemical shifts.

The NMR spectra of styrene-itaconate copolymers were not so complex if methyl benzyl itaconate was used as comonomer instead of dimethyl itaconate. Methoxy and benzyloxy absorptions were sufficiently separated and “co-isotacticity” could be determined.

It is shown that the nonconjugative methoxycarbonyl group had little influence on the steric course of the cross-propagation reaction between styrene and itaconate.     

Importance of CH/π hydrogen bonds in recognition of the core motif in proline-recognition domains: an ab initio fragment molecular orbital study

We examined CH/π hydrogen bonds in protein/ligand complexes involving at least one proline residue using the ab initio fragment molecular orbital (FMO) method and the program CHPI. FMO calculations were carried out at the Hartree–Fock (HF)/6‐31G*, HF/6‐31G**, second‐order Møller–Plesset perturbation (MP2)/6‐31G*, and MP2/6‐31G** levels for three Src homology 3 (SH3) domains and five proline‐recognition domains (PRDs) complexed with their corresponding ligand peptides. PRDs use a conserved set of aromatic residues to recognize proline‐rich sequences of specific ligands. Many CH/π hydrogen bonds were identified in these complexes. CH/π hydrogen bonds occurred, in particular, in the central part of the proline‐rich motifs. Our results suggest that CH/π hydrogen bonds are important in the recognition of SH3 and PRDs by their ligand peptides and play a vital role in the signal transduction system. Combined use of the FMO method and CHPI analysis is a valuable tool for the study of protein/protein and protein/ligand interactions and may be useful in rational drug design. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2011     

Doubly doped BaY2F8:Er,Nd VUV scintillator

Doubly doped BaY₂F₈:Er,Nd scintillation crystals were grown by modified micro-pulling-down method. The Er co-doping was chosen to enhance the energy transfer from the host lattice to the Nd³⁺ luminescence center via the 5d-levels of Er³⁺, which can be enabled by the overlap of Er³⁺ 5d-4f emission spectrum with the Nd³⁺ 4f-5d absorption. The energy transfer was clearly evidenced in the BaY₂F₈:Er,Nd. The processes are complicated by energy migration to killer centres and/or cross-relaxation processes. The luminescence and energy transfer mechanism are discussed.     

Acylzirconocene Chloride as an “Unmasked” Acyl Anion: Enantioselective 1,2-Addition to α,β-Unsaturated Ketone Derivatives

The chiral monodentate phosphane ligand ( R )-MOP facilitated the first enantioselective nucleophilic 1,2-addition of an “unmasked” acyl anion to a carbonyl group in the Pd^II-catalyzed reaction of α,β-unsaturated ketones with acylzirconocene chlorides [Eq. (1), 66 % ee, 88 % yield; (R)-MOP=(R)-2-(diphenylphosphanyl)-2′-methoxy-1,1′-binaphthyl].     

Unusually facil cis to trans isomerization of a polypropiolate bearing a long alkyl chain polymerized using a [Rh(norbornadiene)Cl]2 catalyst: An ESR study

Alkylpropiolate having n-hexadecyl moiety in the ester group was stereospecifically polymerized with a [Rh(norbornadiene)Cl]₂ complex catalyst in alcohol to give rise to cis-transoid polyacetylenes in high yields. The unusually facile cis to trans isomerization for the polymer was found to be induced when the polymer was warmed to even less than ca. 57°C. Under these conditions ESR spectra bearing hyperfine structures due to the radicals generated by the rotational scission in the cis–π bond were observed. This isomerization induced a large g value shift in the ESR spectra together with an increase of the radical concentration during the isomerization, indicating formation of planar conjugated trans sequences that stabilize mobile unpaired electrons as solitons. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. A Polym. Chem. 36: 2457–2461, 1998     

On Global Existence,Asymptotic Stability and Blowing Up of Solutions for Some Degenerate Non-linear Wave Equations of Kirchhoff Type with a Strong Dissipation

We study on the initial-boundary value problem for some degenerate non-linear wave equations of Kirchhoff type with a strong dissipation: When the initial energy $E(u_0,u_1)\equiv \left\| u_1\right\| ⁁2+\frac 1{\gamma +1}\left\| \nabla u_0\right\| ⁁{2(\gamma +1)}-\frac 2{\alpha +2}\left\| u_0\right\| _{\alpha +2}⁁{\alpha +2}$ associated with the equations is non-negative and small, a unique (weak) solution exists globally in time and has some decay properties. When the initial energy E(u₀,u₁) is negative, the solution blows up at some finite time. In the proof we use the ‘modified potential well’ and ‘Concavity’ methods. © 1997 by B.G. Teubner Stuttgart-John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

One-Handed Helical Tubular Ladder Polymers for Chromatographic Enantioseparation**

Defect-free one-handed contracted helical tubular ladder polymers with a π-electron-rich cylindrical helical cavity were synthesized by alkyne benzannulations of the random-coil precursor polymers containing 6,6′-linked-1,1′-spirobiindane-7,7′-diol-based chiral monomer units. The resulting tightly-twisted helical tubular ladder polymers showed remarkably high enantioseparation abilities toward a variety of chiral hydrophobic aromatics with point, axial, and planar chiralities. The random-coil precursor polymer and analogous rigid-rod extended helical ribbon-like ladder polymer with no internal helical cavity exhibited no resolution abilities. The molecular dynamics simulations suggested that the π-electron-rich cylindrical helical cavity formed in the tightly-twisted tubular helical ladder structures is of key importance for producing the highly-enantioseparation ability, by which chiral aromatics can be enantioselectively encapsulated by specific π-π and/or hydrophobic interactions.