Modulation of the Physicochemical Properties of Donor–Spiro–Acceptor Derivatives through Donor Unit Planarisation: Phenylacridine versus Indoloacridine—New Hosts for Green and Blue Phosphorescent Organic Light‐Emitting Diodes (PhOLEDs)

This work reports a detailed structure–property relationship study of a series of efficient host materials based on the donor–spiro–acceptor (D‐spiro‐A) design for green and sky‐blue phosphorescent organic light‐emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). The electronic and physical effects of the indoloacridine (IA) fragment connected through a spiro bridge to different acceptor units, namely, fluorene, dioxothioxanthene or diazafluorene moiety, have been investigated in depth. The resulting host materials have been easily synthesised through short, efficient, low‐cost, and highly adaptable synthetic routes by using common intermediates. The dyes possess a very high triplet energy (E_T) and tuneable HOMO/LUMO levels, depending on the strength of the donor/acceptor combination. The peculiar electrochemical and optical properties of the IA moiety have been investigated though a fine comparison with their phenylacridine counterparts to study the influence of planarisation. Finally, these molecules have been incorporated as hosts in green and sky‐blue PhOLEDs. For the derivative SIA‐TXO₂ as a host, external quantum efficiencies as high as 23 and 14 % have been obtained for green and sky‐blue PhOLEDs, respectively.     

Molecular design based on 3D-pharmacophore. Application to 5-HT subtypes receptors

A first definition of a pharmacophore for the serotonin reuptake inhibitors was carried out by considering a three-dimensional model which correlates the chemical structures of series of reuptake inhibitors with their biological affinities. A molecular design was described by analyzing two different 3D serotonin pharmacophores. This successful approach enabled us to consider the design of new serotonin ligands by the same method.     

Luminescence Properties of New Fused Benzothiophene Derivatives and Their Conductive Oligomers Structural and Solvent Effects

The structural and solvent effects on the electronic absorption and fluorescence spectra, and fluorescence quantum yields, of four new fused benzothiophene derivatives, including benzothieno[3,2b]-thiophene (BTT), benzothieno[3,2-b]benzothiophene (BTBT), 6-methoxy[1]benzothieno[3,2b]-thiophene (MeOBTT), and benzothieno[3,2-b]indole (BTI) were investigated at 295 K. The luminescence properties of the corresponding conductive oligomers, poly(BTT) and poly (MeOBTT), electrosynthesized in acetonitrile, were also studied. Satisfactory McRae, Suppan, and Kawski-Chamma-Viallet solvatochromic correlations were established for the four monomers in most solvents. A weak negative solvatochromic behavior was found for these compounds, indicating that their dipole moments are slightly lower in the excited singlet state than in the ground state. Kamlet-Abboud-Taft multiparametric correlations were also obtained for absorption and fluorescence wave numbers and quantum yields, demonstrating the existence of specific solute-solvent interactions. In the case of the oligomers, important red-shifts of the fluorescence emission maxima ( 90–110 nm) relative to the corresponding monomers were observed, which shows the extent of conjugated segments in the oligomer chains.     

Energy-filtered electron microscopy for imaging core–shell nanostructures

CuAg core–shell nanoparticles are synthesized by ultra-high vacuum thermal evaporation. We show on this system how the Energy-Filtered Transmission Electron Microscopy (EFTEM) technique allows one to improve the characterization by precisely pointing out the formation of core–shell arrangements in bimetallic nanoparticle assemblies. A criterion to measure the shell thickness from EFTEM images on unique core–shell nanoparticles is defined, that can be used for core–shell nanoparticles of any sizes, with shell thicknesses over 1 nm. It is based on the intensity variation along a line drawn across a core–shell nanoparticle on a EFTEM image. This criterion has been validated by a close comparison of the shell thickness measurements performed in this work and the ones obtained by acoustic micro-Raman spectroscopy. Using this criterion, we report a strong correlation between the size of the Cu cores and the formation of the core–shell arrangements in the nanoparticle assembly studied in this work. The influence of the Cu core shape is also evidenced. The characterisation of such systems using High Resolution TEM (HRTEM) is also discussed.     

Photoprotection of Mammalian Acid-Soluble Collagen by Cuttlefish Sepia Melanin In Vitro

Several important clinical conditions can result in close association between the pigment melanin and dermal collagen. Because melanin and its precursors can be chemically reactive in ground and excited states, it is important to know whether the resulting melanin-collagen interaction results in photoprotection or photoaggression. Acidic and neutral air-saturated collagen suspensions (0.033%) were irradiated with0–2.6 times 104 J/m2 UVC or with0–83 times 104 J/m2 solar-simulating UV radiation (SSR). Photochemical destruction of a photolabile collagen fluorophore (δ_em 360 nm) and collagen chain degradation were monitored as functions of irradiation time in the presence and absence of added (0–100μg) sepia eumelanin. Melanin retarded collagen photodamage but did not qualitatively alter the fluorescence fading kinetics. Both H202 and 02 can be produced by UV irradiation of eumelanin. Added H202 and K02 destroyed collagen fluorescence and caused 50% chain degradation at ca10–20-fold molar excess. Previous studies have demonstrated that eumelanins efficiently scavenge 02 . We demonstrated that eumelanin also efficiently scavenges H202 as evidenced by its ability to (a) compete with scopoletin for peroxide uptake and (b) directly take up H202 through a dialysis bag. The latter observation suggests that peroxide scavenging could occur in vivo by melanin sequestered in melanophages. Thus, neither UV-generated 02 nor H202 are likely to be present in concentrations high enough to cause measurable collagen damage. Absorption and/or scattering of excitation radiation away from the target chromophore appears to be the primary photoprotection mechanism, although scavenging of active 02 intermediates may play an important, if subtle role.     

Synthesis of 5-aroylamino-3H-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiones and their tautomerism

5-Aroylamino-3H-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiones 2 have been synthesized by acylation of 5-amino-3H-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thione 1 . 5-Aroylamino-3H-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiones can exist in two tautomeric forms — a thiol form and a thione form. On the basis of the ¹³C nmr spectra and additional experimental information, it has been established that the thione form is the stable form in which these compounds exist.     

Absolute measurement of an atomic cascade rate using a two photon coincidence technique. Application to the 4p21S0 -4s4p 1P1 -4s21S0 cascade of calcium excited by a two photon absorption

The two photon coincidence technique yields an absolute measurement of a cascade decay rate without knowing the detection efficiency of each detector. This method is applied to calcium atoms in an atomic beam excited to the 4p²¹S₀ state, and decaying via the resonant ¹P₁ state; it yields the excitation rate of the upper 4p²¹S₀ level. Since the excitation process (two photon absorption) is controlled, one can compute the excitation rate of the upper level as a function of the transition probabilities in the cascade. The lower transition is well known and we can therefore deduce the transition probability for the 4p²¹S₀ -4s4p ¹P₁, transition which previously had not been accurately determined. The preliminary measurements yield a line strength s = 0.98 ± 0.3 au in good agreement with a recent measurement of the lifetime of the 4p²¹S₀ state.     

Test of the Wiedemann-Franz law in an optimally doped cuprate

We present a study of heat and charge transport in Bi(2+x)Sr(2-x)CuO(6+delta) focused on the size of the low-temperature linear term of the thermal conductivity at optimal-doping level. In the superconducting state, the magnitude of this term implies a d-wave gap with an amplitude close to what has been reported. In the normal state, recovered by the application of a magnetic field, measurement of this term and residual resistivity yields a Lorenz number L=kappa(N)rho(0)/T=1.3+/-0.2L(0). The departure from the value expected by the Wiedemann-Franz law is thus slightly larger than our estimated experimental resolution.