Synthesis and properties of high tilted antiferroelectric esters with partially fluorinated alkoxyalkoxy terminal chains

Novel chiral esters with partially fluorinated alkoxyalkoxy terminal chains are described. Their phase transition temperatures, enthalpies, and electrooptical properties are reported. A helical pitch in pure compounds and their mixtures based on selective reflection of light is also characterized.     

Modelling and characterization of ferroelectric liquid crystal displays

Modelling of liquid crystal displays is useful to predict their optical properties and dynamic behaviour. An integrated modelling system for ferroelectric liquid crystal displays has been developed. The system employs data from real FLC materials, polarizers, glasses, backlights, and colour filters, aiming to describe actual devices accurately. Optical transmission dependence on light wavelength and angle of incidence is obtained as a function of the liquid crystal director profile. This profile is in turn derived from energy minimization of bulk and glass surface conditioning contributions.The above static model has been extended to study sample switching in multiplexed displays. Usual slot times in actual displays are quite close to time response of FLC materials, hence no energy-minimized configurations are obtained upon switching. A dynamic model has been formulated to derive the director profile evolution with time, according to the employed driving scheme, and the rotational viscosity of the material.Predicted dynamic and optical results have been compared to experimental measurements on FLC test cells. It has been found that the behaviour of FLC cells depends on a large number of physical and optical parameters. Some of them may be obtained from FLC data sheets, and manufacturing conditions. Other parameters related to director profiles in relaxed states may be experimentally obtained by sample characterization through optical transmission measurements. A few little known parameters (e.g. specific elastic constants) remain; fortunately their influence on cell dynamics is low.     

Influence of a helical pitch on orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals performance

Orthoconic antiferroelectric liquid crystals, whose half cone angle is 45°, are of interest in display technology because they are capable of providing greyscale in passively addressing waveform while exhibiting very good contrast. However, orthoconic antiferroelectrics having short pitch are difficult to be aligned, this makes surface stabilized alignment unfeasible. In this case, dynamic behaviour is usually poor, avoiding electronic addressing with standard electronics. In this work, we report the helical pitch measurements of OAFLC mixtures and we compare electrooptical performance of high and low pitch OAFLCs.     

A three-state surface-confined molecular switch with multiple channel outputs

A self-assembled monolayer of a tetrathiafulvalene derivative on indium tin oxide is shown to operate as a ternary redox switch in which the magnetic and optical outputs are employed to provide a readout of the state. This surface-confined molecular switch exhibits excellent reversibility and stability and is thus promising for the development of molecular electronics.     

Further Withaphysalin Derivatives from Acnistus arborescens

Two new epimeric chlorinated withaphysalins, rel‐(4β,5β,6α,18S,22R)‐ and rel‐(4β,5β,6α,18R,22R)‐6‐chloro‐18,20‐epoxy‐18‐ethoxy‐4,5‐dihydroxy‐1‐oxowitha‐2,24‐diene‐26,22‐lactone ( 1 and 2 resp.), together with the new rel‐(4β,5β,6α,18R,22R)‐6‐chloro‐18,20‐epoxy‐4,5‐dihydroxy‐18‐methoxy‐1‐oxowitha‐2,24‐diene‐26,22‐lactone ( 3 ) and rel‐(3β,4β,5β,6β,18R,22R)‐5,6:18,20‐diepoxy‐3,18‐diethoxy‐4‐hydroxy‐1‐oxowith‐24‐ene‐26,22‐lactone ( 4 ) were isolated from the leaves of Acnistus arborescens and named withaphysalins T–W, respectively. The final structures and the complete ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR assignments of the three chlorowithaphysalins 1 – 3 were performed by means of HR‐ESI‐MS and 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR experiments, including COSY, HSQC, and HMBC, beside comparison with spectral data of analogous compounds from the literature. The structure of 4 was also confirmed by means of a single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis.     

Isomeric oxabenzochrysenones from Musa acuminata and Wachendorfia thyrsiflora

Two new oxabenzochrysenones (naphthoxanthenones), representing phenylphenalenone-related natural products, were isolated from Musa acuminata and Wachendorfia thyrsiflora.     

Excess enthalpies and molecular interactions in solutions of 1-fluoroalkanes in alkanes,benzene or tetrachloromethane. A group contribution (DISQUAC) study

Molar excess enthalpies H ^E at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure were determined for 12 binary liquid mixtures, 1-fluoropentane, 1-fluorohexane, or 1-fluorononane + a non-polar solvent (hexane, cyclohexane, benzene, or tetrachloromethane) and were interpreted by the DISQUAC group contribution model. 1-Fluoroalkane + n-alkane mixtures are characterized by two types of groups or contact surfaces, fluorine (F) and alkane (CH₃, CH₂), the remaining mixtures by the additional contact surfaces of the solvents (C₆H₁₂ C₆H₆, or CCl₄). The interchange energies, entirely dispersive, of the alkane-solvent contacts were determined independently from the study of solvent-alkane mixtures. The dispersive F-alkane parameters were assumed to equal the parameters of perfluoroalkanes + n-alkanes. The shape of the H ^E curves of 1-fluorolkane + polarizable solvent (C₆H₆, CCl₄) mixtures are best reproduced by the model when the quasi-chemical F-solvent parameters are assumed to equal zero. The quasi-chemical F-alkane (the same for n-alkanes and cyclohexane) and the dispersive F-solvent parameters were estimated in this work. The 1-fluoroalkane solutions in C₆H₆ or CCl₄ exhibit the characteristic features of polar solute + polarizable solvent mixtures, viz., the deviations from the ideality are less positive than in alkanes and the experimental H ^E curves are strongly asymmetrical.     

Isothermal vapor-liquid equilibria of bromochloroalkanes with heptane or cyclohexane: Measurement and analysis in terms of group contributions

Isothermal vapor-liquid equilibria (VLE) have been measured for liquid bromochloromethane + heptane or cyclohexane at 25‡C and 40‡C, and for 1-bromo-chloroethane + heptane or cyclohexane at 40‡C. These experimental results, along with our previous ones on excess enthalpies, as well as literature data on activity coefficients at infinite dilution, are interpreted in terms of the DISQUAC group contribution model, and are compared with UNIFAC predictions.     

Allelopathic activity and chemical constituents of extracts from roots of Euphorbia heterophylla L

Euphorbia heterophylla L. is regarded as a major weed worldwide. Its high aggressiveness in agricultural environment prompted us to investigate the allelopatic activity and chemical constitution of extracts from roots of this plant. Hexane extract showed low phytotoxic activity. Methanol extract at 2.0 mg mL^?1 inhibited 100% of germination, root and shoot growth of the indicator plants Sorghum bicolor and Lactuca sativa. β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and esters of lupeol, germanicol, taraxasterol, pseudotaraxasterol, α-amyrin and β-amyrin were isolated from the hexane extract and their structures elucidated on the basis of MS and ¹H, ¹³C and DEPT-135 NMR data. GC-MS analysis of the derivatized methanol extract allowed for identifying a series of allelopathic organic acids potentially involved in allelopathic interactions of E. heterophylla. This is the first study on the allelopathic activity of extracts and identification of metabolites from roots of E. heterophylla.     

Tweaking the affinity of aryl‐substituted diazosalicylato‐ and pyridine ligands towards Zn (II) and its neighbors in the periodic system of the elements,Cu (II) and Cd (II), and their antimicrobial activity

A series of six new Zn (II) compounds, viz., [Zn(HL^ASA)₂(Py)₂] ( 1 ), [Zn(HL^MASA)₂(Py)₂] ( 2 ), [Zn(HL^MASA)₂(4‐MePy)₂] ( 3 ), [Zn(HL^CASA)₂(4‐MePy)₂] ( 4 ), [Zn(HL^BASA)₂(Py)₂] ( 5 ), [Zn(HL^BASA)₂(4‐MePy)₂] ( 6 ) and representative Cu (II) and Cd (II) complexes, viz., [Cu(HL^ASA)₂(Py)₂(H₂O)] ( 7 ) and [Cd(HL^BASA)₂(Py)₃] ( 8 ) [(HL^XASA)^? = para‐substituted 5‐[(E)‐2‐(aryl)‐1‐diazenyl]‐2‐hydroxybenzoate with X = H (ASA), Me (MASA), Cl (CASA) or Br (BASA); Py = pyridine; 4‐MePy = 4‐methylpyridine] have been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic techniques and single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction analysis. The structural characterization of the compounds revealed distorted tetrahedral ( 1 – 6 ), square‐pyramidal ( 7 ) and pentagonal‐bipyramidal ( 8 ) coordination geometries around the metal atom, in which the aryl‐substituted diazosalicylate ligands are coordinated only through the oxygen atoms of carboxylate groups, either in an anisobidentate or isobidentate mode; meanwhile, the 2‐hydroxy groups of the monoanionic ligand (HL^XASA)^? are involved only in intramolecular O‐H···O hydrogen bonds with the carboxylate function. In the crystal structures of 1 – 8 , the complex molecules are assembled by π‐stacking interactions giving mostly infinite 1D strands. The intermolecular binding in the solid state structures is accomplished by diverse additional non‐covalent contacts including C‐H···O, C‐H···N, C‐H···π, C‐H···Br, O···Br, Br···π and van der Waals contacts. Although the primary and secondary ligands in the Zn (II) complex series 1 – 6 carry different substituents at the periphery (X = H, Me, Cl, Br for (HL^XASA)^? and R = H, Me for 4‐Py‐R), five of the crystal structures were isostructural. Additionally, the antimicrobial activity of the pro‐ligands H₂L^XASA and their Zn (II), Cu (II) and Cd (II) compounds were studied in a comparative manner, showing high sensitivity (IZD ≥ 20) against Bacillus subtilis.