Capillarity driven instability of a soft solid

We report the observation of a Plateau instability in a thin filament of solid gel with a very small elastic modulus. A longitudinal undulation of the surface of the cylinder reduces its area thereby triggering capillary instability, but is counterbalanced by elastic forces following the deformation. This competition leads to a nontrivial instability threshold for a solid cylinder. The ratio of surface tension to elastic modulus defines a characteristic length scale. The onset of linear instability is when the radius of the cylinder is one-sixth of this length scale, in agreement with theory presented here.     

An Efficient Stereoselective Synthesis of (±)-Sweroside and (±)-secologanin aglucone O-methyl ethers. Preliminary communication

A seven-step stereoselective synthesis of (±)-sweroside aglucone O-methyl ether ( 16a ) was achieved in 27% overall yield from 1, 4-cyclohexadiene ( 4 ) and methyl diformylacetate ( 5 ). Secologanin aglucone O-methyl ether ( 18a ) was then formed from 16a in 90% overall yield by a straightforward process. The key step in the synthesis was a [2+2]-enone-photoannelation of 4 and 5 to form the key intermediate 6 which possessed the desired cis-fused ring configuration, and all the caron atoms needed to complete the synthesis of 16a and 18a .     

A multistage,one-pot procedure mediated by a single catalyst: a new approach to the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of beta-amino acids

A catalytic asymmetric procedure for the preparation of beta-amino acids (specifically beta-substituted aspartic acid derivatives) is reported. The cinchona alkaloid catalyst benzoylquinine (BQ) mediates up to five distinct steps of a reaction pathway, all in one reaction vessel. The products of this reaction, highly optically enriched beta-substituted aspartic acid derivatives, were prepared from N-acyl-alpha-chloroglycine esters and acid chlorides in the presence of the catalyst. This approach was also amenable to the synthesis of small polypeptides containing beta-substituted aspartic acid units, including a non-natural fragment of the antibiotic lysobactin. The addition of Lewis acids to this system was found to accelerate the rate of specific steps in the reaction pathway. Mechanistic aspects of this reaction, such as imine formation and Lewis acid chelation to the beta-lactam intermediate, were investigated through comparison of IR, NMR, and other physical data.     

The importance of valencep functions in the bonding of Na2, K2, and Cu2 and their positive and negative ions

Summary The relative importance of the valencep functions for describing the bonding in the valence isoelectronic Na₂, K₂, and Cu₂ molecules and their positive and negative ions is investigated. In absolute magnitude the contribution of thep functions to the dissociation energy follows the trend Cu>Na>K while by percentage of the dissociation energy the importance of thep functions follows the polarizabilities, i.e. K>Na>Cu. The bonding in K₂, K ₂ ⁺ , and K ₂ ^– is analyzed to explain the observed trends.Dedicated to Prof. Klaus Ruedenberg     

Colloidal shape controlled by molecular adsorption at liquid crystal interfaces

The ability to control finely the structure of materials remains a central issue in colloidal science. Due to their elastic properties, liquid crystals (LC) are increasingly used to organize matter at the micrometer scale in soft composites. Textures and shapes of LC droplets are currently controlled by the competition between elasticity and anchoring, hydrodynamic flows, or external fields. Molecules adsorbed specifically at LC interfaces are known to orient LC molecules (anchoring effect), but other induced effects have been poorly explored. Using specifically designed amphitropic surfactants, we demonstrate that large-shape transformations can be achieved in direct LC/water emulsions. In particular, we focus on unusual nematic filaments formed from spherical droplets. These results suggest new approaches to design new soft LC composite materials through the adsorption of molecules at liquid crystal interfaces.