Photovoltaic properties and femtosecond time‐resolved fluorescence study of polyoxometalate‐containing rod–coil diblock copolymers

The photovoltaic properties and exciton decay dynamics of three polyoxometalate (POM)‐containing hybrid rod–coil diblock copolymers (HDCPs), PS‐Mo6‐PT1–3 , are studied. Single‐component photovoltaic cells of PS‐Mo6‐PT2 and inverted solar cells based on ZnO nanorod arrays/ PS‐Mo6‐PT1–3 are fabricated showing power conversion efficiencies only up to 0.055%. To understand the poor photovoltaic performance, femtosecond fluorescence up‐conversion technique is used to study the exciton decay dynamics of all three HDCPs. Drastically different fluorescence dynamics of the three HDCPs are observed in dilute solutions, which is attributed to the different extent and different type of interpolymer association depending on the P3HT rod block length and the cluster loading ratio. While both cation‐mediated POM cluster association and P3HT‐P3HT π‐stacking contribute significantly to PS‐Mo6‐PT2 aggregation, the aggregation of PS‐Mo6‐PT1 and that of PS‐Mo6‐PT3 is driven predominantly by cluster association and π‐stacking, respectively. In conjunction with the high residual polarization anisotropy, it is concluded that charge transfer from P3HT excitons to POM clusters in all three HDCPs is inefficient. An improved system with direct π‐conjugation between the POM clusters and the rod block addressing this issue has been proposed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, 2014 , 52, 122–133     

Synthesis and anticancer activity of conformationally constrained Smac mimetics containing pseudo β turns

Herein, we report synthesis and in vitro anticancer activity of conformationally constrained Smac mimetics containing reverse turn inducing motifs “Ant-Pro” and “^sAnt-Pro”. The synthesis of Smac analogs with diverse hydrophobic groups at the C-terminus was carried out using solution phase peptide synthesis. The synthesis of Ant-Pro containing analogs 3a–j was carried out by ring opening of benzoxazinones 7a–c, whereas, their sulfonamide counterparts 4a–h were synthesized by using routine acid-amine coupling reaction. In vitro anticancer studies against breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 revealed that some of the new analogs had better anticancer activity than the standard AVPI Smac tetrapeptide.     

Beam optics of the folded tandem ion accelerator at BARC

The beam optics of the 6 MV folded tandem ion accelerator, that has recently been commissioned at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, is presented. Typical beam trajectories for proton and ¹²C beams under different conditions, are shown. The constraints on the design due to the use of the infrastructure of the Van de Graaff accelerator, which existed earlier, are discussed.     

Diastereoselective, titanium-mediated cyclization of omega-vinyl tethered imides

[reaction: see text] Diastereoselective reductive coupling reactions of omega-vinyl tethered cyclic imides are achieved by a preexisting stereocenter at an allylic position. Particularly noteworthy is the effective use of a 1:2 mixture of Ti(O-i-Pr)4 and n-BuLi to afford the N-acylhemiaminal products in good yields.     

Electronic Structures of Perovskite Oxides of Transition Metals of the Type LaMO3 (M = Ti-Ni) as Revealed by MSXα Investigations

Systematic investigations of the electronic structures of MO^9-₆ (M = Ti-Ni) clusters, as in the LaMO₃ type perovskite oxides, have been carried out by employing the multiple-scattering Xα (MSXα) method. The crystal-field splitting of the metal d level is found to increase, while the oxygen-to-metal charge-transfer energy decreases across the transition metal series. Systematic trends are also seen in the mixing (covalency) between the metal d and the oxygen 2p orbitals in the series.     

Effect of micelles on the spectral characteristics of the prototropic species of 2-(2'-aminophenyl)benzimidazole

The absorption and fluorescence spectra of 2-(2'-aminophenyl)benzimidazole (2-APBI) have been studied in anionic (sodium dodecylsulphate, SDS), cationic (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB) and non-ionic micelles (Tween-80, TritonX-100) at different acid-base concentrations. Spectral characteristics of 2-APBI at various acid concentrations have established only one kind of monocation (MC) in Tween-80 and TritonX-100 (TX-100), whereas two kinds of MCs are present in SDS. Above study has further shown that there is a strong hydrogen bonding interaction between the polar polyoxyethylene groups of non-ionic micelles and the MCs of 2-APBI. This interaction is responsible for the stabilization of the MC III to MC III' which is more planar than either MC II or MC III, which is otherwise less stable in water. This is substantiated by the lifetime data, fluorescence excitation spectra and the pKa values of the monocation-neutral (MC-N) equilibrium.     

New halide-centered discrete Ag(I)(8) cubic clusters containing diselenophosphate ligands, [Ag(8)(X)[Se(2)P(OR)(2)](6)](PF(6)) (X = Cl, Br; R = Et, Pr, (i)Pr): syntheses, structures, and DFT calculations

Six clusters Ag(8)(micro(8)-X)[Se(2)P(OR)(2)](6)(PF(6)) (R = Et, X = Cl, 1a, X = Br, 1b; R = Pr, X = Cl, 2a, X = Br, 2b; R = (i)Pr, X = Cl, 3a, X = Br, 3b) were isolated from the reaction of [Ag(CH(3)CN)(4)](PF(6)), NH(4)[Se(2)P(OR)(2)], and Bu(4)NX in a molar ratio of 4:3:1 in CH(2)X(2). Positive FAB mass spectra show m/z peaks at 2573.2 for 1a, 2617.3 for 1b, 2740.9 for 2a, 2786.9 for 2b, 2742.3 for 3a, and 2787.0 for 3b due to respective molecular cation, (M - PF(6))(+). (31)P NMR spectra of 1a-3b display a singlet at delta 82.3, 81.5, 82.9, 81.7, 76.3, and 75.8 ppm with a set of satellites (J(PSe) = 661, 664, 652, 652, 656, and 656 Hz, respectively). The X-ray structure (1a-2b) consists of a discrete cationic cluster in which eight silver ions are linked by six diselenophosphate ligands and a central micro(8)-Cl or micro(8)-Br ion with a noncoordinating PF(6)(-) anion. The shape of the molecule is a halide-centered distorted Ag(8) cubic cluster. The dsep ligand exhibits a tetrametallic tetraconnective (micro(2), micro(2)) coordination pattern, and each caps on a square face of the cube. Each silver atom of the cube is coordinated by three selenium atoms and the central chloride or bromide ion. Additionally, molecular orbital calculations at the B3LYP level of the density functional theory have been carried out to study the Ag-micro(8)-X (X = Cl, Br) interactions for cluster cations [Ag(8)(micro(8)-X)[Se(2)P(OR)(2)](6)](+). Calculations show very weak bonding interactions exist between micro(8)-X and Ag atoms of the cube.     

On the interatomic Coulombic decay in the Ne dimer

The interatomic Coulombic decay (ICD) in the Ne dimer is discussed in view of the recent experimental results. The ICD electron spectrum and the kinetic energy release of the Ne+ fragments resulting after Coulomb explosion of Ne2 (2+) are computed and compared to the measured ones. A very good agreement is found, confirming the dynamics predicted for this decay mechanism. The effect of the temperature on the electron spectrum is briefly investigated.     

Positive solutions of nonlinear Schrödinger equation with peaks on a Clifford torus

We prove the existence of large energy positive solutions for a stationary nonlinear Schrödinger equation with peaks on a Clifford type torus. Here where with for all Each is a function and is defined by the generalized notion of spherical coordinates. The solutions are obtained by a or a process.