Hydrolysis and Condensation of Transition Metal Alkoxide: Experiments and Simulations

We present here an experimental and numerical study of the chemical and aggregative mechanisms for titanium alkoxide in a reverse micellar medium. NMR experiments were done to study the first step of the sol-gel process: hydrolysis of titanium isopropoxide. Light and X-ray scattering experiments were then conducted to characterize the clustering of aggregates and aggregation kinetics. Fractal dimension, measured by U.S.A.X.S., varies with the hydrolysis ratio and the hydration of the surfactant. This evolution was explained by polydispersity of the hydrolysis which depends on the surfactant concentration. This hypothesis was tested through a numerical simulation of irreversible aggregation using a chemically limited aggregation model. The hydrolyzed sites are distributed among the monomers by a random procedure governed by a polydispersity parameterp, varying from 0 to 1. The total number of hydrolyzed sites is governed by a parameterq belonging to the interval [0, 1]. Thep-q evolution of the fractal dimension coincides rather well with the experimental data in all the region of the two dimensional phase space.     

Ferromagnetic spin alignment in head-to-tail coupled oligo(1, 4-phenyleneethynylene)s and Oligo(1,4-phenylenevinylene)s bearing pendant p-phenylenediamine radical cations

The intramolecular and long-range ferromagnetic coupling between p-phenylenediamine radical cations in head-to-tail coupled oligo(1, 4-phenyleneethynylene)s and oligo(1,4-phenylenvinylene)s between neighbors and next-nearest neighbors is described. UV/vis/near-IR experiments show that the radical cations are localized in the pendant p-phenylenediamine units of the conjugated oligomers. The ESR spectra of these oligo(1,4-phenyleneethynylene) and oligo(1, 4-phenylenvinylene) di(radical cation)s are consistent with those of a triplet state. A linear behavior is observed for the doubly integrated ESR intensity of the DeltaM(s) = +/-1 and DeltaM(s) = +/-2 signals with the inverse temperature (I approximately 1/T), consistent with Curie's law. This behavior indicates a triplet ground-state diradical with a large triplet-singlet energy gap or possibly a degeneracy of singlet and triplet states.     

Supramolecular phthalocyanine dimers based on the secondary dialkylammonium cation/dibenzo-24-crown-8 recognition motif

[formula: see text] New unsymmetrically substituted DB24C8-phthalocyanines, which are able to form complexes with suitable dialkylammonium cations, have been prepared. These complexes most probably have a pseudorotaxane geometry.     

Low temperature scanning force microscopy of the Si(111)-(7x7) surface

A low temperature scanning force microscope (SFM) operating in a dynamic mode in ultrahigh vacuum was used to study the Si(111)- (7x7) surface at 7.2 K. Not only the twelve adatoms but also the six rest atoms of the unit cell are clearly resolved for the first time with SFM. In addition, the first measurements of the short range chemical bonding forces above specific atomic sites are presented. The data are in good agreement with first principles computations and indicate that the nearest atoms in the tip and sample relax significantly when the tip is within a few A of the surface.