Thixotropic twin-dendritic organogelators

Twin-dendritic organogelators have been prepared through selective functionalization of N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,3-propanediamine (APPDA) with self-assembling dendrons by using 1,1'-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI). Subsequent modification of the APPDA linker provided an additional degree of structural diversity by which to tailor the gelator self-assembly in bulk or in the gel state. These compounds are able to gel cyclohexane, toluene, n-butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, and tetrahydrofuran. 3,4-Disubstituted apical branching units provided the most efficient organogelators and show a propensity to form thixotropic gels, wherein the gel recovers its elasticity after being subjected to shear. Structural and retrostructural analysis of the twin-dendritic organogelators reveals the bulk structural characteristics to be indicative of the subsequent gel properties. Diverse self-organized arrays were identified in bulk and all are able to form gels, thus indicating the role of quasiequivalence in mediating self-assembly in the gel state. Furthermore, we have found that porous columnar mesophases provide a strategy by which to prepare thixotropic gels. We demonstrate the importance of weak lateral hydrogen bonding within a column stratum versus hydrogen bonding along the length of the column for forming porous columnar mesophases and, by extension, thixotropic gels.     

Steric communication of chiral information observed in dendronized polyacetylenes

Structural and retrostructural analysis of helical dendronized polyacetylenes (i.e., self-organizable polyacetylenes containing first generation dendrons or minidendrons as side groups) synthesized by the polymerization of minidendritic acetylenes with [Rh(nbd)Cl]2 (nbd = 2,5-norbornadiene) reveals an approximately 10% change in the average column stratum thickness (l) of the cylindrical macromolecules with a chiral periphery, through which a strong preference for a single-handed screw-sense is communicated. The cylindrical macromolecules reversibly interconvert between a three-dimensional (3D) centered rectangular lattice (Phi r-c,k) exhibiting long-range intracolumnar helical order at lower temperatures and a two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal columnar lattice (Phi h) with short-range helical order at higher temperatures. A polymer containing chiral, nonracemic peripheral alkyl tails is found to have a larger l as compared to the achiral polymers. In methyl cyclohexane solution, the same polymer exhibits an intense signal in circular dichroism (CD) spectra, whose intensity decreases upon heating. The observed change in l indicates that the chiral tails alter the polymer conformation from that of the corresponding polymer with achiral side chains. This change in conformation results in a relatively large free energy difference (DeltaGh) favoring one helix-sense over the other (per monomer residue). The capacity to distort the polymer conformation and corresponding free energy is related to the population of branches in the chiral tails and their distance from the polymer backbone by comparison to recently reported first and second generation dendronized polyphenylacetylenes.     

Innovative macromolecular syntheses via isocyanide multicomponent reactions

Isocyanide multicomponent reactions assemble more than two reaction components by exploiting the reactivity of the isocyanide carbon atom toward addition of electrophiles and nucleophiles. Reactions such as the Passerini three‐component and Ugi four‐component coupling reactions have a long and successful history in organic synthesis, which has only recently been explored in polymer chemistry. In a short time, this class of multicomponent reactions has been established as a viable method for the synthesis of linear polymers as well as more complex architectures such as miktoarm star polymers and dendrimers. This highlight discusses the recent accomplishments made with regard to innovative syntheses of polymers and dendrimers via the Passerini and Ugi reactions. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 3985–3991     

A two-sided Arnoldi algorithm with stopping criterion and MIMO selection procedure

In this paper we introduce a two-sided Arnoldi method for the reduction of high order linear systems and we propose useful extensions, first of all a stopping criterion to find a suitable order for the reduced model and secondly, a selection procedure to significantly improve the performance in the multi-input multi-output (MIMO) case. One application is in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). We consider a thermo-electric micro thruster model, and a comparison between the commonly used Arnoldi algorithm and the two-sided Arnoldi is performed.     

Thermoreversible cis-cisoidal to cis-transoidal isomerization of helical dendronized polyphenylacetylenes

High cis content (81-99%) cis-transoidal polyphenylacetylene (PPA) jacketed with amphiphilic self-assembling dendrons, poly[(3,4-3,5)mG2-4EBn] with m = 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and (S)-3,7-dimethyloctyl, were synthesized by Rh(C triple bond CPh)(nbd)(PPh(3))(2) (nbd = 2,5-norbornadiene)/N,N-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP) catalyzed polymerization of macromonomers. The resulting cylindrical PPAs self-organize into hexagonal columnar lattices with intracolumnar order (Phi(h)(io)) and without (Phi(h)). The polymers with m = 12, 14, and 16 exhibit also a hexagonal columnar crystal phase (Phi(h,k)). The reversible Phi(h,k)-to-Phi(h)(io)-to- Phi(h) phase transition in these dendronized PPAs was analyzed by a combination of differential scanning calorimetry and small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction experiments performed on powder and oriented fibers. In the Phi(h,k) and Phi(h)(io) phases, the dendronized PPAs form helical porous columns. The helical pore disappears in the Phi(h) phase. This change is accompanied by a decrease of the external column diameter that is induced by stretching of the polymer backbone along the axis of the cylinder. The helix sense of the porous PPA is selected by homochiral alkyl dendritic tails. This transition is generated by an unprecedented conversion of the PPA backbone from the cis-cisoidal conformation in the Phi(h,k) and Phi(h)(io) phases to the cis-transoidal conformation in the Phi(h) phase. Under the same conditions, the pristine cis-PPA undergoes cis-trans isomerization and irreversible intramolecular 6pi electrocyclization of 1,3-cis,5-hexatriene sequences followed by chain cleavage. These processes are eliminated in the dendronized cis-PPA below its decomposition temperature.