From monomeric to polymeric ferroelectric liquid crystals A comparative study of ferroelectric properties

Two new ferroelectric oligosiloxanes, a cyclic tetramer and a twin, have been synthesized. By a comparative study with their corresponding monomer and side chain polysiloxanes, the influence of oligo- and polymerization on the liquid crystalline and ferroelectric properties have been investigated. Polymerization leads to a stabilization of LC phases through increase of the clearing temperatures and suppression of crystallization. Oligomerization also leads to mesophase broadening, but, due to the low degree of polymerization, the effect is inferior to the linear polysiloxanes. The low viscosity of the oligosiloxanes ensures response times in the microsecond region, thus being comparable with their monomer and conventional LMWFLCs. It is found that polymerization increases the spontaneous polarization P_s. This is attributed to the density increase after polymerization, enhancing the inter-mesogenic interactions. The collective and local dynamics of the OFLCs are influenced differently with respect to their molecular structures. Each oligomer is already a good model for its corresponding polymer concerning the soft mode dynamics. For the local β-relaxation a similar temperature dependence of the relaxation times τ for the cyclic tetramer and for the side chain polysiloxanes is observed. The long axial rotation of the twin, having a very efficient decoupling, is significantly faster, thus resembling the monomer.     

V4S9Br4: a novel high-spin vanadium cluster thiobromide with square-planar metal core

The novel vanadium thiobromide, V4S9Br4, with a square-planar metal cluster core was synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, measurements of magnetic properties and the heat capacity, and DFT calculations of the electronic structure. At the room temperature, the compound displays paramagnetic properties with an independent spin on each V atom and with a weak exchange constant (J approximately 10 cm(-1)). The paramagnetic state is transformed into a low-spin state (AF-type ordering) at low temperatures. This change is accompanied by a heat-capacity anomaly. The observed magnetic and heat-capacity anomalies can be explained by the thermal excitation of electrons on the closely spaced molecular energy levels in the presence of the Jahn-Teller effect.     

Formation of a Tc(III)-adenosine diphosphate complex

A⁹⁹Tc-ADP complex was prepared when KTcO₄ was reduced in aquous medium by SnCl₂, Na₂S₂O₄, NaBH₄ or Zn in the presence of ADP in excess. The resulting solution was studied by chromatography and spectrophotometry. Electrochemical reduction and substitution on [Tc^III(tu)₆]³⁺ were investigated as alternative synthetic routes. The anionic Tc-ADP complex was isolated as a solid. Cerimetric titrations confirmed the oxidation state +3 for the central atom. IR and¹H-NMR data showed that the purine base is bonded to the Tc central atom but not the ribose moiety. No oxo groups seemed to be directly bonded to the Tc atom. The complex is rather stable in neutral solutions. However, it decomposes to pertechnetate and TcO₂ at extreme pH values.     

Exact spin-pairing energies at the crossovers in octahedral d 4, d 5, d 6, and d 7 transition metal complexes

Exact spin-pairing energies are calculated by direct diagonalization of the relevant ligand field plus interelectronic repulsion matrices for the configurations d ⁴, d ⁵, d ⁶, and d ⁷ of octahedral transition metal ions. The results are presented in terms of /B as function of = C/B for the range of values =3.0 to 8.0. Comparison with the quantity resulting from a simplified approach in which configuration interaction is neglected or considered on an approximate basis only reveals significant differences. Useful estimates of spin-pairing energies are provided, in addition, on the basis of empirical magnetic and electronic spectral data.

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Zusammenfassung Exakte Spinpaarungsenergien für die Konfigurationen d ⁴, d ⁵, d ⁶ und d ⁷ oktaedrischer Übergangsmetallionen werden durch direkte Diagonalisierung der entsprechenden Matrizen des Ligandenfeldes sowie der Elektronenwechselwirkung berechnet. Die Ergebnisse für /B werden in Abhängigkeit von = C/B für den Wertebereich =3.0 bis 8.0 angegeben. Ein Vergleich mit der Größe , die bei einer vereinfachten Behandlung unter Vernachlässigung oder näherungsweiser Berücksichtigung der Konfigurationswechselwirkung erhalten wird, zeigt auffallende Unterschiede. Nützliche Abschätzungen der Spinpaarungsenergie werden außerdem unter Benutzung empirischer magnetischer und elektronenspektroskopischer Daten erhalten.

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Résumé Les énergies exactes de couplage de spin sont calculées par diagonalisation directe du champ de ligand correspondant en plus des matrices de répulsion électronique pour les configurations d ⁴, d ⁵, d ⁶ et d ⁷ des ions octaédriques des métaux de transition. Les résultats sont présentés en termes de /B en fonction de = C/B dan l'intervalle =3,0 à 8,0. On trouve des différences significatives par comparaison de avec les valeurs résultant d'une approche simplifiée sans interaction de configuration ou avec interaction de configuration approchée. De plus, des estimations des énergies de couplage de spin sont obtenues à partir de données empiriques magnétiques et spectrales.

     

Chemical reactivity of analogous technetium(V) and rhenium(V) dioxo complexes

All complexes of the series [MO₂L₂]⁺ (M=Tc, Re; L=ethylenediamine (en), 1,3-diaminopropane (1,3-dap)) have been synthesized and their chemical reactivities investigated. The following properties were studied: stability of the aqueous solutions at different pH values, substitution kinetics, lipophilicity and protein binding. The complexes show very similar reactivity in aqueous solution. From a radiopharmaceutical point of view, no significant difference in their in vivo behavior is expected.     

Molecular dynamics of cyclic and linear poly(dimethylsiloxanes)

Dielectric spectroscopy (10^–1 Hz to 10⁷ Hz) has been employed to study the molecular dynamics of a series of cyclic and linear polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS) of various molecular weights ranging from 300 to 10 000 g/mol in the temperature range above the glass transition (from 130 K to 190 K). The observed -relaxation depends strongly on both molecular weight and structure of the samples. For linear PDMS oligomers, the -relaxation shifts towards lower temperatures with decreasing molecular weight in good accordance with the Fox-Flory-model. Cyclic PDMS reveals a qualitatively different molecular weight dependence: for a given temperature the -relaxation time increases with decreasing ring length, but has a maximum for small oligomers (degree of polymerizationn6). The shape of relaxation curves and, with it, the relaxation time distribution is independent from length and architecture of the chains The observed experimental findings are in qualitative agreement with dynamic Monte-Carlo simulations.Dedicated to Prof. E.W. Fischer on the occasion of his 65th birthday Fast macht' das WLF ihn krank, jetzt raucht er wieder, Gott sei Dank! (frei nach Wilhelm Busch)