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.     

HPLC with amperometric detection for the determination of pesticides of high polarity

A relatively simple procedure is described for the selective and highly sensitive determination of amitrole (3-amino-1,2,4-triazole) by ionpair HPLC with amperometric detection. The separation was achieved on a polar CN-column using hexane, propanol, water (62:36:2) with LiClO₄ (2.5 g·l^–1) and trichloroacetic acid (2 g·l^–1) as electrolytes. The determination range lies between 500 pg and 500 ng and the limit of detection was found to be 200 pg (s.d.: 11%; N=9). The minimum detectability for the alternative UV-monitoring was 2.5 ng. The developed method may be helpful in production and quality control and for the selective determination of amitrole in commercial formulations.     

Real-space post-Hartree-Fock correlation models

Real-space models of nondynamical correlation between electrons of opposite spin and of parallel spin in multicenter (molecular) systems are discussed. These models are designed to be partnered with Hartree-Fock or exact Kohn-Sham exchange. Thus the numerous and well-known problems of local density-functional exchange-correlation approximations, especially in stretched odd-electron systems, are circumvented.     

Synthesis of erythro-alpha-amino beta-hydroxy carboxylic acid esters by diastereoselective photocycloaddition of 5-methoxyoxazoles with aldehydes

A new photoaldol route to alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy carboxylic acid esters is initiated by the photocycloaddition of aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes to 5-methoxyoxazoles. The 4-unsubstituted 5-methyloxazole 1 gave the cycloadducts 8a-f in high yields and excellent exo-diastereoselectivities. Hydrolysis of 8a-f gives the N-acetyl alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy esters 9a-f, which could be subsequently converted into the corresponding Z-didehydro alpha-amino acids 10a-f. Quartenary alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy esters 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, which are stable against dehydration, were obtained from the 4-alkylated 5-methoxyoxazoles 2-6, in most cases highly erythro-selective due to the high degree of stereocontrol (exo) at the photocycloaddition (to give 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19) level. The relative configurations of the N-acetyl alpha-amino-beta-hydroxy esters were determined by NMR spectroscopy and comparison with chiral pool-derived compounds as well as by X-ray structure determination of the ester 23, formed by hydrolysis of the cycloadduct 22, derived from photocycloaddition of propionaldehyde to the isoleucine-derived oxazole 21.     

Studies of the Reaction Behavior of Nitryl Compounds Towards Azides: Evidence for Tetranitrogen Dioxide,N4O2

The reaction behavior of NaN₃, AgN₃, and Me₃SiN₃ towards FNO₂, CINO₂, NO₂SbF₆, and NO₂BF₄ was investigated. At -30°C or below in a solvent-free system sodium azide did not react with CINO₂, NO₂BF₄, or NO₂SbF₆. Below -30°C silver azide did not react either with neat C1NO₂. Treatment of Me₃SiN₃ with pure C1NO₂ led to the formation of C1N₃, N₂O, and Me₃SiOSiMe₃. A mechanism for this reaction has been proposed. Pure chlorine azide was isolated by fractional condensation and identified by its low-temperature Raman spectrum (liquid state). The reaction of Cp₂Ti(N₃)₂ with C1NO₂ also yielded C1N₃ as the only azide-containing reaction product. Treatment of FNO₂ with NaN₃ at temperatures as low as -78°C always ended in an explosion which was probably due to the formation of FN₃ as one of the reaction products. The reaction of NO₂SbF₆ with NaN₃ in liquid CO₂ (-55°C· T· -35°C) as the solvent afforded a new azide species which was stable at low temperature in solution only and was investigated by means of low-temperature Raman spectroscopy. The obtained vibrational data give strong evidence for the presence of tetranitrogen dioxide, N₄O₂, which can be regarded as nitryl azide (NO₂N₃). The structure and vibrational frequencies of N₄O₂ were computed ab initio at correlated level (MP2/6-31 + G^*). In liquid xenon (-100°C· T· -60°C) NaN₃ did not react with NO₂SbF₆. A previous literature report on the preparation of N₄O₂ could not be established.     

Aromatic Radical Anions with Parallel or Crossed Triple Bonds

Proton hyperfine data are reported for the radical anions of 1,8-di (propyn-1-yl)-naphthalene (I), 7,8,12,13-tetradehydro-10,11-dihydro-9H-cyclodeca[d,e]naphthalene (II) and 2,2′-di(propyn-1-yl)-biphenyl (III), as well as of 5,6,11,12-tetradehydro-7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-dibenzo[a,c]cyclodecene (IV) and its 8,8,9,9-tetradeuterio-derivative (IV-d₄). The triple bonds in I and II can be regarded as roughly parallel, while those in IV (and IV-d₄) may be considered as crossed. The π-spin distributions in I? to IV? are discussed in terms of simple MO models which suggest a weekly bonding interaction between the acetylenic fragments in IV?, in contrast to III? where such an effect appears to be negligible. The importance of an analogous interaction in I? and II? is difficult to deduce, since its inclusion into a MO model does not substantially affect the π-spin distribution in these radical anions.     

Strengthening the Connection between Science,Society and Environment to Develop Future French and European Bioeconomies: Cutting-Edge Research of VAALBIO Team at UCCS

The development of the future French and European bioeconomies will involve developing new green chemical processes in which catalytic transformations are key. The VAALBIO team (valorization of alkanes and biomass) of the UCCS laboratory (Unité de Catalyse et Chimie du Solide) are working on various catalytic processes, either developing new catalysts and/or designing the whole catalytic processes. Our research is focused on both the fundamental and applied aspects of the processes. Through this review paper, we demonstrate the main topics developed by our team focusing mostly on oxygen- and hydrogen-related processes as well as on green hydrogen production and hybrid catalysis. The social impacts of the bioeconomy are also discussed applying the concept of the institutional compass.     

Darboux operators for linear first-order multi-component equations in arbitrary dimensions

We construct Darboux operators for linear, multi-component partial differential equations of first order. The number of variables and the dimension of the matrix coefficients in our equations are arbitrary. The Darboux operator and the transformed equation are worked out explicitly. We present an application of our formalism to the (1+2)-dimensional Weyl equation.     

Stereoselective photoinduced electrocyclic ring closure of aromatic enehydrazides. Asymmetric synthesis of 3-aryl dihydroisoquinolones and tetrahydroisoquinolines

A flexible route for the stereoselective synthesis of a variety of 3-aryl dihydroisoquinolones and tetrahydroisoquinolines has been developed. The key step is a diastereoselective photoinduced 6π-electrocyclic ring closure of enantiopure aromatic enehydrazides via a 1,4-remote asymmetric induction. N–N bond cleavage to release the chiral appendage from the preliminary annulated compounds and/or concomitant reduction of the lactam carbonyl group completed the synthesis of the title compounds.