Synthesis and thermal behaviour of salicylaldimine-based liquid crystalline symmetrical dimers

A series of symmetrical dimers consisting of salicylaldimine moieties connected by flexible alkylene central spacer via ether linkages has been synthesized. In order to validate the empirical rule suggested by Date et al. to account for the smectic behaviour of such dimers, the chain length of the terminal alkoxy chain has been kept constant (C₈) while the number of methylene units in the central spacer was varied from C₃ to C₁₁. Another aim of the present investigation was to understand structure-property relationship in these dimers in which the salicylaldimine mesogenic segment has been used for the first time in dimers. The mesomorphic behaviour of these dimers was evaluated using optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry and the structure of some of the mesophases has been further investigated with the help of X-ray diffraction. Our studies reveal that the dimers consisting of 3 to 8 methylene units in the flexible spacer show only smectic (smectic C and smectic A) phases. For the dimers containing 4, 6 and 8 methylene units in the central spacer, a unique filament growth pattern has been observed in the smectic A phase while cooling from the isotropic phase. The dimers containing of C₉ to C₁₁ methylene groups exhibit the nematic phase in addition to smectic modifications. This observation indicates that when the terminal chains are shorter than the spacer, the tendency to form smectic phases is not fully extinguished but is perhaps reduced.     

Efficient synthesis of [1,3]oxazino[2,3-a]quinoline derivatives by a novel 1,4-dipolar cycloaddition involving a quinoline-DMAD zwitterion and carbonyl compounds

An efficient synthesis of [1,3]oxazino[2,3-a]quinoline derivatives via a three-component reaction of quinoline, DMAD and carbonyl compounds is described.     

New redox titrants in non-aqueous or partially aqueous media--VI: potentiometric determinations using dibromamine-T and some further applications of dichloramine-T

A new redox titrant, Dibromamine-T (N,N'-dibromo-p-toluenesulphonamide) is introduced for use in acetic acid media. Potentiometric titrations of Sb(III), As(III), Tl(I), Fe(II), ferrocyanide, iodide, ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, hydrazine, aniline, phenol and oxine are described. Direct potentiometric titrations of oxinates of Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn with Dibromamine-T as well as with Dichloramine-T are also described.     

Structures of Addition Products of Acetylenedicarboxylic Acid Esters with Various Dinucleophiles. An application of C,H-spin-coupling constants

Heterocyclic compounds obtained by addition of acetylenedicarboxylic acid esters to thioureas, cyclic amidines and o-difunctionalized aromatic systems have been studied by ¹³C-NMR. In particular, C, H-spin-coupling constants over two and three bonds were used to differentiate between the various constitutional isomers and to establish the configuration of trisubstituted exocyclic C, C-double bonds. The configurational significance and diagnostic value of vicinal cis and trans C,H-spin coupling is again demonstrated in the present series.     

Reversed-phase partition chromatographic separations with 2-ethylhexyl dihydrogen phosphate and di-2-ethylhexyl hydrogen phosphate

Di-2-ethylhexyl hydrogen phosphate (HDEHP) and 2-ethylhexyl dihydrogen phosphate (H(2)MEHP) are compared as stationary phases in reversed-phase chromatography of selected lanthanides, strontium, yttrium, barium, manganese(II), iron(III), cobalt(II), nickel, gold(III), platinum(IV), palladium(II) and silver. Chromatograms were mainly developed with hydrochloric acid at various concentrations. In general H(2)MEHP was found to be less satisfactory than HDEHP. Development of chromatograms by dilute aqueous electrolytes on paper is slower and separations of chemically similar metals such as lanthanides is not encouraging. However, movement of lanthanides by EDTA at pH 3 in an aqueous sodium perchlorate medium occurs only on H(2)MEHP-treated paper. Good separations of iron(III) and cobalt(II) are possible on paper treated with either ester, and gold(III) and platinum(IV) are separated on HDEHP-impregnated paper. Column methods for the separation of carrier-free gold-199 and iron-59 from macro-amounts of neutron-irradiated platinum and cobalt, respectively, have been developed.     

An Experimental Design Approach to Quantitative Expression for Quality Control of a Multicomponent Antidiabetic Formulation by the HILIC Method

A rapid and reproducible hydrophilic liquid chromatography (HILIC) process was established for concomitant determination of remogliflozin etabonate (RE), vildagliptin (VD), and metformin (MF) in a formulation. A face-centered central composite experimental design was employed to optimize and predict the chromatographic condition by statistically studying the surface response model and design space with desirability close to one. A HILIC column with a simple mobile phase of acetonitrile (65% v/v) and 20 mM phosphate buffer (35% v/v, pH 6, controlled with orthophosphoric acid) was used to separate RE, VD, and MF. RE, VD, and MF were separated in 3.6 min using an isocratic mode mobile phase flow at a flow rate of 1.4 mL at room temperature, and the analytes were examined by recording the absorption at 210 nm. The developed HILIC method was thoroughly validated for all parameters recommended by ICH, and linearity was observed in the ranges 20–150 µg/mL, 10–75 µg/mL, and 50–750 µg/mL for RE, VD, and MF, respectively, along with excellent regression coefficients (r² > 0.999). The calculated percentage relative deviation and relative error ascertained the precision and accuracy of the method. The selectivity and accuracy were further confirmed by the high percentage recovery of added standard drugs to the formulation using the standard addition technique. The robustness of the HILIC processes was confirmed by developing a half-normal probability plot and Pareto chart, as the slight variation of a single factor had no significant influence on the assay outcomes. Utilization of the optimized HILIC procedure for concurrent quantification of RE, VD, and MF in solid dosage forms showed accurate and reproducible results. Hence, the fast HILIC method can be regularly employed for the quality assurance of pharmaceutical preparations comprising RE, VD, and MF.     

Engineered-membranes: A novel concept for clustering of native lipid bilayers

A strategy for clustering of native lipid membranes is presented. It relies on the formation of complexes between hydrophobic chelators embedded within the lipid bilayer and metal cations in the aqueous phase, capable of binding two (or more) chelators simultaneously Fig. 1. We used this approach with purple membranes containing the light driven proton pump protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and showed that patches of purple membranes cluster into mm sized aggregates and that these are stable for months when incubated at 19 °C in the dark. The strategy may be general since four different hydrophobic chelators (1,10-phenanthroline, bathophenanthroline, Phen-C10, and 8-hydroxyquinoline) and various divalent cations (Ni²⁺, Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Mn²⁺, and Cu²⁺) induced formation of membrane clusters. Moreover, the absolute requirement for a hydrophobic chelator and the appropriate metal cations was demonstrated with light and atomic force microscopy (AFM); the presence of the metal does not appear to affect the functional state of the protein. The potential utility of the approach as an alternative to assembled lipid bilayers is suggested.     

Collective modes in the generator coordinate method

Using the harmonic version of the generator coordinate method, and Skyrme interaction, the frequencies of the isoscalar breathing and quadrupole modes are related to the relevant incompressibility coefficients. The possibility of extending this to spin modes is also examined. It is found that a spin incompressibility coefficient is negative for a particular set of Skyrme parameter for⁴He. Other sets produce low positive values and these in turn could imply a relatively low lyingS=2,T=1 state. The replacement of the three-body term by the density-dependent one, suggested by Chang provides a cure for this pathology.     

Strain modification of AlGaN layers using swift heavy ions

Epitaxial AlGaN/GaN layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on SiC substrates were irradiated with 150 MeV Ag ions at a fluence of 5×10¹² ions/cm². The samples used in this study are 50 nm Al_0.2Ga_0.8N/1 nm AlN/1 μ m GaN/0.1 μ m AlN grown on SI 4H-SiC. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry/channeling strain measurements were carried out on off-normal axis of irradiated and unirradiated samples. In an as-grown sample, AlGaN layer is partially relaxed with a small tensile strain. After irradiation, this strain increases by 0.22% in AlGaN layer. Incident ion energy dependence of dechanneling parameter shows E ^1/2 dependence, which corresponds to the dislocations. Defect densities were calculated from the E ^1/2 graph. As a result of irradiation, the defect density increased on both GaN and AlGaN layers. The effect of irradiation induced-damages are analyzed as a function of material properties. Observed results from different characterization techniques such as RBS/channeling, high-resolution XRD and AFM are compared and complemented with each other to deduce the information. Possible mechanisms responsible for the observations have been discussed in detail.