Cyclodextrin-H O: A New System for Asymmetric Epoxidation

Asymmetric epoxidation of trans-cinnam-aldehyde and chalcone by the use of H^2sp>O2sp> as an oxidizing agent in alkaline media in the presence of cyclodextrins gave the corresponding epoxides with enantiomeric excess up to 8 %.     

Development of the overpotential simulator for polymer electrolyte fuel cells and application for optimization of cathode structure

We developed a novel computational method to investigate the influences of the microstructure of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell cathode catalyst layer on the overpotential characteristic toward its optimization. Three-dimensional cathode catalyst layer models were constructed by applying three-dimensional porous structure simulator and developed simulator was used to study the overpotential characteristics. Our results showed that the overpotential decreased as decrease of the standard deviation of the ionomer thickness distribution due to the increase of number of active sites.     

Complexation and back extraction of various metals by water-soluble diglycolamide.

Water-soluble ligands, N,N,N',N'-tetramethyldiglycolamide (TMDGA), N,N,N',N'-tetraethyldiglycolamide (TEDGA), N,N,N',N'-tetrapropyldiglycolamide (TPDGA) and N,N-dipropyldiglycolamic acid (DPDGAc) were prepared and their abilities to complex with and to back-extract the metal cations were investigated. These results indicate that the DGA series and DPDGAc have a stronger complexing ability with Am(III) and Pu(IV) than comparable carboxylic and aminopolycarboxylic acids. Among these ligands, the trend of the strength of their complexing ability is TPDGA approximately TEDGA > TMDGA approximately DPDGAc. TPDGA has significant loss to the extraction solvent due to its high hydrophobicity. It is evident from the present work that TEDGA is the best reagent for the reverse-extraction of not only An(III), (IV) but also Ca(II), Sc(III), Y(III), Zr(IV), La(III), Hf(IV), and Bi(III).     

Reaction of α,β‐unsaturated ketones with cerium(IV) salts in alcohol

Reaction of α,β‐unsaturated ketones with cerium(IV) salts or lanthanide triflates in alcohols gave good yields of the corresponding β‐alkoxy compounds. In the case of 2‐cyclopentenone and 2‐cyclohexenone, the 1,1,3‐trialkoxy acetal derivatives were obtained preferentially accompanied by β‐alkoxyketone, except 2‐cycloheptenone. However, in the reaction of 2‐cycloheptenone with alcohol using cerium(IV) sulfate (CS)‐molecular sieve, 1,1,3‐trialkoxy derivatives were obtained. Also, in the cases of 1‐penten‐3‐one, 4‐hexen‐3‐one and 3‐hepten‐2‐one, 1,1,3‐trialkoxy derivatives were obtained preferentially. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

First synthesis of the bismole‐containing conjugated polymer

We successfully synthesized the first conjugated polymer containing a bismuth atom in the conjugated main chain by incorporating a bismuth atom into the cyclopentadiene framework (bismole), which was constructed by a polymer reaction. A synthetic procedure and characterization of the obtained polymers were discussed. This bismole‐containing conjugated polymer exhibited moderate bluish green photoluminescence in solution. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4857–4863, 2006     

4-Nitro-9,10-di­hydro­phenanthrene and a polymorphic form of 4-nitro­phenanthrene

The crystal structures of 4-nitro-9,10-di­hydro­phenanthrene, C₁₄H₁₁NO₂, (I), and 4-nitro­phenanthrene, C₁₄H₉NO₂, (II), the latter having two crystallographically independent mol­ecules, show that the mol­ecules are not planar. The dihedral angles between the phenyl rings of the bi­phenyl skeletons are 28.64 (8)° for (I), and 10.34 (15) and 11.75 (13)° for the two mol­ecules of (II). The differences in the dihedral angles have an effect on the photochemical reactivity of the mol­ecules.     

Attomole catechins determination by capillary liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Attomole quantities of catechins were determined by a capillary liquid chromatography system with electrochemical detection (CLC-ECD) and the system is applied to the determination of catechins in human plasma. The eight catechins: catechin (C), epicatechin (EC), gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), catechin gallate (Cg), epicatechin gallate (ECg), gallocatechin gallate (GCg), and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), were separated within 10 min using a capillary column (0.2 mm i.d.) and a mobile phase of phosphoric acid (85%)-methanol-water (0.5:27.5:72.5, v/v/v), and were detected at +0.85 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Peak heights were found to be linearly related to the amount of catechins injected, from 200 amol to 500 fmol (r > 0.998). The detection limits of the catechins were 61 amol for EGC, 75 amol for EC, 54 amol for GC, 61 amol for C, 67 amol for GCg, 75 amol for EGCg, 75 amol for ECg and 89 amol for Cg (S/N = 3). Because the present method is highly sensitive and allows facile pretreatment for plasma sample, the time courses of concentrations of catechins (GCg, EC, EGCg, ECg, and Cg) and their conjugates in human plasma obtained from a 10 microl plasma sample after ingestion of green tea could be determined.