Molecular Transformation to Pyrroles,Pentafulvenes, and Pyrrolopyridines by [2+2] Cycloaddition of Propargylamines with Tetracyanoethylene

In this paper, we describe an efficient and atom-economical synthesis of highly functionalized pyrroles, pentafulvenes, and pyrrolopyridines by [2+2] cycloaddition–retroelectrocyclization of N-substituted propargylamines with tetracyanoethylene, followed by the treatment of the resulting tetracyanobutadiene derivatives with silica gel. In this reaction, silica gel plays an important role to promote the intramolecular cyclization to afford the heterocyclic products from the tetracyanobutadiene intermediates. The products were obtained selectively depending on the substituent on the nitrogen atom of the starting propargylamines.     

Electrochemical generation of ferrate in acidic media at boron-doped diamond electrodes

An extremely strong oxidant, ferrate (Fe(VI) or FeO4(2-), has been produced electrochemically in an acidic aqueous medium for the first time.     

Radical grafting from glass fiber surface: Graft polymerization of vinyl monomers initiated by azo groups introduced onto the surface

This paper describes the radical graft polymerization of vinyl monomers from glass fiber surface initiated by alkylazo groups introduced onto the fiber surface. The introduction of azo groups onto the glass fiber surface was achieved by reaction of isocyanate groups which were previously attached onto the surface with two kinds of azo initiators, 4,4′-azobis(4-cyanopentanoic acid) (ACPA) and 2,2′-azobis(2-cyanopropanol) (ACP). The amounts of surface azo groups introduced by ACPA and ACP were both determined to be 1.3 × 10⁻⁵ mol g⁻¹ by nitrogen analysis. The radical graft polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was found to be initiated in the presence of the glass fiber having surface azo groups. During the polymerization, part of resultant poly(MMA) grafted onto the fiber surface through propagation of the polymer from the surface radicals produced by the decomposition of the azo groups. The percentage of grafting of poly(MMA) reached 48.1% after 24 h. The graft polymerizations of other monomers, such as styrene, N-vinylcarbazole, and acrylic acid, were also initiated by the surface azo groups, and the corresponding polymer effectively grafted onto the surface. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 2121–2128, 1999     

New General Maximum Entropy Model for Flow Through Porous Media

Transport in Porous Media - New experimental and numerical techniques constitute the major recent advancements in the study of flow through porous media. However, a model that duly links the micro-...     

Molecular orbital theory of the electronic structures of one-dimensional molecular crystals

A non-empirical tight-binding LCAO SCF MO treatment of one-dimensional molecular crystals based on the SCF perturbation theory is presented. The simpler version of this method at the level of the CNDO/2 approximation is also given.     

Development of a new type of electric off-road vehicle powered by microwaves transmitted through air

Needless to say, we are now facing a critical state in the global environment, i.e. global warming. We have to change our way of thinking and our economic systems from those dependent on fossil resources to those dependent on renewable energy resources, such as solar energy. In our field of research, electric vehicles are considered the best choice for reducing carbon dioxide emissions. A battery is not an adequate energy source for electric vehicles, because batteries quickly get depleted because of its low energy and power density. A fuel cell is a more favorable alternative to the battery; however, it has large mass and can only replace the internal combustion engine, but the power transmission mechanisms are still necessary. The new concept of an electric off-road vehicle proposed here is entirely different from those mentioned above. The vehicle has neither a combustion engine nor a battery but only electric motors. Energy to drive the motors is transmitted through air as microwaves at 2.45 GHz. This technology was developed at the Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, as a method for transmitting electricity from a large-scale solar power station (SPS) orbiting in space to the Earth. We have constructed some models of electric off-road vehicles and investigated their adoptability to microwave power transmission. In this paper, some experimental results on the use of microwave power transmission for powering the vehicles are presented, and some problems such as low energy transmission efficiency are also discussed.     

Dependency of observation parameters on soil dynamic parameters in unconfined impact compression tests

Unconfined impact compression tests were used to measure dynamic parameters of soil samples in the domains of stress wave propagation and dynamic deformation. The high-frequency equivalent Young's modulus, which was determined by the reflection theory of one-dimensional elastic stress waves, increased exponentially with water content. The low-frequency equivalent Young's modulus, which was defined as the initial gradient of a stress-strain curve, decreased exponentially with increasing water content. The high-frequency equivalent Young's modulus was one to two orders of magnitude larger than the low-frequency one. Water content, height of soil samples and drop height affected the dynamic stress-strain relationships of the soil samples. The Maxwell's viscoelastic fluid model described the stress-strain relationships well, and the values of the model parameters varied with water content and frequency.