Friedel-Crafts catalysts as assistants in the tritylation of less reactive hydroxyls

Less reactive hydroxyls, such as those present in secondary alcohols and in some primary alcohols, phenols and carboxylic acids, were easily tritylated with the homogeneous assistance of equimolar quantities of chlorides of di- and trivalent metals in aprotic solvents. The metal ions allowed both high concentration of the effective reagent triphenylmethylcarbenium ion and mobilisation of the hydroxyl proton, thus giving rise to rapid, room temperature substitution reactions. The experimental conditions were so mild that other protected groups, such as alkyl- or trityl-protected carboxyls and (9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)- or trityl-protected amino groups, remained unaffected.     

Sensitive interferometer for determination of optical and thermal properties

A very sensitive interferometric technique is presented. It allows direct measurement of optical and thermal properties. The experimental set-up is very simple and acts essentially as an unfocused Fabry-Perot interferometer giving rise only to a central fringe. Measurement of (∂n/∂T)_p up to 10^-7 K^-1 is possible. Determination of (∂n/∂T)_p for some liquids, particularly for water and deuterium oxide, has been already performed and others, for ionic crystals, are under way.     

Integrated tunable liquid optical fiber

We present an integrated tunable liquid-core/liquid-cladding (L2) optical fiber, based on a novel three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing scheme that enables the production of a tunable circular liquid core located in the center of the channel, regardless of the flow-rate ratio of the cladding and core liquids.     

Reversible Breaking and Forming of Metal–Ligand Coordination Bonds: Temperature‐Triggered Single‐Crystal to Single‐Crystal Transformation in a Metal–Organic Framework

The novel Yb succinate metal–organic framework exhibits a reversible single‐crystal to single‐crystal polymorphic transformation (see figure) when it is heated above 130 °C, returning to its initial form when back at room temperature. This transformation produces a change in the coordination sphere of the Yb atoms, which influences the catalytic activity of the material.

     

Frequency-domain approach to distributed fiber-optic Brillouin sensing

A novel approach to distributed fiber-optic Brillouin sensing is presented and numerically analyzed. An integral equation that directly relates the Brillouin gain to the Brillouin signal is derived in the frequency domain, and from this result a new technique for the quantitative reconstruction of temperature-strain profiles along an optical fiber is developed. We achieve the reconstruction by minimizing a cost function that represents the error between the measured and the model data. We effectively perform such a minimization by representing the unknown (temperature-strain) profile with a finite number of parameters. Numerical results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach and its stability against noise in the data.     

Convenient oxidation of alkylated phenols and methoxytoluenes to antifungal 1,4-benzoquinones with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)/methyltrioxorhenium (CH3ReO3) catalytic system in neutral ionic liquid

Alkylated phenol and methoxytoluene derivatives were catalytically and selectively oxidized to the corresponding 1,4-benzoquinones in good conversions and yields. Reactions were performed with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)/methyltrioxorhenium (CH₃ReO₃) in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [bmim]BF₄, a neutral ionic liquid. Compounds were tested in vitro for their antifungal activity against the growth of several widespread soil fungi. Some of them were proved to be potent inhibitors of Fusarium sp. than ketoconazole, a commercially available and expensive antifungal agent.     

Unsymmetrical diaryl sulfones and aryl vinyl sulfones through palladium-catalyzed coupling of aryl and vinyl halides or triflates with sulfinic acid salts

The palladium-catalyzed reaction of sulfinic acid salts with a wide variety of aryl and vinyl halides or triflates provides unsymmetrical diaryl sulfones and aryl vinyl sulfones in good to excellent yields. The reaction is strongly influenced by the presence of nBu4NCl, and the use of Xantphos, a rigid bidentate ligand with a wide natural bite angle, was found to be crucial for the success of the reaction. With neutral, electron-rich, and electron-poor aryl iodides best results were obtained by using Pd2(dba)3, Xantphos, Cs2CO3, and nBu4NCl, in toluene at 80 degrees C. Two general procedures were employed with aryl bromides and triflates: sodium p-toluenesulfinate, Pd2(dba)3, Xantphos, Cs2CO3, 120 degrees C, in toluene with nBu4NCl (procedure A: neutral, electron-rich, and slightly electron-poor aryl bromides or triflates) and without nBu4NCl (procedure B: electron-poor aryl bromides or triflates). With vinyl triflates best results were obtained at 60 degrees C omitting nBu4NCl.