Rational Design of a Novel Intercalation System. Layer-Gap Control of Crystalline Coordination Polymers, {[Cu(CA)(H(2)O)(m)()](G)}(n)() (m = 2, G = 2,5-Dimethylpyrazine and Phenazine; m = 1, G = 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-Octahydrophenazine)

New copper(II) intercalation compounds, {[Cu(CA)(H(2)O)(2)](G)}(n)() (H(2)CA = chloranilic acid; G = 2,5-dimethylpyrazine (dmpyz) (1a and 1b) and phenazine (phz) (2)) have been synthesized and characterized. 1acrystallizes in the triclinic space group P&onemacr;, with a = 8.028(2) ?, b = 10.269(1) ?, c = 4.780(2) ?, alpha = 93.85(3) degrees, beta = 101.01(2) degrees, gamma = 90.04(3) degrees, and Z = 1. 1b crystallizes in the triclinic space group P&onemacr;, with a = 8.010(1) ?, b = 10.117(1) ?, c = 5.162(1) ?, alpha = 94.40(1) degrees, beta = 97.49(1) degrees, gamma = 112.64(1) degrees, and Z = 1. 2crystallizes in the triclinic space group P&onemacr;, with a = 8.071(1) ?, b = 11.266(1) ?, c = 4.991(1) ?, alpha = 97.80(1) degrees, beta = 99.58(1) degrees, gamma = 83.02(1) degrees, and Z = 1. For all the compounds, the crystal structures consist of one dimensional [Cu(CA)(H(2)O)(2)](m)() chains and uncoordinated guest molecules (G). Each copper atom for 1a, 1b, and 2 displays a six-coordinate geometry with the two bis-chelating CA(2)(-) anions and water molecules, providing an infinite, nearly coplanar linear chains running along the a-direction. Theses chains are linked by hydrogen bonds between the coordinated water and the oxygen atoms of CA(2)(-) on the adjacent chain, forming extended layers, which spread out along the ac-plane. The guest molecules are intercalated in between the {[Cu(CA)(H(2)O)(2)](k)()}(l)() layers, just like pillars, which are supported with N.H(2)O hydrogen bonding. The guest molecules are stacked each other with an interplanar distance of ca. 3.2 ? along the c-axis perpendicular to the [Cu(CA)(H(2)O)(2)](m)() chain. The EHMO band calculations of intercalated dmpyz and phz columns show an appreciable band dispersion of phz pi (b(2g) and b(3g)) and dmpyz pi (b(g)), indicative of the importance of planar pi structure for the formation of the intercalated structure. The distances of O-H---N (guest molecules) fall within the range 2.74-2.80 ?, insensitive to the guest, whereas the interlayer distances increase in the order 9.25 ? (1b), 10.24 ? (1a), and 11.03 ? (2). The degree in lengthening the distance correlates well with the size of a molecule, indicative of the stability of the 2-D sheet structure and the flexibility of the sheet packing. The magnetic susceptibilities were measured from 2 to 300 K and analyzed by a one-dimensional Heisenberg-exchange model to yield J = -1.83 cm(-)(1), g = 2.18 (1a), J = -0.39 cm(-)(1), g = 2.14 (1b), and J = -1.84 cm(-)(1), g = 2.18 (2). The absolute value of J is smaller than that value for [Cu(CA)](n)(), which has a planar ribbon structure suggesting that the magnetic orbital d(x)()()2(-)(y)()()2 is not parallel to the chloranilate plane. For comparison with phz another type of copper(II) coordination compound, {[Cu(CA)(H(2)O)](ohphz)}(n)() (ohphz = 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octahydrophenazine (7)) has also been obtained. 7 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Cmcm with a = 7.601(2) ?, b = 13.884(2) ?, c = 17.676(4) ?, and Z = 4. Nonplanar ohphz molecules are in between [Cu(CA)(H(2)O)(2)](m)() chains with the N.H(2)O hydrogen bonding in a fashion parallel to the chain direction. The copper atom shows a five-coordinate square-pyramidal configuration with two CA and one water molecule, thus affording no hydrogen bonding links between chains, dissimilar to 1a, 1b, and 2. The magnetic susceptibilities yield J = -10.93 cm(-)(1) and g = 2.00, comparable to that of the four-coordinate [Cu(CA)](n)(). On this basis both hydrogen bonding and stack capability of a guest molecule is responsible for building the unique intercalated structure such as is seen in 1a, 1b, and 2.     

Highly Stereoselective Cationic Cyclization Assisted by a Sulfenyl Group. Scope, Limitation, and Mechanism

When 8-acetoxy-2-methyl-9-(phenylthio)-2-nonene (1a) was treated with an acid, followed by a base, alkylative cyclization proceeded to give a mixture of 1,2-disubstituted cyclohexanes: 2a, 3a, and 4a. The stereochemistry of the reaction was only slightly affected by the leaving group and the reaction conditions, such as the temperature, solvent, and acid. However, the bulkiness of the sulfenyl group had a great effect on the stereochemical course of the reaction. High trans selectivity was attained when 1c (a derivative of 1a with a bulkier sulfenyl group) was used as a substrate. On the other hand, the length and rigidity of the carbon chain of the substrate also had a major effect on the stereochemistry of the reaction; a high cis selectivity was observed when 10a (a one-carbon-fewer analog of 1a) or 15a (a derivative with one more double bond in the carbon chain than in 1a) was used as the substrate. The reaction proceeded via a 6,5- or 5,5-fused-ring intermediate. The sulfenyl-group-assisted reaction could be a useful method for the stereoselective cyclization of acetates of alpha-sulfenylated secondary alcohols.     

DNA and polylysine adsorption and multilayer construction onto cationic lipid-coated microbubbles

We report on a novel application of the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique to attach multiple layers of DNA and poly-l-lysine (PLL) onto preformed lipid-coated microbubbles to increase the DNA loading capacity. We first measured the effects of the cationic lipid fraction and salt concentration on the microbubble stability. Microbubble production and stability were robust up to a cationic lipid fraction of 40 mol % in 10 mM NaCl. DNA adsorption was heterogeneous over the microbubble shell and occurred primarily on the condensed phase domains. The amount of adsorbed DNA, and subsequently adsorbed PLL, increased linearly with the fraction of cationic lipid in the shell. DNA loading was further enhanced by the LbL assembly method to construct polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) of DNA and PLL. PEM buildup was demonstrated by experimental results from zeta potential analysis, fluorescence microscopy, UV spectroscopy, and flow cytometry. The PEMs exhibited two growth stages and were heterogeneously distributed over the microbubble surface. The DNA loading capacity onto the microbubbles was enhanced by over 10-fold by using five paired layers. However, the PEM shell did not prevent oscillation or destruction during ultrasound insonification. These results suggest that the surface can be compartmentalized to make multifunctional, high-payload ultrasound contrast agents for targeted gene therapy.     

Mechanistic study of ring‐opening copolymerization of ɛ‐caprolactam with epoxide: Development of novel thermosetting epoxy resin system

We investigated the mechanism of the ring‐opening copolymerization of ?‐caprolactam (?‐CL) with glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) to afford poly(?‐CL‐co‐GPE) as a model reaction of the thermal curing of certain epoxy resins with ?‐CL. The reaction of ?‐CL and GPE proceeded efficiently in the presence of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) at 170^°C for 2 h. The monomer reactivities r₁ of ?‐CL and r₂ of GPE calculated according to the Fineman‐Ross method and the Kelen‐Tüdös method were 0.58 and 5.52, respectively. These values indicate that poly(?‐CL‐co‐GPE) has a pseudo‐block gradient copolymer. Based on these results, we examined the thermal curing reactions of certain epoxy resins with ?‐CL. The corresponding novel cured products were obtained quantitatively, and each of them showed a high glass transition temperature and high thermal stability, presumably due at least in part to a pseudo‐block gradient primary structure resembling that of poly(?‐CL‐co‐GPE). © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 2220–2228     

Glassy carbon electrodes modified with composites of starburst-PAMAM dendrimers containing metal nanoparticles for amperometric detection of dopamine in urine

Composites of hydroxyl-terminated PAMAM dendrimers, generation 4.0 (64 peripheral OH groups) containing either Ir, Pt or Rh nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized in solution. Each one of these composites was then immobilized on a glassy carbon electrode (GC) and incorporated as an amperometric detector for dopamine in a high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC). Comparison of the analytical performance of the novel electrochemical detectors with a typical UV-vis optical detector for dopamine revealed that the sensitivity of the GC electrode modified with dendrimer-Rh composite is comparable to that of the spectroscopic detector, with a detection limit of 0.15 μM, and is linear up to at least 1.0 mM (R² = 0.998). Furthermore, it was found that the electroanalytical approach suffers minimal matrix effects that arise in the analysis of dopamine in samples of urine.     

Convergence of the fixed pivot technique for continuous Smoluchowski coagulation equation

In this work, the fixed pivot technique (FPT) [2] is analyzed for nonlinear continuous Smoluchowski coagulation equation on four different types of grids. More importantly, the FPT gives the accuracy of second order for uniform and geometric grids while it reduces the order of accuracy by one on a locally uniform grid. At the end, the scheme is unfortunately zero order accurate on random grids. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Bio-sniffers for ethanol and acetaldehyde using carbon and Ag/AgCl coated electrodes

Monitoring of ethanol and acetaldehyde in expired gas after drinking is an effective method for assessment of alcohol metabolic function. We have developed bioelectronic gas sensors (bio-sniffers) for convenient measurement of ethanol and acetaldehyde. The bio-sniffers were fabricated using a simple process and inexpensive method. The process consisted of coating carbon and Ag/AgCl on a filter paper using screen-printing, and immobilizing alcohol oxidase and aldehyde dehydrogenase on the carbon electrode. These bio-sniffers showed good response to ethanol and acetaldehyde vapor and were used to sense these vapors in the concentration range 1.0 to 100 ppm and 0.2 to 4.0 ppm, respectively. The calibration ranges cover the alcohol and acetaldehyde concentration in breath air after drinking. The bio-sniffer for acetaldehyde is applicable also to evaluate other aldehydes (i.e. formaldehyde as volatile organic compounds).

     

Theoretical study of electronic properties of organic photovoltaic materials

It has been proved that fullerene derivatives, in which an oligophenylenevinylene (OPV) group is attached to C(60), present an interesting photophysical phenomenon and can be incorporated into photovoltaic cells. In these systems, the OPV acts as electron donor upon excitation, and then fullerene absorbs photoexcited electrons. These new organic semiconductor materials offer the prospect of lower manufacturing costs and they present several advantages: easy fabrication, large area, flexible and light weight devices when compared with inorganic counter parts. In the present theoretical study, oligomeric chains of p-phenylenevinylene (n-PPV, n = 3-8 units) and C(60)-OPV hybrids have been studied by density functional theory (DFT). Electronic properties such as electronic absorption and emission spectra were calculated in order to determinate how the increment of spectroscopic units affects their electronic behavior. These properties were carried out with time dependent-density functional theory (TD-DFT) and ZINDO semiempirical method. The theoretical calculations of the structural properties of n-PPV and fullerene-OPV hybrids were obtained using PBE1PBE/6-31G and ONIOM two-layered version, respectively. All calculations were done with Gaussian 03W program package.     

Photocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide over Ag cocatalyst-loaded ALa4Ti4O15 (A = Ca, Sr, and Ba) using water as a reducing reagent

Ag cocatalyst-loaded ALa(4)Ti(4)O(15) (A = Ca, Sr, and Ba) photocatalysts with 3.79-3.85 eV of band gaps and layered perovskite structures showed activities for CO(2) reduction to form CO and HCOOH by bubbling CO(2) gas into the aqueous suspension of the photocatalyst powder without any sacrificial reagents. Ag cocatalyst-loaded BaLa(4)Ti(4)O(15) was the most active photocatalyst. A liquid-phase chemical reduction method was better than impregnation and in situ photodeposition methods for the loading of the Ag cocatalyst. The Ag cocatalyst prepared by the liquid-phase chemical reduction method was loaded as fine particles with the size smaller than 10 nm on the edge of the BaLa(4)Ti(4)O(15) photocatalyst powder with a plate shape during the CO(2) reduction. CO was the main reduction product rather than H(2) even in an aqueous medium on the optimized Ag/BaLa(4)Ti(4)O(15) photocatalyst. Evolution of O(2) in a stoichiometric ratio (H(2)+CO:O(2) = 2:1 in a molar ratio) indicated that water was consumed as a reducing reagent (an electron donor) for the CO(2) reduction. Thus, an uphill reaction of CO(2) reduction accompanied with water oxidation was achieved using the Ag/BaLa(4)Ti(4)O(15) photocatalyst.     

Microwave‐assisted phospha‐michael addition of dialkyl phosphites,a phenyl‐H‐phosphinate,and diphenylphosphine oxide to maleic derivatives

A series of new >P(O)‐substituted succinic derivatives was synthesized by the microwave‐assisted phospha‐Michael addition of dialkyl phosphites, ethyl phenyl‐H‐phosphinate, and diphenylphosphine oxide to N‐phenyl and N‐methyl maleimide, as well as to maleic acid anhydride. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 23:235–240, 2012; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com . DOI 10.1002/hc.21007