Direct asymmetric iodination of aldehydes using an axially chiral bifunctional amino alcohol catalyst

A direct asymmetric iodination reaction of aldehydes with NIS was found to be catalyzed by the novel axially chiral bifunctional amino alcohol (S)-1d. This method represents the rare example of the catalytic and highly enantioselective synthesis of optically active alpha-iodoaldehydes.     

Conversion of optically active hydrindanone to (+)-bakkenolide-A

A total synthesis of (+)-bakkenolide-A was carried out via the key intermediate 4, which was prepared based on an asymmetric cyclization-carbonylation reaction established in our laboratory. Diastereoselective construction of the spirolactone moiety was achieved using Mitsuhashi's protocol as a key step.     

anti-selective direct asymmetric Mannich reactions catalyzed by axially chiral amino sulfonamide as an organocatalyst

A direct asymmetric Mannich reaction using a novel axially chiral amino trifluoromethanesulfonamide (S)-3 has been developed in highly anti-selective and enantioselective manners. Thus, in the presence of a catalytic amount of (S)-3, the reactions between aldehydes and the alpha-imino ester 4 proceed smoothly to give the functional beta-amino aldehydes with significantly higher anti/syn ratio and enantioselectivity than previously possible.     

Simultaneous determination of cytosine arabinoside and its metabolite,uracil arabinoside,in human plasma using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with UV detection

A practical high‐performance liquid chromatography using a Cosmosil HILIC column and UV detection was developed for determining the concentrations of cytosine arabinoside (Ara‐C) and uracil arabinoside (Ara‐U), which is a major metabolite of Ara‐C, in human plasma. This method was used to determine the plasma concentrations of Ara‐C and Ara‐U in a patient treated with high‐dose Ara‐C therapy for end‐stage renal failure. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Highly efficient tunable fiber Bragg grating filters using multilayer piezoelectric transducers

We realized a wavelength tunable optical filter based on a fiber Bragg grating using multilayer piezoelectric transducers (MLP). The Bragg wavelength of the filter can be easily tuned in proportion to an applied low DC voltage. The tuning range efficiency was as high as 0.2 nm/V. We realized a 10 nm Bragg wavelength shift by applying as low as 50 V to the MLP. The MLP was also used in a higher order dispersion equalizer which consists of a pair of nonlinearly chirped gratings. A zero dispersion wavelength shift of 7 nm was successfully realized for the equalizer.     

Preparation and Properties of Polystyrene/SEBS Blends with Compositional Gradients in Their Sheet Direction

There have been a few reports that discussed polymer blends with compositional gradient in their sheet directions. Thus, we discussed the preparation of the graded polystyrene(PS)/styrene-hydorogenated butadiene- styrene block copolymer(SEBS) blend with compositional gradient in their sheet directions, by applying of the solution-diffusion method. Then, the hardness on the air side surface of the graded blend gradually increased with shifting the measured point from the edge containing lowest PS content. All of the areas, into which the graded blend sheet was divided, were almost equal in length, when total elongation was 6.6 mm. However, the length of the area became longer at the larger SEBS content, when the total elongation was 175 mm. The ratio of the length of the area to that in lowest SEBS content increased gradually with increasing of SEBS content, when the total elongation became over 50 mm. It was considered that this phenomenon occurred, because of the compositional gradient in the PS/SEBS graded blend.     

Magnetic Alignment of Rhodamine B Intercalated in Synthetic Mica

Rhodamine B was intercalated in interlayer spaces of Somasif Me-100, a synthetic mica, and the obtained rhodamine B/Somasif hybrid was suspended in a UV-curable resin precursor. Then, the suspension was subjected to an applied rotating magnetic field to align the hybrid particles, followed by solidification of the medium by UV irradiation to fix the alignment. The hybrid particles were aligned so that the Somasif layer lay perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the applied rotating magnetic field. UV/vis measurement indicated that the transition moment of xanthene ring of rhodamine B lay inclined to the layer of Somasif.