Novel calixarene hemisphere synthesized via pinacol rearrangement of [2.1.2.1]metacyclophane

[reaction: see text] Tetramethoxy[2.1.2.1]metacyclophane ([2.1.2.1]MCP) was prepared by the pinacol coupling reaction of diphenylmethane dialdehyde. The treatment of [2.1.2.1]MCP with trimethylsilyl chloride and sodium iodide yielded two unexpected calixarene derivatives, cone (hemisphere) and 1,2-alternate types, instead of octahydroxy[2.1.2.1]MCP. The X-ray structure of the cone-type derivative and its inclusion property with acetonitrile were also discussed.     

An efficient second-order cone programming approach for optimal selection in tree breeding

It is common in forest tree breeding that selection of populations must consider conservation of genetic diversity, while at the same time attempting to maximize response to selection. To optimize selection in these situations, the constraint on genetic diversity can be mathematically described with the numerator relationship matrix as a quadratic constraint. Pong-Wong and Woolliams formulated the optimal selection problem using semidefinite programming (SDP). Their SDP approach gave an accurate optimal value, but required rather long computation time. In this paper, we propose an second-order cone programming (SOCP) approach to reduce the heavy computation cost. First, we demonstrate that a simple SOCP formulation achieves the same numerical solution as the SDP approach. A simple SOCP formulation is, however, not much more efficient compared to the SDP approach, so we focused on the sparsity structure of the numerator relationship matrix, and we develop a more efficient SOCP formulation using Henderson’s algorithm. Numerical results show that the proposed formulation, which we call a compact SOCP, greatly reduced computation time. In a case study, an optimal selection problem that demanded 39,200 s under the SDP approach was solved in less than 2 s by the compact SOCP formulation. The proposed approach is now available as a part of the software package OPSEL.     

Direct benzylation and allylic alkylation in high-temperature water without added catalysts

In high-temperature water a series of benzyl and allylic alcohols reacted with 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and activated aromatic compounds to give the alkylated products without added catalysts.     

A cyclic glucosyl ceramide acceptor as a versatile building block for complex ganglioside synthesis

A cyclic glucosyl ceramide (GlcCer) acceptor has been developed as a versatile building block for the synthesis of complex ganglioside. A macrocyclic GlcCer acceptor, which was the product of intramolecular glycosylation between glucose and ceramide, exhibited high reactivity during the coupling reactions with a variety of complex oligosaccharyl donors, thereby furnishing the corresponding ganglioside frameworks in high yields.     

Orthogonal spin arrangement in quasi-two-dimensional La2Co2O3Se2

The crystal, electronic, and magnetic structures of the cobalt oxyselenide La(2)Co(2)O(3)Se(2) were investigated through powder neutron diffraction measurements and band structure calculations. This oxyselenide crystallizes in a tetragonal layered structure with space group I4/mmm. The Co ion is sixfold-coordinated by two oxide ions and four selenide ions, and the face-sharing CoO(2)Se(4) octahedra form Co(2)OSe(2) layers. The band structure calculations revealed that the Co ion is in the divalent high-spin state. Rietveld analysis of the neutron diffraction profiles below 200 K demonstrated that the Co moments have a noncollinear antiferromagnetic structure with the propagation vector k = (?, ?, 0). The ordered magnetic moment was determined to be 3.5 μ(B) at 10 K, and the directions of the nearest-neighbor Co moments are orthogonal each other in the c plane.     

Efficient visible-light-induced photocatalytic activity on gold-nanoparticle-supported layered titanate

The visible-light-induced photocatalytic conversion of aqueous benzene to phenol on Au-nanoparticle-supported layered titanate was accelerated when the reaction was conducted in the presence of aqueous phenol.     

Correlations between structure and magnetism of three N,N′-ethylene-bis(3-methoxysalicylideneimine) gadolinium complexes

Three Salen-like gadolinium complexes, namely, mononuclear (4f) complex [{H₂L}Gd(NO₃)₃] (1), heterodinuclear (3d–4f) complex [{LCu}Gd(NO₃)₃]·0.25H₂O (2) and dimeric heterotrinuclear (3d–4f–3d′) complex [{LCu}Gd(H₂O)₃{Fe(CN)₆}]₂·6H₂O (3) [H₂L = N,N′-ethylene-bis(3-methoxysalicylideneimine)] have been synthesized by stepwise reactions. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that 1 is of a discrete structure in which H₂L coordinates to gadolinium ion through O₂O₂ moiety. Then, addition of Cu(Ac)₂·H₂O to the mononuclear lanthanide complex yields expected heterodinuclear (3d–4f) complexes [{LCu}Gd(NO₃)₃]. 3 features a unique 1D ladder-like topology structure through the intermolecular double links of Cu–N bonds. The measurement of variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility reveals that complex 1 exhibits antiferromagnetic interaction while 2 and 3 exhibit ferromagnetic interaction between spin carriers. The correlations between the structure and magnetism are described and discussed.     

New strategy for drastic enhancement of selectivity via chemical modification of counter anions in ionic liquid polymer phase

A new strategy for the design of a new chromatographic stationary phase via simple modifications of the counter anions in poly(ionic liquid)-grafted silica phase based on ionic self-assembly technology is proposed. The phase with methyl orange dye as counter anions exhibits ultra-high selectivity towards shape-constrained isomers.