Photoinduced ionic polymerization. II. Cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene in the presence of tetracyanobenzene

The dependence of the rate of polymerization on light intensity and the stereoregularity of the polymer was studied to elucidate the propagation and termination mechanisms of the photoinduced cationic polymerization of α-methylstyrene in the presence of tetracyanobenzene in methylene chloride. The rate of polymerization was proportional to the light intensity. The polymer is highly syndiotactic, and the stereoregularity is similar to that of polymers obtained by radiation-induced cationic polymerization. The initiation mechanism was also studied by electron spin resonance, by which the anion radical of tetracyanobenzene formed from a photoexcited complex between α-methylstyrene and tetracyanobenzene was observed. The cation radical of α-methylstyrene, counterpart of the anion radical, is believed to initiate the polymerization.     

Periodic porous stripe patterning in a polymer blend film induced by phase separation during spin-casting

A periodic striping pattern with microscale pore size is observed on the surface of thin films prepared by spin-casting from a polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) blend solution. The pattern is created by the convection generated by thermal gradients in the solution between the substrate and film solution during solvent evaporation, the radial flow of the spin-coated solution, and the primary and secondary phase separation of the PS and PEG solutions. The formation mechanism of the periodic porous stripe pattern is discussed, wherein the effects of the polymer blend weight ratio, polymer concentration, and drying rate on the formation of the periodic porous striping pattern are investigated using scanning electron and atomic force microscopy.     

Molecular origin of the hydrophobic effect: analysis using the angle-dependent integral equation theory

The molecular origin of the hydrophobic effect is investigated using the angle-dependent integral equation theory combined with the multipolar water model. The thermodynamic quantities of solvation (excess quantities) of a nonpolar solute are decomposed into the translational and orientational contributions. The translational contributions are substantially larger with the result that the temperature dependence of the solute solubility, for example, can well be reproduced by a model simple fluid where the particles interact through strongly attractive potential such as water and the particle size is as small as that of water. The thermodynamic quantities of solvation for carbon tetrachloride, whose molecular size is approximately 1.9 times larger than that of water, are roughly an order of magnitude smaller than those for water and extremely insensitive to the strength of solvent-solvent attractive interaction and the temperature. The orientational contributions to the solvation energy and entropy are further decomposed into the solute-water pair correlation terms and the solute-water-water triplet and higher-order correlation terms. It is argued that the formation of highly ordered structure arising from the enhanced hydrogen bonding does not occur in the vicinity of the solute. Our proposition is that the hydrophobic effect is ascribed to the interplay of the exceptionally small molecular size and the strongly attractive interaction of water, and not necessarily to its hydrogen-bonding properties.     

Efficient formation of giant liposomes through the gentle hydration of phosphatidylcholine films doped with sugar

Giant liposomes, or giant vesicles, are cell-size (approximately 5-100 microm) compartments enclosed with phospholipid bilayers, and have often been used in biological research. They are usually generated using hydration methods, "electroformation" and "gentle hydration (or natural swelling)", in which dry lamellar films of phospholipids are hydrated with aqueous solutions. In gentle hydration, however, giant liposomes are difficult to prepare from an electrostatically neutral phospholipid because lipid lamellae cannot repel each other. In this study, we demonstrate the efficient formation of giant liposomes using the gentle hydration of neutral phospholipid (dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine, DOPC) dry films doped with nonelectrolytic monosaccharides (glucose, mannose, and fructose). A mixture of DOPC and such a sugar in an organic solvent (chloroform/methanol) was evaporated to form the films, which were then hydrated with distilled water or Tris buffers containing sodium chloride. Under these conditions, giant liposomes spontaneously formed rapidly and assumed a swollen cell-sized spherical shape with low lamellarity, whereas giant liposomes from pure DOPC films had multilamellar lipid layers, miscellaneous shapes and smaller sizes. This observation indicates that giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) of DOPC can be obtained efficiently through the gentle hydration of sugar-containing lipid dry films because repulsion between lipid lamellae is enhanced by the osmosis induced by dissolved sugar.     

Palladium-catalyzed C-H homocoupling of bromothiophene derivatives and synthetic application to well-defined oligothiophenes

Synthesis of oligothiophenes of well-defined structures that possess 2-8 thiophene units is performed with a new synthetic strategy involving C-H homocoupling of bromothiophenes and cross-coupling with organostannanes. Tolerance of the carbon-bromine bond to the palladium-catalyzed C-H homocoupling results in oligothiophenes bearing C-Br bonds at the terminal thiophene rings, which allow further transformation by the catalysis of a transition-metal complex.     

A variety of spin-crossover behaviors depending on the counter anion: two-dimensional complexes constructed by NH...Cl- hydrogen bonds, [FeIIH3LMe]Cl.X (X = PF6 -, AsF6 -, SbF6 -, CF3SO3 -; H3L(Me) = Tris[2-{[(2-methylimidazol-4-yl)methylidene]amino}ethyl]amine)

A family of spin-crossover (SC) complexes, [Fe(II)H(3)L(Me)]Cl.X (X(-) = PF(6) (-), AsF(6) (-), SbF(6) (-), CF(3)SO(3) (-)), 1-4, has been synthesized, in which H(3)L(Me) denotes the hexadentate N(6) tripod-like ligand tris[2-{[(2-methylimidazol-4-yl)methylidene]amino}ethyl]amine, containing three imidazole groups, with a view to establishing the effect of the counter anion on the SC behavior. These complexes have been found to crystallize in the same monoclinic crystal system with similar cell dimensions. The general crystal structure consists of a two-dimensional (2D) extended network constructed by NH...Cl- hydrogen bonds between Cl- and the imidazole NH groups of three neighboring [Fe(II)H(3)L(Me)]2+ ions, while the anion X exists as an isolated counter anion and occupies the space between the 2D sheets. Magnetic susceptibilities and M?ssbauer spectra have revealed a variety of SC behaviors depending on the counter anion, including a one-step HS<==>(HS + LS)/2 (1, X = PF(6) (-)), a two-step HS<==>(HS + LS)/2<==>LS with a slow thermal relaxation (2, X = AsF(6) (-)), a gradual one-step HS<==>LS (3, X = SbF(6) (-)), and a steep one-step HS<==>LS with hysteresis (4, X = CF(3)SO(3) (-)). The complexes assume the space group P2(1)/n in the HS state, P2(1) in the HS + LS state, and P2(1)/n in the LS state. The Fe-N bond lengths and the N-Fe-N bond angles are indicative of the HS, HS + LS, and LS states. The molecular volumes, V, of the counter anions have been evaluated by quantum-chemical calculations as follows: 53.4 A(3) (BF(4) (-)), 54.4 A(3) (ClO(4) (-)), 73.0 A(3) (PF(6) (-)), 78.5 A(3) (AsF(6) (-)), 88.7 A(3) (SbF(6) (-)), and 86.9 A(3) (CF(3)SO(3) (-)). The size and shape of the counter anion affects the flexible 2D network structure constructed by the hydrogen bonds, leading to modifications of the SC behavior. These estimated relative sizes of the counter anions correlate well with the observed SC behaviors.     

Self-assembly of photochromic diarylethenes with amphiphilic side chains: reversible thermal and photochemical control

Diarylethene derivatives with hexaethylene glycol side chains were synthesized and their self-assembling and photochromic reactivity were investigated. The diarylethenes showed photochromism in organic solvents and even in water. The aqueous solution of the compounds turned turbid quickly upon heating. The clouding behavior was investigated using 1H NMR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and absorption spectroscopy. It was revealed that, in the aqueous solution, the compounds self-assembled into aggregates, and the aggregates were loosened by raising the temperature. The cloud-point temperature of the closed-ring isomer was 5-7 degrees C lower than that of the open-ring isomer. When asymmetric methyl groups were introduced in the amphiphilic side chains, induced circular dichroism (ICD) was observed upon irradiation with UV light in water. This ICD was explained by the difference in the self-assembling behavior between the open- and the closed-ring isomers. It was suggested that the closed-ring isomers assembled into a chiral nanostructure.     

Desymmetric hydrogenation of a meso-cyclic acid anhydride toward biotin synthesis

Catalytic reactivity in the hydrogenation of a cyclic anhydride to a biotin synthetic intermediate has been investigated on the basis of Lyons’ original method using Wilkinson Ru complex, revealing the high performance of DPPF and XANTPHOS diphosphines possessing wide bite angles. The results have shown a new trail for design of the corresponding asymmetric catalysts, and the potential utility of (S,S)-Et-FerroTANE and (S,S)-(R,R)-Ph-TRAP has been demonstrated.     

Anticancer Potencies of PtII‐ and PdII‐linked M2L4 Coordination Capsules with Improved Selectivity

Pt^II‐ and Pd^II‐linked M₂L₄ coordination capsules, providing a confined cavity encircled by polyaromatic frameworks, exhibit anticancer activities superior to cisplatin against two types of leukemic cells (HL‐60 and SKW‐3) and pronounced toxicity against cisplatin‐resistant cells (HL‐60/CDDP). Notably, the cytotoxic selectivities of the Pt^II and Pd^II capsules toward cancerous cells are up to 5.3‐fold higher than that of cisplatin, as estimated through the non‐malignant/malignant‐cells toxicity ratio employing normal kidney cells (HEK‐293). In addition, the anticancer activity of the coordination capsules can be easily altered upon encapsulation of organic guest molecules.     

Five‐State Molecular Shuttling of a Pair of [2]Rotaxanes: Distinct Outputs in Response to Acid and Base Stimuli

In this study we synthesized two acid‐/base‐controllable [2]rotaxanes featuring aminodiazobenzene and aminocoumarin units, respectively, as chromophores and dibenzo[24]crown‐8 and dibenzo[25]crown‐8 units, respectively, as their macrocyclic components. Each [2]rotaxane contained N‐alkylarylamine (ammonium) and N,N‐dialkylamine (ammonium) centers as binding sites for their crown ether components. The absorption patterns of the chromophores were dependent on the position of the encircling macrocyclic component and the degree of protonation, with three distinct states (under acidic, neutral, and basic conditions) evident for each [2]rotaxane. The mixed [2]rotaxane system displayed stepwise and independent molecular shuttling behavior based on the degree of protonation of the amino groups in response to both the amount and strength of added acids or bases; as such, the system provided five different absorption signals as outputs that could be read using UV/Vis spectroscopy.