Palladium-catalyzed oxidative homocoupling reaction of terminal acetylenes using trans-bidentatable 1-(2-pyridylethynyl)-2-(2-thienylethynyl)benzene

Palladium-catalyzed oxidative homocoupling of terminal acetylenes, in air, occurred in the presence of 1-(2-pyridylethynyl)-2-(2-thienylethynyl)benzene as ligand, affording the corresponding conjugated diynes.     

Studies on the Magnetic Ground State of a Spin Möbius Strip

Here we report the synthesis, structure and detailed characterisation of three n‐membered oxovanadium rings, Na_n[(V=O)_nNa_n(H₂O)_n(α, β, or γ‐CD)₂]?m H₂O (n=6, 7, or 8), prepared by the reactions of (V=O)SO₄?x H₂O with α, β, or γ‐cyclodextrins (CDs) and NaOH in water. Their alternating heterometallic vanadium/sodium cyclic core structures were sandwiched between two CD moieties such that O‐Na‐O groups separated the neighbouring vanadyl ions. Antiferromagnetic interactions between the S=1/2 vanadyl ions led to S=0 ground states for the even‐membered rings, but to two quasi‐degenerate S=1/2 states for the spin‐frustrated heptanuclear cluster.     

L p -theory for second-order elliptic operators with unbounded coefficients in an endpoint class

The m-accretivity and m-sectoriality of the minimal and maximal realizations of second-order elliptic operators of the form ${Au=-{\rm div}(a \nabla u)+F\cdot \nabla u +Vu}$ in ${L^p(\mathbb{R}^N)}$ are shown, where the coefficients a, F and V are unbounded. The result may be regarded as an endpoint assertion of the previous result in Sobajima (J Evol Equ 12:957–971, 2012) and an improvement of that in Metafune et al. (Forum Math 22:583–601, 2010). Moreover, an L ^p -generalization of Kato’s self-adjoint problem in Kato (1981, Appendix 2) is discussed. The proof is based on Sobajima (J Evol Equ 12:957–971, 2012). As examples, the operators ${-\Delta \pm |x|^{\beta-1}x \cdot \nabla +c|x|^{\gamma}}$ are also dealt with, which are mentioned in Metafune et al. (Forum Math 22:583–601, 2010).     

Selective Metallation of 3-Halothiophenes: Practical Methods for the Synthesis of 2-Bromo-3-formylthiophene

Selective lithiation of 3-bromothiophene was accomplished under controlled conditions without formation of undesired thienyllithium compounds. A thienyl Grignard reagent derived from 2-bromo-3-iodothiophene was transformed into 2-bromo-3-formylthiophene in high selectivity by formylation with dimethylformamide (DMF) at optimal reaction temperature.     

Symmetry of valence states of Heusler compounds explored by linear dichroism in hard-x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

This study reports on the linear dichroism in angular-resolved photoemission from the valence band of the Heusler compounds NiTi0.9Sc0.1Sn and NiMnSb. High-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy was performed with an excitation energy of hν = 7.938 keV. The linear polarization of the photons was changed using an in-vacuum diamond phase retarder. The valence band spectra exhibit the typical structure expected from first-principles calculations of the electronic structure of these compounds. Noticeable linear dichroism is found in the valence band of both materials, and this allows for a symmetry analysis of the contributing states. The differences in the spectra are found to be caused by symmetry-dependent angular asymmetry parameters, and these occur even in polycrystalline samples without preferential crystallographic orientation.     

4-(t-butylthio)-3-buten-2-one. Synthon for α,β- and α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated aldehyde synthesis

A convenient synthesis of α,β- and α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated aldehydes using readily accessible 4-(t-butylthio)-3-buten-2-one as synthon was described.     

Origin of the axial-alkyl preference of (R)-α-phellandrene and related compounds investigated by high-level ab initio MO calculations. Importance of the CH/π hydrogen bond

Ab initio MO calculations were carried out, at the MP2/6-311++G(d,p)//MP2/6-311G(d,p) level, to investigate the Gibbs energy of conformational isomers of (R)-α-phellandrene and related 5-alkyl-1,3-cyclohexadienes. It has been found that the conformer bearing the 5-alkyl group in axial orientation is more stable than the equatorial congener. The result is consistent with experimental evidence that the axial-isopropyl conformer prevails in the conformational equilibrium of α-phellandrene. The reason for the stability of the folded conformer has been sought in the context of the CH/π hydrogen bond. A number of short non-bond distances have been disclosed in the axial conformers, between CHs in the 5-alkyl group and sp²-carbons of the cyclohexadiene ring. We suggest that the stability of the folded conformation often observed in conjugated diene compounds of natural origin, such as α-phellandrene and levopimaric acid, is attributed to an attractive molecular force, the CH/π hydrogen bond.