Solvent dependence of the ultrafast ground state recovery dynamics of phenol blue

We have studied femtosecond ground state recovery dynamics of phenol blue (PB) by pump-probe spectroscopy with a time resolution of 33 fs. Multiexponential decay with time constants extending from 300 fs to 10 ps were observed. Some low frequency intramolecular quantum beats were also observed. Solvent dependence of these decays and beats are discussed.     

Aragonite twinning in gastropod nacre

Aragonite twinning in gastropod nacre has been investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with the focused ion beam (FIB) sample preparation technique. At the growth front of nacre, Haliotis discus hannai and Omphalius rusticus form a “stack-of-coins” structures, which consist of pseudo-hexagonal and elliptical aragonite tablets, respectively. SEM, EBSD, and TEM analyses revealed that these tablets are monolithic single crystal and almost free of the {1 1 0} twins that are common in aragonite of biotic or abiotic origin. The longest diagonal of the hexagon and the longer axis of the ellipse are parallel to the a-axis of aragonite. The crystal orientation of each tablet in a stack, measured by TEM-Kikuchi pattern analysis, is almost the same but there is occasionally {1 1 0} twin-like relationship between adjacent tablets along the stacking. On the other hand, the fibrous aragonite layer formed prior to the nacreous structure is composed of polycrystalline aragonite with high density of {1 1 0} twins. TEM observation suggests that the interlamellar organic sheet prevents the inheritance of the twins, by selecting only single domain of the twins, through the mineral bridge.     

(S)-stereoisomer of telomestatin as a potent G-quadruplex binder and telomerase inhibitor

Total synthesis of the (S)-stereoisomer of telomestatin (1) was accomplished. (S)-Telomestatin exhibited potency four times that of the natural product, (R)-telomestatin, which was the most potent telomerase inhibitor previously reported. In the circular dichroism spectral analysis of the complexes possessing randomly structured single-stranded d[TTAGGG](4) oligonucleotide, (S)-telomestatin, like (R)-telomestatin, induced an antiparallel G-quadruplex structure. The melting temperature (T(m)) value of the (S)-isomer complex was greater than that of the (R)-telomestatin complex. Therefore, it is concluded that the stereochemistry of the thiazoline of telomestatin is important to the binding ability of a G-quadruplex binder, and (S)-telomestatin as a G-quadruplex binder is more potent than the natural product.     

Synthesis and crosslinking reaction of poly(hydroxyurethane) bearing a secondary amine structure in the main chain

This article describes the polyaddition of bifunctional five‐membered cyclic carbonates and diethylenetriamine. The polyaddition proceeded via the selective addition of the primary amino group to the cyclic carbonates to give poly(hydroxyurethane)s bearing a secondary amine structure in the main chain. The resulting poly (hydroxyurethane) having a secondary amine structure was crosslinked by a reaction with a bifunctional dithiocarbonate to give a networked poly(hydroxyurethane–mercaptothiourethane). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5899–5905, 2005     

Renormalization of polaritons due to the formation of excitonic molecules in CuCl; an experimental aspect

The modulation of the real part of the non-linear refractive index (Δn) associated with the giant two-photon absorption (GTA) band of the excitonic molecules (EM's) has been measured in CuCl at 1.6K. This has been measured by the observation of the polarization rotation effects due to the induced optical anistropy between the right circularly polarized (σ⁺) and the left circularly polarized (σ^-) components of the linearly polarized probe team of Ω₁ under the strong irradiation of the σ^- beam of Ω₂ fixed around the GTA band at 3.1861 eV. The maximum amount of Δn has been 2.9×10^-4 at 3.1920 eV under the maximum excitation level when Ω₂ has been fixed at 3.1796 eV. The experimental results have been discussed in terms of the renormalization of the polaritons due to the real and virtual formation of EM's.     

Measurement of flow-birefringence using a circularly polarized laser beam

A method of measuring flow-birefringence is reported. In this method, a circularly polarized light wave is transmitted through the flow-birefringent medium. The transmitted elliptically polarized wave is compensated by a Babinet-Soleil plate to convert it back into a circularly polarized wave. The state of circular polarization is confirmed using the rotating-analyser method. Measurements can be carried out with a sample having a fixed azimuth. The minimum detectable optical retardation angle was 5 × 10^-3 degree. This corresponds to a birefringence of Δn = 1 × 10^-10, when the optical path length of the sample cell is 100 mm.