Trimethylsilyl cyanide addition to aldimines and its application in the synthesis of (S)-phenylglycine methyl ester

The addition of TMSCN to a variety of arylaldimines (Strecker reaction) in the presence of LiClO₄ or BF₃·Et₂O in acetonitrile has been studied. The reaction provided the addition products in very high yields. The method has been successfully utilized for the synthesis of (S)-phenylglycine methyl ester.     

The polytope of degree sequences of hypergraphs

Let D_n(r) denote the convex hull of degree sequences of simple r-uniform hypergraphs on the vertex set {1,2,…,n}. The polytope D_n(2) is a well-studied object. Its extreme points are the threshold sequences (i.e., degree sequences of threshold graphs) and its facets are given by the Erdös–Gallai inequalities. In this paper we study the polytopes D_n(r) and obtain some partial information. Our approach also yields new, simple proofs of some basic results on D_n(2). Our main results concern the extreme points and facets of D_n(r). We characterize adjacency of extreme points of D_n(r) and, in the case r=2, determine the distance between two given vertices in the graph of D_n(2). We give a characterization of when a linear inequality determines a facet of D_n(r) and use it to bound the sizes of the coefficients appearing in the facet defining inequalities; give a new short proof for the facets of D_n(2); find an explicit family of Erdös–Gallai type facets of D_n(r); and describe a simple lifting procedure that produces a facet of D_n+1(r) from one of D_n(r).     

Polyetherether ketone/polyarylethersulfone blends: Thermal and compatibility aspects

The compatibility behavior of polyetherether ketone (PEEK) with poly(ether sulfone) (PES) has been reexamined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and extrudate swell measurements. The blends were prepared by both melt‐blending and solution‐blending techniques. The phase behavior of blends is strongly affected by the blending technique used. Blends prepared by solution‐blending are compatible in the entire composition range on the basis of the single composition‐dependent glass transitions and exhibit lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior. LCST was near 340 °C around which the crystalline melting point of PEEK exists. Near LCST melting‐induced movement of molecular chains disturbs the initial homogeneous state of the solution blends and leads to a phase‐separated state that is thermodynamically more stable in the absence of strong specific interactions between the homopolymers. Contrary to the solution‐blended samples, melt‐blended samples were in the phase‐separated state even at a lower processing temperature of 300 °C. Two glass transitions corresponding to a PEEK‐rich and a PES‐rich phase were found for all compositions. From the measured glass transition of phase‐separated blends, weight fractions of PES and PEEK dissolved in each phase were determined using the Fox equation. Compatibility is greater in the PEEK‐rich compositions than in the PES‐rich compositions. PEEK dissolves more in PES‐rich phases than does PES in the PEEK‐rich phase. Variation of the specific heat increment (ΔC_p) at the glass transition with composition also supports these inferences. Solution‐blended samples, quenched from 380 °C, also indicated similar behavior but were slightly more compatible. The aforementioned results are consistent with those inferred from SEM studies and extrudate swell measurements that show a greater compatibility in PEEK‐rich compositions than in PES‐rich compositions. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 1407–1424, 2002     

Influence of the bisphenol structure on the direct synthesis of sulfonated poly(arylene ether) copolymers. I

New sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymers with high molecular weights were successfully synthesized with controlled degrees of disulfonation of up to 70 mol % via the direct copolymerization of sulfonated aromatic dihalides, aromatic dihalides, and one of four structurally distinct bisphenols. The disodium salts of the 3,3′‐disulfonated‐4,4′‐dichlorodiphenyl sulfone and 3,3′‐disulfonated‐4,4′‐difluorodiphenyl sulfone comonomers were synthesized via the sulfonation of 4,4′‐dichlorodiphenyl sulfone or 4,4′‐difluorodiphenyl sulfone with 30% fuming sulfuric acid at 110 °C. Four bisphenols (4,4′‐bisphenol A, 4,4′‐bisphenol AF, 4,4′‐biphenol, and hydroquinone) were investigated for the syntheses of novel copolymers with controlled degrees of sulfonation. The composition and incorporation of the sulfonated repeat unit into the copolymers were confirmed by ¹H NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Solubility tests on the sulfonated copolymers confirmed that no crosslinking and probably no branching occurred during the copolymerizations. Tough, ductile films were solvent‐cast that exhibited increased water absorption with increasing degrees of sulfonation. These copolymers are promising candidates for high temperature proton‐exchange membranes in fuel cells, which will be reported separately in part II of this series. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2264–2276, 2003     

Origin of threefold methyl torsional potential in methylindoles

In this article, we present a systematic study on mono-methylindoles to investigate the electronic origin of the threefold symmetric component (V ₃) of the methyl torsional potential barrier in the ground electronic state (S ₀). The structures and the torsional potential parameters of these molecules were evaluated from ab initio calculation using Hartree-Fock (HF), second order Mollar Plesset perturbation (MP2) and B3LYP density functional level of theories and Gaussian type basis set 6-31G(d, p). Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis of these molecules were carried out using B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) level of calculation to understand the formation of the threefold V ₃ term arising from the changes of various non-covalent interactions during methyl rotation. Our analysis reveals that the contributions from π orbitals play a dominant role in the barrier height determination in this class of molecules. The threefold term in the barrier arises purely from the interactions non-local to the methyl group in case when the methyl group has two single bonds vicinal to it. On the other hand, it is the local interaction that determines the potential energy barrier when the methyl group has one single bond and one double bond vicinal to it. However, in all these cases, the magnitude of the energy barrier depends on the resonance structure formation in the benzene ring frame upon rotation of the methyl group and, therefore, the energetics of the barrier cannot be understood without considering the molecular flexing during methyl rotation.     

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy of the assembly and disassembly of SNAREs: The proteins involved in membrane fusion in cells

In this study, we report for the first time that both t-SNAREs and v-SNARE and their complexes in buffered suspension, exhibit defined peaks at CD signals of 208 and 222 nm wavelengths, consistent with a higher degree of helical secondary structure. Surprisingly, when incorporated in lipid membrane, both SNAREs and their complexes exhibit reduced folding. In presence of NSF–ATP, the SNARE complex disassembles, as reflected from the CD signals demonstrating elimination of α-helices within the structure.     

Nanowear studies in reversibly switchable polystyrene-poly(acrylic acid) mixed brushes

Wear studies were performed on polystyrene (PS)-poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) mixed polymer brushes and corresponding monobrushes in a dried state. The aim was to study the wear mechanism in polymer brush surfaces as well as to investigate the effect of switching of PS + PAA binary brush surfaces (on treatment with the selective solvents for the PS and PAA) on the wear process. Wear experiments were carried out using atomic force microscopy (AFM) under a controlled environment. The wear experiments were performed as a function of scan number using a sharp silicon nitride tip to induce the wear on the sample surfaces. The wear mechanism on different brush surfaces was influenced by molecular entanglement as well as adhesion and friction on the sample surface. The wear process on the PS monobrush surface treated with toluene took place via formation of the ripples. On the other hand, a typical wear mode observed on the PAA monobrushes was removal of the polymeric material from the surface. For the mixed brush surface treated with toluene (selective solvent for PS) where PS chains dominated the top of the sample surface, the typical wear mode observed was ripple formation similar to that observed for the PS monobrushes. However, when a mixed brush was treated with ethanol and pH 10 water so that PAA chains dominated the top layer, wear occurred via removal of material. The amount of wear on the surfaces increased with the number of scans. Furthermore, the load and scan velocity dependence of the wear process was also investigated. Wear on polymer brush surfaces increased on increasing the load and/or decreasing the scan speed. The present study shows that wear can be controlled/tuned using mixed responsive brushes.     

Origin of methyl torsional barrier in 1-methyl-2(1H)-pyridinimine and 3-methyl-2(1H)-pyridone: II. Ground state

To get the insight into the electronic structure-methyl torsion correlation in nitrogen heterocyclic molecules, a comparative study on torsion of the methyl group in 1-methyl-2(1H)pyridone (1MPY), 1-methyl-2(1H)pyridinimine (1MPI), and 3-methyl-2(1H)pyridone (3MPY) was carried out using ab initio calculations. To understand the barrier forming mechanism in the ground state and its consequence on the molecular structure, the ground state torsional potential has been investigated by partitioning the barrier energy using the natural bond orbital (NBO) theoretical framework. The NBO analysis reveals that the delocalization energy is the barrier forming term whereas the Lewis energy is always antibarrier for all these molecules. To get further insight into the effect of local electronic structure on the methyl torsional barrier, the individual bond-antibond interactions and structural energy contributions have been investigated. It was found that when the bond order difference between the vicinal bonds does not change appreciably during the course of methyl rotation, the local electronic interactions with the methyl group do not play any decisive role in barrier formation as observed in the case of 1MPY and 1MPI. In these cases, it is the skeletal relaxation during methyl rotation that plays an important role in determining the barrier. On the other hand, if the bond order change is appreciable as is the case for 3MPY, the local interactions alone suffice to describe the origin of the torsional barrier of the methyl group.