Synthesis and properties of optically active 1,3-diols and their derivatives as chiral dopants for ferroelectric liquid crystals

New chiral dopants β-hydroxy ketones 1, 1,3-diols 2, 1,3-dioxanes 3 and 1,3-dioxan-2-ones 4 were designed and synthesized. Reaction of (R)-1,2-epoxyoctane with carbanions derived from 2-(4-substituted phenyl)-1,3-dithianes followed by hydrolysis of the resulting hydroxy dithianes afforded 1. Reduction of 1 gave the diols 2, which yielded 3 upon acetalization and 4 upon carbonation. The syn isomers of 2, 3, and 4 exhibited larger spontaneous polarizations, when applied as chiral dopants, than the anti isomers or hydroxy ketones 1.     

Synthetic studies on β-lactam antibiotics. 19. Synthesis of 3′-nor-type 1-oxacephems

Synthesis of optically active 3′-nor-type 1-oxacephems from 6-APA was described. $\text{p}$-Nitrobenzyl 7β-amino-3-chloro-7α-methoxy-1-oxa-3-cephem-4-carboxylate $\text{39}$ was also prepared.     

Catalytic activity of Cu(II)–poly(vinyl alcohol) complex for decomposition of hydrogen peroxide

Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide was examined was examined by using Cu(II)–poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as catalyst. The rates of decomposition were measured. Electronic spectra and infrared spectra of Cu(II)–PVA complex systems were determined at various stages of decomposition. Effect of addition of various amines to the Cu(II)–PVA system on catalytic action was considered. The relation between the initial rate and the initial concentration of hydrogen peroxide varied in accordance with the rate expression of Michaelis-Menten type. Cu(II)–PVA complex was found to have a large catalytic activity, while the polymeric PVA ligand and copper(II) ion exhibited less activity than Cu(II)–PVA complex. For hydrogen peroxide decomposition, Cu(II)–PVA complex showed catalytic activity when a stable complex of planar structure formed, while many other polymer complexes reported by other authors showed the catalytic activity when they were in unstable complex forms. An amine substituent has a critical influence on the rate of hydrogen peroxide decomposition. The mechanism in the first step of reaction for hydrogen peroxide decomposition is discussed.     

An azonia derivative of hexahelicene

In 8a‐azonia­[6]­helicene hexa­fluoro­phos­phate or 8a‐azoniaphenanthro[3,4‐c]phen­an­threne hexa­fluoro­phos­phate, C₂₅H₁₆N⁺·PF₆⁻, replacement of an outer bridgehead carbon of hexahelicene by a quaternary Nsp² atom results in a geometrical change in the helical structure. The racemic heterohelicene forms homochiral columnar stacks through intermolecular π–π donor–acceptor interactions in the crystalline state.     

Analysis of Birefringence Compensation Using a Quarter-Wave Plate in Solid-State Lasers

Using Jones matrix formulation, the theoretical calculations of birefringence compensation technique for a quarter-wave plate scheme are presented. This scheme was proposed and experimentally demonstrated by W. A. Clarkson et al. (Opt. Lett. 24 (1999) 820). In the present paper we have theoretically confirmed that using this method, even in principle, complete compensation is not possible. However, it is shown quantitatively that this scheme does makes possible effective compensation for the birefringence in as few as several tens of watts of pumping power region, which is an attractive feature for laser-diode (LD) pumped solid-state laser systems. We also found good agreement between our theoretical calculations and experimental results obtained by W. A. Clarkson et al. For example, from the analysis we show that only < 0.1% loss will be generated by about 10 W of heat deposited in the rod. This corresponds to about 30 W of LD pump power, which may generate from 6 to 10 W output power depending upon the conversion efficiency of type lasers     

An efficient carbapenem synthesis via an intramolecular Wittig reaction of new trialkoxyphosphorane-thiolesters

New trialkoxyphosphorane-thiolesters 10, obtained by reaction of oxalimides 9 with trialkyl phosphite, were efficiently cyclized by an intramolecular Wittig reaction to give carbapenems 11.     

Jet-type, water-cooled heat sink that yields 255-W continuous-wave laser output at 808 nm from a 1-cm laser diode bar

A newly designed jet-type, water-cooled heat sink (the funryu heat sink, meaning fountain flow in Japanese) yielded 255-W cw laser output at 808 nm from a 1-cm bar made from InGaAsP/InGaP quantum-well active layers with a 67% fill factor [70 quantum-well laser diode (LD) array along the 1-cm bar]. A funryu heat sink measuring 1.1 mm in thickness gave the LD 0.25 degrees C/W thermal resistance, one of the lowest values achieved with a 1-cm LD bar. Over a short period of operation, the device reached a maximum cw power of 255 W. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power ever achieved in 808-nm LD operation. In the future, the funryu heat sink may be capable of 80-W cw operation over an extended lifetime of several thousand hours.     

General route to 2-alkyl-2-butenolactones via the retro-Diels-Alder reaction

Various 2-alkyl-2-butenolactones were simply prepared from cyclopentadiene-maleic anhydride adducts through the retro-Diels-Alder reaction. The procedure was applied for the synthesis of dehydrolappaol A dimethyl ether.