Effects of Thermal Annealing Upon the Nanomorphology of Poly(3‐hexylselenophene)‐PCBM Blends

Grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction (GI‐XRD) is used to characterize the crystallographic dynamics of low molecular weight (LMW) and high molecular weight (HMW) poly(3‐hexylselenophene) (P3HS) films and blend films of P3HS with [6‐6‐]‐phenyl‐C₆₁‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) as a function of ‘step‐by‐step’ thermal annealing, from room temperature to 250 °C. The temperature‐dependent GIXRD data show how the melting point of P3HS crystallites is decreased by the presence of PCBM. P3HS crystallite domain sizes dramatically increase upon annealing to the P3HS melting temperature. The formation of well‐oriented HMW P3HS crystallites with the (100) plane parallel to the substrate (edge‐on orientation), when cooled from melt, are observed. We compare the behaviour of P3HS pure and blend films with that of poly(3‐hexyl)thiophene (P3HT) pure and PCBM blended films and suggest that the similar temperature dependent behaviour we observe may be a common to polythiophene and related polymers and their blends.

     

A combined experimental and theoretical approach for structural study on a new cinnamoyl derivative of 2-acetyl-1,3-indandione and its metal(II) complexes

The synthesis, structure and spectral properties of a new cinnamoyl derivative of 2-acetyl-1,3-indandione (2AID), p-fluoro-cinnamoyl-1,3-indandione, LH and its metal(II) complexes with Cu(II), Zn(II) and Cd(II), are described. In order to verify the molecular structure of the free ligand and its metal complexes, model geometries based on the spectroscopic data were optimized using quantum chemical methods. The experimental spectroscopic data (IR and NMR) of the ligand, LH, complemented by the calculated ones, show that it exists in the exocyclic enolic form in the gas phase, solution and solid state. Good quality single crystals of Cd(II) complex were obtained from a DMSO solution and were studied by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The data show bidentate coordination of the ligand and two DMSO molecules coordinated to the metal centre, thus forming a complex with octahedral geometry. On the contrary, the spectroscopic data on the amorphous samples indicate a square planar geometry of the Cu(II) complex and distorted octahedral geometry for Zn(II) and Cd(II) complexes with two water molecules coordinated to the metal centre. The used quantum chemical method for structure optimization of the transition metal complexes, B3LYP/LANL2DZ, shows very good agreement with the crystallographic data and, therefore, was also employed for structural determination for the non-crystalline complexes. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Proton and metal binding by cyclen-based highly rigid cryptands

The basicity properties of the two cryptands L1 and L2, featuring, respectively, a dibenzofuran or a diphenyl ether moiety bridging the 1,7 positions of a 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane macrocycle (cyclen) have been studied by means of potentiometric, UV-vis and fluorescence emission measurements. Both ligands show a high basicity in the first protonation step, the first basicity constant of L1 being too high to be measured in aqueous solution. The crystal structure of {[HL1]L1}(+) shows that the NH(2)(+) group is involved in an intramolecular hydrogen bonding network, which justifies the observed high basicity in solution. (1)H, (13)C NMR, UV-vis and fluorescence emission measurements show that, among first row divalent metal cations, both L1 and L2 selectively bind in acetonitrile Cu(II) and Zn(II), which are encapsulated within the ligand cavities. Zn(II) coordination is accompanied by a remarkable increase of the fluorescence emission of the ligands, pointing out that the molecular architecture displayed by L1 and L2 can be used to develop new OFF/ON chemosensors for this metal cation.     

Recent advances and applications of iridium-catalysed asymmetric allylic substitution

Since their discovery in 1997, iridium-catalysed asymmetric allylic substitutions have been developed into a broadly applicable tool for the synthesis of chiral building blocks via C-C and C-heteroatom bond formation. The remarkable generality of these reactions and the high levels of regio- and enantioselectivity that are usually obtained in favour of the branched products have been made possible by a thorough investigation of the catalyst system and its mode of action. Therefore, today the Ir-catalysed asymmetric allylic substitution is a powerful reaction in the organic chemist's repertoire and has been used extensively for several applications. This article aims to provide an overview of the development of iridium catalysts derived from an Ir salt and a chiral phosphoramidite and their application to the enantioselective synthesis of natural products and biologically relevant compounds.     

Functionalization of titanium oxide surfaces by means of poly(alkyl-phosphonates)

The use of a multiple attachment sites strategy is considered in order to improve the stability of monomolecular adlayers. The hypothesis was tested in the case of PEG-ylated compounds carrying phosphonate groups, known for their affinity toward titanium oxide surfaces. As a result, a new class of co- and terpolymers were synthesized by free-radical polymerization of three different monomers: dialkyl(methacryloyloxyalkyl)phosphonates, PEG methyl ether methacrylate, and/or butyl methacrylate monomers. Adlayers were formed following a simple dip-and-rinse protocol using diluted aqueous polymer solutions and were characterized by evaluating their thicknesses with variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) and their elemental compositions with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The same techniques were used to determine changes of the adlayer as a function of exposure to electrolytes at different pH values and to monitor nonspecific protein adsorption upon serum exposures. The results indicated that the poly(alkyl-phosphonate)-based adlayers combine multiple site attachment of phosphonic groups and presentation of PEG side chains to the aqueous environment, resulting in both improved stability over a wide pH range in comparison to the tested reference surfaces and excellent resistance to protein adsorption when exposed to full human serum.     

Coordination features of a terpyridine-containing polyamine receptor. Effect of protonation on the photophysical properties of the complexes

The synthesis of the new terpyridine-containing macrocycle 2,6,10,14-tetraaza[15](6,6')cyclo(2,2':6',2')terpyridinophane (L) is reported. The ligand contains a tetraamine chain linking the 6,6' positions of a terpyridine unit. A potentiometric, (1)H NMR, UV-vis spectrophotometric and fluorescence emission study on the basicity properties of in aqueous solutions shows that the first four protonation steps occur on the polyamine chain, while the terpyridine nitrogens are involved in proton binding only in the last protonation step at strongly acidic pH values. Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) complexation was studied in aqueous solution by means of potentiometric, spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric measurements. Cu(II) and Zn(II) can form both mono- and dinuclear complexes in solution, while the larger Cd(II) and Pb(II) give only mononuclear complexes. In the [ML](2+) complexes (M = Zn(II) or Cd(II)) the metal is unequivocally bound to the terpyridine unit. Some amine groups are not coordinated and can quench the fluorescence emission of the terpyridine unit thanks to an electron transfer process. Protonation of the unbound amine groups inhibits the eT process, affording fluorescent [MLH(x)]((2+x)+) complexes.     

Born effective charge reversal and metallic threshold state at a band insulator-Mott insulator transition

We study the quantum phase transition between a band (“ionic”) insulator and a Mott-Hubbard insulator, realized at a critical value in a bipartite Hubbard model with two inequivalent sites, whose on-site energies differ by an offset . The study is carried out both in D=1 and D=2 (square and honeycomb lattices), using exact Lanczos diagonalization, finite-size scaling, and Berry's phase calculations of the polarization. The Born effective charge jump from positive infinity to negative infinity previously discovered in D=1 by Resta and Sorella is confirmed to be directly connected with the transition from the band insulator to the Mott insulating state, in agreement with recent work of Ortiz et al. In addition, symmetry is analysed, and the transition is found to be associated with a reversal of inversion symmetry in the ground state, of magnetic origin. We also study the D=1 excitation spectrum by Lanczos diagonalization and finite-size scaling. Not only the spin gap closes at the transition, consistent with the magnetic nature of the Mott state, but also the charge gap closes, so that the intermediate state between the two insulators appears to be metallic. This finding, rationalized within Hartree-Fock as due to a sign change of the effective on-site energy offset for the minority spin electrons, underlines the profound difference between the two insulators. The band-to-Mott insulator transition is also studied and found in the same model in D=2. There too we find an associated, although weaker, polarization anomaly, with some differences between square and honeycomb lattices. The honeycomb lattice, which does not possess an inversion symmetry, is used to demonstrate the possibility of an inverted piezoelectric effect in this kind of ionic Mott insulator. Received 21 May 1999     

Disordered flat phase separation of the Lennard-Jones fcc(111) surface

Recent lattice model calculations have suggested that a full-layered crystal surface may undergo, under canonical (particle-conserving) conditions, a preroughening-driven two-dimensional phase separation into two disordered flat regions, of opposite order parameter. We have carried out extensive classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the Lennard-Jones fcc(111) surface, to check whether these predictions are relevant or not for a realistic continuous system. Very long simulation times, a grid of temperatures from to T_m, and unusually large system sizes are employed to ensure full equilibrium and good statistics. By examining layer-by-layer occupancies, height fluctuations, sublattice order parameter and X-ray structure factors, we find a clear anomaly at 0.83T_m. The anomaly is distinct from roughening (whose incipiency is also detected at 0.94T_m), and is seen to be consistent with the preroughening plus phase separation scenario.     

Straightforward Synthesis of (R,S)-β-Methyleneaspartic Acid, an Inhibitor of Glutamate-Aspartate Transaminase

Summary. A Baylis-Hillman adduct of methyl acrylate and ethyl glyoxalate was converted into the trichloroacetimidate that in the presence of DABCO rearranged to the corresponding trichloroacetamide. Eventually, hydrolysis under acidic conditions, led to the hydrochloride of racemic β-methyleneaspartic acid.     

Indication for a novel phase in the quantum paraelectric regime of SrTiO3

Electron paramagnetic resonance of Fe³⁺ gives evidence for a phase-transition-like feature in SrTiO₃ belowT _q =37±1 K, both in the tetragonal and the pressure-induced trigonal phase. In the latter,T _q shifts to lower temperatures as a function of uniaxial stressp ₁₁₁. The new phenomenon is very tentatively discussed in terms of a possible transition to a novel coherent quantum state.