A regioselective ω-epoxidation of polyisoprenoids by the sodium bromide promoted electrochemical oxidation

A regioselective ω-epoxidation of polyisoprenoids has been realized by the sodium bromide promoted electrochemical oxidation in a mixed solvent (MeCN-THF-H₂O).     

Anomalous magnetic behaviour and susceptibility maximum in CeSn3

Anomalous magnetic behaviour observed in one of cerium intermetallic compound, CeSn₃, is analysed in the spirit of the Fermi liquid model, by regarding even the 4f-electrons of cerium as itinerant. It is shown that the appearance of the broad peak of the susceptibility at about 150°K can be attributed to the T²1nT dependence of the susceptibility on temperature.     

Solvation Properties of Aliphatic Alcohol–Water and Fluorinated Alcohol–Water Solutions for Amide Molecules Studied by IR and NMR Techniques

Solvation properties of aliphatic alcohol–water and fluorinated alcohol–water solutions were probed by amide molecules as solutes using infrared (IR) and ¹H and ¹³C NMR techniques. These include four alcohols: ethanol (EtOH), 2-propanol (2-PrOH), 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) and three amides: N-methylformamide (NMF), N-methylacetamide (NMA) and N-methylpropionamide (NMP). The hydrogen bonds of the amide carbonyl oxygen with water are gradually weakened as the alcohol content increases. This decreases in the order of HFIP > TFE ≈ 2-PrOH > EtOH. In TFE– and HFIP–water solutions, the hydrogen bond between the amide amino hydrogen and water is also gradually broken with increasing x _A. This trend is more notable in the order of NMP > NMA > NMF. The hydrophobic moieties of the amide methyl and ethyl groups are solvated by the fluoroalkyl groups of fluorinated alcohols due to the hydrophobic interaction among them. Thus, the steric hindrance generated by the solvated alkyl group of amides promotes the breaking of the hydrogen bonds between amide and water.     

N,N-dimethylformamide-induced phase separation of hexafluoroisopropanol-water mixtures

We found that addition of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) induces phase separation of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP)-water mixtures. The phase diagram of a DMF-HFIP-water ternary system at 298 K showed that phase separation occurs in a closed-loop area in the water-rich mole fraction range of x(H(2)O) > ～0.4. To clarify the mechanism of DMF-induced phase separation of DMF-HFIP-water mixtures at the molecular level, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and (1)H and (13)C NMR measurements were conducted on the mixtures with varying DMF concentrations along a volume ratio of HFIP to water of 1?:?1 (x(S)(HFIP) = 0.147). Additionally, the solvation structure of DMF in water and HFIP-water mixtures was elucidated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The SANS results revealed that the inherent heterogeneity of HFIP-water mixtures is increased with increasing DMF concentration toward the lower phase separation concentration, but decreased when the DMF concentration further increased beyond the upper phase separation one. (1)H and (13)C NMR measurements and MD simulations suggested that preferential solvation of the hydrophobic moiety of DMF by HFIP is the main driver of the phase behaviour of the DMF-HFIP-water system.     

Polysulfone Functionalized With Phosphonated Poly(pentafluorostyrene) Grafts for Potential Fuel Cell Applications

A multi‐step synthetic strategy to polysulfone (PSU) grafted with phosphonated poly(pentafluorostyrene) (PFS) is developed. It involves controlled radical polymerization resulting in alkyne‐end functional PFS. The next step is the modification of PSU with a number of azide side groups. The grafting of PFS onto PSU backbone is performed via the “click”‐chemistry approach. In a final step, the PFS‐grafts are subjected to the post phosphonation. The copolymers are evaluated as membranes for potential fuel cell applications through thermal analyses, water uptake, and conductivity measurements. The proposed synthetic route opens the possibility to tune copolymers’ hydrophilic–hydrophobic balance to obtain membranes with an optimal balance between proton conductivity and mechanical properties.     

Amide-induced phase separation of hexafluoroisopropanol-water mixtures depending on the hydrophobicity of amides

Amide-induced phase separation of hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP)-water mixtures has been investigated to elucidate solvation properties of the mixtures by means of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), (1)H and (13)C NMR, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The amides included N-methylformamide (NMF), N-methylacetamide (NMA), and N-methylpropionamide (NMP). The phase diagrams of amide-HFIP-water ternary systems at 298 K showed that phase separation occurs in a closed-loop area of compositions as well as an N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) system previously reported. The phase separation area becomes wider as the hydrophobicity of amides increases in the order of NMF < NMA < DMF < NMP. Thus, the evolution of HFIP clusters around amides due to the hydrophobic interaction gives rise to phase separation of the mixtures. In contrast, the disruption of HFIP clusters causes the recovery of the homogeneity of the ternary systems. The present results showed that HFIP clusters are evolved with increasing amide content to the lower phase separation concentration in the same mechanism among the four amide systems. However, the disruption of HFIP clusters in the NMP and DMF systems with further increasing amide content to the upper phase separation concentration occurs in a different way from those in the NMF and NMA systems.     

Electric polarization memory effect in a magnetoelectric multiferroic CuFe1−xGaxO2

Magnetic oxide CuFeO₂ is a magnetoelectric multiferroic with new type of spin–polarization coupling different from that in the spin-current mechanism, where magnetic field-induced or nonmagnetic impurity-induced proper helical magnetic ordering generates a spontaneous electric polarization parallel to the helical axis. Using a CuFe_1−xGa_xO₂ sample with x=0.035, in which the single ferroelectric phase is realized below T_N8 K in zero magnetic field unlike CuFe_1−xAl_xO₂, we have performed pyroelectric current, thermally stimulated current (TSC) and polarized neutron diffraction measurements to study a memory effect that the electric polarization is partially preserved even for 2nd-cooling from above T_N without poling electric field. It was found that the charge trapped during 1st-cooling with poling electric field, which is released as TSC on heating, plays an important role in the memory effect.     

2‐Pyridone–tartronic acid (1/1), 3‐hydroxy­pyridinium hydrogen tartronate and 4‐hydroxy­pyridinium hydrogen tartronate

Tartronic acid forms a hydrogen‐bonded complex, C₅H₅NO·C₃H₄O₅, (I), with 2‐pyridone, while it forms acid salts, namely 3‐hydroxy­pyridinium hydrogen tartronate, (II), and 4‐hy­droxy­pyridinium hydrogen tartronate, (III), both C₅H₆NO⁺·C₃H₃O₅⁻, with 3‐hydroxy­pyridine and 4‐hydroxy­pyridine, respectively. In (I), the pyridone mol­ecules and the acid mol­ecules form R(8) and R(10) hydrogen‐bonded rings, respectively, around the inversion centres. In (II) and (III), the cations and anions are linked by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form a hydrogen‐bonded chain. In each of (I), (II) and (III), an intermolecular hydrogen bond is formed between a carboxyl group and the hydroxyl group attached to the central C atom, and in (I), the hydroxyl group participates in an intramolecular hydrogen bond with a carbonyl group. No intermolecular hydrogen bond is formed between the carboxyl groups in (I), or between the carboxyl and carboxyl­ate groups in (II) and (III).     

Theoretical Study on the Relationship between Diradical Character and Second Hyperpolarizabilities of Four‐Membered‐Ring Diradicals Involving Heavy Main‐Group Elements

By using spin‐unrestricted density functional theory methods, the relationship between the diradical character y and the second hyperpolarizability γ (the third‐order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties at the molecular scale) for four‐membered‐ring diradical compounds, that is, cyclobutane‐1,3‐diyl, Niecke‐type diradicals, and Bertrand‐type diradicals, were investigated by focusing on the substitution effects of heavy main‐group elements as well as of donor/acceptor groups on the y and γ values. It has been found that i) γ is enhanced in the intermediate y region for these four‐membered‐ring diradicals, ii) Niecke‐type diradicals with intermediate y values, which are realized by tuning the combination of the main‐group elements involved, exhibit larger γ values than Bertrand‐type diradicals, and iii) the y value and thus γ value can be controlled by modifying the both‐end donor/acceptor substituents attached to carbon atoms in Nicke‐type C₂P₂ diradicals. These results demonstrate that four‐membered‐ring diradicals involving heavy main‐group elements exhibit high controllability of the y and γ, which indicates the potential applications of four‐membered‐ring diradicals as a building block of highly efficient open‐shell NLO materials.     

Application of selective 13C?{1H} nuclear overhauser effects with low-power 1H irradiation in carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy

The feasibility of the application of selective ¹³C? {¹H} nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) measurements to organic structural analysis in ¹³C NMR spectroscopy has been investigated at 25 MHz using citraconic anhydride and the methyl ester of pentalenolactone as model compounds. This selective ¹³C? {¹H} NOE technique with single frequency low-power ¹H irradiation should find wide application in the structural elucidation of organic compounds, especially for the reliable assignment of quaternary carbon signals.