Polymorphism in Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 (pz = pyrazolyl): impact of supramolecular structure on an iron(II) electronic spin-state crossover

The new ligands Na[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Rpz)3] (R = H, Me) have been prepared by converting I2C6H4 to IC6H4SiMe3 with Li(t)Bu and SiMe3Cl, and then to IC6H4BBr2 with BBr3 and subsequent reaction with 3 equiv of (un)substituted pyrazole and 1 equiv of NaO(t)Bu. These new ligands react with FeBr2 to give either purple, low-spin Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(pz)3]2 or colorless, high-spin Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2. Depending upon the crystallization conditions, Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 can exist both as two polymorphs and as a methylene chloride solvate. An examination of these polymorphs by variable-temperature X-ray crystallography, magnetic susceptibility, and Mossbauer spectroscopy has revealed different electronic spin-state crossover properties for each polymorph and yields insight into the influence of crystal packing, independent of other electronic perturbations, on the spin-state crossover. The first polymorph of Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 has a highly organized three-dimensional supramolecular structure and does not undergo a spin-state crossover upon cooling to 4 K. The second polymorph of Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 has a stacked two-dimensional supramolecular structure, a structure that is clearly less well organized than that of the first polymorph, and undergoes an abrupt iron(II) spin-state crossover from high spin to low spin upon cooling below ca. 130 K. The crystal structure of the methylene chloride solvate of Fe[(p-IC6H4)B(3-Mepz)3]2 has a similar stacked two-dimensional supramolecular structure, but the crystals readily lose the solvate. The resulting desolvate undergoes a gradual spin-state crossover to the low-spin state upon cooling below ca. 235 K. It is clear from a comparison of the structures that the long-range solid-state organization of the molecules, which is controlled by noncovalent supramolecular interactions, has a strong impact upon the spin-state crossover, with the more highly organized structures having lower spin-crossover temperatures and more abrupt spin-crossover behavior.     

An organophotocatalytic late-stage N–CH3 oxidation of trialkylamines to N-formamides with O2 in continuous flow

We report an organophotocatalytic, N–CH₃-selective oxidation of trialkylamines in continuous flow. Based on the 9,10-dicyanoanthracene (DCA) core, a new catalyst (DCAS) was designed with solubilizing groups for flow processing. This allowed O₂ to be harnessed as a sustainable oxidant for late-stage photocatalytic N–CH₃ oxidations of complex natural products and active pharmaceutical ingredients bearing functional groups not tolerated by previous methods. The organophotocatalytic gas–liquid flow process affords cleaner reactions than in batch mode, in short residence times of 13.5 min and productivities of up to 0.65 g per day. Spectroscopic and computational mechanistic studies showed that catalyst derivatization not only enhanced solubility of the new catalyst compared to poorly-soluble DCA, but profoundly diverted the photocatalytic mechanism from singlet electron transfer (SET) reductive quenching with amines toward energy transfer (E_nT) with O₂.

An N–CH₃-selective trialkylamine oxidation to N-formamides is reported in continuous flow using gaseous O₂. A novel, enhanced-solubility dicyanoanthracene organophotocatalyst switched the photochemical mechanism from electron to energy transfer.     

Visible photoluminescence in porous GaAs capped by GaAs

A typical porous structure with pores diameters ranging from 10 to 50 nm has been obtained by electrochemical etching of (1 0 0) heavily doped p-type GaAs substrate in HF solution. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) investigations of the porous GaAs (π-GaAs) reveal the presence of two PL bands, I₁ and I₂, located at 1.403 and 1.877 eV, respectively. After GaAs capping, the I₁ and I₂ PL bands exhibit opposite shift trends. However, the emission efficiency of these two bands is not strongly modified. Low temperature PL of capped porous GaAs versus injection levels shows that the I₁ PL band exhibits a red shift while the I₂ PL band exhibits a blue shift with increasing injection levels. The I₂ PL band intensity temperature dependence shows an anomalous behaviour and its energy location shows a blue shift as temperature increases. The observed PL bands act independently and are attributed to electron – hole recombination in porous GaAs and to the well-known quantum confinement effects in GaAs nanocrystallites. The I₂ PL band excitation power and temperature dependencies were explained by the filling effect of GaAs nanocrystallites energy states.     

GaAs(111)A/B surface orientation effects on electron density in normal and inverted pseudomorphic HEMTs

We present calculations of the two-dimensional electron density in a Si -doped AlGaAs/InGaAs/GaAs pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (P-HEMT), at low temperature, for three different growth directions (001) and (111)A/B. The calculations are made using a self-consistent resolution of Schrödinger and Poisson equations. The presence of a strong built-in piezoelectric field in (111)A/B growth directions causes changes of the confining potential shape and the carrier distribution in the InGaAs channel. We discuss the influence of GaAs substrate orientation on the conduction-band structure and thereafter on the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration in the channel. Our results show that the calculated 2DEG concentration in the normal P-HEMT structure grown on a (111)A GaAs substrate is significantly higher than those grown on (001) and (111)B GaAs substrates. We also note an increase of the average separation between the ionized donors and the carriers. On the other hand, the GaAs (111)B substrate orientation appears as inadequate for the type of structure (normal P-HEMT) on account of the charge-transfer reduction in the channel compared with the (001) orientation. In contrast, we demonstrate that the calculated 2DEG Si -doped GaAs/InGaAs/AlGaAs pseudomorphic inverted high electron mobility transistor (PI-HEMT) grown on aGaAs (111)B substrate is appreciably higher than that grown on (001) and afterwards an enhancement of the spatial separation between confined electrons in the channel and ionized dopants occurs. These effects might result in considerably improved devices of great interest regarding high electron mobility. PACS 73.20.Dx; 73.20.At; 73.90.+f; 73.63.Hs; 72.20.Dp     

Chiral 1,4-dihydropyridines. Synthesis and absolute configuration.

Addition of organometallics to chiral 3-pyridyl oxazolines gave high diastereoselectivity at the 4-position of the pyridine nucleus. Absolute configuration was determined by x-ray analysis.     

Pulsed laser saturation spectroscopy: Observation of power broadening by optical nutations

High-resolution saturation spectroscopy of atomic resonance lines with a pulsed tunable dye laser can be performed with a variable time delay between bleaching and probing. Measurements for the Na D₂ line reveal an anomalous time dependent power broadening which cannot be explained within a hole burning model, but is ascribed to a line splitting by optical nutations. The magnitude of the effect is in agreement with recent semiclassical calculations.     

Dry air effects on the copper oxides sensitive layers formation for ethanol vapor detection

The copper oxide films have been deposited by thermal evaporation and annealed under ambient air and dry air respectively, at different temperatures. The structural characteristics of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction. They showed the presences of two hydroxy-carbonate minerals of copper for annealing temperatures below 250 °C. Above this temperature the conductivity measurements during the annealing process, show a transition phase from metallic copper to copper oxides. The copper oxides sensitivity toward ethanol were performed using conductivity measurements at the working temperature of 200 °C. A decrease of conductivity was observed under ethanol vapor, showing the p-type semi-conducting characters of obtained copper oxide films. It was found that the sensing properties of copper oxide toward ethanol depend mainly on the annealing conditions. The best responses were obtained with copper layers annealed under dry air.     

Simulation of DNA electrophoresis through microstructures

The dependence of the mobility of DNA molecules through an hexagonal array of micropillars on their length and the applied electric field was investigated and it was found that mobility is a nonmonotonic function of their length. Results also revealed that the size dependence of the DNA mobility depends on the applied electric field and there is a crossover around E approximately 25 V/cm for the mobility of lambda-DNA and T4-DNA. These observations are explained in terms of the diffusion process inside the structure affected by the solvent and are modeled using the Langevin and its corresponding Fokker-Planck equations. The phenomenon is generalized under three regimes in a phase diagram relating the electric field and the DNA lengths. The model and the associated phase diagram described here provide an explanation for the conflicting results reported by previous authors (Han et al. on the one hand, and Duong et al. and Inatomi et al. on the other) about the dependence of mobility on the DNA size in lattices near or below the radius of gyration.     

Triphenylphosphine-Catalyzed,Novel, One-Pot,Multicomponent Synthesis of Functionalized β-Acetamido Carbonyls

An efficient triphenylphosphine-catalyzed synthesis of β-acetamido carbonyls via multicomponent reaction of aromatic aldehydes, enolizable ketones or β-keto esters, acid chlorides and acetonitrile at room temperature is described. The process is remarkably simple, environmentally benign, and uses Lewis base for the first time in such type of reaction.     

Performance analysis and development of a refrigeration cycle through various environmentally friendly refrigerants

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this study, a refrigeration cycle was simulated with different refrigerants in a petrochemical plant in Iran. Using Aspen HYSYS Software, necessary...