Hydrogen evolution from water by use of viologen polymers as electron transfer catalyst

The behavior of viologen polymer (P-V²⁺) as an electron transfer catalyst in the reaction of hydrogen generation was studied. In the photoirradiation system, which contains triethanolamine (TEA), Ru(bpy)³⁺₃, and P-V²⁺, the amount of hydrogen evolution was less than methyl viologen (MV²⁺); P-V²⁺, however, was more effective in sodium dithionite as the electron donor and showed higher initial rates than MV²⁺.     

Proposed mechanism for the reaction catalyzed by a diterpene cyclase,aphidicolan-16beta-ol synthase: experimental results on biomimetic cyclization and examination of the cyclization pathway by ab initio calculations

To examine the mechanism of the cyclization reaction catalyzed by aphidicolan-16beta-ol synthase (ACS), which is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of diterpene aphidicolin, a specific inhibitor of DNA polymerase alpha, skeletal rearrangement of 2a and biomimetic cyclization of 4b were employed. The structures of the reaction products, which reflect penultimate cation intermediates, allowed us to propose a detailed reaction pathway for the Lewis acid-catalyzed cyclizations and rearrangements. Isolation of these products in an aphidicolin-producing fungus led us to speculate that the mechanism of the ACS-catalyzed cyclization reaction is the same as that of a nonenzymatic reaction. Ab initio calculations of the acid-catalyzed reaction intermediates and the transition states indicate that the overall reaction catalyzed by ACS is an exothermic process though the reaction proceeds via an energetically disfavored secondary cation-like transition state. In conjunction with the solvent effect in the acid-catalyzed reactions, this indicates that the actual role of ACS is to provide a template which enforces conformations of the intermediate cations leading to the productive cyclization although it has been believed that the cation-pi interaction between cation intermediates and aromatic amino acid residues in the active site is important for the enzymatic catalysis. This study provided important information on the role of various cationic species, especially secondary cation-like structures, in both nonenzymatic and enzymatic reactions.     

Donor–acceptor–acceptor-type near-infrared fluorophores that contain dithienophosphole oxide and boryl groups: effect of the boryl group on the nonradiative decay

The use of donor–π–acceptor (D–π–A) skeletons is an effective strategy for the design of fluorophores with red-shifted emission. In particular, the use of amino and boryl moieties as the electron-donating and -accepting groups, respectively, can produce dyes that exhibit high fluorescence and solvatochromism. Herein, we introduce a dithienophosphole P-oxide scaffold as an acceptor–spacer to produce a boryl- and amino-substituted donor–acceptor–acceptor (D–A–A) π-system. The thus obtained fluorophores exhibit emission in the near-infrared (NIR) region, while maintaining high fluorescence quantum yields even in polar solvents (e.g. λ_em = 704 nm and Φ_F = 0.69 in CH₃CN). A comparison of these compounds with their formyl- or cyano-substituted counterparts demonstrated the importance of the boryl group for generating intense emission. The differences among these electron-accepting substituents were examined in detail using theoretical calculations, which revealed the crucial role of the boryl group in lowering the nonradiative decay rate constant by decreasing the non-adiabatic coupling in the internal conversion process. The D–A–A framework was further fine-tuned to improve the photostability. One of these D–A–A dyes was successfully used in bioimaging to visualize the blood vessels of Japanese medaka larvae and mouse brain.

Combination of electron-accepting diarylboryl terminal groups and dithienophosphole oxide spacers with electron-donating triarylamine moieties produces donor–acceptor–acceptor type π-systems, which exhibit emissions in the near-infrared region.     

Fabrication of polymer Langmuir-Blodgett films containing regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) for application to field-effect transistor

Semiconducting thin films consisting of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RR-PHT) and poly(N-dodecylacrylamide) (pDDA) were constructed by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. A mixture of RR-PHT and pDDA spread from a chloroform solution on a water surface forms a stable monolayer, which can be transferred onto solid substrates by the LB method, yielding a well-defined polymer LB film. Surface morphology studies of the LB film indicate that the RR-PHT is dispersed uniformly throughout the surface. The polymer thin film was chemically doped by contacting with FeCl3 acetonitrile solution, and a conductivity of 5.6 S/cm was achieved. Further, the LB film was utilized as the semiconducting film in the field-effect transistor (FET), and mobilities of 2.2 x 10(-4) and 4.4 x 10(-4) cm2 V(-1) s(-1) were obtained by analyzing the saturated and linear regions of the current-voltage characteristic, respectively.     

Emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene by radiation. I. Effects of reaction conditions on the polymerization rate and polymer molecular weight

The radiation-induced emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene was carried out at an initial pressure of 2–25 kg/cm², temperature of 30–110°C, and under a dose rate of 0.57 × 10⁴?3.0 × 10⁴ rad/hr. The rate of polymerization was shown to be proportional to 1.0 and 1.3 powers of the dose rate and initial pressure, respectively, and is maximal at about 70°C. The molecular weight of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) lies in the range of 10⁵?10⁶, increases with reaction time in the early stage of polymerization, and is maximal at 70°C but is almost independent of the dose rate. An interesting discovery is that PTFE, a hydrophobic polymer, forms as a stable latex in the absence of emulsifier. When PTFE latex coagulates during polymerization under certain conditions, the polymerization rate decreases, probably because polymerization proceeds mainly on the polymer particle surface. The observed rate acceleration and successive increase in polymer molecular weight may be due to slow termination of propagating radicals in the rigid PTFE particles.     

Synthesis of [5'-13C]ribonucleosides and 2'-deoxy[5'-13C]ribonucleosides

The present efficient synthesis of [5'-13C]ribonucleosides and 2'-deoxy[5'-13C]ribonucleosides is characterized by the synthesis of the D-[5-13C]ribose derivative as an intermediate via the Wittig reaction of 4-aldehydo-D-erythrose dialkyl acetals with Ph3P13CH3I-BuLi to introduce the 13C label at the 5-position of a pentose. This was followed by the highly diastereoselective osmium dihydroxylation for the preparation of 2,3-di-O-benzyl-D-[5-13C]ribose dialkyl acetal and the cyclization from D-[5-13C]ribose dialkyl acetal derivatives to the alkyl D-[5-13C]ribofuranoside derivative by the use of LiBF(4). The obtained D-[5-13C]ribose derivative was converted into [5'-13C]ribonucleosides and subsequently into the corresponding 2'-deoxynucleosides.     

1H-NMR Relaxation of Water Molecules in the Aqueous Microcrystalline Cellulose Suspension Systems and Their Viscosity

An intensive study for aqueous microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) suspensions was carried out in view of the relationship between a viscosity and a 1H spin-spin relaxation time (T2) of water. An investigation was carried out for four suspension systems with the different particle size distributions. The proton mole ratio () of bound water against MCC particles and T2 of bound water (T2,b) were evaluated from the T2 values obtained by Carr-Purcell- Meiboom-Gill (C.P.M.G) method and those by solid echo method, respectively. As a result of these analyses, the T2,b value for the aqueous MCC suspension was evaluated as 5 × 10–3 s and it was found that the system having a larger tended to show a higher viscosity. By relating the above results to the observation of the suspensions by an optical microscope, it was concluded that a network formed by MCC particles plays an important role in generating a high viscosity of MCC suspension, and that an averaged mobility of water molecules is sensitively affected by the network structure.     

Multiresolution quantum chemistry in multiwavelet bases: Hartree-Fock exchange

In a previous study we reported an efficient, accurate multiresolution solver for the Kohn-Sham self-consisitent field (KS-SCF) method for general polyatomic molecules. This study presents an efficient numerical algorithm to evalute Hartree-Fock (HF) exchange in the multiresolution SCF method to solve the HF equations. The algorithm employs fast integral convolution with the Poission kernel in the nonstandard form, screening the sparse multiwavelet representation to compute results of the integral operator only where required by the nonlocal exchange operator. Localized molecular obitals are used to attain near linear scaling. Results for atoms and molecules demonstrate reliable precision and speed. Calculations for small water clusters demonstrate a total cost to compute the HF exchange potential for all n(occ) occpuied MOs scaling as O(n(occ) (1.5)).     

Enantioselective carbanion cyclization of 5-alkenyl carbamates induced by asymmetric lithiation with s-butyllithium/(−)-sparteine system

Treatment of (E)-6-phenyl-5-hexenyl carbamates with s-BuLi/(−)-sparteine is shown to afford the trans-1,2-disubstituted cyclopentane derivatives in high % ee, along with the bicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes (bicyclization products).     

Living cationic ring-opening polymerization by water-stable initiator: synthesis of a well-defined optically active polythiourethane

Living cationic ring-opening polymerization under air and water was achieved using a well-defined water-resistant cationic initiator in dichloromethane without purification at ambient temperature.