Chemical potentials in aqueous solutions of some ionic liquids with the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation

We determined the vapor pressures of aqueous solutions of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C 2mim])-based ionic liquids (IL) with counteranions, tetrafluoroborate (BF 4 (-)), trifluoromethanesulfonate (OTF (-)), and iodide (I (-)). Because in literature the evidence is accumulating and pointing to the fact that ionic liquid ions do not dissociate in aqueous media for the most of the concentration range, we analyzed the vapor pressure data on the basis of binary mixture, and the excess chemical potentials of each component were calculated. From these, the intermolecular interactions in terms of excess chemical potential and hence the concentration fluctuations were evaluated. Though any further discussion into the mixing schemes of the mixture awaits the excess partial molar enthalpy and hence the excess partial molar entropy data, the net interaction in terms of excess chemical potential indicates that the affinity of each IL is ranked in the descending order [C 2mim]I > [C 2mim]OTF > [C 2mim]BF 4. This is consistent with our earlier findings that [C 2mim] (+) is modestly amphiphilic with almost equal hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, I (-) is a hydrophile, and OTF (-) is amphiphilic, and BF 4 (-) is believed to be strongly hydrophobic.     

Synthetic studies on maitotoxin. 1. Stereoselective synthesis of the C'D'E'F'-ring system having a side chain

The stereoselective synthesis of the maitotoxin C'D'E'F'-ring system having a side chain has been accomplished through a convergent strategy. The key reactions include Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons coupling of the C'D'E'-ring and the side chain and subsequent construction of the F'-ring by silane reduction of dihydropyran.     

Structural insight into chain-length control and product specificity of pentaketide chromone synthase from Aloe arborescens

The crystal structures of a wild-type and a mutant PCS, a novel plant type III polyketide synthase from a medicinal plant, Aloe arborescens, were solved at 1.6 A resolution. The crystal structures revealed that the pentaketide-producing wild-type and the octaketide-producing M207G mutant shared almost the same overall folding, and that the large-to-small substitution dramatically increases the volume of the polyketide-elongation tunnel by opening a gate to two hidden pockets behind the active site of the enzyme. The chemically inert active site residue 207 thus controls the number of condensations of malonyl-CoA, solely depending on the steric bulk of the side chain. These findings not only provided insight into the polyketide formation reaction, but they also suggested strategies for the engineered biosynthesis of polyketides.     

Malycorins A--C, New lycopodium alkaloids from Lycopodium phlegmaria

A novel C(19)N-type Lycopodium alkaloid, malycorin A (1) consisting of a serratinane skeleton with 2-propanol unit has been isolated from the club moss Lycopodium phlegmaria, together with two new C(16)N-type alkaloids, malycorins B (2) and C (3), and the structures and relative stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data.     

Mechanical characteristics of hydrogenated natural rubber vulcanizates

Mechanical properties of partially hydrogenated natural rubber (HNR) vulcanizates were evaluated regarding their chemical structure and crystallizable nature of HNR, and are reported here, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. HNRs of three levels of hydrogenation (20.6, 29.0, and 40.6 mol%) were successfully prepared by the chemical modification of natural rubber (NR) latex using N₂H₄ and H₂O₂ as reagents, in a sufficient amount for preparing sulfur‐crosslinked samples to be subjected to mechanical and structural measurements. The three HNR vulcanizates were found to be crystallizable upon stretching; it is noted that even 40.6 mol% hydrogenation did not prevent HNR vulcanizates from crystallization upon stretching, while their onset strain of crystallization was higher than that of NR vulcanizate. The hysteresis loss and residual strain up to a stretching ratio of 2 for the HNR vulcanizates tended to become larger with the increase in the degree of the hydrogenation. Tensile and dynamic mechanical properties of 20.6 mol% hydrogenated HNR vulcanizate were comparable to those of NR vulcanizate. From differential scanning calorimetry and temperature dispersion of dynamic modulus or loss, the glass transition temperatures of HNR vulcanizates were found to be almost the same as that of NR vulcanizate, which is also notable. The thermal stability of HNR vulcanizates was better than that of NR vulcanizate. Thus, this chemical modification seems to give a promising NR derivative whose properties can be equivalent or even better than the mother polymer. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ultraviolet spectra of Mg in liquid helium

Emission and absorption spectra of Mg atoms implanted in liquid helium have been observed in the ultraviolet region. We have presented a model of exciplex formation of Mg-He₁₀ and found that this model is more suitable for understanding the dynamics in the 3s3p ¹P? 3s^2 1S3s3p^{\:1}P\rightarrow 3s^{2\:1}S transition than the bubble model.     

Long time evolution of collisionless shocks in laser produced counterstreaming plasmas

Long time evolution of collisionless shocks in laser-produced plasmas is discussed. By irradiating a double plane target a high Mach number collisionless shock has been observed in laser produced counterstreaming plasmas [Kuramitsu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 106, 175002 (2011)]. While in early time we observe the shock in front of one plane, which is irradiated with the laser, we observe another shock in front of the other plane in much later time than the first shock formation. These two shocks coexist and collide or merge with each other as time passes. This means that the upstream plasmas for the first and second shocks have to be provided from the second and first shock sides, respectively, i.e., both the first and second shock have to be collisionless. There are two major candidates to account for the long time evolution of the collisionless shocks. One is that the secondary plasmas at the planes can be continuously created by the plasmas from the other planes. Another is that the actual shock thickness is much thiner than the detection limit, as indicated by numerical simulations.