Photon‐Quantitative 6π‐Electrocyclization of a Diarylbenzo[b]thiophene in Polar Medium

The high reactivity of 6π‐electrocyclization in polar solvents has remained one of the important challenges for diarylethenes because of the emergence of a twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state at the excited state in such polar media, which usually quenches the photocyclization reaction. Herein we report on the preparation and highly efficient photocyclization of 2,3‐diarylbenzo[b]thiophenes with nonsymmetric side‐aryl units in a polar solvent. While the dithiazolylbenzo[b]thiophene showed a suppressed quantum yield of 6π‐electrocyclization of 54 % in methanol, the replacement of a thiazole unit with a thiophene ring led to a photon‐quantitative 6π‐cyclization reaction. The nonsymmetrical modification into the side‐aryl units was considered to enhance the CH/π interactions between side‐aryl units to support a photoreactive conformation in methanol. The stabilization of the photochromic reactive conformation is expected to suppress the formation of the TICT state at the excited state, leading to highly efficient photoreactivity.     

Temperature and Base Sequence Dependence of 2-Aminopurine Fluorescence Bands in Single- and Double-Stranded Oligodeoxynucleotides

Fluorescence excitation spectra of 2-aminopurine (2AP) incorporated into single-stranded DNA di- and trinucleotides, as well as into single- and double-stranded pentanucleotides, have been measured as a function of temperature from 5 to 65 °C. Spectral shifts have been precisely quantitated through difference spectroscopy and spectral fits. G(2AP)C and C(2AP)G oligonucleotides have relatively blue-shifted excitation spectra (especially the former) compared to the 2AP free base. The position of the excitation peak of 2AP free base is temperature independent, those of (2AP)T, G(2AP)C, C(2AP)G and TT(2AP)TT shift about 0.4 nm to the blue from 5 to 65 °C, though the spectra of the G-C-containing oligomers also change shape. The temperature dependence of the A(2AP)T spectral position is 2.5-times stronger, and just rises to that of the free base at high temperature. On the other hand, the decrease of yield with increasing temperature is smallest for A(2AP)T, even compared to the free base. The dominant effect when A neighbors 2AP appears to be temperature-dependent stacking with accompanying energy transfer, while in G- and C-containing trinucleotides a temperature-independent interaction keeps the 2AP excitation spectrum blue-shifted. The effect of double strand formation appears to be small compared to stacking interactions. These spectra can be useful in identifying base neighbors and structures of 2AP in unknown 2AP-labeled DNA.     

Generation and structure determination of 5,6‐bis(methylthio)‐4,7‐diethylbenzo[1,2,3]trithiole dication MBT(2+)

5,6‐Bis(methylthio)‐4,7‐diethylbenzo‐[1,2,3]‐trithiole [MBT] was oxidized with two equivalents of SbCl₅ to produce a dication, MBT(2+)ċ2SbCl, as a stable, dark‐brown solid. MBT(2+) was unexpectedly silent for ¹H‐NMR in CD₃CN, whereas it was active for ESR, suggesting that MBT(2+) is a triplet‐state dication MBT(2+)‐T. Meanwhile, treatment of 5‐ methylsulfinyl‐6‐methylthio‐4,7‐diethylbenzo[1,2,3]‐ trithiole [MBTMO] with D₂SO₄ produced MBT(2+), whose ¹H‐NMR gave no signals, whereas the solution is active for ESR. These results imply that MBT(2+) prepared from MBTMO is a triplet‐state dication, and a singlet‐state dication, MBT(2+)‐S, initially generated by acidification of MBTMO, isomerized to the triplet‐state dication, MBT(2+)‐T. Since MBT(2+)‐T is active for ESR at room temperature, two molecules of MBT(2+)‐T should form a spin pair in the solution with a sufficient distance between the two radical centers. The structures of MBT(2+)‐S and MBT(2+)‐T were optimized with the DFT method at the B3LYP6‐31G** level. The total energy difference between them was calculated to be 7.90 kcal/mol; MBT(2+)‐T was shown to be more stable than MBT(2+)‐S. A treatment of MBTMO with SbCl₅ gave a 1:1 complex. The structure of the complex was determined with X‐ray crystallography, which showed that the complex is the corresponding sulfonium salt, MBTMOċSbCl₅. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 16:111–222, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/hc.20078     

Molecular rearrangement induced by hydrogen co-adsorption: C2H4 on Pd(110)

The symmetry of low-coverage (0.1 ML) ethylene adsorbed on Pd(110) and the co-adsorption effect of hydrogen have been investigated by high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Ethylene adsorbs with π-bond character intact on both clean and H-covered Pd(110) with characteristic C–C stretching vibrational energies at 178 and 186 meV, respectively. The symmetry of the adsorbed ethylene, however, drastically changes upon the co-adsorption of hydrogen: the C–C axis which is tilted to the clean Pd(110) surface (C₁ symmetry) is rearranged such that it becomes parallel to the H-covered Pd(110) surface (C₂ symmetry).     

On the Existence of n-Harmonic Spheres

Using the bubbling argument of Sacks and Uhlenbeck, we prove the existence of n-harmonic maps from the n-sphere to Riemannian manifolds. An application is made to a problem concerning manifolds with strongly pth moment stable stochastic dynamical systems.     

Study on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Polylactic Acid by Endogenous Depolymerization Model

Enzymatic degradation of polylactic acid is studied experimentally and analytically. Gel permeation chromatography profiles obtained before and after the enzymatic degradation of polylactic acid (PLA) were introduced into the analysis based on a mathematical model. Previously developed techniques were successfully adapted to the analysis of an initial value problem consisting of an endogenous depolymerization model and an initial condition, and an inverse problem to determine the degradation rate for which the solution of the initial value problem also satisfies a final condition. Those problems were solved numerically and numerical results are introduced. Degradabilities of PLA and polyvinyl alcohol are compared.

     

Palladium-catalyzed 1,1-alkynylbromination of alkenes with alkynyl bromides

The palladium-catalyzed 1,1-alkynylbromination of terminal alkenes with a silyl-protected alkynyl bromide is reported. The method tolerates a diverse range of alkenes including vinylarenes, acrylates, and even electronically unbiased alkene derivatives to afford propargylic bromides regioselectively. Mechanistic studies and DFT calculations indicate that the 1,1-alkynylbromination reaction proceeds via the migration of the Pd center followed by the formation of a π-allenyl Pd intermediate, leading to the stereoselective reductive elimination of the C(sp³)–Br bond at the propargylic positon.

The first Pd-catalyzed 1,1-alkynylbromination of terminal alkenes using alkynyl bromides, which provides direct access to a variety of functionalized propargylic bromides without the need for an external brominating reagent, is reported.     

Tunable molecular magnetism in conjugated assembly of functional spin units

Molecular design and photoelectrochemically responsive functions of several redox‐tunable building blocks toward conjugated assembling were described. The viologen dimers and pyridylpyridinium dimers through π‐conjugated linkers showed multi‐step redox processes which were demonstrated electrochemically and photochemically. The 4,6‐pyrimidinylene and 3,6‐pyridazinylene linkers played an important role as effective mediators between two attached electrons in the two viologens or pyridinium groups. The latter pyridylpyridinium dimers and 3‐pyridylviologen have potential to coordinate various metal ions to give conjugated self‐assemblies.     

Structure and thermal/mechanical properties of poly(l-lactide)-clay blend

Organophilic montmorillonite was obtained by the reaction of montmorillonite (MON) and distearyldimethylammonium chloride (DSAC). The modified clay and poly(l-lactide), (PLLA), were solvent-cast blended using chloroform as cosolvent. The structure and properties of the PLLA-clay blends were investigated. Thermal measurements revealed that cold crystallization took place in the as-cast PLLA, and that the clay served as a nucleating agent. From small and wide-angle x-ray scattering measurements, it was found that silicate layers forming the clay could not be individually well dispersed in the PLLA-clay blends prepared by the solvent-cast method. In other words, the clay existed in the form of tactoids, which consist of several stacked silicate monolayers. However, these tactoids formed a remarkable geometrical structure in the blend films. That is, their surfaces lay almost parallel to the film surface, and were stacked with the insertion of PLLA crystalline lamellae in the thickness direction of the film. During the blend drawing process, fibrillation took place with the formation of plane-like voids developed on the plane parallel to the film surface. Furthermore, delamination of the silicate layers did not occur even under the application of a shearing force. Finally, Young's modulus of the blend increased with the addition of a small amount of the clay. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.