A Solid‐State Fluorescent Host System with a 21‐Helical Column Consisting of Chiral (1R,2S)‐2‐Amino‐1,2‐diphenylethanol and Fluorescent 1‐Pyrenecarboxylic Acid

A solid‐state fluorescent host system was created by self‐assembly of a 2₁‐helical columnar organic fluorophore composed of (1R,2S)‐2‐amino‐1,2‐diphenylethanol and fluorescent 1‐pyrenecarboxylic acid. This host system has a characteristic 2₁‐helical columnar hydrogen‐ and ionic‐bonded network. Channel‐like cavities are formed by self‐assembly of this column, and various guest molecules can be included by tuning the packing of this column. Moreover, the solid‐state fluorescence of this host system can change according to the included guest molecules. This occurs because of the change in the relative arrangement of the pyrene rings as they adjust to the tuning of the packing of the shared 2₁‐helical column, according to the size of the included guest molecules. Therefore, this host system can recognize slight differences in molecular size and shape.     

Formation of supramolecular polymers and discrete dimers of perylene bisimide dyes based on melamine-cyanurates hydrogen-bonding interactions

Melamine-linked perylene bisimide dyes (MPBIs) bearing an ethylene or trimethylene group as linker moieties were synthesized, and their self-aggregation and coaggregation with cyanurates through complementary triple hydrogen bonds have been investigated. UV/vis studies revealed that both the MPBIs self-assemble in nonpolar organic solvent through pi-pi stacking interaction between perylene cores, giving self-aggregates with nearly identical thermal stabilities. Upon addition of 1 equiv of cyanurate components, however, the stabilities of the resulting aggregates were dramatically changed between the two systems, suggesting the formation of different types of hydrogen-bonded supramolecular species. Dynamic light scattering and atomic force microscopic studies revealed that the system featuring ethylene linker moieties generates a discrete dimer of MPBI supported by two cyanurate molecules, whereas the system featuring trimethylene linker moieties affords extended supramolecular polymers hierarchically organizing into nanoscopic fibers. These results demonstrate that it is possible to obtain distinct supramolecular species by just changing the number of carbon atoms at the linker moieties of MPBI components. The present strategy for the fabrication of discrete or polymeric supramolecular assemblies should be applicable to other functional pi-conjugated molecules.     

Palladium-Catalyzed Skeletal Rearrangement of Substituted 2-Silylaryl Triflates via 1,5-C−Pd/C−Si Bond Exchange

A palladium-catalyzed skeletal rearrangement of 2-(2-allylarylsilyl)aryl triflates has been developed to give highly fused tetrahydrophenanthrosilole derivatives via unprecedented 1,5-C−Pd/C−Si bond exchange. The reaction pathways can be switched toward 4-membered ring-forming C(sp²)−H alkylation by tuning the reaction conditions to give completely different products, fused dihydrodibenzosilepin derivatives, from the same starting materials. The inspection of the reaction conditions revealed the importance of carboxylates in promoting the C−Pd/C−Si bond exchange.     

Rapid development of hydrophilicity and protein adsorption resistance by polymer surfaces bearing phosphorylcholine and naphthalene groups

In order to provide a protein adsorption resistant surface even when the surface was in contact with a protein solution under completely dry conditions, a new phospholipid copolymer, poly (2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC)- co-2-vinylnaphthalene (vN)) (PMvN), was synthesized. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) could be readily coated with PMvN by a solvent evaporation method. Dynamic contact angle measurements with water revealed that the surface was wetted very rapidly and had strong hydrophilic characteristics; moreover, molecular mobility at the surface was extremely low. When the surface came in contact with a plasma protein solution containing bovine serum albumin (BSA), the amounts of the plasma protein adsorbed on the dry surface coated with PMvN and that adsorbed on a dry surface coated with poly(MPC-co-n-butyl methacrylate) (PMB) were compared. Substantially lower protein adsorption was observed with PMvN coating. This is due to the rapid hydration behavior of PMvN. We concluded that PMvN can be used as a functional coating material for medical devices without any wetting pretreatment.     

Ligand-free Sonogashira coupling reactions with heterogeneous Pd/C as the catalyst

A variety of aryl iodides were coupled with aromatic and aliphatic terminal alkynes to give the corresponding 1,2-disubstituted aromatic alkynes in good yields by using only 0.4 mol % of the heterogeneous 10 % Pd/C as the catalyst without a ligand, copper salt, or amine in an aqueous medium.     

Enantioselective synthesis of silanol

An enantioselective nucleophilic substitution reaction of achiral dialkoxysilane has been developed. The reaction proceeds with efficient stereocontrol on the silicon chirality center to give the enantioenriched silyl ether, which can be converted to the silanol without loss of enantiopurity. We have analyzed the steric course of the reaction by using DFT calculations and propose a transition state model to explain the observed enantioselectivity.     

Photoactivation mechanism of orthovanadate-like (V=O)O3 species

The photoluminescence spectrum and action spectrum for the photooxidation of orthovanadate-like (V=O)O₃ species exhibiting photoluminescence at 520 nm indicate that the triplet excited state T₁ of the orthovanadate-like species, which is formed from the singlet excited states S₁ and S₂ by intersystem crossing, is directly involved in the photooxidation of cyclohexane into cyclohexanone in the presence of molecular oxygen.     

Asymmetric Induction by a Nitrogen 14N/15N Isotopomer in Conjunction with Asymmetric Autocatalysis

Chirality arising from isotope substitution, especially with atoms heavier than the hydrogen isotopes, is usually not considered a source of chirality in a chemical reaction. An N²,N²,N³,N³‐tetramethyl‐2,3‐butanediamine containing nitrogen (¹⁴N/¹⁵N) isotope chirality was synthesized and it was revealed that this isotopically chiral diamine compound acts as a chiral initiator for asymmetric autocatalysis.