Effect of structural change in viologen acceptors on the rate of single electron transfer from tributylphosphine

The "flexible" 3 and "rigid" cyclic viologens 4, diquarternary salts of 2,2'-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline, respectively, were treated with tributylphosphine (1) in acetonitrile containing a large amount of methanol under an argon atmosphere. A single electron transfer (SET) easily occurred from the latter to the former, the SET to 4 being 10(5)-10(6) times faster than the SET to 3. The reorganization energy lambda for the latter SET is thought to be larger than that for the former SET, because 3 undergoes a structural change upon the one-electron reduction to its radical cation, whereas the one-electron reduction of 4 takes place without a structural change. Taking into account the difference in lambda, and also taking into account the bond formation energy brought about by the follow-up reaction of the phosphine radical cation 1*(+) with methanol, the observed kinetics were well interpreted in terms of the Marcus theory.     

New procedure to mask the 2,3-pi bond of the indole nucleus and its application to the preparation of potent opioid receptor agonists with a Corynanthe skeleton

Treatment of indole alkaloids with hypervalent iodine in the presence of ethylene glycol provides 2,3-ethylene glycol bridged adducts that could be converted into the original indoles under mild reductive conditions. This procedure, which involves masking of the reactivity of the indole nucleus at the beta-position, was utilized for the modification of the benzene ring of the indoline derivative and was applied to the preparation of potent opioid receptor agonists with the Corynanthe skeleton. [reaction: see text]     

New method for in-situ observation of moving dislocations in KCl crystal using laser-light scattering

Abstract

The dislocations moving on slip planes in a KCl single crystal under an applied load were observed successfully by a 90° angle light scattering method using a high-power Ar-ion laser (2W for a wavelength of 514 nm). The photographs of stationary dislocations were taken by an scanning type optical microscope. The image of such dislocations was very sharp and uniform compared with that of grown-in dislocations. The dynamic behavior of moving dislocations was observed by an image intensifier to intensify the scattered light from dislocations. The motion of dislocations was jerkey under a constant load in almost all cases.     

Exotic Baryons from a Heavy Meson and a Nucleon

We study hadronic molecules formed by a heavy meson and a nucleon respecting heavy quark symmetry. It is shown that the tensor force plays a dominant role to yield a strong attraction in this system.     

N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Catalyzed Concerted Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution of Aryl Fluorides Bearing α,β‐Unsaturated Amides

Concerted nucleophilic aromatic substitution (CS_NAr) has emerged as a powerful mechanistic manifold, in which nucleophilic aromatic substitution can proceed in one step without the need to form a Meisenheimer intermediate. However, all of the CS_NAr reactions reported thus far require a stoichiometric strong base or activating reagent, and no catalytic variants have yet been reported. Herein, we report an N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of acrylamides that contain a 2‐fluorophenyl group on the nitrogen through a CS_NAr reaction. By using this catalytic method, it is possible to synthesize an array of quinolin‐2‐one derivatives, which are common structural motifs in pharmaceuticals and organic materials. DFT calculations unambiguously revealed that this reaction proceeds through the concerted nucleophilic aromatic substitution of aryl fluorides, in which a stereoelectronic σ (C_ipso‐C_β)→ σ*(C_ipso‐F) interaction critically contributes to the stabilization of the transition state for the cyclization.     

Electronic absorption and emission spectra of Alq3 in solution with special attention to a delayed fluorescence

Tris(8-quinolinolato)aluminum(III) (Alq₃) shows electronic absorption bands at 378, 360 (in a 1:1 mixed solvent of methanol and ethanol (ME) at 77 K), 334, 316, 300, 263, 255.8, and 233 nm in ethanol at room temperature. According to the polarized fluorescence excitation spectrum together with MO calculations, for instance, the 360 nm band is assigned to an LL CT transition (an intramolecular charge transfer transition between two ligands), and the 378 nm band to an LM/ML CT one (an intramolecular charge transfer transition between ligand and metal). Alq₃ shows a broad fluorescence band peaking at around 478 nm in the ME matrix at 77 K. The emission spectrum measured with a phosphoroscope has two emission bands at 567 and 478 nm. The 567 nm band accompanies vibronic bands at 578 and 605 nm, being safely assigned to a phosphorescence of Alq₃. The lifetimes of the 478 and 567 nm bands are both 5.4 ms. The lifetime of the 478 nm band together with the band position and its band shape indicate that this band can be assigned to a delayed fluorescence.     

Simple and inexpensive method for cryopreservation of fish sperm combining straw and powdered dry ice

Here, we propose a simple and inexpensive method for fish sperm cryopreservation. Sperm samples of the loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Teleostei: Cobitidae) were diluted 7-fold by an extender containing 63.5 mM NaCl, 114 mM KCl, 20 mM Tris and 10% methanol. The cryogenic straws were placed in three kinds of self-made tubes which diameter was changed by commercially available materials and then immersed into powdered dry ice for 2 min and plunged into liquid nitrogen. This procedure resulted in a cooling rate at -421.4 +/- 119.84 (control), -55.8 +/- 4.32 (tube 1), -40.2 +/- 3.43 (tube 2) and -33.3 +/- 2.09 C/min (tube 3). In the slowest cooling rate by the tube 3, total motility (72 +/- 3 %), duration (146 +/- 12 s) and hatching rates (29 +/- 04 %) were higher than those by other rates. Progressive motility (83 +/- 5 %) did not differ significantly from fresh samples.     

Reductive coupling of hydantoins with benzophenones by low-valent titanium: Synthesis of 4-substituted 1H-imidazol-2(3H)-ones and unusual two-to-two coupled products

The reductive coupling of 1,3-dimethyhydantoin with benzophenones by TiCl₄-Zn in THF gave 4-diarylmethyl-1H-imidazol-2(3H)-ones as four-electron reduced one-to-one coupled products and their dimers as two-to-two coupled products predominantly by controlling the reaction conditions. The reductive coupling of 5-alkyl-1,3-dimethyhydantoins with benzophenones produced 5-alkyl-4-diarylmethyl-1H-imidazol-2(3H)-ones as the sole products irrespective to the reaction conditions. On the other hand, the reductive coupling of 1,3-dimethyhydantoin with cyclic benzophenones selectively 4-arylhydroxymethyl-1H-imidazol-2(3H)-ones as two-electron reduced one-to-one coupled products and they were further reduced to 4-diarylmethyl-1H-imidazol-2(3H)-ones.