Ring-opening polymerization of cyclic carbonates by alcohol–acid catalyst

Ring-opening reactions of 1,3-dioxepan-2-one ( 1 ) and 1,3-dioxan- 2 -one (2) with several alcohols were examined. The reactions proceeded without trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in low conversions, while they proceeded smoothly with TFA to afford the ring-opened adducts and oligomers. Ring-opening polymerizations of 1 and 2 were also carried out by alcohol–acid catalysts to afford the corresponding polycarbonates (M _n = 2500−6800). The molecular weights increased with increase of the conversions of 1 and 2. The observed polymerization rates of 1 and 2 were determined as 24.4 × 10⁻⁶ and 0.8 × 10⁻⁶ s⁻¹, respectively. Mechanistic aspects were studied by NMR spectroscopy. The methylene protons α and β to the carbonate moieties shifted to lower fields in 0.06–0.11 ppm in the ¹H-NMR spectra by the addition of TFA. Downfield shifts of the carbonyl carbon signals of 1 and 2 were observed in 3.94–4.15 ppm in the ¹³C-NMR spectra. These results strongly suggest that the cyclic carbonates are activated by TFA. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. A Polym. Chem. 36: 2463–2471, 1998     

Stereospecific radical polymerization of fluoroalkyl acrylates

The free‐radical polymerization of 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl acrylate (TFEA), 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propyl acrylate (HFiPA) and perfluoro‐tert‐butyl acrylate (PFtBA) was carried out under various conditions and the stereostructure of the obtained polymers was investigated. Most polymerizations of the three monomers afforded polymers rich in diad syndiotacticity (r) in bulk or in solution; the r‐specificity was higher in the HFiPA and PFtBA polymerization than in the TFEA polymerization. Although the tacticity was nearly independent of reaction temperature during the polymerization of TFEA, the r‐specificity increased by lowering the reaction temperature during the polymerization of the other two monomers. The polymerization stereochemistry was also affected by the reaction solvents including toluene, tetrahydrofuran, and fluoroalcohols. It was noted that the stereochemistry of the polymerization of HFiPA and PFtBA also depended on the monomer concentration, and a lower monomer concentration led to a higher r‐specificity. By optimizing the aforementioned reaction conditions, the poly(HFiPA) having r = 81% (polymerization in tetrahydrofuran at −98 °C at [M]_o = 0.2M) and the poly(PFtBA) having r = 77% (polymerization in toluene at −78 °C at [M]_o = 0.2M) were obtained. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1024–1032, 2000     

Many-electron-wavepackets method

We present a computational scheme to study the dynamics of many-electrons in molecular systems by wavepackets method. Several approaches to calculation of nonlinear optical properties for molecules under time-independent or time-dependent external electric fields are presented. Some simple examples of one-dimensional two- or three-electron systems are demonstrated concretely. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to the validity of the many electron wavepackets (MEWP) method. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Nonadiabatic treatment of molecular systems by the wavepackets method

We have already developed the many-electron wavepackets (MEWP) method in order to study the dynamics and electronic structure of molecular systems. We extended the MEWP method to study the nonadiabatic effects and formulated a nonadiabatic molecular theory, where both electron and nucleus are treated equivalently. Then we applied our method to the isotope series of hydrogen molecule i.e., H₂, HD, and D₂, and calculated the total energy and the average distance between nucleus-nucleus, electron-electron, and nucleus-electron in order to analyze numerically the nonadiabatic effect in the molecule. Finally we calculated the real-time evolution of the polarization by means of Chebyshev scheme; and by Fourier transforming this, we found out the excitation spectrum of the system, which corresponds to the electronic excitation and the nuclear vibrational frequency. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Knoevenagel reaction of malononitrile with methyl ketone followed by double cyclization catalyzed by potassium fluoride-coated alumina

Qualitative limitations were presented for a formation reaction of a series of bridged compounds from ketones and malononitrile catalyzed with potassium fluoride-alumina in acetonitrile [1]. The bridged com pounds were obtained from only unhindered alkyl methyl ketones. The compounds released hydrocarbon to give pyridine derivatives.     

Two-dimensional images of radiative and metastable excited stateradial profiles for an inductively coupled plasma in argon

Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) was shown to be characterized by a substantial degree of stepwise excitation due to a large density of metastable atoms and an even larger population of electrons. The kinetics of metastables strongly affects the structure of the discharge and we have applied laser absorption spectroscopy to establish the density profile of argon metastables Ar(1s₅) in a single turn coil geometry. At the same time the radial profiles of the radiative Ar(3p₅) state obtained by using a computer-aided tomography are significantly different indicating the effect of electron induced quenching and stepwise processes in kinetics of the two states     

Theoretical study of the valence π → π* excited states of polyacenes: anthracene and naphthacene

The valence π → π ^* excited states of anthracene and naphthacene are studied with multireference perturbation theory with complete active space self-consistent field reference functions. The predicted spectra provide a consistent assignment of all one- and two-photon spectra and T-T spectra of low-lying valence π → π ^* excited states of anthracene and naphthacene. The present theory predicts the valence π → π ^* excitation energies with an accuracy of 0.15 eV for anthracene and of 0.25 eV or better for naphthacene. The excited states of anthracene and naphthacene are compared with those of benzene and naphthalene studied previously. The present calculations predict that, going from anthracene to naphthacene, there is a symmetry reversal of the two lowest singlet state transitions, but not for the triplet, just as indicated by the experimental data. Some general trends of polyacene excited states are discussed based on the calculated results for benzene to naphthacene. Conclusive results obtained for anthracene and naphthacene can be used as a model for understanding the excited states of larger polyacenes. Received: 22 April 1998 / Accepted: 6 July 1998 / Published online: 28 September 1998     

Direct Electrochemistry of Cytochrome c Covalently Immobilized on ω-Carboxyalkanethiol Monolayer Electrode and its Biosensor Applications

The study of direct electron transfer (ET) between solid electrodes and proteins or enzymes has been attracting considerable research interest for several decades since it represents a basic feature for the application of biocatalysts in chemical sensors and other electrical devices. We have been focusing our research interest on the use of SAMs for the study of diffusionless, direct electrochemistry of cytochromes. In the present paper, we report electrochemistry of cytochrome c covalently immobilized on ω-carboxyalkanethiol monolayer electrodes. A carboxylic acid terminated monolayer was utilized to provide an uniform surface for attaching cytochrome c, and characterization of the redox reaction of the protein was made with using cyclic voltammetric and electrochemical impedance measurements.