Mutual conversion between stretched and contracted helices accompanied by a drastic change in color and spatial structure of poly(phenylacetylene) prepared with a [Rh(nbd)Cl]2‐amine catalyst

The yellow‐colored poly(phenylacetylene), Poly( Y ), is obtained from phenylacetylene using a [Rh(nbd)Cl]₂‐NEt₃ catalyst in ethanol at 25 °C. The color of Poly( Y ) drastically changes into red Poly( R ) or reddish‐black Poly( B ) by immersion in acetylacetone or exposure to chloroform vapor, respectively. Poly( R ) is also created from Poly( B ) by contact with acetylacetone. Poly( Y ) is regenerated from both Poly( R ) and Poly( B ) by reprecipitation from their chloroform solution into methanol. Wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) patterns of Poly( Y ) and Poly( R ) correspond to a pseudohexagonal crystal called a columnar as stretched cis‐transoid and contracted cis‐cisoid helices, respectively. These helical diameters and pitch widths obtained from the WAXS measurements are agreed with those of MMFF94 calculation models. The smallest helical pitch width is 3.3 Å for Poly( R ) and Poly( B ). Moreover, information regarding the size and ordering of the vacant space within each polymer is estimated by using ¹²⁹Xe NMR technique. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 752–759     

Synthesis of bridgeheaded nitrogen systems. s-triazolo[4,3-b]-as-triazine,s-triazolo[4,3-d]-as-triazine and s-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-Thiadiazole ring systems

By the reactions of hydrazino-as-triazines ( 1a-d and 5 ) with cyanogen bromide were synthesized s-triazolo-as-triazines ( 2a-d ) and ( 6 ). Likewise, similar reactions of amino-s-triazolethiols ( 7a-e ) gave s-triazolo-1,3,4-thiadiazoles ( 8a-e ). Compound 2a was brominated to 2g.     

Determination of the 15N chemical shift anisotropy in natural abundance samples by proton-detected 3D solid-state NMR under ultrafast MAS of 70 kHz

Chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) is a sensitive probe of electronic environment at a nucleus, and thus, it offers deeper insights into detailed structural and dynamic properties of different systems, for example, chemical, biological, and materials. Over the years, massive efforts have been made to develop recoupling methods that reintroduce CSA interaction under magic angle spinning (MAS) conditions. Most of them require slow or moderate MAS (≤20 kHz) and isotopically enriched samples. On the other hand, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no ¹³C or ¹⁵N CSA recoupling schemes at ultrafast MAS (≥60 kHz) suitable for cost-effective natural abundant samples have been developed. We present here a proton-detected 3D ¹⁵N CS/¹⁵N CSA/¹H CS correlation experiment which employs ¹H indirect detection for sensitivity enhancement and a γ-encoded -symmetry-based CSA recoupling scheme. In particular, two different symmetries, that is, R8³₇ and R10⁴₉, are first tested, in a 2D ¹⁵N CSA/¹H CS version, on [U-¹⁵N]-L-histidine·HCl·H₂O as a model sample under 70 kHz MAS. Then the 3D experiment is applied on glycyl-L-alanine at natural abundance, resulting in site-resolved ¹⁵N CSA lineshapes from which CSA parameters are retrieved by SIMPSON numerical fittings. We demonstrate that this 3D R-symmetry-based pulse sequence is highly robust with respect to wide-range offset mismatches and weakly dependent to rf inhomogeneity within mis-sets of ±10% from the theoretical value.