Liquid crystal properties of some substituted pyrazines

A number of biphenyl, terphenyl analogues and ethynes which contain a pyrazine ring have been made and their liquid crystal transition temperatures, together with examples of birefringence measurements, are reported. All the 2,5-disubstituted pyrazine systems are liquid crystalline showing high birefringence values for the biphenyl and terphenyl analogues, whereas the 1,5-disubstituted systems are not liquid crystalline. The pyrazine ethyne systems exhibit very high birefringence values. X-ray diffraction has been used to identify the liquid crystal phases of 2-n-nonyloxy-5-(4'-propylbiphenyl-4-yl)pyrazine.     

Complexes in polymers IV. FTIR microscopic characterization of thin organic polymer films containing embedded transition-metal carbonyl complexes

Thin films of polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polystyrene-polyacrylonitrile copolymer (PS-AN), containing various embedded transition-metal complexes, have been studied by FTIR microscopy. The spatial distributions of the transition-metal carbonyl complexes throughout the thin organic polymer films have been determined by a two-dimensional IR mapping procedure. The spectral variations observed in the distribution of the metal carbonyls throughout the different polymer films are discussed. The IR data show that the technique used to prepare the organometallic-embedded thin films (viz. freeze-drying of solutions followed by hot mechanical pressing of the residues) does in general lead to homogeneous films which may eventually find industrial application, e.g. as membrane sensors for small molecules.     

The liquid-crystalline behaviour of amphiphilic ethane-1,2-diol derivatives incorporating a six membered ring in their principal structure

Novel 3-phenyloxy substituted propane-1,2-diol derivatives, 4-(4-n-hexyloxyphenyl)-butane-1,2-diol and 4-(trans-4-n-pyropylcyclohexyl)-butane-1,2-diol have been synthesized and their thermal behaviour has been studied. These compounds exhibit thermotropic and, after addition of water, also lyotropic liquid-crystalline behaviour. The clearing temperatures of the smectic mesophases were found to be strongly dependent on the alkyl chain length and on the structural units that link the aromatic ring to the alkyl chain and to the diol unit. The behaviour of the aromatic compounds is compared with that of the cyclohexane derivative. Thereby it has been realized that the mesophase stability of the amphiphilic diols incorporating a rigid unit is largely determined by both, the molecular geometry (molecular shape and intramolecular flexibility) and the amphiphilic structural pattern.     

The Numerical Differentiation of Probe Characteristic

In the paper new methods of the computation of second-order derivative of probe characteristic are proposed. All methods are tested on testing data as well as on experimental measured probe characteristic.     

A RAPID APPROXIMATION FOR PREDICTING THE HYDROCARBON DISCOVERY RATE: PART 1. ASSESSING THE ACCURACY

The hydrocarbon discovery prediction problem is important to firms having to make decisions about the deployment of scarce exploration resources. Traditional methods for estimating the discovery rate rely on the completion of time consuming simulation experiments. A rapid approximation that does not require the completion of simulation exists and has been shown to have some promise as a prediction tool. This paper investigates the accuracy of the approximation method under a wide variety of distributional and drilling efficiency assumptions. The results indicate that the approximation produces predictions close to those of simulation under most of the tested conditions. This suggests that resource exploration firms could conveniently use the method for a wide variety of planning purposes without incurring the same costs in time and personnel required for simulation.     

Magnetic resonance findings in sarcoidosis of the thorax.

Fifteen patients with sarcoidosis underwent thoracic MRI examinations. The T2 signal intensity of lymphadenopathy varied, with no characteristic pattern noted. Three of four patients with bright lymph nodes on T2 images had stage I sarcoidosis, but low intensity nodes were also seen in stage I patients. Coronal images were complementary to axial images and better depicted subcarinal adenopathy. MRI does not distinguish the lymphadenopathy of sarcoidosis from other entities, but is useful for defining the anatomic extent of disease and differentiating pulmonary artery enlargement from adenopathy.     

Intramolecular hemiacetals. The acid-base-catalyzed ring-chain interconversion of 2-substituted 2-hydroxy-4,4-dimethylmorpholinium cations in aqueous solution.

The ring-chain tautomerism in aqueous solution of some aryl-substituted morpholinium salts (bromides), has been studied and equilibrium constants are reported. In the crystals the substrates exist entirely in their cyclic forms as hemiacetals, but in aqueous solution NMR measurements reveal that an equilibrium is established between the cyclic (hemiacetal) and the noncyclic (ketone) form, the degree of ring-opening being more pronounced with electron-donating aryl substituents at the carbonyl carbon. The kinetics of the ring-chain interconversion in water has been investigated spectrophotometrically by a 'pH jump' stopped-flow technique. General base catalysis is observed with a Br?nsted beta value apparently independent of substituent and equal to 0.60. The Hammett rho values for various base catalysts are close to those for very similar intermolecular reactions involving hemiacetal breakdown, leading to the suggestion of a 'normal' class n mechanism for base catalysis. For acid catalysis, however, a quite different situation is encountered, since no general acid but only (weak) catalysis by the hydronium ion can be detected. We believe this deviation from 'normal' general acid catalysis is caused by an electrostatic interaction, and we suggest that it might result from a change in the usual class e mechanism for general acid catalysis by a situation in which rate-limiting concerted proton transfer is replaced by rate-limiting preprotonation. This is supported by the observed drastic change in Hammett rho value for catalysis by the hydronium ion, compared with the 'normal' case. An interesting case is encountered for the 4-aminophenyl-substituted substrate, in which the amino group becomes protonated in acid solution, thus representing a new substituent. Despite this complication, the various equilibrium and rate constants may also be evaluated experimentally for this substrate.