Cellulose Synthesized by Acetobacter Xylinum in the Presence of Acetyl Glucomannan

Acetobacter xylinum was cultured in Hestrin-Schramm medium (control medium) and Hestrin-Schramm medium containing acetyl glucomannan (mannan medium). Loose bundles of the cellulose microfibrils are formed in the mannan medium in contrast to the normal ribbons being produced in the control medium. Rapid-freeze and substitution method followed by metal-shadowing revealed the droplet-like structures around the microfibril synthesized in the mannan medium. The cellulose synthesized in the mannan medium was stained heavily by the periodic acid-thiocarbohydrazide-silver proteinate (PATAg) method, while the cellulose synthesized in the control medium was not stained. X-ray diffractometry and FT-IR spectroscopy indicated that the addition of mannan induced a change in the crystal structure from the algal-bacterial type to the cotton-ramie type. Thus the presence of acetyl glucomannan in the medium prevents the assembly of cellulose microfibrils and changes the crystal structure of cellulose.     

Syntheses of fluorine-containing fused polycyclic compounds: photo-cycloaddition of indene to cyclic fluoro-olefins and some reactions concerning the adducts

Acetophenone photo-sensitized addition of indene to cyclic fluoro-olefins (1,2-dichlorohexafluorocyclopentene-1, 1,2-dichlorotetrafluorocyclobutene-1 and hexafluorocyclobutene) gave the corresponding cycloadducts in satisfactory yields. The cycloadducts obtained predominantly had exo configuration.Some reactions such as reduction, oxidation, dechlorination and halogenation, of the cycloadducts were also studied.     

Preparation and photochromism of diarylethene covalently bonded onto layered sodium-magadiite surfaces

Diarylethene derivatives (DE) covalently bonded to silanol oxygens of layered silicate surfaces, i.e., magadiite (Mag), were synthesized and investigated for their photochromic behavior. The DE-Mag layered hybrids were found to undergo reversible color change by alternating UV and visible light irradiation. A more highly efficient, reproducible photochromic behavior was realized with DE-Mag than with a corresponding DE-Si possessing silyl substituents on DE in place of the Mag surface. Moreover, the present covalently bonded DE exhibited an improvement over DE hybrids incorporated in layered double hydroxide (LDH) clays, in which the repetitive photochromic behavior decreased during alternating irradiation, due to the accumulation of the photochemically inert parallel isomers of DE.     

Protonation-induced structural change of lyotropic liquid crystals in oley- and alkyldimethylamine oxides/water systems

Lyotropic phase behavior of the nonionic and the half-ionized oleyldimethylamine oxide (OlDMAO)/water systems was investigated using polarized light microscopy, small-angle X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. Nonionic OlDMAO formed isotropic micellar solution, nematic, hexagonal, cubic, and lamellar liquid crystalline phases as the surfactant concentration increased. In contrast, half-ionized OlDMAO (i.e., 1:1 mixture of the nonionic and the protonated species) had a greater tendency to form bilayer structures, and the phase diagram became quite similar to those of double-chained ionic surfactants rather than single-chained ones, despite the introduction of positive charges to the nonionic one. The preference of the bilayer structures in the half-ionized OlDMAO was interpreted in terms of the dimers stabilized by the hydrogen bond between the nonionic and protonated species. For alkyldimethylamine oxides with a saturated hydrocarbon chain (CnDMAO, chain length: n = 14, 16, and 18), the phase sequence of lyotropic liquid crystals was hardly affected by the protonation, but an elongation of the cylinders of the hexagonal phase was observed for the half-ionized C14DMAO. Consequently, it can be considered that the dominant bilayer formation of the half-ionized OlDMAO is attributed to the combined effect of the hydrogen-bonded dimer formation and the cis-double-bond configuration of the alkyl chain.     

Structure reinvestigation of gelsemoxonine,a constituent of Gelsemium elegans,reveals a novel,azetidine-containing indole alkaloid

[structure: see text] The structure of gelsemoxonine, isolated from Gelsemium elegans Benth., was revised to be a novel oxindole alkaloid having an azetidine unit. A new alkaloid, 14,15-dihydroxygelsenicine, which was presumed to be a biosynthetic precursor of gelsemoxonine, was also isolated.     

The diazocarbene (CNN) molecule: characterization of the X 3Sigma- and A 3Pi electronic states

The ground (X (3)Sigma(-)) and first excited triplet (A (3)Pi) electronic states of diazocarbene (CNN) have been investigated systematically starting from the self-consistent-field theory and proceeding to the coupled cluster with single, double, and full triple excitations (CCSDT) method with a wide range of basis sets. While the linear X (3)Sigma(-) ground state of CNN has a real degenerate bending vibrational frequency, the A (3)Pi state of CNN is subject to the Renner-Teller effect and presents two distinct real vibrational frequencies along the bending coordinate. The bending vibrational frequencies of the A (3)Pi state were evaluated via the equation-of-motion coupled cluster (EOM-CC) techniques. The significant sensitivity to level of theory in predicting the ground-state geometry, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and associated infrared intensities has been attributed to the fact that the reference wave function is strongly perturbed by the excitations of 1pi-->3pi followed by a spin flip. At the highest level of theory with the largest basis set, correlation-consistent polarized valence quadruple zeta (cc-pVQZ) CCSDT, the classical X-A splitting (T(e) value) was predicted to be 68.5 kcal/mol (2.97 eV, 24 000 cm(-1)) and the quantum mechanical splitting (T(0) value) to be 69.7 kcal/mol (3.02 eV, 24 400 cm(-1)), which are in excellent agreement with the experimental T(0) values, 67.5-68.2 kcal/mol (2.93-2.96 eV, 23 600-23 900 cm(-1)). With the EOM-CCSD method the Renner parameter (epsilon) and averaged bending vibrational frequency (omega(2)) for the A (3)Pi state were evaluated to be epsilon=-0.118 and omega(2)=615 cm(-1), respectively. They are in fair agreement with the experimental values of epsilon=-0.07 and nu(2)=525 cm(-1).     

Cyclic dimer of a fused porphyrin zinc complex as a novel host with two pi-electronically coupled binding sites

Upon complexation with 4,4[prime or minute]-bipyridine, a cyclic dimer of a fused porphyrin zinc complex, having two pi-electronically coupled binding sites, shows a strong negative cooperativity in the second guest binding, to allow stepwise formation of 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 inclusion complexes.     

Cobaltporphyrin‐adsorbed carbon black: highly efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction

meso‐Substituted cobalt porphyrins adsorbed on carbon black were prepared as catalysts for the electroreduction of O₂. The catalyst, which was prepared by using a homogenizer in mixing cobalt tetraethylporphyrin and carbon black, gave rise to electroreduction of O₂ at a remarkably positive potential (E_p = 0.45 V versus saturated calomel electrode (SCE)) and showed a high selectively for the four‐electron reduction (n = 3.8). Electrochemical study and extended X‐ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis revealed that the adsorbed face‐to‐face dimeric aggregates of cobalt porphyrin molecules were highly efficient catalysts for electroreduction of O₂. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polymer-supported bases. IX. Synthesis and catalytic activity of polymer-bound 4-(1-pyrrolidino)pyridine moieties

Polystyrene-bound 4-(1-pyrrolidino)pyridine moieties were prepared by the reaction of chloromethylated polystyrene resins with pyrrolidinopyridine derivatives containing hydroxyl groups. The supported amines were effective catalysts for acylations of tert-alcohols or enols, acylrearrangements, and diester synthesis from epoxides and anhydrides. Some of the low ring-substituted (8–15%) catalysts exhibited high activity comparable to that of 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine, though the activity was a little lower than that of 4-(1-pyrrolidino)pyridine. The recovered catalysts can be re-used, except for acyl rearrangements, without significant decrease in activity.     

Reactivity of cobaloxime bound to polystyrene chain by carbon–cobalt σ bond

The (alkyl)-bis(dimethylglyoximato)pyridinecobalt attached to polychloromethylstyrene by a cobalt–carbon bond was prepared by the reaction of Co(II)(DH)₂Py with polychloromethylstyrene in benzene. The fraction of p-vinylbenzyl·Co(DH)₂Py introduced to the polymer was 8.1 and 2.1 mole %. The photodecomposition of the polymer-bonded cobaloxime was investigated by following the change of the visible spectrum. The rate constant k_dec of the polymer-bonded cobaloxime was 1.1 × 10^?2 sec^?1 in benzene; it is one-fourth of that of its monomeric analog, benzyl·Co(DH)₂Py. The k_dec values of the cobaloximes were also measured in benzene–dimethyl sulfoxide mixed solvents, and the polymer effects were discussed. The dependence of the photodecomposition on energy of the irradiation light was investigated, and it was found that the absorption band near 470 nm is important for the photodecomposition of the cobalt–carbon bond. Spectroscopic measurements of the ligand exchange reaction of polymer-bonded cobaloxime with pyridine in dimethyl sulfoxide gave a larger equilibrium constant (1.2 × 10⁴ liter/mole) than that of benzyl·Co(DH)₂Py (9.4 × 10² liter/mole). The kinetic data of the ligand exchange reaction indicated that the larger equilibrium constant for the polymeric system is due to the smaller rate constant of the reverse reaction. The thermodynamic parameters were also obtained.