Vibrational properties of noble gas endohedral fullerenes

Analysis of IR and Raman spectra of Ar@C(60) and Kr@C(60) shows that the incorporation of noble gas atoms causes a blue shift of low energy vibrations, which have radial character, and a red shift of higher energy ones which have a tangential character movement. The mechanism of these phenomena is explained on the basis of ab initio numerical experiments with DFT and MP2 procedures. Methodological discussions are advanced, altogether with a scheme for the estimation of the van der Waals interaction between fullerene and noble gas, based on the frequency shifts.     

Nucleophilic additions of arylzinc compounds to aldehydes mediated by CrCl(3): efficient and facile synthesis of functionalized benzhydrols, 1(3H)-isobenzofuranones, benzyl alcohols, or diaryl ketones

In the presence of a stoichiometric amount of CrCl(3) and trimethylchlorosilane (TMSCl), nucleophilic addition of arylzinc compounds 1c-h to arylaldehydes 2a,b,g smoothly proceeded at room temperature to yield corresponding benzhydrols 4a-f in good yields. From arylzinc compounds 1a,b, 3-aryl-1(3H)-isobenzofuranones 3a-f were given by the CrCl(3)-mediated reaction with arylaldehydes 2a-f. Diaryl ketones 5a-e were obtained in good yields by the addition of excess amount of benzaldehyde as an oxidant to the resulting solution after the CrCl(3)-mediated reaction between arylzinc compounds 1c-g and arylaldehydes 2b,g was completed. In the nucleophilic additions of arylzinc compounds 1a,d,f to alkyladehydes 6b-f, the treatment of arylzinc compounds with CrCl(3) was required prior to the addition of the aldehydes in order to prevent the fast protodezincation of arylzinc compounds by the enolizable aldehydes. In these CrCl(3)-mediated nucleophilic additions of arylzinc compounds to aldehydes, arylchromium(III) species are probably reactive intermediates.     

Helical chains of [MO5Cl] octahedra – Three compounds in the new family AEM2Te3O8Cl2 (AE = Ca,Sr and M = Co,Ni)

The compounds CaCo₂Te₃O₈Cl₂, SrCo₂Te₃O₈Cl₂ and SrNi₂Te₃O₈Cl₂ were synthesized via solid–gas reactions and investigated using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. While the compound CaCo₂Te₃O₈Cl₂ formed large enough single crystals to allow for a detailed structural analysis, crystals of the Sr-containing compounds yielded evidence that they are isostructural. CaCo₂Te₃O₈Cl₂ crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P2₁/c, a = 6.537(2) Å, b = 9.088(2) Å, c = 19.500(9) Å, β = 113.36(4)°, Z = 4. It exhibits [CoO₅Cl] helical chains along the [010] direction, connected by [CaO₈] polyhedra, [TeO₃E] tetrahedra and [TeO₄E] trigonal bipyramids (the lone pair of electrons on Te^IV is designated as E) to form a layer. The layers are held together only by weak van der Waals forces; the shortest interlayer distance is a Te?Cl contact of 3.432(4) Å.     

Novel conducting fabric polymer composites as stretchable electrodes: one‐step fabrication of chemical actuators

Composite films have functioned as chemical bending actuators, where stretchable conducting fabrics were joined to both surfaces of ionomer films. This phenomenon shows that a direct metallization of either electroless or electrolytic plating having a metal dendrite formation on the ionomer film is not essential for functioning as actuators. Conducting fabric polymer composite (CFPC) actuators can be easily fabricated by a simple adhesion process using flexible conducting fabrics as electrodes. Due to their excellent contraction and expansion capabilities, gold‐ and copper‐plated knitted fabrics were employed and stably bound to Nafion‐117 film. Au‐CFPC actuators demonstrated a maximum bending displacement of ±2.5 mm at ±2 V. Cu‐CFPC gave a smaller displacement of ±0.7 mm at ±2 V, having no reverse displacement. The method described here is widely applicable, introducing conducting layers on various flexible, stretchable, and polymer substrates. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sigmasigma* transition in anti,cisoid alternating oligosilanes: clear-cut evidence for suppression of conjugation effect by a cisoid turn

On the basis of the UV absorption spectra of the anti,cisoid alternating oligosilanes, the first experimental clear-cut evidence was presented for the generally accepted idea that the sigma conjugation in polysilanes does not effectively extend through a tetrasilane fragment with a small dihedral angle such as a cisoid turn.     

Synthesis and light‐emitting properties of carbazole‐based copolymers bearing cyano‐substituted arylenevinylene chromophore

Two arylenevinylene compounds bearing the cyano group at α‐position ( 6 ) and β‐position ( 9 ) from the dialkoxylphenylene unit were synthesized, in which the molecular termini were functionalized with 3‐bromocarbazole. The Suzuki coupling copolymerization of these compounds with 1,4‐bis[(3′‐bromocarbazole‐9′‐yl)methylene]‐2,5‐didecyloxybenzene and 9,9‐dihexylfluorene‐2,7‐bis(boronic acid) was carried out to obtain copolymers ( cp67 and cp97 ) containing the cyano‐substituted arylenevinylene fluorophore of 7 mol %. Model compounds ( 6 ′ and 9 ′) corresponding to the arylenevinylene fluorophore were also prepared. The UV spectra of copolymers resembled that of homopolymer hp with no arylenevinylene segment in both CHCl₃ solution and thin film. The emission maxima of copolymers in CHCl₃ (394 nm) agreed with that of homopolymer indicating that the emission bands originated from the carbazole‐fluorene‐carbazole segment. The emission maximum wavelength of copolymer cp67 in thin film (477 nm) indicated fluorescence from the cyano‐substituted arylenevinylene fluorophore because of the occurrence of fluorescence resonance electron transfer. In contrast, copolymer cp97 showed fluorescence at 528 nm to suggest the formation of a new emissive species such as a charge‐transfer complex (exciplex). © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 91–98, 2010     

High resolution spectral analysis of 13CH3OH in the excited torsional states

In this work, we have extended our previous analysis of the Hamiltonian of 13C substituted methanol to include a large number of spectral lines involving the second excited torsional state using an improved model. The data set consisted of 2529 Fourier transform and microwave transitions with the rotational angular momentum J < or = 10, K < or = 6 and n < or = 2 (with 336 MW lines). The data set was fitted with the new Hamiltonian model to derive the molecular parameters. The results indicate that the model developed for the other methanol species (CH3OH, CH3(18)OH and CH3OD) is also valid for the C-13 substituted species. The results will allow the energy levels of the molecule to be calculated for higher torsional levels above the internal rotational barrier with improved precision and allow the analysis to be carried out for more excited torsional states.     

Tetrakis-acridinyl peptide: a novel fluorometric reagent for nucleic acid analysis based on the fluorescence dequenching upon DNA binding

Tetrakis-acridinyl peptide 1 assuming a right-handed helical stacked conformation of the acridinyl units can bind to DNA duplex with a very high affinity of 10(8) (M-bp)(-1) even at a high salt concentration of 0.2 M NaCl, irrespective of the base composition. Peptide 1 gave rise to 1600-times enhancement of its fluorescence upon binding to an AT polymer due to the collapse of this stacked structure, but the fluorescence is not enhanced with a GC polymer, though the binding constants of 1 for both polymers were the same.