Polymer based interfaces as bioinspired 'smart skins'

This work reports on already achieved results and ongoing research on the development of complex interfaces between humans and external environment, based on organic synthetic materials and used as smart 'artificial skins'. They are conceived as wearable and flexible systems with multifunctional characteristics. Their features are designed to mimic or augment a broad-spectrum of properties shown by biological skins of humans and/or animals. The discussion is here limited to those properties whose mimicry/augmentation is achievable with currently available technologies based on polymers and oligomers. Such properties include tactile sensing, thermal sensing/regulation, environmental energy harvesting, chromatic mimetism, ultra-violet protection, adhesion and surface mediation of mobility. Accordingly, bioinspired devices and structures, proposed as suitable functional analogous of natural architectures, are analysed. They consist of organic piezoelectric sensors, thermoelectric and pyroelectric sensors and generators, photoelectric generators, thermal and ultra-violet protection systems, electro-, photo- and thermo-chromic devices, as well as structures for improved adhesion and reduced fluid-dynamic friction.     

Anion reaction of 1,3-benzoxathiole-3-oxide with several electrophilic compounds

The reaction of benzoxathiole-3-oxide with LDA in THF or THF/hexane or THF/HMPA gave a carbanion which was reacted with methyl iodide, aromatic aldehydes or carbon dioxide. The conformational stability (-diastereoselectivity) of the carbanion and the asymmetric induction due to the prochiral electrophiles (β-diastereoselectivity) was studied. The temperature and the solvent effects on the - and β-diastereoselectivity are discussed.     

On the maximum of the generalized Brownian bridge

We present some extensions of the distributions of the maximum of the Brownian bridge in [0,t] when the conditioning event is placed at a future timeu>t or at an intermediate timeu<t. The standard distributions of Brownian motion and Brownian bridge are obtained as limiting cases. These results permit us to derive also the distribution of the first-passage time of the Brownian bridge. Similar generalizations are carried out for the Brownian bridge with drift μ; in this case, it is shown that the maximal distribution is independent of μ (whenu≥t). Finally, the case of the two-sided maximal distribution of Brownian motion in [0,t], conditioned onB(u)=η (for bothu>t andu<t), is considered. Dip. di Statistica, Probabilità e Stat. Applicate, Università di Roma “La Sapienza,” Piazzale Aldo Moros, 00185 Roma, Italy. Published in Lietuvos Matematikos Rinkinys, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 200–213, April–June, 1999.     

A molecular modelling approach to rationalize the stereochemical outcome of the Burkholderia cepacia lipase-catalyzed transesterification of aromatic primary alcohols with vinyl esters with different chain lengths in chloroform

The Burkholderia cepacia lipase-catalyzed transesterification of 2-methyl-3-phenyl-1-propanol with vinyl esters proceeds with high enantioselectivity independently of the acyl chain length and the low enantioselectivity of the same reaction with 2-phenyl-1-propanol is not affected by chain length of the vinyl esters. A molecular modelling approach has been developed in order to rationalize the enzymatic results.     

On the index of caterpillars

The index of a graph is the largest eigenvalue of its adjacency matrix. Among the trees with a fixed order and diameter, a graph with the maximal index is a caterpillar. In the set of caterpillars with a fixed order and diameter, or with a fixed degree sequence, we identify those whose index is maximal.     

The unprecedented bridging coordination mode of 1,1-cyclobutane dicarboxylate (mu-cbdc-O,O') stabilized by intramolecular hydrogen bonds in ruthenium(II) complexes

The 1,1-cyclobutane dicarboxylate ligand (cbdc), that normally binds to metal centres as a chelate (eta(2)-cbdc-O,O'), prefers to bind in an unprecedented bridging fashion (micro-cbdc-O,O') on cationic Ru(ii) centres bearing ancillary ligands (e.g. H(2)O, NH(3)) capable of making intramolecular H-bonds with the non-coordinated oxygen atoms of the carboxylate groups. Thus, the thermodynamic product of the reaction between cis,fac-[RuCl(2)(dmso-S)(3)(dmso-O)]() and cbdc in a number of different reaction conditions is the dinuclear species with two bridging cbdc units fac-[Ru(micro-cbdc-O,O')(dmso-S)(3)(H(2)O)](2) (2). Similarly, reaction of cis,fac-[RuCl(2)(dmso-S)(3)(NH(3))] (3) with cbdc yielded the corresponding dinuclear species fac-[Ru(micro-cbdc-O,O')(dmso-S)(3)(NH(3))](2) (4), in which ammonia occupies the position of the water molecule in 2. Both dinuclear species 2 and 4 were characterized by X-ray crystallography and have an anti geometry with respect to the H(2)O or NH(3) ligands. The results from the X-ray studies are consistent with the NMR spectroscopic data, indicating that the dinuclear structures observed in the solid state are maintained in solution. The mononuclear anionic complex with a chelating cbdc unit, K{fac-[RuCl(eta(2)-cbdc-O,O')(dmso-S)(3)]}(5), was isolated under appropriate conditions form the reaction of 1 with K(2)(cbdc) and was demonstrated to be an intermediate in the formation of 2.