About a class of nonlinear oscillators with amplitude-independent frequency

This work is concerned with nonlinear oscillators that have a fixed, amplitude-independent frequency. This characteristic, known as isochronicity/isochrony, is achieved by establishing the equivalence between the Lagrangian of the simple harmonic oscillator and the Lagrangian of conservative oscillators with a position-dependent coefficient of the kinetic energy, which can stem from their mass that changes with the displacement or the geometry of motion. Conditions under which such systems have an isochronous center in the origin are discussed. General expressions for the potential energy, equation of motion as well as solutions for a phase trajectory and time response are provided. A few illustrative examples accompanied with numerical verifications are also presented.     

Thermal,morphological, and mechanical properties of ethyl vanillin immobilized in polyvinyl alcohol by electrospinning process

In this study, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers with ethyl vanillin as an active compound were prepared using electrospinning technique. The final products of electrospinning process were in the form of nanofibers films. PVA/ethyl vanillin nanofibers, having fibers diameters in the range 100–1700 nm, were successfully electrospun from ethanol/water mixture of PVA and ethyl vanillin. The effects of immobilization process on ethyl vanillin thermal properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The results of DSC showed significant influence of immobilization process on thermal properties of ethyl vanillin. It was noticed that melting point of immobilized ethyl vanillin was lower (~55 °C) compared to free flavor (~77 °C). Our results showed that films based on PVA/ethyl vanillin nanofibers are mechanically stable.     

Hybrid sol–gel thin films doped with a pH indicator: effect of organic modification on optical pH response and film surface hydrophilicity

Optical sensors for application in innovative wearable sensing systems such as textile-integrated systems and wireless sensor platforms rely on the development of low-cost multifunctional materials compatible with standard fabrication technologies. We are developing optically responsive pH sensitive sol–gel coatings for integration with a mobile wireless smart tag sensing system. For this application, we have fabricated a range of thin pH sensitive films using bromocresol green (BCG) indicator immobilised in inorganic–organic silica hybrid matrices prepared by a sol–gel method and deposited by spin-coating onto glass substrates. The surface hydrophilicity of the films were varied by using the inorganic sol–gel precursor tetraethoxysilane together with either methyltriethoxysilane, ethyltriethoxysilane, phenyltrimethoxysilane or glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane as organically modified sol–gel precursors, co-polymerised in different ratios. Spectral characterisation of the films was performed using visible absorption spectroscopy. The shift in absorption maxima and other spectral changes of the different matrices have been identified, and the apparent pK _app values of the immobilised BCG pH indicator determined. The surface wettability properties of the films have been studied by measuring the contact angle of water, formamide and diiodomethane which has allowed the estimation of the surface free energy (SFE) using three different models: Owens–Wendt, Wu and van Oss-Chaudhury-Good. It is shown that the SFE of the hybrid films is directly related to the type and the degree of organic modification, which in turn has a significant effect on the pH response-time of these sensing films.     

Redox‐Active Tetraruthenium Macrocycles Built from 1,4‐Divinylphenylene‐Bridged Diruthenium Complexes

Metallamacrocylic tetraruthenium complexes were generated by treatment of 1,4‐divinylphenylene‐bridged diruthenium complexes with functionalized 1,3‐benzene dicarboxylic acids and characterized by HR ESI‐MS and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy. Every divinylphenylene diruthenium subunit is oxidized in two consecutive one‐electron steps with half‐wave potential splittings in the range of 250 to 330 mV. Additional, smaller redox‐splittings between the +/2+ and 0/+ and the 3+/4+ and 2+/3+ redox processes, corresponding to the first and the second oxidations of every divinylphenylene diruthenium entity, are due to electrostatic effects. The lack of electronic coupling through bond or through space is explained by the nodal properties of the relevant molecular orbitals and the lateral side‐by‐side arrangement of the divinylphenylene linkers. The polyelectrochromic behavior of the divinylphenylene diruthenium precursors is retained and even amplified in these metallamacrocyclic structures. EPR studies down to T=4 K indicate that the dications 1‐H²⁺ and 1‐OBu²⁺ are paramagnetic. The dications and the tetracation of macrocycle 3‐H display intense (dications) or weak ( 3‐H⁴⁺ ) EPR signals. Quantum chemical calculations indicate that the four most stable conformers of the macrocycles are largely devoid of strain. Bond parameters, energies as well as charge and spin density distributions of model macrocycle 5‐H^Me were calculated for the different charge and spin states.     

Synthesis of Polysubstituted Symmetrical BODIPYs via Fischer Carbene Complexes: Theoretical,Photophysical and Electrochemical Evaluation

A series of new symmetrical highly substituted BODIPYs 6 a – l was synthesized through a prefunctionalization approach in 35 %–89 % yields from the pyrrole core. This strategy allowed modulation of the substituents at the different positions based on the choice of Fischer's alkynyl carbenes, oxazolones and aldehydes used as precursors. The substituent variation at positions 2, 6, 3 and 5 had the greatest effect on the modulation of their photophysical properties such as absorption (λ_abs) and emission (λ_em) wavelengths, extinction coefficient (ϵ), quantum yields (ϕ), Stokes shifts (Δν), fluorescence decay, radiative (k_rad) and non-radiative (k_nr) constants and the CIE 1931 coordinates. Theoretical calculations allowed to corroborate the effect of the substituents of meso-position on the modification of the dihedral angles. Cyclic voltammetry studies revealed that the BODIPY series presents similar redox potential behavior, being electrochemically active even in successive cycles, which suggests that transport by diffusion is the dominant process.     

Ten-membered rings as key interaction motifs in folding of desmuramyl di-, tri-, and tetrapeptides

Structural Chemistry - Muropeptides are fragments of polymeric peptidoglycan, unique constituent of bacterial cell walls, acting as immunostimulators (adjuvants). The smallest biologically active...