The tube electrode and e.s.r.: Second order kinetics

A radical species is generated on a tube electrode; it is then transported under conditions of laminar flow through an e.s.r. cavity. In the bulk of solution it decomposes by second order kinetics. The convective diffusion equation for this problem is treated by the simulation method. This method is greatly improved if the spatial co-ordinates are suitably distorted. The distortion used in this work is applicable to all problems involving tube and channel electrodes. The results of the calculation are tested using the reduction of nitrobenzene and are found to be in good agreement with experiment. An upper limit is estimated for the second order rate constant for the radical decomposition above which the radicals will not be detected.     

Branched Coverings of Cubical Complexes and Subgroups of Hyperbolic Groups

By considering branched coverings of piecewise Euclidean cubicalcomplexes, the paper provides an example of a torsion free hyperbolicgroup containing a finitely presented subgroup which is nothyperbolic.     

Optical artefacts in transflection mode FTIR microspectroscopic images of single cells on a biological support: the effect of back-scattering into collection optics

Infrared microspectroscopic imaging data of single human prostate cancer cells, on an artificial extracellular matrix (Matrigel) thin-film surface, are presented. The spectral intensity maps, obtained in reflection mode, appear to show that the protein intensity distribution observed at the location of a cell changes dramatically depending on the concentration and/or thickness of the underlying Matrigel layer. Specifically, cells adhered to a low protein concentration or thin surface exhibit a higher protein intensity signal than the surrounding layer whereas those on a high protein concentration or thick surface exhibit a lower protein intensity signal. These results are qualitatively explained by a simple model that takes into account the fact that radiation scattered from cells can enter the collection optics of the microscope without passing through the Matrigel layer. This leads to an apparent reduction in absorption at the cell.     

Orientation of chromonic liquid crystals by topographic linear channels: multi-stable alignment and tactoid structure

We study the alignment behaviour of the chromonic liquid crystal phases of sunset yellow (SSY)/water, disodium cromoglycate (DSCG)/water and their mixtures when confined in cells by polymer films topographically imprinted with linear channels of 250 nm width, depth and spacing. A variety of novel alignment effects are generated by contact with such a patterned surface, as follows. Nematic DSCG and nematic SSY at low concentration and their nematic mixtures orient with the long axes of stacked chromonic aggregates on average parallel to the channels, that is, with the molecular planes normal to the channel axis. These oriented nematics exhibit isotropic/nematic tactoids aligned with their major axes along the channels. Two geometries of the tactoids, elliptic cylinder and rectangular cuboid with hemi cylindrical ends are observed. Additionally, a transition of DSCG tactoids from a three-dimensional (3D) director configuration to a two-dimensional one is observed when the tactoids on one surface of a cell touch the other surface of the cell. In SSY solutions of sufficiently high concentration, multi-stable alignment is found, including preferential in-plane orientation of the director parallel to, perpendicular to and 45° rotated from the channels.     

Some Novel Smectic* Liquid-Crystalline Side-Chain Polymers

Abstract

Three acrylate side-chain polymers in which the mesogenic moieties are based on the 4-n-alkoxyphenyl-4′-(4″-methylhexyloxy) benzoates have been characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. For shorter flexible spacers (n = 2) both smectic A and C^* phases are observed thus making this polymer interesting for the fabrication of electro-optical devices based on ferroelectric properties (a smectic A phase is required for alignment purposes). For longer flexible spacers, (n = 6, 11) only the smectic A phase remains.     

α-FUNCTIONAL CYCLOALKYLPHOSPHONATES I. SYNTHESIS

Abstract

Cycloalkylphosphonates 2 of different sizes (from cyclopropyl to cycloheptyl) bearing various functional groups Z in a position were synthesized by bis-alkylation of α-functional methylphosphonates 1 and Ω-dibromoalkanes in presence of base. The choice of the basic system is determined by the nature of Z. With powerful electron-withdrawing groups, NaH-THF/DMSO (Method A, for Z=CN, SO₂R) or liquid-solid phase transfer process [Method B, for Z=COOR, P(O) (OEt)₂] proved to be the more suitable systems. For Z=aryl or SR, lithium diisopropylamide is required to achieve the deprotonation. A wide range of new phosphonates were obtained in high yields on preparative scale.     

An Improved Synthesis of Conduritol A

Recently Knapp and coworkers¹ reported a highly stereoselective synthesis of the naturally occurring cyclitol conduritol A (1) from p-benzoquinone (2) in 39% overall yield using 9-[(benzyloxy)methoxy]-anthracene (3) as a protecting group (Scheme 1). Although regeneration of the olefinic bond in the product was achieved at room temperature via an oxyanion-accelerated² retro Diels-Alder reaction, this step necessitated protection of the newly introduced groups.     

Physical constraints on sesquiterpene diversity arising from cyclization of the eudesm-5-yl carbocation

The biogenic origins of complex cyclic terpenes derive from the interplay of enzymes and the intrinsic reactivity of carbocation species at major branch-points along intramolecular cyclization pathways to ultimately determine the distribution of terpene skeletal types in nature. Solanaceous plants biosynthesize chemical defense compounds, largely derived from the eremophilane and spirovetivane-type sesquiterpenes. These hydrocarbon skeletons share a common biogenic origin, stemming from alternative Wagner-Meerwein rearrangements of the eudesm-5-yl carbocation during the cyclization of farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP) catalyzed by sesquiterpene synthases. While the spirojatamane skeleton shares the same carbocation intermediate, this class of sesquiterpenes has not been reported in the Solanaceae and is exceedingly rare in nature. To investigate the physical basis for alternative rearrangements of the eudesm-5-yl carbocation, we carried out quantum mechanics (QM) analyses to calculate the allowable conformations, energies, and transition states linking conformers of the eudesm-5-yl carbocation to the eremophilene, spirovetivane, and spirojatamane skeletons. Additionally, we conducted parallel investigations on simplified decalin carbocation systems to examine the contribution of ring substituents to allowable conformations and rearrangement pathways. Our study reveals that ring substituents expand the conformational space accessible to the eudesm-5-yl carbocation while sterically blocking rearrangements in certain contexts. From our analysis, we define a conformational threshold for each possible rearrangement based on dihedral angles describing transition state geometry. Further, our calculations indicate that methylene migration rearrangements leading to spiro compounds are thermodynamically dominant in the eudesm-5-yl and simpler decalin carabocation systems. Interestingly, the theoretical abundance of sesquiterpene skeletal types arising from the intrinsic reactivity of the eudesm-5-yl carbocation stands in sharp contrast to their currently known natural abundance. The implications of these results for the catalytic tragectories catalyzed by sesquiterpene synthases are discussed.