Fabrication of polymer Langmuir-Blodgett films containing regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) for application to field-effect transistor

Semiconducting thin films consisting of regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene) (RR-PHT) and poly(N-dodecylacrylamide) (pDDA) were constructed by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. A mixture of RR-PHT and pDDA spread from a chloroform solution on a water surface forms a stable monolayer, which can be transferred onto solid substrates by the LB method, yielding a well-defined polymer LB film. Surface morphology studies of the LB film indicate that the RR-PHT is dispersed uniformly throughout the surface. The polymer thin film was chemically doped by contacting with FeCl3 acetonitrile solution, and a conductivity of 5.6 S/cm was achieved. Further, the LB film was utilized as the semiconducting film in the field-effect transistor (FET), and mobilities of 2.2 x 10(-4) and 4.4 x 10(-4) cm2 V(-1) s(-1) were obtained by analyzing the saturated and linear regions of the current-voltage characteristic, respectively.     

The effect of gas injection on a thermal argon plasma flow in a water-cooled tube

The effect of gas injection on an atmospheric thermal argon plasma flow in a water-cooled tube was investigated experimentally and numerically. The injection gas is argon, helium, or nitrogen. The static pressure with helium injection increases greatly because of its high thermal conductivity, while little increase occurs for nitrogen injection because of the dissociation. The increasing rate of the static pressure depends on the ratio of the momentum term to the viscosity term. The heat flux to the tube wall with gas injection changes less than that without injection. The numerical results showed variations similar to the experimental ones.     

Synthesis of isoxazolo[2,3-a]quinoxalines and pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction

The isoxazolo[2,3-a]quinoxalines 11a,b and pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines 12a,b were selectively synthesized from the 2-substituted 6-chloroquinoxaline 4-oxides 10a,b . The pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines 12a,b were clarified to be produced by the ring transformation of the isoxazolo[2,3-a]quinoxalines 11a,b . The pyrrolo[1,2-a]quinoxalines 14a,b were obtained from both 2,6-dichloroquinoxaline 4-oxide 9 and compounds 12a,b .     

Formation of a new crystalline silicate structure by grafting dialkoxysilyl groups on layered octosilicate

Dialkoxydichlorosilanes ((RO)2SiCl2, R = alkyl) react almost completely with interlayer silanol groups in a layered silicate octosilicate to create a new crystalline silicate structure consisting of new five-membered rings arranged regularly on both sides of the silicate layers. The introduction of dialkoxysilyl groups to the interlamellar region of layered silicates with regular reaction sites provides a new methodology for the design and construction of novel crystalline silicate frameworks by a soft chemical route.     

Synthesis of enantiopure 1,2-diamine attached to cross-linked polystyrene and its application to an insoluble catalyst for asymmetric hydrogenation

A novel enantiopure 1,2-diamine (5) having two phenolic hydroxy groups was attached into chloromethylated polystyrene through benzyl ether linkage, which was used as a chiral ligand of the catalyst in asymmetric hydrogenation of acetophenone.     

High enantioselectivity in rhodium-catalyzed allylic alkylation of 1-substituted 2-propenyl acetates

[reaction: see text] Rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric allylic alkylation of 1-substituted 2-propenyl acetates with dimethyl malonate proceeded with high enantioselectivity in the presence of cesium carbonate as a base and a rhodium catalyst generated from Rh(dpm)(C(2)H(4))(2) (dpm = dipivaloylmethanato) and a chiral phosphino-oxazoline whose basic skeleton is axially chiral binaphthyl to give branch alkylation products in greater than 90% ee.     

Reverse zymography using fluorogenic substrates for protease inhibitor detection

A novel, sensitive method for detecting protease inhibitors by using fluorescent protease substrates in gels is described. The protease inhibitors were separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels containing a copolymerized peptide substrate, namely 4-methyl-coumaryl-7-amide (MCA). As the incorporated substrates in the gel, Boc-Phe Ser-Arg-MCA was used for trypsin, Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-MCA for alpha-chymotrypsin, and Z-Phe-Arg-MCA for papain. After electrophoresis, washing and incubating the gel with the target protease solutions allowed the substrate to be cleaved by the protease, and the release of the fluorescent 7 amino-4 methyl-coumarin (AMC), which was detected under a UV transilluminator. The uncleaved peptide-MCA substrate remained where the inhibitors were present, and was visualized as dark blue bands on the light-green fluorescent background gel. This new method offers several advantages over other previous methods including: (i) greatly increased sensitivity can be achieved in a shorter period of time, which may be useful for discovering new protease inhibitors in small amounts of crude material; (ii) the procedure is quite simple and quick since the incubation period is very short and no time is needed for staining and destaining steps; (iii) since these probes using substrate specificity/target proteases, they are excellent tools for detection and discrimination of unknown protease inhibitors for various target proteases.     

Living cationic ring-opening polymerization by water-stable initiator: synthesis of a well-defined optically active polythiourethane

Living cationic ring-opening polymerization under air and water was achieved using a well-defined water-resistant cationic initiator in dichloromethane without purification at ambient temperature.     

m-Diethynylbenzene macrocycles: syntheses and self-association behavior in solution

m-Diethynylbenzene macrocycles (DBMs), buta-1,3-diyne-bridged [4(n)]metacyclophanes, have been synthesized and their self-association behaviors in solution were investigated. Cyclic tetramers, hexamers, and octamers of DBMs having exo-annular octyl, hexadecyl, and 3,6,9-trioxadecyl ester groups were prepared by intermolecular oxidative coupling of dimer units or intramolecular cyclization of the corresponding open-chain oligomers. The aggregation properties were investigated by two methods, the (1)H NMR spectra and the vapor pressure osmometry (VPO). Although some discrepancies were observed between the association constants obtained from the two methods, the qualitative view was consistent with each other. The analysis of self-aggregation by VPO revealed unique aggregation behavior of DBMs in acetone and toluene, which was not elucidated by the NMR method. Namely, the association constants for infinite association are several times larger than the dimerization constant, suggesting that the aggregation is enhanced by the formation of dimers (a nucleation mechanism). In polar solvents, DBMs aggregate more strongly than in chloroform due to the solvophobic interactions between the macrocyclic framework and the solvents. Moreover, DBMs self-associate in aromatic solvents such as toluene and o-xylene more readily than in chloroform. In particular, the hexameric DBM having a large macrocyclic cavity exhibits extremely large association constants in aromatic solvents. By comparing the aggregation properties of DBMs with the corresponding acyclic oligomers, the effect of the macrocyclic structure on the aggregation propensity was clarified. Finally, it turned out that DBMs tend to aggregate more readily than the corresponding phenylacetylene macrocycles, acetylene-bridged [2(n)]metacyclophanes, owing to the withdrawal of the electron density from the aromatic rings by the butadiyne linkages which facilitates pi-pi stacking interactions.     

High-resolution submicron patterning of self-assembled monolayers using a molecular fluorine laser at 157 nm

Using a molecular fluorine laser at 157 nm wavelength, submicron patterning of organosilane self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) is demonstrated utilizing mask-contact photolithography. An organosilane, namely, octadecyltrimethoxysilane [ODS, CH(3)(CH(2))(17)Si(OCH(3))(3)], SAM is chemisorbed onto Si substrates covered with a 2 nm thick oxide layer and subsequently patterned using the laser. The optical path of the laser beam and the photomask-sample space are evacuated and then backfilled and purged with nitrogen during laser firing. The resulting pattern is investigated using various measurement techniques. The scanning probe microscopy images show that patterns are transferred to the SAM-covered Si substrates and that 500 nm features are successfully photoprinted in this way.