Iterative tandem catalysis of secondary diols and diesters to chiral polyesters

The well-known dynamic kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols and esters was extended to secondary diols and diesters to afford chiral polyesters. This process is an example of iterative tandem catalysis (ITC), a polymerization method where the concurrent action of two fundamentally different catalysts is required to achieve chain growth. In order to procure chiral polyesters of high enantiomeric excess value (ee) and good molecular weight, the catalysts employed need to be complementary and compatible during the polymerization reaction. We here show that Shvo's catalyst and Novozym 435 fulfil these requirements. The optimal polymerization conditions of 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene) diethanol (1,3-diol) and diisopropyl adipate required 2 mol% Shvo's catalyst and 12 mg Novozym 435 per mmol alcohol group in the presence of 0.5 M 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentanol as the hydrogen donor. With these conditions, chiral polyesters were obtained with peak molecular weights up to 15 kDa, an ee value up to 99% and with 1-3 % ketone end groups. Also with the structural isomer, 1,4-diol, a chiral polyester was obtained, albeit with lower molecular weight (8.3 kDa) and slightly lower ee (94%). Aliphatic secondary diols also resulted in enantio-enriched polymers but at most an ee of 46 % was obtained with molecular weights in the range of 3.3-3.7 kDa. This low ee originates from the intrinsic low enantioselectivity of Novozym 435 for this type of secondary aliphatic diols. The results presented here show that ITC can be applied to procure chiral polyesters with good molecular weight and high ee from optically inactive AA-BB type monomers.     

Neutral-ligand complexes of bis(imino)pyridine iron: synthesis, structure, and spectroscopy

A family of bis(imino)pyridine iron neutral-ligand derivatives, ((iPr)PDI)FeL(n) ((iPr)PDI = 2,6-(2,6-iPr2-C6H3N=CMe)2C6H3N), has been synthesized from the corresponding bis(dinitrogen) complex, ((iPr)PDI)Fe(N2)2. When L is a strong-field ligand such as tBuNC or a chelating alkyl diphosphine such as DEPE (DEPE = 1,2-bis(diethylphosphino)ethane), a five-coordinate, diamagnetic compound results with no spectroscopic evidence for mixing of paramagnetic states. Reducing the field strength of the neutral donor to principally sigma-type ligands such as tBuNH2 or THT (THT = tetrahydrothiophene) also yielded diamagnetic compounds. However, the 1H NMR chemical shifts of the in-plane bis(imino)pyridine hydrogens exhibit a large chemical shift dispersion indicative of temperature-independent paramagnetism (TIP) arising from mixing of an S = 1 excited state via spin-orbit coupling. Metrical data from X-ray diffraction establish bis(imino)pyridine chelate reduction for each structural type, while M?ssbauer parameters and NMR spectroscopic data differentiate the spin states of the iron and identify contributions from paramagnetic excited states.     

Classical interaction model for the water molecule

The authors propose a new classical model for the water molecule. The geometry of the molecule is built on the rigid TIP5P model and has the experimental gas phase dipole moment of water created by four equal point charges. The model preserves its rigidity but the size of the charges increases or decreases following the electric field created by the rest of the molecules. The polarization is expressed by an electric field dependent nonlinear polarization function. The increasing dipole of the molecule slightly increases the size of the water molecule expressed by the oxygen-centered sigma parameter of the Lennard-Jones interaction. After refining the adjustable parameters, the authors performed Monte Carlo simulations to check the ability of the new model in the ice, liquid, and gas phases. They determined the density and internal energy of several ice polymorphs, liquid water, and gaseous water and calculated the heat capacity, the isothermal compressibility, the isobar heat expansion coefficients, and the dielectric constant of ambient water. They also determined the pair-correlation functions of ambient water and calculated the energy of the water dimer. The accuracy of theirs results was satisfactory.     

Structure of coexisting liquid phases of supercooled water: analogy with ice polymorphs

The structural changes occurring in supercooled liquid water upon moving from one coexisting liquid phase to the other have been investigated by computer simulation using a polarizable interaction potential model. The obtained results favorably compare with recent neutron scattering data of high and low density water. In order to assess the physical origin of the observed structural changes, computer simulation of several ice polymorphs has also been carried out. Our results show that there is a strict analogy between the structure of various disordered (supercooled) and ordered (ice) phases of water, suggesting that the occurrence of several different phases of supercooled water is rooted in the same physical origin that is responsible for ice polymorphism.     

Highly active/selective and adjustable zirconium polymerization catalysts stabilized by aminopyridinato ligands

This paper describes a substantial enhancement of the aminopyridinato ligand stabilized early transition metal chemistry by introducing the sterically very demanding 2,6-dialkylphenyl substituted aminopyridinato ligands derived from (2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-[6-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-pyridin-2-yl]-amine (1a-H, ApH) and (2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-[6-(2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl)-pyridin-2-yl]- amine (1b-H, Ap^∗H). The corresponding bis aminopyridinato zirconium dichloro complexes, [Ap₂ZrCl₂] (3a) and [Ap₂^∗ZrCl₂] (3b) and the dimethyl analogues, [Ap₂ZrMe₂] (4a) and [Ap₂^∗ZrMe₂] (4b) (Me = methyl) were synthesized, using standard salt metathesis routes. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction was carried out for the dichloro derivatives. Both zirconium metal centers have a distorted octahedral environment with a cis-orientation of the chloride ligands in 3a and a closer to trans-arrangement in 3b. The dimethyl derivatives are proven to be highly active ethylene polymerization catalysts after activation with [R₂N(Me)H][B(C₆F₅)₄] (R = C₁₆H₃₃-C₁₈H₃₇). During attempted co-polymerizations of α-olefins (propylene) and ethylene high activity and selectivity for ethylene and nearly no co-monomer incorporation was observed. Increasing the steric bulk of the ligand going from (2,6-dimethylphenyl) to (2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl) substituted pyridines, switches the catalyst system from producing long chain α-olefins to polymerization of ethylene in a living fashion. In contrast to the dimethyl complexes only [Ap₂^∗ZrCl₂] in the presence of MAO at elevated temperature gave decent polymerization activity. NMR investigations of the reaction of dichloro complexes with 25 equiv. of MAO or AlMe₃ at room temperature revealed, that [Ap₂ZrCl₂] decomposes under ligand transfer to aluminum and formation of [ApAlMe₂], while [Ap₂^∗ZrCl₂] remains almost unreacted under the same conditions. The aminopyridinato dimethyl aluminum complexes, [ApAlMe₂] (5a) and [Ap^∗AlMe₂] (5b) were synthesized independently and structurally characterized. The aluminum complexes 5a and b show no catalytic activity towards ethylene, when “activated” with[R₂N(Me)H][B(C₆F₅)₄].     

Solid-supported monolayers and bilayers of amphiphilic beta-cyclodextrins

This paper describes the adsorption and spreading of beta-cyclodextrin (CD) vesicles on hydrophobic and hydrophilic substrates, which involves a transition from bilayer vesicles to planar molecular monolayers or bilayers. On substrates that are patterned with self-assembled monolayers by microcontact printing (muCP), the CD vesicles preferentially adsorb on hydrophobic areas instead of hydrophilic (nonionic) areas, and on cationic areas instead of hydrophilic (nonionic) areas. Supported monolayers of amphiphilic cyclodextrins CD1 and CD2 were obtained by adsorption of CD vesicles to hydrophobic substrates, and supported bilayers of amphiphilic cyclodextrins CD1 and CD2 were prepared by adsorption of CD vesicles on cationic substrates. Contact angle goniometry, atomic force microscopy and confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM) were used to analyze the supported CD layers. The fluidity of the supported CD layers was verified using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching experiments. The supported layers function as a supramolecular platform that can bind suitable guest molecules through inclusion in the CD host cavities. Additionally, the CD host layers were patterned with fluorescent guest molecules by supramolecular muCP on the supported CD layers. The host-guest interactions were investigated with CFM and fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments.     

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of 2-butanone over oxide catalysts

Catalytic transfer hydrogenation of 2-butanone with 2-propanol was studied in gas phase over a series of oxides of different acid-base properties. Although the basic oxides (MgO, La₂O₃) gave high initial conversions, these oxides underwent deactivation during the reaction. This deactivation could be partially prevented by a previous treatment with chloroform of the oxide. The amphoteric oxides (TiO₂, ZrO₂, Al₂O₃) were also active in this reaction. Increasing the acidic character of the catalyst (Nb₂O₅, WO₃) led to a pronounced dehydration of 2-propanol. The results obtained over a series of rare earth oxides (La₂O₃, Sm₂O₃, Gd₂O₃, Dy₂O₃, Er₂O₃) revealed that beside the role of basic and acid sites a correlation seems to exist between the number of unpaired electrons of the metal ion and the catalytic activity, indicating the role of one electron donor sites.     

The crystallization and melting of linear polyethylene studied by temperature-modulated SAXS and WAXD

Temperature-reversible and -irreversible morphological events could be separated in the case of linear polyethylene during quasi-isothermal crystallization by using simultaneous temperature-modulated synchrotron SAXS and WAXD. Crystallization and subsequent annealing was followed at 126 °C for 90 min while applying a temperature modulation with an amplitude of 1 °C and a period of 2 min. The crystal growth rate associated with the irreversible part of the crystallization decreases with increasing temperature in a cycle. The crystalline lamellae irreversibly thicken with time. The actual crystallite thickness, however, exhibits a superimposed modulation out of phase with that of the temperature modulation. Melting was studied during heating at 1 °C/min after cooling at 10 °C/min. A temperature modulation was superimposed with an amplitude of 2 °C and a period of 3 min. Once again temperature-reversible crystal thickness changes and irreversible crystal thickening could be observed.