Integral stereocontrolled synthesis of a spiro-norlignan, sequosempervirin A: revision of absolute configuration

A novel synthetic path to sequosempervirin A was established by employing a samarium diiodide promoted intramolecular Barbier-type reaction of the lactonic iodide, in which the key structural feature, a spiro[4.5]decane ring system, could be constructed by controlling the stereochemistry of the hydroxyl group at the 8-position. The absolute configuration of natural sequosempervirin A was revised to be 4S based on this synthesis.     

Enantiocontrolled total syntheses of breviones A, B, and C

Enantiocontrolled total syntheses of the breviones A, B, and C have been accomplished using a highly diastereoselective oxidative coupling of an α-pyrone with a tricyclic diene prepared from an optically pure Wieland-Miescher ketone derivative through the 7-endo-trig mode of acyl radical cyclization.     

Crystal structure of 7,8-dihydroxy-4-methylcoumarin.

The structure of 7,8-dihydroxy-4-methylcoumarin was determined by an X-ray diffraction method. The compound crystallized in the triclinic space group P1, Z = 2, with a = 7.631(2), b = 9.456(5), c = 7.075(3)A, alpha = 103.13(3), beta = 91.84(3), gamma= 68.21(3) degrees, and V= 460.9(3)A3. The X-ray crystal structure was also compared with those of 5,7-dihydroxy-4-methylcoumarin and 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin.     

Synthesis of a pyrrole‐based methine bridge type liquid‐crystalline conjugated polymer

Conjugated polymers consisting of pyrrole or an N‐substituted pyrrole bridged by methine with a mesogenic group were synthesized. Chemical structures of the products were confirmed with IR, NMR, UV–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, and gel permeation chromatography analysis. Liquid crystallinity was examined with differential scanning calorimetry measurements and polarizing optical microscopy observations. Liquid crystal domains of the polymer were macroscopically oriented in one direction by an external magnetic force (10 Tesla). The polymer orientation was confirmed by optical microscopy and X‐ray analysis. One of the polymers exhibited a striated fan‐shaped texture when observed with a polarizing optical microscope. This is attributed to the formation of a chiral smectic C (SmC^*) phase, which is a property of ferroelectricity. Spontaneous polarization of the polymer occurred at 110 nC/cm². © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 616–629, 2005     

Ab initio MO calculations on the stable conformations and their binding energies of the ion-molecule complexes: Ion = H+, Li+, Na+, K+ Be2+, and molecule = CO and N2

The most stable conformation of ion-molecule complexes involving a CO molecule were surveyed by the use of Hartree-Fock (HF) MO and third-order Moller-Plesset perturbation (MP3) methods with a 6–31G* basis set ion = H⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Bc²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺. The MP3 level of theory reveals the ion-CO conformation in which the ion bonds to a carbon atom of CO to be the most stable; these MP3 results are contrary to the HF ones. Binding energies of ion-molecule complexes involving CO and N₂ were computed; MP3 energies are in good agreement with the experimental ones. The computed binding energies of cation-N₂ are about one-third of cation-NH₃ due to the absence of dipole moment and the smaller polarizability of N₂. The decrease in binding energy in cation-CO and -N₂ complexes, with increasing cation size, is mainly caused by the decrease of the electrostatic and polarization stabilizations.     

Chemorheology of linear polymers

The structural changes brought about by chemical reactions are reflected in the viscoelastic behavior of polymers. Viscoelastic behavior induced by such chemical reactions is called chemorheology. This phenomenon is not readily observed in linear polymers, because molecular flow by diffusion is generally much more rapid than relaxation or flow caused by chemical reaction. It has become possible, however, to treat chemorheology of linear polymers theoretically by taking such physical flow into consideration. The experimental results for linear polystyrene compared with the theoretical ones are described in this paper. Good agreement between theoretical results and experimental ones is obtained for monodisperse polystyrene with low concentration of accelerators.     

Totally geodesic immersions of Kähler manifolds and Kähler Frenet curves

In a given Kähler manifold (M,J) we introduce the notion of Kähler Frenet curves, which is closely related to the complex structure J of M. Using the notion of such curves, we characterize totally geodesic Kähler immersions of M into an ambient Kähler manifold and totally geodesic immersions of M into an ambient real space form of constant sectional curvature .     

Optimal ordering and pricing policy for an inventory system with trial periods

It is a business practice that home shopping companies offer a free trial period for their products with a goal of increasing sales. Under this policy, if for any reason customers are not satisfied with the purchase, they can return the product for a refund within the trial period. To develop inventory strategies in such environment, home shopping companies should take the return phenomenon into account so as to increase their profit. This paper considers this phenomenon and develops a seasonal inventory model to deal with the problem. Two scenarios are analyzed. In the first scenario, demand is assumed to be linearly price-dependent while in the second one, it is assumed to be exponentially price-dependent. The purpose of this research is to maximize the total profit over a given planning period by determining the optimal ordering quantity and price. The analytical results demonstrate that the optimal ordering quantity and prices are obtained using closed-form formulas.     

Molecular understanding of the adhesive interactions between silica surface and epoxy resin: Effects of interfacial water

The molecular mechanism of the adhesion between silica surface and epoxy resin under atmospheric conditions is investigated by periodic density-functional-theory (DFT) calculations. Slab models of the adhesion interface were built by integrating a fragment of epoxy resin and hydroxylated (0 0 1) surface of α-cristobalite in the presence of adsorbed water molecules. Effects of adsorbed water on the adhesion interaction are evaluated on the basis of geometry-optimized structures, adhesion energies, and forces. Calculated results demonstrate that adsorbed water molecules significantly reduce both the adhesion energies and forces of the silica surface–epoxy resin interface. The reduction of adhesion properties can be associated with structural deformation of water molecules confined in the tight space between the adhesive and adherend as well as structural flexibility of the hydrogen-bonding network in the interfacial region during detachment of the epoxy resin from the hydrophilic silica surface. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.