New possibility for an organic semiconductor: a smectic liquid crystalline semiconductor having a long conjugated core and two long alkyl chains

We report a new possibility for liquid crystalline organic semiconductors. These materials exhibit smectic liquid crystalline phases, in which the molecules assume a smectic molecular order by self-assembly. Because of the strong dispersion force among long alkyl chains, on cooling, smectic molecular order was retained at room temperature. A charge transport ability was also retained. The conductivity of a device having smectic liquid crystalline order is about 5×10⁷ that of a device with no smectic order. The current - voltage characteristic of the device has a very sharp increase at low threshold voltage (5 V). A high carrier mobility of 1.8×10^-2 was observed in the smectic phase of one of the compounds studied (e).     

Preparation of new chiral building blocks via asymmetric catalysis

Highly enantio- and stereoselective preparation of some new chiral building blocks with baker's yeast or the CBS catalyst is described.     

The asymptotic formula in Waring’s problem for one square and seventeen fifth powers

Let R _k,s(n) denote the number of solutions of the equation \({n= x^2 + y_1^k + y_2^k + \cdots + y_s^k}\) in natural numbers x, y ₁, . . . , y _s . By a straightforward application of the circle method, an asymptotic formula for R _k,s(n) is obtained when k ≥ 3 and s ≥ 2^k–1 + 2. When k ≥ 6, work of Heath-Brown and Boklan is applied to establish the asymptotic formula under the milder constraint s ≥ 7 · 2^k–4 + 3. Although the principal conclusions provided by Heath-Brown and Boklan are not available for smaller values of k, some of the underlying ideas are still applicable for k = 5, and the main objective of this article is to establish an asymptotic formula for R _5,17(n) by this strategy.     

Effect of water on the interfacial structures of room-temperature ionic liquids

The interfacial structures of cyano-based room-temperature ionic liquids play a very important role in reducing friction. However, the presence of water impairs their tribological performance. The interfacial structures and friction forces of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide, [EMIM][DCN], and the effect of water on these structures and forces were investigated using atomic force microscopy. In addition, the interaction of water and [EMIM][DCN] was evaluated using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Multiple repulsive layers were observed in the [EMIM][DCN] solution. This solution showed low friction force because these repulsive layers worked as protective layers against friction. On the other hand, the specific repulsive layer characteristics of [EMIM][DCN] could not be observed in a [EMIM][DCN] + 2 wt% H₂O solution. FT-IR results indicated that the layer structure of [EMIM][DCN] was disturbed by the addition of H₂O. Therefore, the solution containing water exhibited a high friction force.     

A new and efficient synthetic method for 15N3-labeled cytosine nucleosides: Dimroth rearrangement of cytidine N3-oxides

The treatment of (15)N(4)-labeled cytidine N(3)-oxide and (15)N(4)-labeled 2'-deoxycytidine N(3)-oxide, prepared from the appropriate unprotected uridines in three reaction steps, with benzyl bromide in the presence of excess lithium methoxide allowed the smooth occurrence of their Dimroth rearrangement even under mild conditions leading to the corresponding (15)N(3)-labeled uridine 4-O-benzyloximes which can easily undergo the reductive N-O bond cleavage to give the desirable (15)N(3)-labeled cytosine nucleosides in high total yields.