Conduction electron polarization and high-field magnetization of a terbium single crystal

The zero-field moment of Tb has been determined at 4.2 K for a very pure single crystal along the b direction. A value of (9.490 ± 0.010) μ _B/at was found. The corresponding conduction electron polarization of 0.519 μ_B/at is much higher than previously estimated. The conduction electron susceptibility was found not to be at variance with the value obtained from band calculations. No agreement is found for the field dependence of the magnetization at 64.5 K and 77 K with a renormalized spin wave theory although the differences are small.     

AFM and electron microscopy study of the unusual aggregation behavior of metallosurfactants based on iron(II) complexes with bipyridine ligands

The aggregation behavior in water-rich solutions of five iron(II) complexes with alkylated derivatives of 2,2'-bipyridine was studied by electron microscopy (cryo-SEM, SEM, and TEM) and AFM. The results obtained by cryo-SEM on frozen colloidal solutions show that the morphology of the aggregates strongly depends on the length of the alkyl chains in the bipyridine ligands, with shorter alkyl chains forming rod-like structures, whereas for compounds with longer alkyl chains, only spherical structures were detected. The self-aggregates were further characterized by SEM and TEM. The results show that their overall morphology depends only on the length of the alkyl chain of the bipyridine ligands and that the samples show a broad size distribution. In addition, TEM and SEM were used to study the stability of the self-aggregates in solution, the effect of addition of methanol, and the temperature used in the preparation of the colloidal solutions. AFM studies of the aggregates either dried in ambient conditions or dehydrated by long drying under vacuum showed partially collapsed self-aggregates in the latter case, showing that the aggregates contain water in their core, indicating that the self-aggregation leads to vesicle-type structures.     

Solvent-dependent amplification of chirality in assemblies of porphyrin trimers based on benzene tricarboxamide

Self-assembling achiral and chiral porphyrin trimers based on benzene tricarboxamide exhibit amplification of chirality only in solvents in which the assemblies are dynamic enough to rearrange their constituting components.     

Beta Sheets with a Twist: The Conformation of Helical Polyisocyanopeptides Determined by Using Vibrational Circular Dichroism

Detailed information on the architecture of polyisocyanopeptides based on vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy in combination with DFT calculations is presented. It is demonstrated that the screw sense of the helical polyisocyanides can be determined directly from the C?N‐stretch vibrational region of the VCD spectrum. Analysis of the VCD signals associated with the amide I and amide II modes provides detailed information on the peptide side‐chain arrangement in the polymer and indicates the presence of a helical β‐sheet architecture, in which the dihedral angles are slightly different to those of natural β‐sheet helices.