Tetrathiafulvalene-acetylene scaffolding: new pi-electron systems for advanced materials

Novel extended tetrathiafulvalenes (TTFs) with hexa-2,4-diyne-1,6-diylidene spacers between the two 1,3-dithiole rings and laterally appended alkynyl moieties for one- and two-dimensional scaffolding were synthesised and investigated for their electronic properties.     

Positron studies of hydrogen-defect interactions in proton irradiated molybdenum

Molybdenum single crystals are irradiated at 20 K with 6 MeV protons. The radiation damage and lattice defect annealing is studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy in the temperature range from 15 to 720 K. Loss of vacancies due to recombination with mobile interstitials is observed at 40 K (Stage I) in agreement with resistivity measurements. This is the first time Stage I is observed by positrons below 77 K. The implanted hydrogen decorates the vacancies around 100 K, which is consistent with a hydrogen migration energy in molybdenum:E _M ^H = 0.3–0.4 eV. Clustering of spatially correlated vacancies takes place in a wide temperature region below the usual vacancy clustering stage (Stage III). Stage III is observed at rather low temperatures (400–480 K) due to the very high vacancy concentration. Hydrogen bound to vacancies and vacancy clusters is released above 540 K, which puts an upper limit to the hydrogen binding energy:E _B ^H 1.4 eV. The present work emphasizes the advantage of employing a vacancy sensitive technique to study hydrogen in metals, where its intrinsic solubility is low. In such metals (as molybdenum) both the effective solubility and the effective mobility of hydrogen are strongly influenced by the presence of vacancies.     

The vibrational spectra of maleimide and N-D maleimide

The infrared spectra of maleimide as a vapour (160°C), melt (100°C), oriented polycrystalline film, pellet and when dissolved in various solvents were recorded between 4000 and 400 cm^?1. Also certain spectra in the far infrared region 400-40 cm^?1 were obtained. Raman spectra of the crystalline solid, melt and as a saturated solution in acetonitrile were recorded and semiquantitative polarization measurements carried out. For N-D maleimide infrared and Raman spectra of the solid compound were recorded.The fundamental frequencies have been assigned in terms of C_2v, symmetry on the basis of infrared vapour contours and dichroism of the oriented film as well as on Raman polarization data. A force field was derived for maleimide, by initially transferring force constants from maleic anhydride and subsequent refinement of the force constants. The agreement between observed and calculated frequencies for the in-plane modes was satisfactory whereas certain large discrepancies remained for the out-of-plane vibrations.     

Stereoselective synthesis of (E)-beta-tributylstannyl-alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones: construction of a key intermediate for the total synthesis of zoanthamine

(E)-beta-Trialkylstannyl-alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones are readily available from secondary propargylic alcohols via a two-step sequence involving highly regio- and stereoselective Pd(0)-catalyzed hydrostannation followed by mild oxidation (TPAP). The methodology has been applied to the synthesis of enantiomerically pure enone 12 which is a key intermediate for the total synthesis of zoanthamine, a structurally complex marine natural product.     

Defect structures of ion-implanted α-tin

Single crystalline and polycrystalline -tin has been implanted at room temperature with 80-keV ions of radioactive^119m Sn,¹¹⁹Sb, and^119m Te. The radioactive nuclei decay to the Mössbauer level of¹¹⁹Sn. Mössbauer spectra of the emitted 24-keV radiation have been measured for different source temperatures by resonance counting techniques. Five individual lines in the spectra are characterized mainly by their isomer shifts and Debye temperatures. From these parameters the radiogenic¹¹⁹Sn atoms are concluded to be located in regular substitutional and interstitial lattice sites and in defect complexes. Simple models for the defects are proposed: A Sn-vacancy pair consists of Sn atoms on (nearly) substitutional sites with a dangling bond into an adjacent vacancy. In a complex oxygen-containing defect the Sn atoms have approximately a 5s ² configuration withp-bonds to two nearest neighbour atoms. Sn atoms, having an atomic 5s ² 5p ² configuration and large vibrational amplitudes, are concluded to be in non-bonding regular interstitial sites. For special implantation conditions minor fractions of SnO₂ molecules are formed in the bulk. The interstitial¹¹⁹Sn and the¹¹⁹Sn-vacancy pairs are proposed to represent elementary point defects in -tin. Conclusions are also drawn concerning the lattice location and the defects created in the implantation process of the implanted parent isotopes.     

Highly stereoselective addition of stannylcuprates to alkynones

The addition of stannylcuprate reagents such as (Bu3Sn)(PhS)CuLi to alkynones has been found to proceed in high yield and with excellent stereoselectivity for the Z isomer of the product (>95%). The behavior of the stannylcuprates is thus very different from that of their "carbocuprate" counterparts such as Me2CuLi or Me2Cu(CN)Li2 which are nonstereoselective. Furthermore, in contrast to the reactions of (R3Sn)(PhS)CuLi with the corresponding alkynoates, the presence of a proton source in the reaction medium has no effect on the stereoselectivity of the reaction of alkynones.     

Optically excited emission and excitation spectra of solid xenon

The luminescence of solid xenon at 20 K has been excited optically in the wavelength range 1550Åto 1150Å. The 1760Å emission band due to a ${}^3{\sum }_u^{+}{\to }^1{\sum }_g^{+}$ transition of the $X{e}_2^{*}$ molecule is found in agreement with α^? or e^?-excitation. The excitation spectrum yields a relatively high quantum efficiency of the Γ(3/2) exciton series indicating efficient self-trapping. The Γ(1/2) exciton series and conduction band states have a low quantum efficiency.