Liquid crystalline derivatives of bis(tricarbollide)Fe(II)

A series of Schiff bases 2[n] with n = 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 18 was prepared by the condensation of 9,9'-diaminobis(tricarbollide)Fe(II) (1b) with appropriate 4-alkoxybenzaldehydes (3[n]). Thermal analysis showed that they form nematic and smectic phases with clearing temperatures above 200 degrees C. Comparative studies of series 2[n] and its organic analogs demonstrated that the effectiveness of bis(tricarbollide)Fe(II) in supporting liquid crystalline phases is between that of benzene and biphenyl for n < or = 18 and lower than that of benzene for n = infinity. The photophysical properties were investigated for the butoxy derivative 2[4] and modeled using ZINDO calculations.     

Cr(II) reactivity of taurine/alpha-ketoglutarate dioxygenase

The interaction of CrII with taurine/alpha-ketoglutarate (alphaKG) dioxygenase (TauD) was examined. CrII replaces FeII and binds stoichiometrically with alphaKG to the FeII/alphaKG binding site of the protein, with additional CrII used to generate a chromophore attributed to a CrIII-semiquinone in a small percentage of the sample. Formation of the latter oxygen-sensitive species requires the dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) quinone form of Tyr-73. This preformed side chain is generated by intracellular self-hydroxylation of Tyr-73 to form DOPA, which is subsequently oxidized to the quinone. No chromophore is generated when using NaBH4-treated sample, protein isolated from anaerobically grown cells, inactive TauD variants that are incapable of self-hydroxylation, or the Y73F active mutant of TauD. A CrIII-DOPA semiquinone also was observed in the herbicide hydroxylase SdpA.     

Water properties and potential of mean force for hydrophobic interactions of methane and nanoscopic pockets studied by computer simulations

We consider model systems consisting of a methane molecule and hemispherical pockets of subnanometer radii whose walls are made of hydrophobic material. The potential of mean force for process of translocation of the methane molecule from bulk water into the pockets' interior is obtained, based on an explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations. Accompanying changes in water density around the interacting objects and spatial distribution of solvent's potential energy are analyzed, allowing for interpretation of details of hydrophobic interactions in relation to hydrophobic hydration properties. Applicability of surface area-based models of hydrophobic effect for systems of interest is also investigated. A total work for the translocation process is not dependent on pocket's size, indicating that pocket desolvation has little contribution to free energy changes, which is consistent with the observation that solvent density is significantly reduced inside "unperturbed" pockets. Substantial solvent effects are shown to have a longer range than in case of a well investigated methane pair. A desolvation barrier is present in a smaller pocket system but disappears in the larger one, suggesting that a form of a "hydrophobic collapse" is observed.     

Breaking bonds with the left eigenstate completely renormalized coupled-cluster method

The recently developed [P. Piecuch and M. Wloch, J. Chem. Phys. 123, 224105 (2005)] size-extensive left eigenstate completely renormalized (CR) coupled-cluster (CC) singles (S), doubles (D), and noniterative triples (T) approach, termed CR-CC(2,3) and abbreviated in this paper as CCL, is compared with the full configuration interaction (FCI) method for all possible types of single bond-breaking reactions between C, H, Si, and Cl (except H2) and the H2Si[Double Bond]SiH2 double bond-breaking reaction. The CCL method is in excellent agreement with FCI in the entire region R=1-3Re for all of the studied single bond-breaking reactions, where R and Re are the bond distance and the equilibrium bond length, respectively. The CCL method recovers the FCI results to within approximately 1 mhartree in the region R=1-3Re of the H-SiH3, H-Cl, H3Si-SiH3, Cl-CH3, H-CH3, and H3C-SiH3 bonds. The maximum errors are -2.1, 1.6, and 1.6 mhartree in the R=1-3Re region of the H3C-CH3, Cl-Cl, and H3Si-Cl bonds, respectively, while the discrepancy for the H2Si[Double Bond]SiH2 double bond-breaking reaction is 6.6 (8.5) mhartree at R=2(3)Re. CCL also predicts more accurate relative energies than the conventional CCSD and CCSD(T) approaches, and the predecessor of CR-CC(2,3) termed CR-CCSD(T).     

Influence of sample application mode on performance of pressurized planar electrochromatography in completely closed system

Three modes of sample application on the chromatographic plate are applied at present investigations of pressurized planar electrochromatography (PPEC) systems taking into special attention their influence on performance of the separating system. These modes are as follows: application of the sample solution directly on the chromatographic plate with microsyringe, deposition of sample solution on scrap of adsorbent layer followed by location oft this scrap on the chromatographic plate, application of the sample solution with commercially available aerosol applicator. These modes were combined with prewetting procedures of the chromatographic plates which lead to an accomplishment of equilibration of the stationary phase-mobile phase system. The plots of plate height versus linear flow rate of the mobile phase are presented for PPEC systems for the first time. The best separation performance has been obtained in PPEC system when prewetting of the chromatographic plate followed the sample application with commercially available aerosol applicator. The higher repeatability of migration distance of the solute bands has been obtained in PPEC experiments when the sample application was followed by prewetting the chromatographic plate in comparison to the experiments when these operations were performed in reversed order.     

Characteristics of polyelectrolyte multilayers: effect of PEI anchoring layer and posttreatment after deposition

The influence of a first (anchoring) layer and film treatment on the structure and properties of polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films obtained from polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) and polysodium 4-styrenesulfonate (PSS) was studied. Branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) was used as an anchoring layer. The film thickness was measured by ellipsometry. Complementary X-ray reflectometry and AFM experiments were performed to study the change in the interfacial roughness. We found that the thickness of the PEM films increased linearly with the number of layers and depended on the presence of an anchoring PEI layer. Thicker films were obtained for multilayers having PEI as the first layer comparing to films having the same number of layers but consisting of PAH/PSS only. We investigated the wettability of PEM surfaces using direct image analysis of the shape of sessile water drops. Periodic oscillations in contact angle were observed. PAH-terminated films were more hydrophobic than films with PSS as the outermost layer. The effect of long time conditioning of PEM films in solutions of various pH's or salt (NaCl) concentrations was also examined. Salt or base solutions induced modification in wetting properties of the polyelectrolyte multilayers but had a negligible effect on the film thickness.     

Crystal structure of olanzapine and its solvates. Part 3. Two and three-component solvates with water, ethanol, butan-2-ol and dichloromethane

Crystalline solvates of olanzapine (1), 2-methyl-4-(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)-10H-thieno[2,3-b][1,5]benzodiazepine, have been characterized by an X-ray analysis and thermal (DSC) data. Crystallization of 1 from ethanol gives a solid containing both water and ethanol molecules; the solvate 1 · H₂O · EtOH (2:2:1) is monoclinic with the space group P2₁/c and the unit-cell volume V = 3752.8(12) Å³. Butan-2-ol forms with 1 solvate which is also a three-component phase, 1 · H₂O · BuOH, but its stoichiometry is different (1:1:1). The space group for this crystal is P2₁/c and the unit-cell volume V = 2216.5(7) Å³. Crystalline olanzapine dichloromethane solvate (2:1), 1 · CH₂Cl₂, is triclinic with the space group .The characteristic feature of all crystal structures is presence of a pair of olanzapine molecules which form dimer stabilized by multiple weak C–Hπ interactions between the N-methylpiperazine fragment and the phenyl / thiophene systems. Theoretical calculations have been performed indicating that the total C–Hπ binding energy is about 8 kcal mol⁻¹. In the crystal structure, the self-assembled olanzapine molecular dimers are arranged into parallel crystal planes. Packing of the layers proceeds in two ways in which structural motives are replicated by (i) perpendicular translation forming columns, and (ii) rotation around the twofold screw axis (parallel to the layer).     

Mono- and Di-Pyrene [60]Fullerene and [70]Fullerene Derivatives as Potential Components for Photovoltaic Devices

In the present work, we report the successful synthesis and characterization of six (two new) fullerene mono- and di-pyrene derivatives based on C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectral methods (ESI-MS, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, UV-Vis, FT-IR, photoluminescence and photocurrent spectroscopy). The energy of HOMO and LUMO levels and the band gaps were determined from cyclic voltammetry and compared with the theoretical values calculated according to the DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d) and DFT/PBE/6-311G(d,p) approach for fully optimized molecular structures at the DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. Efficiency of solar cells made of PTB7: C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerene pyrene derivatives were analyzed based on the determined energy levels of the HOMO and LUMO orbitals of the derivatives as well as the extensive spectral results of fullerene derivatives and their mixtures with PTB7. As a result, we found that the electronic and spectral properties, on which the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell is believed to depend, slightly changes with the number and type of pyrene substituents on the fullerene core. The efficiency of constructed solar cells largely depends on the homogeneity of the photovoltaic layer, which, in turn, is a derivative of the solubility of fullerene derivatives in the solvent used to apply these layers by spincoating.