An expedient synthesis of indolo[1,2-a]quinolines via Mn(OAc)3-mediated oxidative free radical cyclization and NaI/O2-assisted dealkoxycarbonylation/aerobic oxidation cascade

An expedient synthetic procedure of indolo[1,2-a]quinolines was developed using a sequential Cu-mediated N-arylation of indole, Mn(OAc)₃-mediated oxidative free radical cyclization, and NaI/O₂-assisted concomitant dealkoxycarbonylation/aerobic oxidation. The last step was replaced by a palladium-catalyzed decarboxylation/elimination protocol for the allyl ester derivatives.     

Solution of a Conjecture of Volkmann on the Number of Vertices in Longest Paths and Cycles of Strong Semicomplete Multipartite Digraphs

 A digraph obtained by replacing each edge of a complete multipartite graph by an arc or a pair of mutually opposite arcs with the same end vertices is called a semicomplete multipartite digraph. L. Volkmann conjectured that l≤2c−1, where l (c, respectively) is the number of vertices in a longest path (longest cycle) of a strong semicomplete multipartite digraph. The bound on l is sharp. We settle this conjecture in affirmative. Received: October 26, 1998?Final version received: August 16, 1999     

Waterborne trifunctionalsilane‐terminated polyurethane nanocomposite with silane‐modified clay

Trifunctional organosilane‐modified clay was synthesized and used to prepare waterborne trifunctionalsilane‐terminated polyurethane (WSPU)/clay nanocomposite dispersions in this study. Qualitative evidence of the presence of chemically attached silane molecules on clay were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The grafted amount and the grafting yield were determined by thermogravimetric analysis and the obtained results were in good agreement with the cation exchange capacity of pristine clay. X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy examinations indicated that the clay platelets are mostly intercalated or partially exfoliated in the SPU matrix with a d‐spacing of ～2.50 nm. Clay does not influence the location and peak broadness of the glass transition temperature of soft segment as well as hard segment domains in the WSPU/clay films. WSPU/clay dispersion with higher clay content exhibits a marginal increase in the average particle size, but silane modified clay has a pronounced effect compared with Cloisite 20A‐based nanocomposites. In addition, the incorporation of organophilic clay can also enhance the thermal resistance and tensile properties of WSPUs dramatically through the reinforcing effect. The improvement in water and xylene resistance of the silane modified clay nanocomposites proved that trifunctional organosilane can be used as effective modifiers for clays. Storage stability results confirmed that the prepared nanocomposite dispersions were stable. This method provides an efficient way to incorporate silane modified clay in SPU matrix. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2747–2761, 2007     

An overview on recent radiation transport algorithm development for optical tomography imaging

Optical tomography belongs to the promising set of non-invasive methods for probing applications of semi-transparent media. This covers a wide range of fields. Nowadays, it is mainly driven by medical imaging in search of new less aggressive and affordable diagnostic means. This paper aims at presenting the most recent research accomplished in the authors’ laboratories as well as that of collaborative institutions concerning the development of imaging algorithms. The light transport modelling is not a difficult question as it used to be. Research is now focused on data treatment and reconstruction. Since the turn of the century, the rapid expansion of low cost computing has permitted the development of enhanced imaging algorithms with great potential. Some of these developments are already on the verge of clinical applications. This paper presents these developments and also provides some insights on still unresolved challenges. Intrinsic difficulties are identified and promising directions for solutions are discussed.     

Preparation and Characterization of Thermally Stable Silicon-Containing Fluoropolymer Matrix for Application to Erbium-Doped Waveguide Amplifiers

This study focuses on the fabrication of fluoropolymer films as erbium(Er³⁺) host material with a goal of achieving sufficient thermal stability, optical clarity in the optical communication region and a chemical resistance to withstand typical fabrication processing and operation conditions. To satisfy the demands mentioned above, acrylo-polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane as heat-resistance improver, 2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5-octafluoropentyl acrylate as fluorinated acrylic monomer, tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate as solubility enhancer, 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate as both a silane coupling agent and another heat-resistance improver and Darocur 4265 as photoinitiator were used. Various compositions were evaluated to obtain high quantity of Er³⁺ ions in the polymer matrix, high thermal stability and high transparency.     

Synthesis and photovoltaic properties of a low‐band‐gap polymer consisting of alternating thiophene and benzothiadiazole derivatives for bulk‐heterojunction and dye‐sensitized solar cells

We synthesized a novel low‐band‐gap, conjugated polymer, poly[4,7‐bis(3′,3′‐diheptyl‐3,4‐propylenedioxythienyl)‐2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole] [poly(heptyl₄‐PTBT)], consisting of alternating electron‐rich, diheptyl‐substituted propylene dioxythiophene and electron‐deficient 2,1,3‐benzothiadiazole units, and its photovoltaic properties were investigated. A thin film of poly(heptyl₄‐PTBT) exhibited an optical band gap of 1.55 eV. A bulk‐heterojunction solar cell with indium tin oxide/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(heptyl₄‐PTBT): methanofullerene [6,6]‐phenyl‐C61‐butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) (1:4)/LiF/Al was fabricated with poly(heptyl₄‐PTBT) as an electron donor and PCBM as an electron acceptor and showed an open‐circuit voltage, short‐circuit current density, and power conversion efficiency of 0.37 V, 3.15 mA/cm², and 0.35% under air mass 1.5 (AM1.5G) illumination (100 mW/cm²), respectively. A solid‐state, dye‐sensitized solar cell with a SnO₂:F/TiO₂/N3 dye/poly(heptyl₄‐PTBT)/Pt device was fabricated with poly(heptyl₄‐PTBT) as a hole‐transport material. This device exhibited a high power conversion efficiency of 3.1%, which is the highest power conversion efficiency value with hole‐transport materials in dye‐sensitized solar cells to date. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1394–1402, 2007     

Small degree out‐branchings

Using a suitable orientation, we give a short proof of a strengthening of a result of Czumaj and Strothmann 4 : Every 2‐edge‐connected graph G contains a spanning tree T with the property that for every vertex v. As an analogue of this result in the directed case, we prove that every 2‐arc‐strong digraph D has an out‐branching B such that . A corollary of this is that every k‐arc‐strong digraph D has an out‐branching B such that , where . We conjecture that in this case would be the right (and best possible) answer. If true, this would again imply a strengthening of a result from 4 concerning spanning trees with small degrees in k‐connected graphs when k ≥ 2. We prove that for acyclic digraphs the existence of an out‐branching satisfying prescribed bounds on the out‐degrees of each vertex can be checked in polynomial time. A corollary of this is that the existence of arc‐disjoint branchings , , where the first is an out‐branching rooted at s and the second an in‐branching rooted at t, can be checked in polynomial time for the class of acyclic digraphs © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 297–307, 2003     

A practical total synthesis of gelastatins

The first and practical total synthesis of gelastatins 1, a novel matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor possessing antitumor activity, was accomplished in nine steps starting from Meldrum's acid.