Synthesis and structure of a chiral areno-bridged [2.4]metacyclophane

The reductive coupling reaction of 1,4-bis(3-acetyl-5-tert-butyl-2-methoxyphenyl)butane 3 was carried out using TiCl₄-Zn in pyridine followed by a McMurry coupling reaction to afford the compounds anti and syn 1,2-dimethyl[2.4]MCP-1-ene 4. Bromination of 4 with BTMA-Br₃ in dry CH₂Cl₂ afforded the interesting compound 1,2-bis-(bromomethyl)-5,15-di-tert-butyl-8,18-dimethoxy[2.4]MCP-1-ene 6 and consecutive debromination with Zn and AcOH in CH₂Cl₂ solution afforded the stable solid 5,15-di-tert-butyl-8,18-dimethoxy-1,2-dimethylene[2.4]MCP 7 in 89% yield. Compound 7 was conveniently employed in a Diels–Alder reaction with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD) to provide 2-(3′,6′-dihydrobenzo)-5,15-di-tert-butyl-8,18-dimethoxy[2.4]MCP-4′,5′-dimethylcarboxylate 8 in good yield. Diels–Alder adduct 8 was converted into a novel and inherently chiral areno-bridged compound [2.4]MCP 9 by aromatization. The chirality of the two conformers was characterized by circular dichroism (CD) spectra of the separated enantiomer which are perfect mirror images of each other.     

Enantiodifferentiating photoisomerization of cyclooctene included and sensitized by aroyl-beta-cyclodextrins: a critical enantioselectivity control by substituents

A series of 6-O-benzoyl-beta-cyclodextrins (CDs) with methyl, methoxy, methoxycarbonyl, and bromo substituent(s) at the ortho-, meta-, and/or para-position(s) were synthesized as chiral sensitizing hosts for the use in supramolecular enantiodifferentiating photoisomerization of (Z)-cyclooctene (1Z) to its chiral (E)-isomer (1E). The complex stability constants (K(S)) of the modified beta-CDs with 1Z in aqueous methanol solutions were highly sensitive to the substituent(s) introduced to the benzoate moiety, and the log K(S) values decreased linearly with slightly different slopes with increasing methanol content. The enantiomeric excess (ee) of 1E obtained upon photosensitization with these hosts was a critical function of the size and position of the substituent, varying from almost zero to 46% ee. This indicates that even an apparently small structural difference between methyl and methoxy can critically affect the enantiodifferentiating photoisomerization of a guest included in the chiral cavity, probably through manipulation of both the orientation of ground-state 1Z and the subsequent rotational relaxation of excited 1Z inside the chiral cavity.     

NMR studies on effects of temperature, pressure, and fluorination on structures and dynamics of alcohols in liquid and supercritical states

We measured 1H NMR chemical shifts (delta H) and 1H and 2H NMR spin-lattice relaxation times (1H- and 2H-T1) of methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, and 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol in the temperature range from 298 to 673 K at reduced pressures ( Pr = P/ Pc) of 1.22 and 3.14. The delta H values showed that the degree (X HB) of hydrogen bonding decreased in the order of methanol > ethanol >2-propanol > H2O, and that the hydrogen bonding was much affected by fluorination, because of the intramolecular H-F interactions in supercritical (sc) states. Moreover, 1H- T 1 measurements revealed that the relaxation processes of OH groups in nonfluoroalcohols are controlled by dipole-dipole (DD) and spin-rotation (SR) mechanisms below and above the critical temperature (Tc), while the cross-correlation effects connected with intramolecular DD interactions between a carbon atom and an adjacent proton played an important role for hydrocarbon groups (CHn, n = 1-3) under sc conditions. This interpretation was also supported by two other results. The first is that the intramolecular H-F interactions strongly inhibit the internal rotation of CH and CH2 groups of sc fluoroalcohols, and the second is that the molecular reorientational correlation times (tauc(D)) obtained from 2H- T 1 values of deuterated hydrocarbon groups (CDn ) at temperatures above T c have significantly less temperature dependence than those of OD groups. Actually, the apparent activation energy (DeltaEa) for molecular reorientational motions in sc alcohols was smaller compared with liquid alcohols, being about 1 order of magnitude.     

Click-modified hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arenes as fluorometric and colorimetric dual-modal chemosensors for 2,4,6-trinitrophenol

A new type of chemosensor-based approach to the detection of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) is described in this paper. Two hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arene-based chemosensors 1 and 2 were synthesized through click chemistry, which exhibited high binding affinity and selectivity toward TNP as evidenced by UV–vis and fluorescence spectroscopy studies. ¹H NMR titration analysis verified that CH?O hydrogen bonding is demonstrated as the mode of interaction, which possibly facilitates effective charge-transfer.     

Rapid bonding of Pyrex glass microchips

A newly developed vacuum hot press system has been specially designed for the thermal bonding of glass substrates in the fabrication process of Pyrex glass microchemical chips. This system includes a vacuum chamber equipped with a high-pressure piston cylinder and carbon plate heaters. A temperature of up to 900 degrees C and a force of as much as 9800 N could be applied to the substrates in a vacuum atmosphere. The Pyrex substrates bonded with this system under different temperatures, pressures, and heating times were evaluated by tensile strength tests, by measurements of thickness, and by observations of the cross-sectional shapes of the microchannels. The optimal bonding conditions of the Pyrex glass substrates were 570 degrees C for 10 min under 4.7 N/mm(2) of applied pressure. Whereas more than 16 h is required for thermal bonding with a conventional furnace, the new system could complete the whole bonding processes within just 79 min, including heating and cooling periods. Such improvements should considerably enhance the production rate of Pyrex glass microchemical chips. Whereas flat and dust-free surfaces are required for conventional thermal bonding, especially without long and repeated heating periods, our hot press system could press a fine dust into glass substrates so that even the areas around the dust were bonded. Using this capability, we were able to successfully integrate Pt/Ti thin film electrodes into a Pyrex glass microchip.     

Antiferromagnetic or canted antiferromagnetic orderings of Fe(III) d spins of FeX4- ions in BEDT-TTFVO(S).FeX4 (X = Cl, Br) [BEDT-TTFVO(S) = bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalenoquinone(-thioquinone)-1,3-dithiolemethide

By the reaction of new donor molecules, bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalenoquinone(-thioquinone)-1,3-dithiolemethides [BEDT-TTFVO (1) and BEDT-TTFVS (2)] with FeX3 (X = Cl, Br) in CS2/CH3CN, 1:1 salts of 1 or 2 with an FeX4- ion (1.FeX4 and 2.FeX4) were obtained as black needle crystals. Their crystal structures are very similar to each other, in which the donor molecules are strongly dimerized and the dimers construct a one-dimensional uniform chain along the a axis, while the FeX4- ions are located at an open space surrounded by the neighboring donor molecules and also construct a one-dimensional uniform chain along the a axis. There are close contacts between the donor molecules and the FeX4- ions and significant differences in the contact distances among the four salts. All of the salts are semiconductors with room-temperature electrical conductivities of 10-4-10-2 S cm-1. The Fe(III) d spins of the FeX4- ions are subject to dominant ferromagnetic interaction through the participation of one of the singlet pi spins to form a short-range ferromagnetic d-spin chain. Such neighboring chains interact antiferromagnetically with each other through the singlet pi spins and are ordered at 1.0, 2.4, and 0.8 K for 1.FeCl4, 1.FeBr4, and 2.FeCl4, respectively. On the other hand, the antiferromagnetic ordering occurred with some canted angle at 1.9 K to leave a small magnetization for 2.FeBr4.     

Supramolecular photochirogenesis with biomolecules. Mechanistic studies on the enantiodifferentiation for the photocyclodimerization of 2-anthracenecarboxylate mediated by bovine serum albumin

Photophysics and photochemistry of 2-anthracenecarboxylate (AC) bound to bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated in detail for the first time by electronic absorption, circular dichroism (CD), steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence, fluorescence quenching, and product analysis studies. Through the spectroscopic investigations, it was revealed that the four independent binding pockets of BSA, which are known to accommodate 1, 3, 2, and 3 AC molecules in the order of decreasing affinity, are distinctly different in hydrophobicity, chiral environment, and accessibility. Interestingly, AC bound to site 1 gave highly structured fluorescence with dual lifetimes of 4.8 and 2.1 ns in an intensity ratio of 3:2, which may be assigned to the existence of two positional or orientational isomers within the very hydrophobic site 1. In contrast, the lifetime of AC in site 2 was much longer (13.3 ns), and ACs in sites 3 and 4 have broader fluorescence spectra with lifetimes that were practically indistinguishable from that in bulk water (15.8 ns). Although each of sites 2-4 simultaneously binds multiple AC molecules, no CD exciton coupling or static fluorescence quenching was detected, indicating that ACs bound to each site are not in close proximity to each other. Quenching studies with nitromethane further confirmed the significant difference in accessibility among the binding sites; thus, ACs bound to sites 1 and 2 are highly protected from the attack of the quencher, affording 32 and 10 times smaller rate constants than that for free AC in water. Product studies in the presence and absence of nitromethane more clearly revealed the photochirogenic performance of each binding site. Although the addition of nitromethane did not greatly alter the product distribution, the enantiomeric excesses (ee's) of chiral cycloadducts 2 and 3 were critically manipulated by selectively retarding the photoreaction occurring at the more accessible binding sites. Thus, the highest ee of 38% was obtained for 2 in the presence of 18 mM nitromethane, while the highest ee of 58% was attained for 3 in the absence of nitromethane, both at [AC]/[BSA]=3.6.