High‐resolution MALDI‐TOF MS study on analysis of low‐molecular‐weight products from photo‐oxidation of poly(3‐hexylthiophene)

High‐resolution matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (TOF MS) was used for the analysis of the low‐molecular‐weight products from the photo‐oxidation of poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) in solution and thin film. Eight new peak series were observed in the low‐mass range of the mass spectra of the products degraded in solution, and the formulas of the eight components were determined from the accurate mass. From SEC/MALDI‐TOF MS, two components were identified as the degraded products, and the other six components were derived from the fragmentation of the degraded products during the MALDI process. A mechanism for the formation of these components was proposed on the basis of the results of MALDI‐TOF MS. For the thin film degradation, a part of products in the solution degradation were observed, which supports that the oxidation of P3HT in solution and thin film proceeded in the same mechanism. This study shows that high‐resolution MALDI‐TOF MS is effective for the analysis of the low‐molecular‐weight products from P3HT photo‐oxidation and expected to be feasible for the degradation analyses of other polymers. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fourier transform microwave spectrum of CO-dimethyl ether

Two sets of 32 rotational transitions were observed for the carbon monoxide-dimethyl ether (CO-DME) complex and two sets of 30 transitions for both (13)CO-DME and C(18)O-DME, in the frequency region from 3.5 to 25.2 GHz, with J ranging from 1<--0 up to 7<--6, by using a Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. The splittings between the two sets of the same transition varied from 2 to 15 MHz, and the two components were assigned to the two lowest states of the internal rotation of CO with respect to DME governed by a twofold potential. A preliminary analysis carried out separately for the two sets of the observed transition frequencies by using an ordinary asymmetric-rotor Hamiltonian indicated that the heavy-atom skeleton of the complex was essentially planar, as evidenced by the "pseudoinertial defects," i.e., the inertial defects, which involve the contributions of the out-of-plane hydrogens of the two methyl groups, I(cc)-I(aa)-I(bb) of -5.764(23) and -5.753(16) uA(2) for the symmetric and antisymmetric states, respectively. All of the observed transition frequencies were subsequently analyzed simultaneously, by using a phenomenological Hamiltonian which was described in a previous paper on Ar-DME and Ne-DME [Morita et al., J. Chem. Phys. 124, 094301 (2006)]. The rotational constants thus derived were analyzed to give the distance between the centers of gravity of the two component molecules, DME and CO, to be 3.682 A and the angle between the CO and the a-inertial axes to be 75.7 degrees ; the C end of the CO being closer to the DME. Most a-type transitions were observed as closely spaced triplets, which were ascribed to the internal rotation of the two methyl tops of DME. The V(3) potential barrier was obtained to be 772(2) cm(-1) from the first-order Coriolis coupling term between the internal rotation and overall rotation, which is about 82% of V(3) for the DME monomer, whereas the second-order contribution of the coupling to the B rotational constant led to V(3) of 705(3) cm(-1). By assuming a Lennard-Jones-type potential, the dissociation energy was estimated to be E(B)=1.6 kJ mol(-1), to be compared with 1.0 and 2.5 kJ mol(-1) for Ne-DME and Ar-DME, respectively.     

Novel chiral hydrogen bond donor catalysts based on a 4,5-diaminoxanthene scaffold: application to enantioselective conjugate addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to nitroalkenes

Novel chiral hydrogen bond donor catalysts based on a 4,5-diamino-9,9′-dimethylxanthene skeleton were designed and synthesized. Among the phenylurea-amide hybrid molecules prepared from various natural/unnatural chiral amino acids, the phenylalanine-derived catalyst, and the proline-derived catalyst were successfully applied to enantioselective conjugate addition of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds to nitroalkenes. Using 2-acetylcyclopentanone and 2-methoxycarbonylcyclopentanone as prochiral nucleophiles, asymmetric conjugate addition to β-aryl nitroalkenes proceeded with good diastereoselectivity to provide the corresponding products bearing an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter in excellent yield with up to 95% ee.     

Remarkable effects of titanium tetrachloride in diastereoselective aza Diels-Alder cycloaddition: synthesis of (S)-piperazic acid

Titanium tetrachloride-mediated aza Diels-Alder cycloaddition using a chiral diene and an aza dienophile proceeds in highly diastereoselective manner to form a dehydropiperazic acid derivative in high yield, and diastereoselectivity of the reaction depends on the quantity of titanium tetrachloride.     

Development of ratiometric fluorescent probe for zinc ion based on indole fluorophore

A water-soluble ratiometric fluorescent probe ZID-1 has been developed on the basis of an internal charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. Upon complexation with Zn²⁺ under physiological conditions, ZID-1 exhibits a significant blue shift of 77 nm in the emission spectrum. The fluorescent behavior of ZID-1 suggests that the pyridyl group incorporated into the fluorophore coordinates the metal ion as the fourth ligand and affords an appropriate binding affinity (K_d = 17.1 nM) for the intracellular imaging of Zn²⁺.     

Catalytic addition of terminal alkynes to carbodiimides by half-sandwich rare earth metal complexes

The catalytic addition of terminal alkynes to carbodiimides has been achieved for the first time by use of half-sandwich rare earth metal complexes, such as {Me2Si(C5Me4)(NPh)}Y(CH2SiMe3)(THF)2, which offers a straightforward, atom-economic route to the N,N'-disubstituted propiolamidines which contain a conjugated C-C triple bond, a new family of amidines which were difficult to prepare by other means. A rare earth metal amidinate species was confirmed to be a true catalytic species in this process, thus demonstrating for the first time that an amidinate unit, though being often used as an ancillary ligand for various organometallic complexes, can itself participate in a catalytic reaction under appropriate conditions.     

Remarks on some existence theorems for optimal control

First, a remark is made that a growth condition contained in previous papers by Cesari concerning existence theorems for optimal controls can be replaced by a slightly more general condition. In this more general condition, a constantM 0 is replaced by any functionM (t)0 which is assumed to beL-integrable in every finite interval.Then, the remark is made that the same condition, which is usually required to be satisfied by the functionsf ₀(t, x, u),f(t, x, u) characterizing the control, can be required to be satisfied only by the admissible pairsx(t),u(t) of the class in which the optimum is being sought. This generalization requires a subtle argument. The new condition parallels now the usual conditions of the type |x| ^p dtM, which are required to be satisfied by the admissible pairs of the class .The work of L. Cesari was partially supported by the Office of Scientific Research, United States Air Force, Grant No. 942-65. The work of T. Nishiura was partially supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. GP-7676.     

Synthesis of Chiral Aminocyclopropanes by Rare‐Earth‐Metal‐Catalyzed Cyclopropene Hydroamination

The search for efficient and selective routes for the synthesis of chiral aminocyclopropane derivatives is of great interest and importance as these structures are important components of biologically active natural products and pharmaceuticals. We herein report the enantioselective intermolecular hydroamination of substituted cyclopropenes with various amines catalyzed by chiral half‐sandwich rare‐earth‐metal complexes. This method constitutes a 100 % atom‐efficient route for the synthesis of a variety of chiral α‐aminocyclopropane derivatives in high yields (up to 96 %) and excellent stereoselectivity (up to >20:1 d.r. and 99 % ee) under mild reaction conditions (25 °C).