Copper diisobutyl-t-butoxyaluminum hydride: A novel reagent for chemoselective reduction of tertiary amides over esters

We demonstrate that copper diisobutyl-t-butoxyaluminum hydride, readily prepared from lithium diisobutyl-t-butoxyaluminum hydride and CuI, effectively and chemoselectively reduces tertiary amides over esters at ambient temperature, affording the corresponding aldehydes in excellent yields.     

Light‐Driven Shape‐Memory Porous Films with Precisely Controlled Dimensions

Shape‐memory polymers (SMPs) are an intriguing class of smart materials possessing reversible shape change and recovery capabilities. Effective routes to shape‐memory porous films (SMPFs) are few and limited in scope owing to the difficulty in manipulating the shape change of pores by conventional methods. Herein we report an unconventional strategy for crafting light‐driven SMPFs by judiciously constructing highly ordered porous films via a facile “breath figure” approach, followed by sequential vapor crosslinking and nondestructive directional light manipulation. Micropores can thus be transformed into other shapes including rectangle, rhombus and size‐reduced micropores at room temperature. The transformed micropores can be reverted to their original shapes by either thermal annealing or UV irradiation. As such, this strategy expands the rich diversity of SMPs accessible.     

Comparison of analytical methods for ozone precursors using adsorption tube and canister

Recently, ozone concentrations have increased dramatically as a result of vehicle usage in metropolitan areas. Ozone precursors are composed of hydrocarbons of organic compounds. Because hydrocarbons are indicative of ozone formation, they need to be monitored in ambient air. Since ozone precursor are present at very low levels (from ppb to ppt) in ambient air, they are difficult to analyze accurately. This study investigates ozone precursors in ambient air. The main purpose of this study is to compare analytical methods for the measurement of ozone precursors in atmosphere. Two measurement methods were evaluated using canister (Silco-canister) and adsorbent (300-mg Carbopack B+150-mg Carbosieve SIII) tube. Differences in measurements for total ozone precursor emissions were 54.1% between the adsorption tube and canister-GC/MS, 51.1% between adsorption tube and canister-GC/FID, and 16.3% between canister-GC/MS and canister-GC/FID.     

Density functional theory studies on the dissociation energies of metallic salts: relationship between lattice and dissociation energies

The formation and physicochemical properties of polymer electrolytes strongly depend on the lattice energy of metal salts. An indirect but efficient way to estimate the lattice energy through the relationship between the heterolytic bond dissociation and lattice energies is proposed in this work. The heterolytic bond dissociation energies for alkali metal compounds were calculated theoretically using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) of B3LYP level with 6‐311+G(d,p) and 6‐311+G(2df,p) basis sets. For transition metal compounds, the same method was employed except for using the effective core potential (ECP) of LANL2DZ and SDD on transition metals for 6‐311+G(d,p) and 6‐311+G(2df,p) calculations, respectively. The dissociation energies calculated by 6‐311+G(2df,p) basis set combined with SDD basis set were better correlated with the experimental values with average error of ca. ±1.0% than those by 6‐311+G* combined with the LANL2DZ basis set. The relationship between dissociation and lattice energies was found to be fairly linear (r>0.98). Thus, this method can be used to estimate the lattice energy of an unknown ionic compound with reasonably high accuracy. We also found that the dissociation energies of transition metal salts were relatively larger than those of alkaline metal salts for comparable ionic radii. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 22: 827–834, 2001     

Synthesis of poly[(2‐oxo‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4‐yl) methyl methacrylate‐co‐ethyl acrylate] by incorporation of carbon dioxide into epoxide polymer and the miscibility behavior of its blends with poly(methyl methacrylate) or poly(vinyl chloride)

This study was related to the investigation of the chemical fixation of carbon dioxide to a copolymer bearing epoxide and the application of the cyclic carbonate group containing copolymer‐to‐polymer blends. In the synthesis of poly[(2‐oxo‐1,3‐dioxolane‐4‐yl) methyl methacrylate‐co‐ethyl acrylate] [poly(DOMA‐co‐EA)] from poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐co‐ethyl acrylate) [poly(GMA‐co‐EA)] and CO₂, quaternary ammonium salts showed good catalytic activity. The films of poly(DOMA‐co‐EA) with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) or poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) blends were cast from N,N′‐dimethylformamide solution. The miscibility of the blends of poly(DOMA‐co‐EA) with PMMA or PVC have been investigated both by DSC and visual inspection of the blends. The optical clarity test and DSC analysis showed that poly(DOMA‐co‐EA) containing blends were miscible over the whole composition range. The miscibility behaviors were discussed in terms of Fourier transform infrared spectra and interaction parameters based on the binary interaction model. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 1472–1480, 2001     

A Molecular Dynamics Simulation on the Self‐Assembly of ABC Triblock Copolymers, 1. Effects of Block Composition in Symmetric Triblock Copolymers

The self‐assembly of ABC triblock copolymers in the microphase‐separated state is investigated using an isothermal‐isobaric molecular dynamics simulation. For the validation of our simulation scheme, ABA triblock copolymers are also simulated. We examine the effect of the composition (f_B) of symmetric triblock copolymers on the morphology realized in these copolymers, keeping other parameters fixed. For ABA triblock copolymers, the transition from lamellar to cylindrical morphologies is observed with increasing the composition from f_B = 0.5 to f_B = 0.75, and such behavior is supported by calculation results of scattering patterns. These simulated results agree well with experimental and theoretical ones, validating our simulation method. More complex structures are predicted for ABC triblock copolymers. If midblock B is the minor component, its structures are changed from lamellar, cylindrical, to spherical morphology at the interface between A/C lamellae as f_B decreases. For ABC triblock copolymers with the midblock B as the major component, the morphology of end blocks in the matrix composed of the midblock is changed from tricontinuous to spherical structures as f_B increases.     

Evaluation of headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry for the analysis of benzene in vitamin C drinks; pitfalls of headspace in benzene detection

Recently, there have been reports regarding the presence of benzene in vitamin C drinks. This is caused by sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which can react together to induce benzene formation. While the headspace gas chromatography method is well known for the detection of benzene, there could be pitfalls in the process of benzene extraction. This study was performed to check if benzene could be generated under high-temperature incubation conditions. As a result, the amount of benzene detected by headspace-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (HSGC/MS) was affected by temperature changes. As the temperature of the sample vial was increased, newly generated benzene from the headspace also increased, causing false-positive determination of benzene. Although 80 degrees C is generally accepted for the temperature of headspace sample vials, lower temperatures, such as 40 degrees C, minimize the false-positive identification of benzene. Considering that this minimization allows benzene to be quantified at around 5 ppb, this lower temperature should definitely be considered since benzene, which is formed in sodium benzoate, can appear in vitamin C drinks under certain circumstances. The proposed analysis method of benzene in vitamin C drinks by HSGC/MS at 40 degrees C is an accurate and universal method for the monitoring of benzene without false-positive identification.     

Hemoglobin as a Diagnosing Molecule for Biological Effects of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma

The studies with proteins are necessary to understand the biological effects of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP). Among proteins, those with transient metal ions play key roles in many biological events and they are very sensitive to environmental redox states. Iron-containing hemoglobin (Hb) is investigated in this study, after APP treatments under two environmental gas conditions of pure N₂ and N₂?+?O₂ mixture. Monitoring the intensity change for absorption spectra could lead to a quantitative assessment of the effect of discharge plasma on Hb. Redox states of Hb are classified into five states including O₂-bound Hb (oxy-Hb), deoxy-Hb, met-Hb, NO-bound Hb (NO-Hb), and hemichrome. Chemically generated reactive species and some scavengers are applied to understand the chemical reactions. Our experimental results confirm the complex chemical reactions of APP and suggest the possible use of Hb as a model protein for the visualization of APP biological effects.     

Synthesis and characterization of a thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole-based copolymer for high performance polymer solar cells

A highly processable, new semiconducting polymer, PCDTTz, based on alternating thiazolothiazole and carbazole units was synthesized. The new polymer exhibited a field-effect carrier mobility of up to 3.8 × 10(-3) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) and bulk heterojunction solar cells made from PCDTTz produced a power conversion efficiency of 4.88% under AM 1.5 G (100 mW cm(-2)) conditions.     

Coenzyme analogs: excellent substitutes (not poor imitations) for electrochemical regeneration

For the first time, employment of nicotinamide coenzyme NAD analogs has overcome the limitations of NAD in electrochemical regeneration. It has been shown that NAD analogs, APAD and PAAD, were electrochemically reduced more efficiently than original NAD and that the stability of their reduced products was also much higher than NADH.