Synthesis and characterization of well‐defined diblock and triblock copolymers of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) and poly(ethylene oxide)

Well‐defined diblock and triblock copolymers composed of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) were successfully synthesized through the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) with PEO capped with one or two dithiobenzoyl groups as a macrotransfer agent. ¹H NMR, Fourier transform infrared, and gel permeation chromatography instruments were used to characterize the block copolymers obtained. The results showed that the diblock and triblock copolymers had well‐defined structures and narrow molecular weight distributions (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight < 1.2), and the molecular weight of the PNIPAM block in the diblock and triblock copolymers could be controlled by the initial molar ratio of NIPAM to dithiobenzoate‐terminated PEO and the NIPAM conversion. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4873–4881, 2004     

Structure of a poly(2,5‐benzimidazole)/phosphoric acid complex

As‐cast films of poly(2,5‐benzimidazole) exhibit uniplanar orientation in which the planes of the aromatic rings lie parallel to the film surface. Upon doping with phosphoric acid, the original crystalline order is lost, but the doped film can be stretched to produce films with uniaxial orientation. After thermal annealing at 540 °C, nine Bragg reflections are resolved in the fiber diagram, and these are indexed by an orthorhombic unit cell with the dimensions a = 18.1 Å, b = 3.5 Å, and c = 11.4 Å, containing four monomer units of two chains. The absence of odd‐order 00l reflections points to a 2₁ chain conformation, which is probably planar so that the aromatic units can be stacked along the b axis. The water and phosphoric acid contents of the crystalline structure cannot be determined exactly because of the presence of extensive amorphous regions that probably have different solvation. The best agreement between the observed and calculated intensities is for an idealized structure containing two phosphoric acids and two water molecules per unit cell. However, the phosphoric acid is probably present mainly in the form of pyrophosphoric acid and its higher oligomers. In addition, the X‐ray data are consistent with a more disordered structure containing chains with random (up and down) polarity and a lack of c‐axis registry. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 2576–2585, 2004     

Colorimetric recognition of different enzymology-concerning transition metals based on a hybrid cluster complex.

A hybrid cluster complex, formed by chelating a chromogenic ligand to a [2Fe-2S] cluster, sensitively exhibited differential colorimetric responses towards Hg2+, Cd2+, Cr3+, Pb2, Sn2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Fe3+ and Co2+ in water at physiological pH. Speciation of some of these metal elements, such as Cr(III) and Sn(IV), was also studied by UV/Vis absorption.     

On the effects of migration and spatial heterogeneity on single and multiple species

We first investigate in a logistic model the effects of migration and spatial heterogeneity of the environment on the total population size at equilibrium of a single species. Our study shows that (i) the total population size is maximized at some intermediate migration rate, and hence is a non-monotone function of the migration rate; (ii) heterogeneity of the environment increases the population size. In the second part of this paper, these findings are applied to ecological invasions. For a two-species Lotka-Volterra competition model with migration, we show that (i) without migration, the invading species eliminates the resident species at every point of the habitat, whereas when migration is present, for certain ranges of migration rates the invader may be eliminated when it is rare; and (ii) without migration, the two species can coexist at every point of the habitat, whereas when migration is present, for some ranges of migration rates one of the species is extinguished for all initial conditions.     

Crystallographic report: Crystal structure of a one‐dimensional zinc(II) coordination polymer containing 4,4′‐biphenyldicarboxylate hemihydrate

A one‐dimensional zinc(II) coordination polymer has been constructed from zinc(II), 4,4′‐biphenyldicarboxylate and pyridine in which each zinc(II) atom is coordinated by two pyridine ligands and two monodentate 4,4′‐biphenyldicarboxylate ligands that define a distorted tetrahedral geometry. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fabrication and Lasing Property of YbYb3+-doped Double-Clad Fibers with Novel Inner Cladding

The Yb3+-doped double-clad fibers with novel inner cladding have been made by using MCVD process, solution-doping method and optical machining together. The laser power and slope efficiency of the fiber lasers are higher than 1.8W and 50% respectively.     

Crystal Structure of 9α,11-Epoxy-7α-(methoxycarbonyl)-3-oxo-17α-pregn-4-ene-21,17-carbolactone

Abstract  The title compound (common name eplerenone), C₂₄H₃₀O₆, is an aldosterone receptor antagonist. From the isopropyl acetate solution the compound crystallizes in monoclinic space group P 21 with a = 8.811(1) ?, b = 11.250(1) ?, c = 11.079(1) ?, β = 93.822(12)°, Z = 2. The molecule contains three six membered rings, two five membered rings and one three membered ring. Both five membered rings display envelope conformation, whereas three six membered rings show different conformation: chair, half-chair and envelope. In the crystal the eplerenone molecules link to one another via intermolecular weak C–H···O hydrogen bonding to form the smaller cavity of 12.0(1) ?³ between eplerenone molecules, no solvent molecule filled in this cavity. Index Abstract  In the title molecule three six-membered rings show different conformation. Weak C–H···O hydrogen bonding links adjacent molecules to form the small cavity 12.0(1) ?³, no solvent molecule filled in the cavity.      

Theoretical and experimental studies on the silica hollow spheres

The structures and properties of the silica hollow spheres have been studied by experimental and quantum chemical calculations. The structure of the silica hollow spheres was characterized by TEM, BET and XPS. According to the experimental results, a model of porous silica clusters has been proposed to represent the structure of the silica hollow spheres. The geometry of model was optimized by the semi-empirical PM3 method and the density of states for the model was calculated by ab initio methods at the level of 3-21G and 6-31G. Both the influences of model size and the effect of basis set are discussed. It is found that the calculated binding energies of O1s, Si2s and Si2p are in fairly good agreement with the experimental results. The studies indicate that the small cluster model can be used to reasonably analyzed the structure and properties of silica hollow spheres.     

Uranium(VI) removal from aqueous solutions by a chelating fiber

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - A chelating fiber (CF), containing amine and hydroxyl groups, has been characterized and used as an adsorbent for the removal of U(VI) from...     

Theoretical study on the fluorination of benzene with N-Fluoropyridinium salts in acetonitrile solution

The prominent roles of organofluorine compounds in various fields have aroused considerable interest in the development of new methods for carbon-fluorine bond formation. Electrophilic fluorination receives much attention. Density functional theory (DFT) was used to theoretically explore the fluorination activity of 12 N-Fluoropyridinium salts on the substrate of benzene in acetonitrile solution. Geometry optimizations and frequency calculations of the reactants, transition states, and products were performed at B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) level for the 12 fluorination reaction channels. Based on the optimized structure, all the stationary points have been corrected by the single point energy at a high-level of M06-2x/6-311++G (d,p). Four substituents were considered in this paper, they are nitro-, cyano-, chloro-, methoxy-, respectively. Three substituted sites (ortho-, meso-, para-) were also concluded. Based on the obtained potential energy surfaces information and analysis of substituent effect, the fluorination reaction channel of oNO₂NFpyr is most efficient due to the lowest reaction energy barrier; therefore, oNO₂NFpyr is a promising optimum fluorinating reagent among the studied 12 N-Fluoropyridinium salts.