A Concise Total Synthesis of (±)‐Vibralactone

Disclosed is a five‐step synthesis of (±)‐vibralactone, a biologically active terpenoid natural product. A key photochemical valence isomerization of 3‐prenyl‐pyran‐2‐one produces both the all‐carbon quaternary stereocenter and the β‐lactone at an early stage. Cyclopropanation of the resulting bicyclic β‐lactone produces a strained housane structure that is converted to the natural product through a sequential ring expansion and reduction strategy. This concise and modular route to the natural product provides the shortest total synthesis of (±)‐vibralactone reported to date.     

Sequential Photochemical and Prins Reactions for the Diastereoselective Synthesis of Tricyclic Scaffolds

Cyclobutene alcohols undergo Prins cyclisations to generate single diastereomers of novel tricyclic heterocycles with five contiguous stereocentres. The reaction times are significantly shorter (ca. 15 min) than with traditional alkene substrates. Stereoselective aza‐Prins cyclisations of cyclobutene amine derivatives give fused aza‐heterocyclic scaffolds. Computational studies provide insight into the observed stereocontrol. The modular approach is flexible, enabling the introduction of a variety of functional groups (including amides, nitriles, alkynes, and arenes) into the sp³‐rich heterocyclic scaffolds.     

A Depolarized Dynamic Light Scattering Method to Calculate Translational and Rotational Diffusion Coefficients of Nanorods

A new analysis of depolarized dynamic light scattering data is presented, which allows the unambiguous determination of rotational and translational diffusions coefficients of nanorods in suspension. By visualizing data scaling, purely translational diffusive motions can be isolated from vertically polarized scattering, allowing the unique determination of rotational diffusion from the depolarized scattering. The method is applied to nanorods with four different aspect ratios, and compared with theoretical predictions. Diffusion coefficients obtained show good agreement with calculations based on the direct measurements of rod length and diameter. Where the theories are shown to be valid, the method allows the measurement of statistically meaningful particle sizes and aspect ratios.     

On the clique number of the square of a line graph and its relation to maximum degree of the line graph

In 1985, Erdős and Nešetřil conjectured that the square of the line graph of a graph , that is, , can be colored with colors. This conjecture implies the weaker conjecture that the clique number of such a graph, that is, , is at most . In 2015, Śleszyńska-Nowak proved that . In this paper, we prove that . This theorem follows from our stronger result that where .     

Self-Immolative Activation of β-Galactosidase-Responsive Probes for In Vivo MR Imaging in Mouse Models

Our lab has developed a new series of self-immolative MR agents for the rapid detection of enzyme activity in mouse models expressing β-galactosidase (β-gal). We investigated two molecular architectures to create agents that detect β-gal activity by modulating the coordination of water to Gd^III. The first is an intermolecular approach, wherein we designed several structural isomers to maximize coordination of endogenous carbonate ions. The second involves an intramolecular mechanism for q modulation. We incorporated a pendant coordinating carboxylate ligand with a 2, 4, 6, or 8 carbon linker to saturate ligand coordination to the Gd^III ion. This renders the agent ineffective. We show that one agent in particular (6-C pendant carboxylate) is an extremely effective MR reporter for the detection of enzyme activity in a mouse model expressing β-gal.     

Backbone flexibility on conjugated polymer's crystallization behavior and thin film mechanical stability

Extensive efforts have been made to develop flexible electronics with conjugated polymers that are intrinsically stretchable and soft. We recently systematically investigated the influence of conjugation break spacers (CBS) on the thermomechanical properties of a series n-type naphthalene diimide-based conjugated polymer and found that CBS can significantly reduce chain rigidity, melting point, as well as glass transition temperature. In the current work, we further examined the influence of CBS on the crystallization behaviors of PNDI-C3 to C6, including isothermal crystallization kinetics, crystal polymorphism and subsequently time-dependent modulus, in a holistic approach using differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray scattering, polarized optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and pseudo-free-standing tensile test. Results demonstrate that increasing the length of CBS increases the crystallization half-time by 1 order of magnitude from PNDI-C3 to PNDI-C6 from approximately 10³ to 10⁴ s. The crystallization rate shows a bimodal dependence on the temperature due to the presence of different polymorphs. In addition, crystallization significantly affects the mechanical response, a stiffening in the modulus of nearly three times is observed for PNDI-C5 when annealed at room temperature for 12 h. Crystallization kinetic is also influenced by molecular weight (MW). Higher MW PNDI-C3 crystallizes slower. In addition, an odd–even effect was observed below 50°C, odd-number PNDI-Cxs (C3 and C5) crystallize slower than the adjacent even-numbered PNDI-Cxs (C4 and C6). Our work provides an insight to design flexible electronics by systematically tuning the mechanical properties through control of polymer crystallization by tuning backbone rigidity.     

Creation of Al-Enriched Mesoporous ZSM-5 Nanoboxes with High Catalytic Activity: Converting Tetrahedral Extra-Framework Al into Framework Sites by Post Treatment

ZSM-5 zeolite nanoboxes with accessible meso-micro-pore architecture and strong acid sites are important in relevant heterogeneous catalysis suffering from mass transfer limitations and weak acidities. Rational design of parent zeolites with concentrated and non-protective coordination of Al species can facilitate post-synthetic treatment to produce mesoporous ZSM-5 nanoboxes. In this work, a simple and effective method was developed to convert parent MFI zeolites with tetrahedral extra-framework Al into Al-enriched mesoporous ZSM-5 nanoboxes with low silicon-to-aluminium ratios of ≈16. The parent MFI zeolite was prepared by rapid ageing of the zeolite sol gel synthesis mixture. The accessibility to the meso-micro-porous intra-crystalline network was probed systematically by comparative pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance diffusion measurements, which, together with the strong acidity of nanoboxes, provided superb catalytic activity and longevity in hydrocarbon cracking for propylene production.