Rapid oligosaccharide synthesis using a fluorous protective group

The Bfp-OH, a novel fluorous protecting reagent, was able to be easily prepared. The Bfp group was readily introduced to a carbohydrate, removed in high yield, and recyclable after cleavage. The use of the Bfp group made it possible to synthesize a pentasaccharide by minimal column chromatography purification. Each synthetic intermediate was able to be easily purified only by simple fluorous-organic solvent extraction and monitored by TLC, NMR, and MS.     

A new generation of modems for power efficient radio systems

A new class of generalized intersymbol-interference and jitter-free (GIJF) modulated signals is introduced. Computer simulation and hardware experimental research results demonstrate that our proposed new generation of signals and modulators leads to significant performance improvements in non-linearly amplified broadband radio systems. For increased power efficiency, non-linear amplification is required in most commercial satellite and terrestrial microwave systems. In particular, we demonstrate that the 3 dB envelope fluctuation of currently used offset raised-cosine overlapped QPSK systems is reduced to 0-5 dB, and that the BER performance is improved by approximately 1 dB. These significant technical performance advantages are expected to lead to more economical implementations of digital transmission systems.     

Formation of double helix self-assembled monolayers of ethynylhelicene oligomer disulfides on gold surfaces

Optically active ethynylhelicene pentamers and hexamers linked by disulfide bonds were synthesized. They formed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with double helix structure on gold surfaces, which were analyzed by infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IR-RAS), quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and circular dichroism (CD). Double helix SAMs could be formed on gold surfaces either from double helices or random coils in solution. The double helices on the surface were more stable than in solution. This result suggested the presence of strong intercomplex interactions between double helix complexes on the surface.     

Bis(2-bromoethyl) selenium dibromide as the selenium-introducing reagent: One-pot preparation of 2,5-bis(alkoxymethyl)tetrahydroselenophenes by the cyclization of 1,5-hexadiene

The reaction of bis(2-bromoethyl)selenium dibromide (1a) with 1,5-hexadiene (2) in methanol or ethanol affords 2,5-bis(alkoxymethyl)tetrahydroselenophene-1,1-dibromides (R = CH₃ (3b), R = C₂H₅ (3c)) via 2,5-bis(bromomethyl)tetrahydroselenophene-1,1-dibromide (3a). The reaction of 1a with 2 in 1-propanol, 2-methyl-1-propanol or 1-butanol in the presence of sodium carbonate gave 2,5-bis(alkoxymethyl)tetrahydroselenophene (R = C₃H₇ (4a), R = (CH₃)₂CHCH₂ (4b) and R = C₄H₉ (4c)) via 3a. The ratios of the trans and cis isomers of 3a–3c are 3:2. In addition, the structure of trans-2,5-bis(methoxymethyl)tetrahydroselenophene-1,1-dibromide (trans-3b) was determined by X-ray crystallography.     

Silicon-Based Integrated Optic Pressure Sensor Using Intermodal Interference between TM-Like and TE-Like Modes

In this paper, a silicon-based integrated optic pressure sensor using an intermodal interference between the fundamental TM-like and TE-like modes is described. The sensor consists of a micromachined rectangular diaphragm and a straight polystyrene optical waveguide passing over the diaphragm. Its sensitivity is theoretically known to be strongly dependent on the position of the waveguide over the diaphragm. To experimentally investigate such dependence, we fabricated a sensor with a 1.2 mm ×10 mm ×20 μm diaphragm, over which waveguides were placed at 50 μm intervals. The measured phase sensitivity was 98 mrad/kPa for the waveguide nearest to the diaphragm edge. The measurement was also carried out for the other waveguides. As theoretically expected, the largest sensitivity was obtained for the waveguide nearest to the edge.     

Intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction of N-allyl 2-furoyl amides: effect of steric strain and amide rotational isomerism

Intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions of various N-allyl 2-furoyl amides with different substituents on the nitrogen atom were investigated. The reaction of amides having bulky substituents proceeded at a faster rate than the analogs whose substituents were of less bulkiness. From the systematic experimental survey of the substituent effects and the energetic evaluation based on the DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level, the enhanced reactivity was ascribed to the relief of steric strain upon cyclization rather than the amide rotational isomerism governed by the bulky substituents.     

Synthesis of a novel epoxy resin containing diphenylether moiety and thermal properties of its cured polymer with phenol novolac

A new type of epoxy resin containing 4,4′-diphenylether moiety in the backbone (2) was synthesized, and was confirmed by gel permeation chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In addition, in order to evaluate the influence of 4,4′-diphenylether moiety in the structure, epoxy resins having 4,4′-biphenylene moiety (4) and having 1,4-phenylene moiety (6) in place of 4,4′-diphenylether moiety were synthesized. The cured polymer obtained through the curing reaction between the new diphenylether-containing epoxy resin and phenol novolac was used for making a comparison of its thermal and physical properties with those obtained from 4, 6, and bisphenol-A (4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol) type epoxy resin. The cured polymer obtained from 2 showed markedly higher anaerobic char yield at 700°C of 44.0 wt %, higher fracture toughness, and higher mechanical strength and modulus. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3687–3693, 1999