A New Sesquiterpene from the Roots of Chloranthus multistachys

Chemistry of Natural Compounds - A new sesquiterpene, 1β-hydroxy-4(5),7(8),11(12)-triene-6,9-dione-7,8-furanoeudesmane (1), was isolated from the root extract of Chloranthus multistachys C....     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a Novel Mercapto-organotin Complex: [Et_3NH] [Ph_2SnCl(μ~2-SCH_2COO~-)]

Diorganotinmercaptoacetates,generallyusedforPVCstabilizer',havebeensynthesizedbythereactionofdiorganotindichloridesandmercaptoaceticacidinthepresenceofanorganicbase,butthereactionsbetweentriorganotinchloridesandmercaptoaceticacidhavebeenlittlestudied.Inthispaper,wereportanewdephenylationreactionandcrystalstructureofanunexpectedcomplex[Et3NH][Ph,SnCI(rf-SCHZCOO-)].WehaveexpectedtosynthesizePh3SnSCHZCOOSnph3bythereactionofPh3SnCIandHSCHZCOOHin2:lmolarratiointhepresenceoforganicba…     

Tracking the optical mass centroid of single electroactive nanoparticles reveals the electrochemically inactive zone

The inevitable microstructural defects, including cracks, grain boundaries and cavities, make a portion of the material inaccessible to electrons and ions, becoming the incentives for electrochemically inactive zones in single entity. Herein, we introduced dark field microscopy to study the variation of scattering spectrum and optical mass centroid (OMC) of single Prussian blue nanoparticles during electrochemical reaction. The “dark zone” embedded in a single electroactive nanoparticle resulted in the incomplete reaction, and consequently led to the misalignment of OMC for different electrochemical intermediate states. We further revealed the dark zones such as lattice defects in the same entity, which were externally manifested as the fixed pathway for OMC for the migration of potassium ions. This method opens up enormous potentiality to optically access the heterogeneous intraparticle dark zones, with implications for evaluating the crystallinity and electrochemical recyclability of single electroactive nano-objects.

The schematic of single cubic-shaped Prussian blue (PB) mesocrystals formed by the oriented aggregation of small nanocrystals. The dark-field images of single PB nanoparticle at PB and Prussian white (PW) states, respectively.     

Enhanced orientation of PEO polymer chains induced by nanoclays in electrospun PEO/clay composite nanofibers

Polymer fibers composed of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and nanoclay were fabricated by electrospinning. The morphology of the composite nanofibers was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), which showed aligned nanoclays in the fibers. Polarized Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy revealed that the PEO chains in the composite fibers exhibit a higher degree of orientation than that in PEO nanofibers containing no nanoclay. It is believed that spatial confinement is present in the electrospun nanofibers, which results in the enforcement of the mutual restriction. The anisotropic hierarchical nanostructure may have potential applications in optics, mechanical materials, and biomedical materials for cell culture.     

Synthesis and Properties of Poly(Aryl Ether Ketone) Copolymers with Trifluoromethyl‐Substituted Benzene in the Side Chain

The new monomer (4‐(4′‐trifluoromethyl)phenoxyphenyl)hydroquinone (TFPOPH) was synthesized in a three‐step synthesis. A series of poly(aryl ether ketone) copolymers were prepared by the reaction of (4‐(4′‐Trifluoromethyl)phenoxyphenyl)hydroquinone and hydroquinone (HQ) with 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone (DFB) in the presence of potassium carbonate in tretramethylene sulfone (TMS). Thermal analyses of the fluorinated copolymers showed that the glass transition temperature and 5.0% weight loss temperature are similar with that of PEEK, and the crystallinity decreased with increasing of TFPOPH. For the copolymer synthesized with the molar fraction of TFPOPH in the diphenol monomers (TFPOPH, HQ) being over 0.2, no cold crystallization temperature and melting temperature were detected, indicating that these copolymers are almost amorphous. The crystal structure of the copolymers with the molar fraction of TFPOPH being not higher than 0.2 is rhombic. The solubility in polar aprotic solvents of poly(aryl ether ketone)s copolymers increases and dielectric constant decreases step by step.     

Synthesis of Main‐Chain Liquid‐Crystalline Polyesters Containing Diphenyl Mesogens by Chemo‐Enzymatic Route †

Main‐chain thermotropic liquid‐crystalline polyesters containing rigid biphenyl mesogens and flexible spacers were synthesized by chemo‐enzymatic route. The enzyme‐catalyzed polymerization showed high regio‐ and chemo‐ selectivity, and is environmentally friendly. The resulting polyesters were characterized with ¹H‐NMR, ¹³C‐NMR, gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and polarized light optical microscopy (POM).     

Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(ether ether ketone)s with (2,5‐dihydroxy)phenyl Side Group

A new monomer, (2,5‐dimethoxy)phenylhydroquinone (DMPH), was prepared in a two‐step synthetic procedure. One aromatic poly(ether ether ketone)s with 2,5‐dimethoxy phenyl side group (DMP‐PEEK) was synthesized via an aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction with 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone (DFB). Poly(ether ether ketone)s with 2,5‐dihydroxy phenyl side group (DHP‐PEEK) was obtained via hydrolysis of methoxy group on the DMP‐PEEK. Both of the high molecular weight polymers could be obtained despite the steric effect of the bulky pendant groups. The two polymers have good solubility at room temperature.