Dielectric and elastic properties of fluorine-containing tricyclic isothiocyanate liquid crystal

The dielectric and elastic properties of liquid crystals (LCs) generally depend on the molecule structure, such as polar group and carbon chain length. For further investigation of the influence of molecular structure on the dielectric and elastic properties of fluorine-containing tricyclic isothiocyanate LC, the experimental temperature was controlled at 25°C by precision hot stage, and a precision LCR meter was used to measure the capacitance of six LC cells under the voltage from 0.1 to 20 V at 1 kHz. An LC cell capacitance model and a dual-cell model were adopted to obtain the dielectric anisotropy, and the capacitance–voltage curves of six LC materials were plotted. The threshold voltage of Fréedericksz transition was analysed, and a finite difference iterative method was used to attain specific values of three elastic constants. The influence of molecular structure on the dielectric and elastic constants was finally analysed. Experimental results showed that the introduction of meta-difluoro group would increase the dielectric anisotropy and reduce the threshold voltage of LC. As the length of the alkyl carbon chain increased, the dielectric anisotropy would have an odd–even alternation effect, which would lead to changes in the elastic constants of LC.     

Furanosyl Oxocarbenium Ion Conformational Energy Landscape Maps as a Tool to Study the Glycosylation Stereoselectivity of 2-Azidofuranoses, 2-Fluorofuranoses and Methyl Furanosyl Uronates

The 3D shape of glycosyl oxocarbenium ions determines their stability and reactivity and the stereochemical course of S_N1 reactions taking place on these reactive intermediates is dictated by the conformation of these species. The nature and configuration of functional groups on the carbohydrate ring affect the stability of glycosyl oxocarbenium ions and control the overall shape of the cations. We herein map the stereoelectronic substituent effects of the C2-azide, C2-fluoride and C4-carboxylic acid ester on the stability and reactivity of the complete suite of diastereoisomeric furanoses by using a combined computational and experimental approach. Surprisingly, all furanosyl donors studied react in a highly stereoselective manner to provide the 1,2-cis products, except for the reactions in the xylose series. The 1,2-cis selectivity for the ribo-, arabino- and lyxo-configured furanosides can be traced back to the lowest-energy ³E or E₃ conformers of the intermediate oxocarbenium ions. The lack of selectivity for the xylosyl donors is related to the occurrence of oxocarbenium ions adopting other conformations.     

气体摩尔热容的拓展性教学

物质的摩尔热容是热量传递、熵增、焓变等计算中的重要参数之一。为让学生全面掌握摩尔热容的概念及其计算方法,以气体为例,基于文献调研,对理想气体、范德瓦尔斯气体、昂尼斯气体、雷德利克-邝气体的摩尔热容进行了系统化地归纳分析。利用热力学第一定律及热力学相关公式导出了改进型雷德利克-邝气体的摩尔热容。并对气体摩尔热容与物态方程的内在联系、摩尔定压热容与摩尔定体热容的差别进行了讨论与分析。这些研究结果对气体摩尔热容的拓展性教学及学生的创新性自学具有较好的参考价值。     

Organosoluble,low dielectric constant and highly transparent fluorinated pyridine-containing poly(ether imide)s derived from new diamine: 4-(4-trifluoromethyl)phenyl-2,6-bis[4-(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)phenyl]pyridine

A new aromatic diamine, 4-(4-trifluoromethyl)phenyl-2,6-bis[4-(4-amino-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)phenyl]pyridine, was synthesized by a modified Chichibabin reaction of 4-(4-nitro-2-trifluoromethylphenoxy)acetophenone with 4-triflouromethylbenzaldehyde, followed by catalytic reduction. A series of fluorinated pyridine-containing aromatic poly(ether imide)s (PEIs) were prepared from the diamine monomer with various aromatic dianhydrides via conventional two-step thermal imidization method. The resulting PEIs had inherent viscosities values of 0.68–0.90 dL/g, and could be cast and thermally converted into transparent, flexible, and tough polymer films. These PEIs were predominantly amorphous, had good solubility in common solvents such as NMP, DMAc and m-cresol at room temperature, and displayed excellent thermal stability with the glass transition temperatures of 258–315?°C, the temperatures at 5% weight loss of 550–585?°C, and the residue of higher than 55% at 750?°C in nitrogen. Moreover, the PEIs films showed outstanding mechanical properties with tensile strengths of 74.8–103.5?MPa, tensile moduli of 1.08–1.45?GPa, and elongations at break of 10.6–24.4%. These PEIs also exhibited low dielectric constants of 2.81–2.98 (1?MHz) and water uptake 0.39–0.68%, as well as high optical transparency with the UV cutoff wavelength in the 350–378?nm range and the wavelength of 80% transparency in the range of 412–510?nm.     

Possible Routes for Efficient Thermo-Electric Energy Conversion in a Molecular Junction

In the context of designing an efficient thermoelectric energy-conversion device at nanoscale level, we suggest several important tuning parameters to enhance the performance of thermoelectric converters. We consider a simple molecular junction, which is always helpful to understand the basic mechanisms in a deeper way, where a benzene molecule is coupled to two external baths having unequal temperatures. The key component responsible for achieving better performance is associated with the asymmetric nature of transmission function, and in the present work, we show that it can be implemented in different ways by regulating the physical parameters involving the system. Employing a tight-binding framework we calculate electrical and thermal conductances, thermopower, and figure of merit (FOM) by using Landauer integrals, and thoroughly examine the critical roles played by molecule-to-lead (ML) interface geometry, magnetic field, chemical substituent group, ML coupling, and the direct coupling between the two leads. Our results show that a reasonably large FOM (≫1) can be obtained and lead to a possibility of regulating the efficiency by selectively tuning the physical parameters. We believe that the present analysis will enhance the understanding of designing efficient thermoelectric devices, and can be verified in a laboratory.     

Reaction Kinetics between Thiobases and Singlet Oxygen Studied by Direct Detection of the 1O2 Luminescence Decay

Thiobase derivatives have received important investigations due to their wide usage as phototherapeutic agents and their potential carcinogenic side effects as immunosuppressants. The substitution of oxygen atom by the sulfur atom makes the ultraviolet absorption of thiobases redshifted and absorbs UVA light (>300 nm), resulting in unusual high quantum yield of triplet state to generate the singlet oxygen (¹O₂) through photosensitization. As a type of reactive oxygen species, ¹O₂ is highly reactive toward thiobases. Herein, we report the measurements of reaction rate constants between di erent thiobases and ¹O₂ in different solvents through the direct detection of ¹O₂ luminescence decay kinetics at 1270 nm. The rate constants of thiouracils with ¹O₂ are five times smaller than that of thioguanine with ¹O₂, which suggests that thiopurines are more reactive than thiopyrimidines and thus less suitable to be a photosensitive drug on the application of photodynamic therapy. Additionally, the rate constants of thiobases and ¹O₂ were found to be obviously influenced by the solvent polarity. With the increase of solvent polarity, the rate constants of thiobases and ¹O₂ decrease.     

A Curvature Principle for the interaction between universes

We propose a Curvature Principle to describe the dynamics of interacting universes in a multi-universe scenario and show, in the context of a simplified model, how interaction drives the cosmological constant of one of the universes toward a vanishingly small value. We also conjecture on how the proposed Curvature Principle suggests a solution for the entropy paradox of a universe where the cosmological constant vanishes. Essay selected for an honorable mention by the Gravity Research Foundation, 2007.     

A Complex Higher-Dimensional Lie Algebra with Real and Imaginary Structure Constants as Well as Its Decomposition

A new Lie algebra G of the Lie algebra sl（2） is constructed with complex entries whose structure constants are real and imaginary numbers. A loop algebra G corresponding to the Lie algebra G is constructed, for which it is devoted to generating a soliton hierarchy of evolution equations under the framework of generalized zero curvature equation which is derived from the compatibility of the isospectral problems expressed by Hirota operators. Finally, we decompose the Lie algebra G to obtain the subalgebras G1 and G2. Using the G2 and its one type of loop algebra G2, a Liouville integrable soliton hierarchy is obtained, furthermore, we obtain its bi-Hamiltonian structure by employing the quadratic-form identity.     

Study on the binding of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene with bovine serum albumin by fluorescence spectroscopy

The interaction of 2,3-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-2-ene (DBO) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been studied using absorption and steady state fluorescence techniques. Fluorescence spectrum of BSA (λ_exi=280 nm) in the presence of DBO clearly shows that DBO acts as a quencher. The number of binding sites ‘n’ and apparent binding constant ‘K’ were measured by Stern-Volmer equation. Synchronous fluorescence and absorption spectra were used to study protein conformation. The interaction between DBO and BSA is consistent with static quenching and the conformational changes of BSA observed.     

Complexation of heterocyclic ligands with DNA in aqueous solution

We have used spectrophotometry to study self-association and complexation with DNA by organic heterocyclic compounds in the acridine and phenothiazine series: proflavin, thionine, and methylene blue. Based on the experimental concentration dependences of the molar absorption coefficient of the molecules in an aqueous buffer solution (0.01 M NaCl, 0.01 M Na₂EDTA, 0.01 M Tris, pH 7.4, T = 298 K), we have determined the equilibrium dimerization constants for the dyes and the DNA complexation parameters using the Scatchard and McGhee-von Hippel models. The observed increase in the cooperativity parameters as the dimerization constants of the ligands increase allowed us to hypothesize that the same interactions occur between dye molecules adsorbed on DNA as in their self-association. The equilibrium DNA-binding constants for the ligands, obtained using the McGhee-von Hippel cooperative model, are (20.9 ± 2.7)·10³ M⁻¹ for proflavin and (33.8 ± 4.1)·10³ M⁻¹ for thionine. Using the Scatchard model, taking into account intercalation and “external” binding of ligands with DNA, we determined the DNA complexation constants for methylene blue: (26.4 ± 4.6)·10³ and (96 ± 17)·10³ M⁻¹ respectively. Based on analysis of the data obtained, we hypothesized that the predominant type of binding with DNA is intercalation binding in the case of proflavin and thionine, and “external” binding with the DNA surface in the case of methylene blue. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 242–249, March–April, 2008.