Synthesis and Characterization of Push-Pull Porphyrins

A series of “push-pull” porphyrins with 4-nitrophenyl and 4-aminophenyl substituents were synthesized and separated by flash column chromatographic techniques. They were fully characterized by elemental analysis, FAB-MS, FTIR, UV-visible, and ¹H NMR spectroscopies. The unsymmetrical π-electron distribution of the porphyrins caused by the donor (amino) and acceptor (nitro) substituents were investigated by ¹H NMR technique. The pyrrole-H resonance positions can be correlated to the Hammett σ constants of the substituents. Although with strong donor and acceptor substituents, UV-visible spectra show the push-pull porphyrins have rather weak solvatochromism and hence limited intramolecular charge-transfer character.     

Thermal degradation of the polymer obtained by oxidation of C60 fullerene by oleum

Degradation of (C₆₀) _n polymer and the C₁₂₀ and C₁₂₀O dimers at different temperatures was studied by IR and ESR spectroscopy. The formation of C₆₀ was revealed. The polymer stability was found to be higher than the stability of the dimers. Peculiar features of the IR spectra of three-dimensional hyper-crosslinked polymers obtained by liquid-phase polymerization of C₆₀ are discussed.     

Semiempirical PM5 molecular orbital study on chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls: comparison of semiempirical, ab initio, and density functional results

The semiempirical PM5 method has been used to calculate fully optimized structures of magnesium-bacteriochlorin, magnesium-chlorin, magnesium-porphin, mesochlorophyll a, chlorophylls a, b, c(1), c(2), c(3), and d, and bacteriochlorophylls a, b, c, d, e, f, g, and h with all homologous structures. Hartree-Fock/6-31G* ab initio and density functional B3LYP/6-31G* methods were used to optimize structures of methyl chlorophyllide a, chlorophyll c(1), and methyl bacteriochlorophyllides a and c for comparison. Spectroscopic transition energies of the chromophores and their 1:1 or 1:2 solvent complexes were calculated with the Zindo/S CIS method. The self-consistent reaction field model was used to estimate solvent shifts. The PM5 calculations predict planar structure of the porphyrin ring and central position of the four coordinated magnesium atoms in all pigments studied, in accord with the experimental, ab initio, and density functional results, a significant improvement as compared to the older semiempirical PM3 approach. Only small differences in PM5 and B3LYP/6-31G* or Hartree-Fock/6-31G* minimum energy geometries of the reference molecules were observed. Calculations show that in 1:1 solvent complexes, where the magnesium atom is five coordinated, the magnesium atom is shifted out of the plane of the porphyrin ring towards the solvent molecule, while the hexa coordinated 1:2 complexes are again planar. The PM5 method gives atomic charges that are comparable with those obtained from the Hartree-Fock/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-31G* calculations. The single point ZINDO/S CIS calculations with PM5 minimum energy structure gave excellent correlations between calculated and experimental transition energies of the chlorophylls and bacteriochlorophylls studied. Such correlations may be used for prediction of transition energies of the chromophores in protein binding sites. Calculations also predict existence of dark electronic states below the main Soret absorption band in all chromophores studied. The results suggest that the semiempirical PM5 method is a fairly reliable and computationally efficient method in predicting molecular parameters of porphyrin-like molecules.     

One-dimensional Ising chain with competing interactions: Exact results and connection with other statistical models

We study the ground state properties of a one-dimensional Ising chain with a nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic interactionJ ₁, and akth neighboranti-ferromagnetic interactionJ _k . WhenJ _k/J₁=–1/k, there exists a highly degenerate ground state with a residual entropy per spin. For the finite chain with free boundary conditions, we calculate the degeneracy of this state exactly, and find that it is proportional to the (N+k–1)th term in a generalized Fibonacci sequence defined by,F _N ^(k) =F _N–1 ^(k) +F _N–k ^(k) . In addition, we show that this one-dimensional model is closely related to the following problems: (a) a fully frustrated two-dimensional Ising system with a periodic arrangement of nearest-neighbor ferro- and antiferromagnetic bonds, (b) close-packing of dimers on a ladder, a 2× strip of the square lattice, and (c) directed self-avoiding walks on finite lattice strips.Work partially supported by grants from AFOSR and ARO.     

Structural studies of 4-aryloctahydro-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine derivatives

¹³C cross-polarisation magic angle spinning NMR data have been reported for four derivatives of 4-aryl-octahydro-pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine-1,3-dione and the X-ray diffraction data for two (with 2′-Me and 2′-OMe). The crystal structures show the presence of centrosymmetric cyclic dimers with intermolecular C1O?H-N or C3O?H-N hydrogen bonds, the configuration at the chiral centres (C4 and C4_a) was determined as RR (SS). The twisting of aromatic ring at C4 with respect to the pyrido[1,2-c]pyrimidine skeleton is about 68-109°.     

肽核酸骨架分子键联卟啉的合成及结构表征

以5,10,15-三苯基-20-(4-羧基苯基)卟啉和5,10,15-三苯基-20-(4-羟基苯基)卟啉为原料, 分别与N-(Boc-氨乙基)甘氨酸乙酯(3)及其衍生物4作用, 得到了两种肽核酸骨架分子键联卟啉化合物6和8. 中间体和目标化合物均由紫外-可见光谱、红外光谱、核磁共振光谱、质谱及元素分析所确证. 目标化合物的荧光光谱测试结果表明, 肽核酸单元分子的链接对卟啉分子的荧光波长和强度影响不大.     

Robust liquid crystal droplets

The preparation and properties of cyanobiphenyl liquid crystal droplets encapsulated by the polymerizable lecithin 1,2-bis(10,12-tricosadiynoyl)-sn-glyero-3-phosphocholine (DC_8,9PC) are described. Under a wide variety of preparation conditions the droplets obtain a diameter of approximately 10 mum. These droplets are stable for periods of over one year at room temperature. Furthermore, they are stable upon temperature cycling between the nematic and isotropic phases and between the smectic A to nematic to isotropic phase transitions.     

Twist-bend nematics,liquid crystal dimers,structure–property relations

ABSTRACT

One of the current challenges in liquid crystal science is to understand the molecular factors leading to the formation of the intriguing twist-bend nematic phase (N_TB) and determine its properties. During our earlier hunt for the N_TB phase created on cooling directly from the isotropic phase and not the nematic phase, we had prepared 30 symmetric liquid crystal dimers. These had odd spacers and methylene links to the two mesogenic groups; desirable but clearly not essential features for the formation of the N_TB. Here, we report the phases that the dimers exhibit and their transition temperatures as functions of both the lengths of the spacer and the terminal chains. In addition we describe the transitional entropies, their optical textures, the X-ray scattering patterns and the ²H NMR spectra employed in characterising the phases. All of which may lead to important properties of the twist-bend nematic phase.     

Dimerization of Colloidal Particles through Controlled Aggregation for Enhanced Properties and Applications

Devising syntheses capable of precisely manipulating matter on the nanoscale is central to many areas of research. The underlying motivation is fueled by the fact that at the nanometer scale, the property has a strong correlation with the structure. One such nanostructure that has accrued much attention is the dimer—a structure composed of two colloidal particles separated by a small gap. This Focus Review discusses how colloidal stability can be strategically manipulated to induce dimerization, together with effective purification steps to further improve yields. We conclude the article by providing representative examples for how dimers composed of plasmonic nanoparticles leads to structures with tunable optical properties and strong electric near‐fields, ideal for application in surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy.     

Unexpected formation of β, meso-directly linked diporphyrins under Adler–Longo reaction conditions

Unexpected formation of β, meso-directly linked diporphyrin products has been described in the reactions of β-formyl porphyrins with pyrrole under Adler–Longo reaction conditions. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicates that β-dipyrromethane substituted porphyrin structure is the crucial intermediate for the formation of diporphyrin product.