Designing spirobifullerene core based three-dimensional cross shape acceptor materials with promising photovoltaic properties for high-efficiency organic solar cells

The development of organic electron acceptor materials is one of the key factors for realizing high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs). Nonfullerene electron acceptors, compared to traditional fullerene acceptor materials, have gained much impetus owing to their better optoelectronic tunabilities and lower cost, as well as higher stability. Therefore, 5 three-dimensional (3D) cross-shaped acceptor materials having a spirobifullerene core flanked with 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole are designed from a recently synthesized highly efficient acceptor molecule SF(BR) ₄ and are investigated in detail with regard to their use as acceptor molecules in OSCs. The density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TDDFT) calculations have been performed for the estimation of frontier molecular orbital (FMO) analysis, density of states analysis, reorganization energies of electron and hole, dipole moment, open-circuit voltage, photo-physical characteristics, and transition density matrix analysis. In addition, the structure-property relationship is studied, and the influence of end-capped acceptor modifications on photovoltaic, photo-physical, and electronic properties of newly selected molecules ( H1-H5 ) is calculated and compared with reference ( R ) acceptor molecule SF(BR) ₄ . The structural tailoring at terminals was found to effectively tune the FMO band gap, energy levels, absorption spectra, open-circuit voltage, reorganization energy, and binding energy value in selected molecules H1 to H5 . The 3D cross-shaped molecules H1 to H5 suppress the intermolecular aggregation in PTB7-Th blend, which leads to high efficiency of acceptor material H1 to H5 in OSCs. Consequently, better optoelectronic properties are achieved from designed molecules H1 to H5 . It is proposed that the conceptualized molecules are superior than highly efficient spirobifullerene core-based SF(BR) ₄ acceptor molecules and, thus, are recommended to experiments for future developments of highly efficient solar cells.     

Insecticidal Activity and Free Radical Scavenging Properties of Isolated Phytoconstituents from the Saudi Plant Nuxia oppositifolia (Hochst.)

Chromatographic purification of the alcoholic extract from the aerial parts of the Saudi plant Nuxia oppositifolia (Hochst.), Benth., resulted in five isolated phenolic compounds. Two flavones, hispidulin (1) and jaceosidin (2), and the phenylethanoid glycosides, verbascoside (3), isoverbascoside (4), and conandroside (5), were identified and their chemical structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses. The insecticidal activity of compounds 1 and 2, in addition to 11 compounds isolated in a previous research (6–16), was evaluated against the Yellow Fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Four compounds displayed adulticidal activity with LD₅₀ values of 2–2.3 μg/mosquito. Free radical scavenging properties of the plant extracts and compounds (1–5) were evaluated by measuring the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate radical cation (ABTS^•+) scavenging activity. All compounds exhibited notable activity, compared with the positive control, l-Ascorbic acid. This study suggests that N. oppositifolia could be a promising source of secondary metabolites, some with lethal adulticidal effect against Ae. aegypti.     

Study of ion beam induced mixing in Sn/Si system using electrical resistivity measurements

The ion-beam mixing of Sn thin film evaporated on silicon has been investigated by continuously measuring the electrical resistivity of the sample during irradiation by Kr ions. The resistivity results exhibit a tendency toward a saturation process and allow the determination of the critical dose corresponding to the total mixing condition. The variation of the volume fraction of intermixed atoms as a function of the ion dose has been deduced and compared with a semiempirical formula to explain the observed mixing kinetics. A linear dependence of the volume fraction of the intermixed atoms on the fluence is observed, which is a signature of recoil type mixing.     

The determination of vanadium,molybdenum and tungsten by infrared spectroscopy

The infrared spectra of the 8-hydroxyquinolinates of molybdenum, vanadium and tungsten in the region 3–15 μ were investigated. It was found possible to determine the elements quantitatively, singly or in pairs, with an error of about 3%. Molybdenum was determined at 10.80 μ and 10.93 μ, vanadium at 10.50 μ, and tungsten at 10.61 μ or 10.90 μ.     

Atom transfer radical polymerization of 1-phenoxycarbonyl ethyl methacrylate monomer

Atom transfer radical polymerization conditions with copper(I) bromide/2,2^′-bipyridine (Cu/2,2^′-bpy) as the catalyst system were employed for the homopolymerization and random copolymerization of 1-phenoxycarbonyl ethyl methacrylate (PCMA) with methyl methacrylate (MMA). Temperature studies indicated that the polymerizations occurred smoothly in bulk at 110 °C. Poly(PCMA)(polydispersity index=1.27) homopolymer was characterized and then used as macroinitiator for increasing its molecular weight. The homopolymerization of PCMA was also carried out under free radical conditions using 2,2^′-azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator.The monomer and polymers were characterized by FT-IR and ¹H and ¹³C-NMR techniques. The glass transition temperatures, the solubility parameters and average-molecular weights of the polymers were determined. Thermal stabilities of the polymers were given as compared with each other by using TGA curves. Thermal degradation products of poly(PCMA)s obtained by ATRP and free radical polymerization were compared with each other by using ¹H-NMR technique.     

Synthesis of the ABC fragment of the pectenotoxins

[reaction: see text] A highly stereocontrolled synthesis of the C1-C16 ABC spiroacetal-containing fragment 5 of PTX7 (4) has been achieved. Appendage of the C ring to the AB fragment involved Wittig reaction of spiroacetal aldehyde 8 with a stabilized ylide 9 followed by displacement of allylic iodide 27 with a lithium acetylide to afford enyne 7. Fructose-derived chiral dioxirane and dihydroxylation were then used to introduce the correct functionality in the tetrahydrofuran C ring.     

On the formation of protonated acetic acid from ionized n-alkanoic acids in the gas phase

By means of collisional activation mass spectrometry and semi-empirical molecular orbital calculations (MNDO) it is shown that the [C₂H₅O₂]⁺ ions from metastable molecular ions of n-pentanoic and hexanoic acid have the structure of carbonyl protonated acetic acid [CH₃C(OH)₂]⁺. The MNDO calculated geometries of this ion and some other isomeric forms are given together with the ΔH_f⁰ values.     

Iron(II)‐ and Cobalt(II) Complexes with Tridentate Bis(imino)pyridine Nitrogen Ligands Bearing Chiral Bulky Aliphatic and Aromatic Substituents: Crystal Structure of [CoCl2{2, 6‐bis[R‐(+)‐(bornylimino)methyl]pyridine}]

Iron(II) and cobalt(II) complexes ( 7 ‐ 15 ) based on new aldimine 2, 6‐bis[(imino)methyl]pyridine ( 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 ) and ketimine (2, 6‐bis[(imino)ethyl]pyridine ( 3 , 5 ) ligands with bulky chiral aliphatic or aromatic terminal groups have been prepared and characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR‐, mass spectroscopy (EI), and elemental analysis. The complex [CoCl₂(BBoMP)]·¹/₂ CHCl₃ ( 13 ) (BBoMP: 2, 6‐bis{(R‐(+)‐(bornylimino)‐methyl}pyridine) crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2₁ with cell dimensions: a = 7.6603(11) Å, b = 28.3153(14) Å, c = 13.537(2) Å, V = 2908.1(6) ų, Z = 4. The coordination sphere around Co is distorted trigonal bipyramidal.