Polymer nanoparticles with a sensitive CO2‐responsive hydrophilic/hydrophobic surface

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) nanoparticles with a sensitive CO₂‐responsive hydrophilic/hydrophobic surface that confers controlled dispersion and aggregation in water were prepared by emulsion polymerization at 50 °C under CO₂ bubbling using amphiphilic diblock copolymers of 2‐dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) and N‐isopropyl acrylamide (NIPAAm) as an emulsifier. The amphiphilicity of the hydrophobic–hydrophilic diblock copolymer at 50 °C was triggered by CO₂ bubbling in water and enabled the copolymer to serve as an emulsifier. The resulting PMMA nanoparticles were spherical, approximately 100 nm in diameter and exhibited sensitive CO₂/N₂‐responsive dispersion/aggregation in water. Using copolymers with a longer PNIPAAm block length as an emulsifier resulted in smaller particles. A higher concentration of copolymer emulsifier led to particles with a stickier surface. Given its simple preparation and reversible CO₂‐triggered amphiphilic behavior, this newly developed block copolymer emulsifier offers a highly efficient route toward the fabrication of sensitive CO₂‐stimuli responsive polymeric nanoparticle dispersions. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 2149–2156     

Bis-tridentate IrIII Phosphors Bearing Two Fused Five-Six-Membered Metallacycles: A Strategy to Improved Photostability of Blue Emitters

Iridium complexes bearing chelating cyclometalates are popular choices as dopant emitters in the fabrication of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this contribution, we report a series of blue-emitting, bis-tridentate Ir^III complexes bearing chelates with two fused five-six-membered metallacycles, which are in sharp contrast to the traditional designs of tridentate chelates that form the alternative, fused five-five metallacycles. Five Ir^III complexes, Px-21 – 23 , Cz-4 , and Cz-5 , have been synthesized that contain a coordinated dicarbene pincer chelate incorporating a methylene spacer and a dianionic chromophoric chelate possessing either a phenoxy or carbazolyl appendage to tune the coordination arrangement. All these tridentate chelates afford peripheral ligand–metal–ligand bite angles of 166–170°, which are larger than the typical bite angle of 153–155° observed for their five-five-coordinated tridentate counterparts, thereby leading to reduced geometrical distortion in the octahedral frameworks. Photophysical measurements and TD-DFT studies verified the inherent transition characteristics that give rise to high emission efficiency, and photodegradation experiments confirmed the improved stability in comparison with the benchmark fac-[Ir(ppy)₃] in degassed toluene at room temperature. Phosphorescent OLED devices were also fabricated, among which the carbazolyl-functionalized emitter Cz-5 exhibited the best performance among all the studied bis-tridentate phosphors, showing a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE_max) of 18.7 % and CIE_x,y coordinates of (0.145, 0.218), with a slightly reduced EQE of 13.7 % at 100 cd m⁻² due to efficiency roll-off.     

Diastereoselective Cyclobutenol Synthesis: A Heterogeneous Palladium-Catalyzed Oxidative Carbocyclization-Borylation of Enallenols

A highly selective and efficient oxidative carbocyclization/borylation of enallenols catalyzed by palladium immobilized on amino-functionalized siliceous mesocellular foam (Pd-AmP-MCF) was developed for diastereoselective cyclobutenol synthesis. The heterogeneous palladium catalyst can be recovered and recycled without any observed loss of activity or selectivity. The high diastereoselectivity of the reaction is proposed to originate from a directing effect of the enallenol hydroxyl group. Optically pure cyclobutenol synthesis was achieved by the heterogeneous strategy by using chiral enallenol obtained from kinetic resolution.     

Analysis of G/D/1 Queueing Systems with Inputs Satisfying Large Deviation Principle under Weak* Topology

The large deviation principle (LDP) which has been effectively used in queueing analysis is the sample path LDP, the LDP in a function space endowed with the uniform topology. Chang [5] has shown that in the discrete-time G/D/1 queueing system under the FIFO discipline, the departure process satisfies the sample path LDP if so does the arrival process. In this paper, we consider arrival processes satisfying the LDP in a space of measures endowed with the weak^* topology (Lynch and Sethuraman [12]) which holds under a weaker condition. It is shown that in the queueing system mentioned above, the departure processes still satisfies the sample path LDP. Our result thus covers arrival processes which can be ruled out in the work of Chang [5]. The result is then applied to obtain the exponential decay rate of the queue length probability in an intree network as was obtained by Chang [5], who considered the arrival process satisfying the sample path LDP.     

On the option valuation and decomposition of exchange option

In this paper, we shall find the uniquerational price associated with the exchange option. Also, we find the decomposition of Snell envelope and value function of the American exchange option.     

Global and uniform convergence of subspace correction methods for some convex optimization problems

This paper gives some global and uniform convergence estimates for a class of subspace correction (based on space decomposition) iterative methods applied to some unconstrained convex optimization problems. Some multigrid and domain decomposition methods are also discussed as special examples for solving some nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems.

     

Photoluminescence linewidth broadening due to alloy/thickness fluctuation of CdxZn1 − xSe/ZnSe triple quantum wells

Photoluminescence (PL) linewidth broadening of Cd_xZn_{1 − x}Se/ZnSe triple quantum wells, grown on GaAs substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), has been investigated. Various quantum well (QW) samples have been prepared with different QW thickness and composition (Cd-composition). Measured and calculated PL linewidth are compared. Both composition and thickness fluctuations are considered for the calculation with the parameters such as the volume of exciton, nominal thickness and composition of QWs. Surface roughness measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM) is used to estimate the interface roughness. Results show that when Cd-composition increases additional linewidth broadening due to Zn/Cd interdiffusion is enhanced.     

A New Cycloartane from Sphaerophysa salsula

A novel cycloartane,named sphaerophysone A,9,19-cycloart-7β,24β,25-triol-1-en-3-one,was isolated from the ethanol extract of Sphaerophysa salsula DC.The structure was elucidated on the basis of spectral evidences and confirmed by X-ray analysis,the stereochemistry of the compound was also defined by X-ray analysis.