Chiral Interlocked Corrole Dimers Directly Linked at Inner Carbon Atoms of Confused Pyrrole Rings

A facile synthetic strategy towards conformationally stable chiral chromophores based on dimeric porphyrinoids has been established. A peculiar class of face-to-face intramolecularly interlocked corrole dimers were formed by the oxidative C−C coupling linked at the inner carbon sites upon simple treatment of copper(II) ions. Their intrinsic electronic structures were modulated by the peripheral corrole ring annulations, which lead to distinct optical properties and redox profiles. The stereogenic carbon centers implemented in the confused corrole skeleton provided a rationale for designing novel chiral materials.     

Rank 2 Ample Vector Bundles on Some Smooth Rational Surfaces

Several classification results for ample vector bundles of rank 2 on Hirzebruch surfaces, and on Del Pezzo surfaces, are obtained. In particular, we classify rank 2 ample vector bundles with _c2 less than seven on Hirzebruch surfaces, and with _c2 less than four on Del Pezzo surfaces.     

Temporal analysis of products (TAP) study on oxygen storage properties over Pt−Rh/CeO2 catalyst

The oxygen storage capacity of CeO₂, Ce_0.9Pr_0.1O₂, Pt?Rh/CeO₂ and Pt?Rh/Ce_0.9Pr_0.1O₂ was investigated by conventional GC pulse method and transient pulse techniques. It is shown that incorporation of PrO_y into CeO₂ matrix strongly promotes oxygen storage capacity (OSC) measured using the transient pulse technique. The improvement of OSC at low temperature is observed in Pt?Rh loaded onto CeO₂ and Ce?Pr catalysts.     

A Pseudo-Random Frequency Modulation Continuous Wave Coherent Lidar Using an Optical Field Correlation Detection Method

We propose a new detection method for a pseudo-random frequency modulation continuous wave (RM-CW) coherent lidar. The feature of this method is modulation of local beam with a time delayed pseudo-random sequence. Heterodyne detection and correlation detection between the received beam and the local beam are simultaneously carried out in an optical field. In the RM-CW coherent lidar using the optical field correlation detection method, the received equipment is greatly simplified. We carried out preliminary experiments and demonstrated that the new method is effective for detection of a CW coherent lidar.     

SUPER TOUGH GELS WITH A DOUBLE NETWORK STRUCTURE

 Living tissues work with fantastic functions in soft and wet gel-like state. Thus, hydrogels have attracted much attention as excellent soft & wet materials, suitable for making artificial organs for medical treatments.However, conventional hydrogels are mechanically too weak for practical uses. We have created double network (DN) hydrogels with extremely high mechanical strength in order to overcome this problem. DN gels are interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogels consisting of rigid polyelectrolyte and soft neutral polymer. Their excellent mechanical properties cannot be explained by the standard fracture theories. In this paper, we discuss about the toughening mechanism of DN gels in accordance with their characteristic behavior, such as large hysteresis and necking phenomenon. We also describe the results on tissue engineering application of DN gels.     

Construction of a new multi-turn time-of-flight mass spectrometer

A new type of multi-turn time-of-flight mass spectrometer was constructed, consisting of four cylindrical electric sectors and 28 electric quadrupole lenses, the size of the vacuum chamber being 60 x 70 x 20 cm. It was demonstrated that the mass resolution can be increased according to the number of cycles of the ions through the ion optical system.     

Stability of porphyrin-calix[4]arene complexes analyzed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The stability of some porphyrin-calix[4]arene sodium-ion complexes were determined by a collision-activated decomposition (CAD) method utilizing electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Comparing the values of E(1/2), the collision energy at which the relative intensity of the complex ion is 0.5, we found that the porphyrin-calix[4]arene complex with the higher value of E(1/2) corresponded to that with the larger association constant (Kass), as measured by 1H-NMR in CDCl3. Both our ESI-MS and NMR studies proved that the number of hydrogen bonds and the rigidity of the calix[4]arene stabilized the complex. The ESI-MS technique could be successful in screening the binding affinity in host-guest systems with a small amount of sample.     

Relaxation dynamics in glycerol-water mixtures: I. Glycerol-rich mixtures

We discuss the relaxation dynamics of glycerol-water mixtures, as studied by dielectric spectroscopy in the frequency range from 1 Hz to 250 MHz and at temperatures between 173 and 323 K. The experimental results obtained for the glycerol-rich mixtures suggest that the main dielectric relaxation process, as well as the so-called high-frequency "excess wing" (EW) and dc conductivity, follow the same temperature dependence. This result indicates that all of these processes are induced by the same molecular origin. A new phenomenological function is proposed to describe the whole dielectric spectrum in the covered frequency range, and some possible mechanisms of dielectric behaviors through the dc conductivity, the main relaxation process, and the EW are discussed.     

Complex formation of amphiphilic polymers with azo dyes and their photoviscosity behavior

The hydrophobic interaction of amphiphilic copolymers, which contain 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate(HEMA) and 1vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VPy), with Methyl Orange (MO) was compared with that of HEMA-acrylamide (AAm) copolymers to deduce the correlation between their complexation ability in a photochromic azo dye and the photoviscosity effect in aqueous copolymer/dye complex solution. On the basis of the dialysis data and fluorometric analysis it appeared that the complexation dependence on HEMA content in the copolymers was due to the hydrophobic interaction between the polymer and the dye. For a comparable HEMA content AAm copolymers bound less MO than VPy copolymers. It was confiied by photoviscosity measurements that the conformation of the complex composed of photochromic azo dye and HEMA copolymer changed reversibly in response to the photo- and thermal isomerization of the dye. In HEMA-AAm copolymer systems the photoviscosity effect was small compared with that of HEMA-VPy copolymer systems. From these results it was concluded that the complexation ability of polymers due to the hydrophobic interaction was an important factor in producing a large photoinduced conformational change in water.