2-Isopropylbenzimidazole and 2-methylbenzimidazole as bulky proton sources: Stereoselective protonation and application to the synthesis of γ- and δ-lactones

2-Isopropylbenzimidazole and 2-methylbenzimidazole have been found to be effective bulky proton sources for stereoselective protonation of chiral enolate anions. 2-Isopropylbenzimidazole worked in the stereoselective protonation of the Birch reduction of chiral α,β-unsaturated imides. On the other hand, 2-methylbenzimidazole was found to be the best protonation reagent in the isomerization reaction of α,β-unsaturated imide into β,γ-unsaturated imide. The Birch reduction using 2-isopropylbenzimidazole realized a concise and stereoselective synthesis of δ-lactone 14, a sex pheromone of Macrocentrus grandii, while the isomerization reaction using 2-methylbenzimidazole was employed in the highly stereoselective synthesis of the γ-lactone intermediate in the synthesis of depsipeptide antibiotics. These bulky proton sources would be powerful tools to achieve a concise synthesis of natural products.     

Adaptive enhancement of compressed SAR images

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is an important global all-weather surveillance and mapping satellite imagery system. As space-borne systems have a limited storage capacity, it is imperative to heavily compress SAR images, possible with lossy compression schemes. As a result, SAR images need to be enhanced in earth stations. The work reported in this paper aims to address the issue of compression artefact removal of SAR images in an adaptive manner. The SAR images, compressed using the JPEG utility at significantly low bit rates, are enhanced by adaptively removing coding artefacts and speckle noise. As edges carry significant information in satellite imagery, a significant edge image is used for edge enhancement with selective removal of noisy edges. Further, an image sharpness metric is proposed in this work to serve as an objective no-reference metric for measuring the sharpness of SAR images.     

Efficient metal-free organic room temperature phosphors

An innovative transformation of organic luminescent materials in recent years has realised the exciting research area of ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence. Here the credit for the advancements goes to the rational design of new organic phosphors. The continuous effort in the area has yielded wide varieties of metal-free organic systems capable of extending the lifetime to several seconds under ambient conditions with high quantum yield and attractive afterglow properties. The various strategies adopted in the past decade to manipulate the fate of triplet excitons suggest a bright future for this class of materials. To analyze the underlying processes in detail, we have chosen high performing organic triplet emitters that utilized the best possible ways to achieve a lifetime above one second along with impressive quantum yield and afterglow properties. Such a case study describing different classes of metal-free organic phosphors and strategies adopted for the efficient management of triplet excitons will stimulate the development of better candidates for futuristic applications. This Perspective discusses the phosphorescence features of single- and multi-component crystalline assemblies, host–guest assemblies, polymers, and polymer-based systems under various classes of molecules. The various applications of the organic phosphors, along with future perspectives, are also highlighted.

A summary of the extremely efficient organic phosphors that utilized the best possible ways to manipulate the fate of triplet excitons for achieving a long lifetime along with impressive quantum yield and afterglow properties is provided.     

Self-Assembled Helical Arrays for the Stabilization of the Triplet State

Room-temperature phosphorescence of metal and heavy atom-free organic molecules has emerged as an area of great potential in recent years. A rational design played a critical role in controlling the molecular ordering to impart efficient intersystem crossing and stabilize the triplet state to achieve room-temperature ultralong phosphorescence. However, in most cases, the strategies to strengthen phosphorescence efficiency have resulted in a reduced lifetime, and the available nearly degenerate singlet-triplet energy levels impart a natural competition between delayed fluorescence and phosphorescence, with the former one having the advantage. Herein, an organic helical assembly supports the exhibition of an ultralong phosphorescence lifetime. In contrary to other molecules, 3,6-phenylmethanone functionalized 9-hexylcarbazole exhibits a remarkable improvement in phosphorescence lifetime (>4.1 s) and quantum yield (11 %) owing to an efficient molecular packing in the crystal state. A right-handed helical molecular array act as a trap and exhibits triplet exciton migration to support the exceptionally longer phosphorescence lifetime.     

Self‐Assembled Helical Arrays for the Stabilization of the Triplet State

Room‐temperature phosphorescence of metal and heavy atom‐free organic molecules has emerged as an area of great potential in recent years. A rational design played a critical role in controlling the molecular ordering to impart efficient intersystem crossing and stabilize the triplet state to achieve room‐temperature ultralong phosphorescence. However, in most cases, the strategies to strengthen phosphorescence efficiency have resulted in a reduced lifetime, and the available nearly degenerate singlet‐triplet energy levels impart a natural competition between delayed fluorescence and phosphorescence, with the former one having the advantage. Herein, an organic helical assembly supports the exhibition of an ultralong phosphorescence lifetime. In contrary to other molecules, 3,6‐phenylmethanone functionalized 9‐hexylcarbazole exhibits a remarkable improvement in phosphorescence lifetime (>4.1 s) and quantum yield (11 %) owing to an efficient molecular packing in the crystal state. A right‐handed helical molecular array act as a trap and exhibits triplet exciton migration to support the exceptionally longer phosphorescence lifetime.     

Mechanism of texture and microstructure evolution during warm rolling of Ti–6Al–4V alloy

Ti–6Al–4V (Ti64) plates were subjected to rolling at 600°C and 800°C, respectively, for reductions up to 90% reduction in thickness. The mechanism of texture and microstructure evolution during rolling was studied in the present study. Extension twins of coherent nature were observed in the samples rolled up to 50% of reduction. The deformation was relatively inhomogeneous in the samples rolled at 600°C compared to that at 800°C. Visco-plastic self-consistent (VPSC) simulation showed that relative activity of pyramidal <c+a> slip was higher during rolling at 800°C compared to that at 600°C. The average activity of slip systems per grain was less than five for the samples rolled at 600°C and this might be responsible for the strain heterogeneity in the large grains. Further, twinning activity was found to be limited to a true strain of 0.5, as supported by the microstructural observation. VPSC simulation also showed the presence of contraction twins in the samples which was further supported by X-ray texture measurement. Dominant basal texture was observed in the samples irrespective of the temperature of rolling.     

Facile synthesis of Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>/Cu<Subscript>2</Subscript>O nanocomposite and its visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of cationic dyes

Iron oxide-loaded Cu₂O photocatalysts were prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The binary mixed metal oxide photocatalyst was characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, FTIR, UV–Vis-DRS, particle size and zeta potential measurements. XRD analysis showed that Fe₂O₃/Cu₂O catalysts were phase pure and highly crystalline in nature. FE-SEM images revealed the formation of nanospherical Fe₂O₃ over the Cu₂O surface during hydrothermal reaction. From UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy studies, the optical band gap of the Fe₂O₃/Cu₂O photocatalyst was found to be slightly red-shifted to 1.85 eV, after loading of Fe₂O₃. The zeta potential analysis revealed that the surface of the Fe₂O₃/Cu₂O photocatalyst was negatively charged in neutral solution. The loading of n-type Fe₂O₃ on p-type Cu₂O augments the charge carrier separation at the interface, which was evident from the enhanced photodegradation of organic pollutants (Methylene blue and Rhodamine B dyes) under visible light irradiation.