Comparison of short range interactions in nematic liquid crystals A 2H-NMR study of 5CB-d19 as a solute

Previous studies using dideuterium as a solute have demonstrated the importance for orientation of the interaction between the solute molecular quadrupole moment and the average electric field gradient present in liquid crystals. With the aim of learning about additional orientational mechanisms, we have studied the temperature dependence of the ²H-NMR spectra of the liquid crystal 5CB-d₁₉ as the solute in three liquid crystal mixtures: 55 wt % 1132/EBBA, 56·5 wt % 1132/EBBA and 70 wt % 5CB/EBBA. In these mixtures, the contribution from the environment to the average electric field gradient at the ²H nucleus of dideuterium is zero. The spectra of 5CB-d₁₉ in the mixtures 55 wt % 1132/EBBA and 56·5 wt % 1132/EBBA are equivalent, but are different from those in 70 wt % 5CB/EBBA. The spectra of 5CB in 55 wt % 1132/EBBA and 70 wt % 5CB/EBBA are analysed using two different models for the short range potential, and param eters of the models are used to compare the potentials in the different mixtures. For a given spectral splitting of the chain C₁ deuteron, the reduced short range potential is the same in all three mixtures studied. The spectral differences observed are a consequence of different nematic-isotropic phase transition temperatures combined with the effect of trans/gauche-isomerization in the hydrocarbon chain.     

The molecular structure of tetrathiofulvalene-13C (TTF) from proton magnetic resonance studies using nematic solvents

The molecular structure of TTF dissolved in nematic liquid crystalline solvents has been determined from the proton magnetic resonance including couplings due to ¹³C in natural abundance. The molecule is puckered in a boat conformation with the SCHCHS planes making a dihedral angle of 13 ± 2° with the S₂C  CS₂ plane. The other structural parameters obtained are r_CH = 1.085 ± 0.014 Å and the angel CCH = 123.7 ± 1.5°.     

Molecular solutes in nematic liquid crystals: Orientational order and electric field gradients

The difference between liquid-crystal and gas-phase values for the nuclear quadrupole coupling constant in D₂ and HD is used to obtain the mean electric field gradient in various liquid crystals. Order parameters for small molecules dissolved in liquid crystals are calculated assuming that the orientational order arises from the interaction of the molecular quadrupole moment with the average field gradient. The results obtained are in good agreement with experimental values for hydrogen and several other solutes.     

A NMR study of tetrathiofulvalene and tetracyanoquinodimethane: relative proton geometries and order parameters using nematic solvents; carbon-proton spin spin coupling constants for TTF

From proton magnetic resonance spectra of TTF and TCNQ partially oriented in nematic liquid crystal solvents the ratio of length to width of the proton rectangle is 3.124 ± 0.03 for TTF and 1.765 ± 0.024 for TCNQ. Values of J_CH obtained for TTF dissolved in d₆-acetone, are J_CH = 187.9 ± 0.3 Hz, J_CCH = 6.7 ±0.1 Hz and J_CSCH = 9.0 ±0.2 Hz.     

Synthesis of Coleon U

The recent publication by Matsumoto¹ of a synthesis of Coleon U²(1) prompts us to present our own preparation of this poly-hydroxy diterpene as the tri-O-methyl (12a) and tetra-O-methyl ethers (12b). In a previous communication³ we outlined our approach which is aimed at several similar natural products such as Coleon C⁴ (1b), Lycoxanthol⁵ (2), etc. and differs considerably from that of the Japanese group. Formally at least, the two syntheses start with the same material, (+) ferruginol methyl ether 5a. In our case the latter was prepared by recorded methods from methyl O-methyl podocarpate after introducing the iso-propyl sidechain⁶ (→4), transforming the C.4 methoxycarbonyl residue to a methyl⁷ (→5a, ferruginol methyl ether) which was oxidised at the benzylic position of the B ring to give sugiol methyl ether 5b.     

Tunneling estimates of paramagnon suppression of superconductivity in transition metals

New experimental estimates are given of the separate electron-phonon (λ_ph) and paramagnon (λ_S) contributions to mass renormalization for the transition metals Nb and V, from recent tunneling results. Our analysis, which is the first of its kind, is based on the recent demonstration of Daams, Mitrovic, and Carbotte of a simple rescaling of the Eliashberg equations using an effective coupling parameter $\text{λ}{}_{\mathrm{ph}}\text{(1+λ}{}_{\mathrm{S}}\text{)}$. The results provide a consistent picture of superconductivity in these transition elements from tunneling, in substantially improved agreement with other measurements. We conclude that spin fluctuations reduce the electron-phonon T_c values in Nb and V by 25% and 45%, respectively.     

NMR determination of smectic ordering of probe molecules

The NMR spectra of the three solutes ortho-, meta-, and para-dichlorobenzene in the nematic and smectic A phases of the liquid crystals 8CB and 8OCB are analyzed to yield two orientational order parameters for each solute. Extrapolation of the asymmetry in the energy parameters that describe the orientational ordering in the nematic phase are used to provide estimates of the strength of the nematic potential in the smectic A phase. The experimentally determined asymmetry of the orientational order parameters in the smectic A phase is then used in conjunction with Kobayashi-McMillan theory applied to solutes to give information about the smectic A layering and the nematic/smectic A coupling. In both smectic A solvents, the solute smectic coupling constant, tau, is negative (with the origin fixed at the center of the smectic layer) for all solutes. The signs and relative values of tau indicate that the ortho and para solutes favor the interlayer region while the meta solute is more evenly distributed throughout the layers.     

Synthetic approaches to phomactins: Late stage stereochemical and reactivity issues

Oxidation of a 15-methylenebicyclo[9.3.1]pentadeca-3,7-dien-14-ol with a 10-phenylsulfonyl substituent provided a 14-oxobicyclo[9.3.1]pentadeca-1(15),3,7-triene-15-carbaldehyde that on reduction with DIBAL-H was converted into a 15-hydroxymethylbicyclo[9.3.1]pentadeca-1(15),3,7-triene-14-ol with the relative configuration at C14 required for incorporation into a synthesis of phomactin A. The oxidation and reduction of an analogous 3,4-epoxide that lacked the 10-phenylsulfonyl group gave a diol with the opposite relative configuration at C14. However, the TPAP oxidation and DIBAL-H reduction of a 14-hydroxy-15-methylene-3,4-epoxide that still had the 10-phenylsulfonyl group gave a diol with the required configuration at C14 although the expected spontaneous participation of the 14-hydroxyl group in an intramolecular epoxide ring-opening was only observed under Lewis acidic conditions.     

Endo-exo and facial stereoselectivity in the Diels-Alder reactions of 3-substituted cyclopropenes with butadiene

A computational examination of the four modes of addition in the Diels-Alder reactions of 3-substituted cyclopropene derivatives (substituents: BH(2), CH(3), SiH(3), NH(2), PH(2), OH, SH, F, and Cl) with butadiene have been carried out at the B3LYP/6-31++G(d)//HF/6-31++G(d) level. The degree of stabilization of these derivatives at the ground state correlates with the electronegativity of the substituent. This attenuation of reactivity and differences in steric interactions are the only factors needed to explain both the high facial selectivity and the differences in the endo-exo selectivity seen in these reactions. Furthermore, evidence is presented that indicates that stabilization by an interaction involving the syn C-3 hydrogen of cyclopropene and butadiene is small or irrelevant in controlling the endo-exo selectivity of the Diels-Alder reaction.     

Synthesis of the tetracyclic core of the kempanes by a ring-closing metathesis strategy

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of the tetracyclic ring system of the kempane diterpenes was achieved through the highly regio- and stereoselective Diels-Alder reaction of an isopropenyl-diene with 2,6-dimethyl-p-benzoquinone, addition of an allyl group, and ring-closing metathesis of the isopropenyl and allyl groups.