Status of heavy element research using a gas-filled recoil separator at RIKEN

A gas-filled type of recoil separator for heavy element research was installed at an experimental hall of RIKEN Linear Accelerator facility to realize getting higher intensity of primary beam and long beam time. Performance of the separator was studied using target recoils and various nuclear reactions. The results show the high performance of the separator for heave element research. As an application of the GARIS, production and identification of an isotope of the 110th element ²⁷¹[110] have been performed using the ²⁰⁸Pb(⁶⁴Ni,1n)²⁷¹[110] reaction. Three decay chains coincide well both in decay times and energies with the ones reported by the group of SHIP experiment at GSI, Germany. Our results provide a confirmation of the synthesis of an isotope ²⁷¹[110] of element 110.     

A novel pre-shearing technique for measurement of the electrorheological effect of a side-chain liquid crystalline polysiloxane

A side-chain liquid crystalline polysiloxane derivative possessing mesogens was synthesized. The mesogens included a large dielectrically-anisotropic moiety. Phase transition behaviour was investigated and the electrorheological (ER) effect of the polymer considered. No ER effect was observed in non-sheared polysiloxane derivative because of its high inherent viscosity. However, a large ER effect was observed after pre-shearing. Pre-shearing, i.e. shearing with a high shear rate before the measurements, arranges the terminal mesogens in the shearing direction. Furthermore, a dilution of the sample led to a larger ER effect exceeding 10 000 Pa. We thus were able to demonstrate a new approach for the appearance of the ER effect.     

Hydration Structure Around the Carboxyl Group Studied by Neutron Diffraction with 12C/13C and H/D Isotopic Substitution Methods

Time-of-Flight (TOF) neutron diffraction measurements have been carried out on aqueous 8 mol% sodium acetate solutions in D₂O. Scattering cross sections that were observed for sample solutions involving ¹²C/¹³C and H/D isotopically substituted acetate ions were used to derive the first-order difference functions, Δ_H(Q) and Δ_C(Q), and corresponding distribution functions, G _H(r;r) and G _C(r;r), which describe the environmental structure around the methyl and the carboxyl groups within the acetate ion, respectively. Structural parameters concerning the first hydration shell of the carboxyl group within the acetate ion were obtained through the least squares fit to the observed intermolecular difference function, Δ_C ^inter(Q). The nearest neighbor C _O...D _W1 (C_O: carboxyl carbon atom, D_W1: water deuterium atom) distance, r(C _O...D _W1 ), and the angle, ∠ C _O ...D _W1 -O _W (O _W : water oxygen atom), were determined to be 2.63(1) Å and 120(1)°, respectively. The coordination number, n(C _O ...D _W1 ), was obtained to be 4.0(1). These results are consistent with the hydration structure in which water molecules in the first hydration shell of the carboxyl group are hydrogen-bonded with oxygen atoms of the carboxyl group.     

UV-Vis, NMR, and time-resolved spectroscopy analysis of photoisomerization behavior of three- and six-azobenzene-bound tris(bipyridine)cobalt complexes

The photoisomerization properties of tris(bipyridine)cobalt complexes containing six or three azobenzene moieties, namely, [Co(II)(dmAB)3](BF4)2 [dmAB = 4,4'-bis[3'-(4'-tolylazo)phenyl]-2,2'-bipyridine], [Co(III)(dmAB)3](BF4)3, [Co(II)(mAB)3](BF4)2 [mAB = 4-[3' '-(4' '-tolylazo)phenyl]-2,2'-bipyridine], and [Co(III)(dmAB)3](BF4)3, derived from the effect of gathering azobenzenes in one molecule and the effect of the cobalt(II) or cobalt(III) ion were investigated using UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, femtosecond transient spectroscopy, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. In the photostationary state of these four complexes, nearly 50% of the trans-azobenzene moieties of the Co(II) complexes were converted to the cis isomer, and nearly 10% of the trans-azobenzene moieties of the Co(III) complexes isomerized to the cis isomer, implying that the cis isomer ratio in the photostationary state upon irradiation at 365 nm is controlled not by the number of azobenzene moieties in one molecule but rather by the oxidation state of the cobalt ions. The femtosecond transient absorption spectra of the ligands and the complexes suggested that the photoexcited states of the azobenzene moieties in the Co(III) complexes were strongly deactivated by electron transfer from the azobenzene moiety to the cobalt center to form an azobenzene radical cation and a Co(II) center. The cooperation among the photochemical structural changes of six azobenzene moieties in [Co(II)(dmAB)3](BF4)2 was investigated with 1H NMR spectroscopy. The time-course change in the 1H NMR signals of the methyl protons indicated that each azobenzene moiety in [Co(II)(dmAB)3](BF4)2 isomerized to a cis isomer with a random probability of 50% and without interactions among the azobenzene moieties.     

Photoreaction of anthracenyl phosphine oxides: Usual reversible photo- and heat-induced emission switching,and unusual oxidative PC bond cleavage

Anthracenyl(diphenyl)phosphine oxide and dianthracenylphenylphosphine oxide as photoactive compounds have been synthesized. Anthracenyl group of these compounds indicate the multi-functional roles such as an emission component, a photodimerization component, and a leaving group. When the light irradiation was performed under an oxygen atmosphere, photo-oxidative PC bond cleavage to leave the antharacenyl group was observed. Moreover, phosphonyl radical was produced and then PP bond formation to form diphosphane was observed.     

New catalytic cycle for couplings of aldehydes with organochromium reagents

[reaction: see text] A new catalytic cycle has been developed to effect all three subgroups of Cr-mediated couplings, i.e., (1) Ni/Cr-mediated alkenylation, alkynylation, and arylation, (2) Co/Cr-mediated 2-haloallylation, alkylation, and propargylation, and (3) Cr-mediated allylation. In the presence of chiral sulfonamide ligands, good asymmetric inductions can be achieved for some of the Ni/Cr-mediated alkenylation, Co/Cr-mediated 2-haloallylation and propargylation, and Cr-mediated allylation.     

Surprisingly efficient catalytic Cr-mediated coupling reactions

[reaction: see text] With use of 1 mol % of Cr catalyst 5, surprisingly efficient Cr-mediated couplings of aldehydes with various types of nucleophiles have been realized. The catalyst set of Cr catalyst 5 and Ni catalyst 4 is used for alkenylation, alkynylation, and arylation, whereas the catalyst set of Cr catalyst 5 and CoPc (cobalt phthalocyanine) is used for 2-haloallylation, alkylation, and propargylation. Only the Cr catalyst 5 is required for allylation. The reaction rates in DME and THF have been found significantly faster than that in MeCN.     

Laser photolysis studies of the photochemical reactions of chromium(III) octaethylporphyrin and tetramesitylporphyrin complexes in toluene solution

A nanosecond laser photolysis study was carried out for the Cr(III) porphyrin complexes of 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-octaethylporphyrin, [Cr(OEP)(Cl)(L)], and of 5,10,15,20-tetramesitylporphyrin, [Cr(TMP)(Cl)(L)], in toluene containing water and an excess amount of L (L = axial ligand). The laser photolysis generates the triplet excited state of the parent complex as well as a five-coordinate complex, [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)], produced by the photodissociation of the axial ligand L. The yields for the formation of the triplet state and the photodissociation of L are found to markedly depend on the nature of both L and porphyrin ligand. The five-coordinate [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)] readily reacts with both H(2)O and L in the bulk solution to give [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(H(2)O)] and [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(L)], respectively. The axial H(2)O ligand in [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(H(2)O)] is then substituted by the ligand L to regenerate the original complex [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(L)]. In principle, the substitution reaction takes place by the dissociative mechanism: the first step is the dissociation of H(2)O from [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(H(2)O)], followed by the reaction of the five-coordinate [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)] with the ligand L to regenerate [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(L)]. The rate constants for this ligand substitution reaction are found to exhibit bell-shaped ligand concentration dependence. The detailed kinetic analysis revealed that both ligands L and H(2)O in toluene make a hydrogen bond with the axial H(2)O ligand in [Cr(porphyrin)(Cl)(H(2)O)] to yield dead-end complexes for the substitution reaction. The reaction mechanisms are discussed on the basis of the substituent effects of the porphyrin peripheral groups and the kinetic parameters determined from the temperature dependence of the rate constants.     

Structures of TMC-95A-D: novel proteasome inhibitors from Apiospora montagnei sacc. TC 1093

Four novel proteasome inhibitors, TMC-95A-D (1-4) have been isolated from the fermentation broth of Apiospora montagnei Sacc. TC 1093, isolated from a soil sample. All of the molecular formulas of 1-4 were established as C(33)H(38)N(6)O(10) by high-resolution FAB-MS. Their planar structures were determined on the basis of extensive analyses of 1D and 2D NMR, and degradation studies. Compounds 1-4 have the same planar structures to each other, and are unique highly modified cyclic peptides containing L-tyrosine, L-aspargine, highly oxidized L-tryptophan, (Z)-1-propenylamine, and 3-methyl-2-oxopentanoic acid units. The absolute configuration at C-11 and C-36 of 1-4 was determined based on chiral TLC and HPLC analyses of their chemical degradation products. The ROESY analysis along with (1)H-(1)H coupling constants clarified the absolute stereochemistry at C-6, -7, -8, and -14 of the cyclic moieties. These studies revealed the relationships of 1-4 to be diastereomers at C-7 and C-36.     

On the correlation of the glass transition temperature of a copolymer with its comonomer sequences

The glass transition temperature of a copolymer depends not only on chemical composition but also on its comonomer sequences. This experimental fact is explained by Barton's and Johnston's equations. Their equations, though complicated, become simple, if a suitable parameter is used to describe the comonomer sequences. It is shown that with these new expressions, their equations can be used to understand glass transition temperatures of two additional types of copolymers, compatible multiblock copolymers and homopolymers with various tacticities treated as steric copolymers.Dedicated to Professor Bernhard Wunderlich on the occasion of his 65th birthdayWe wish to thank the reviewer for his/her kind linguistic improvement of this article.