Transient state of chiral recognition in a binary mixture of cyclodextrins in capillary electrophoresis

The transient state (as the defined point where no enantioseparation is obtained in a dual chiral selector system) of chiral recognition of aminoglutethimide in a binary mixture of neutral cyclodextrins (CDs) was studied by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The following three dual selector systems were used: alpha-cyclodextrin (alpha-CD) and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD); alpha-CD and heptakis(di-O-methyl-beta-cyclodextrin) (DM-beta-CD); alpha-CD and heptakis(tri-O-methyl-beta-cyclodextrin) (TM-beta-CD). The S-(-) enantiomer of the analyte was more strongly retained in the presence of either alpha-CD or TM-beta-CD at pH 2.5, 100 mM phosphate buffer, while the R-(+) enantiomer was more strongly retained in the presence of either P-CD or DM-P-CD. In the more simple case, the elution order is invariably kept if the enantiomers have the same elution order in either one of the two hosts of the binary mixture. In contrast, the elution order may be switched by varying the concentration ratio of two hosts that produce opposite elution order for this particular analyte. In such a dual selector system, the enantioselectivity will disappear at the transient state at a certain ratio of host,:host, Moreover, the migration times of the two enantiomers with host, alone (diluted in buffer) is approximately equal to the migration times at the corresponding concentration of host, alone (diluted in buffer), where the ratio of concentrations of host,:host, is the same as in the binary mixture at the transient state. As found by nuclear magnetic resonance experiments, the analyte is forming a 1:1 complex with either one of the CDs applied. From this finding, a theoretical model based on the mobility difference of the two enantiomers was derived that was used to simulate the transient state. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Studies on coarsening of microdomains in binary polymer mixtures by Lattice Boltzmann methods

An improved free energy approach Lattice Boltzmann model(LBM) is proposed by introducing a forcing term instead of the pressure tensor. This model can reach the proper thermodynamic equilibrium after enough simulation time. On the basis of this model, the phase separation in binary polymer mixtures is studied by applying a Flory-Huggins-type free energy. The numerical results show good agreement with the analytic coexistence curve. This model can also be used to study the coarsening of microdomains in binary polymer mixtures at the early and intermediate stages.

Effect of binary block-selective solvents on self-assembly of ABA triblock copolymer in dilute solution

We have studied the self-assembly of the ABA triblock copolymer (P4VP-b-PS-b-P4VP) in dilute solution by using binary block-selective solvents, that is, water and methanol. The triblock copolymer was first dissolved in dioxane to form a homogeneous solution. Subsequently, a given volume of selective solvent was added slowly to the solution to induce self-assembly of the copolymer. It was found that the copolymer (P4VP(43)-b-PS366-b-P4VP(43)) tended to form spherical aggregate or bilayer structure when we used methanol or water as the single selective solvent, respectively.

Application of a New Cyclic Guanidinium Ionic Liquid on Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSCs)

A new cyclic guanidinium ionic liquid OGI (1,3-dimethyl-2-N ''-methyl-N ''-octylimidazoguanidinium iodide) has been used as a quasi-solid-state electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs), and 6.38% conversion efficiency was achieved at AM 1.5 simulated sunlight (9.81 mW cm(-2)). Further gelation with SiO2 nanoparticles afforded the solid-state electrolyte, which presented overall conversion efficiency of 5.85%. The diffusion properties of these OGI-based electrolytes were investigated. In the meantime, the optimal structure and ion-pairing interaction in OGI have been proposed by density functional theoretical calculation (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-21G(d,p) level.

High efficiency and stable dye-sensitized solar cells with an organic chromophore featuring a binary pi-conjugated spacer

We employed a binary spacer of orderly conjugated 3,4-ethyldioxythiophene and thienothiophene to construct a wide-spectral response organic chromophore for dye-sensitized solar cells, exhibiting a high power conversion efficiency of 9.8% measured under irradiation of 100 mW cm(-2) air mass 1.5 global (AM1.5G) sunlight and an excellent stability.

Alternating copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide by single-component cobalt salen complexes with various axial group

A series of single-component cobalt salen complexes, N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-1,2phenylenediamino cobaltIII X(X = Cl (1a), Br (1b), NO3 (1c), CF3COO (1d), BF4 (le), and N3 (If)) (SalphCoX), were prepared for alternating copolymerization of carbon dioxide and propylene oxide(PO) under mild condition. The axial anion X group of the SalenphCoX played important role in tailoring the catalytic activity, polymeric/cyclic carbonate selectivity, as well as stereochemistry of carbonate unit sequence in the polymer chain. SalenphCoX with an electron-withdrawing axial X group (complex 1c) was an ideal catalyst for the copolymerization of CO2 and PO to selectively produce polycarbonate with similar to 99% carbonate linkage and over 81% head-to-tail structure.