The effect of fluorine substituents on the physical and structural properties of conjugated molecular materials

A series of selectively fluorinated tolans of the general formulae C(_6)F(_5)-C=C-C(_6)H(_4)X and C(_6)H(_5)-C=C-C(_6)F(_4)X (where X = I, Br, CI) have been synthesized via homogeneous palladium-catalysed Sonogashira cross-coupling and organolithium chemistry. Several of their crystal structures have been solved from X-ray diffraction data, and their molecular packing is described in terms of arene-perfluoroarene and halogen-halogen interactions. Diffraction-quality crystals of a number of binary arene-perfluoroarene complexes of hexafluorobenzene and octafluoronaphthalene with several mismatched polyaromatic hydrocarbons have been obtained and their crystal structures solved from X-ray diffraction data. All of the structures have been shown to consist of infinite stacks of alternating components. The individual structures are compared and contrasted in detail, and those of the HFB complexes are found to closely resemble those predicted from ab initio DFT calculations, which implies that the interactions are over 90 % electrostatic in nature, in contrast with previous calculations on related complexes. A number of selectively fluorinated 4,4'-bis(phenylethynyl)tolan (BPET) derivatives containing fluorinated and non-fluorinated phenyl rings, have been synthesized from palladium-catalysed Sonogashira cross-coupling of various tolan-based precursors. They are observed to strongly absorb in the UV range 336 - 342nm, which are directly comparable to the absorptions for similarly fluorinated 1,4-bis(phenylethynyl)benzene derivatives which suggests that an effective conjugation length (ECL) of 3-4 repeat units is applicable for these phenylene ethynylene systems. They are observed to fluoresce very strongly in the range 372-410 nm. The diethynylbenzene derivatives 1,4-diethynyltetrafluorobenzene and 1,4- diethynyl-2,5-difluorobenzene have been synthesized from the hydrodesilation of their trimethylsilylated precursors. Their crystal structures have been solved from X-ray diffraction data, and are described in terms of C=C-H F and C=C-H π(C=C) interactions

Synthesis, photophysics and molecular structures of luminescent 2,5-bis(phenylethynyl)thiophenes (BPETs)

International audienceThe Sonogashira cross-coupling of two equivalents of para-substituted ethynylbenzenes with 2,5-diiodothiophene provides a simple synthetic route for the preparation of 2,5-bis(para-R-phenylethynyl)thiophenes (R = H, Me, OMe, CF3, NMe2, NO2, CN and CO2Me) (1a-h). Likewise, 2,5-bis(pentafluorophenylethynyl)thiophene (2) was prepared by the coupling of 2,5-diiodothiophene with pentafluorophenylacetylene. All compounds were characterised by NMR, IR, Raman and mass spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and their absorption and emission spectra, quantum yields and lifetimes were also measured. The spectroscopic studies of 1a-h and 2 show that both electron donating and electron withdrawing para-subsituents on the phenyl rings shift the absorption and emission maxima to lower energies, but that acceptors are more efficient in this regard. The short singlet lifetimes and modest fluorescence quantum yields (ca. 0.2-0.3) observed are characteristic of rapid intersystem crossing. The single-crystal structures of 2,5-bis(phenylethynyl)thiophene, 2,5-bis(para-carbomethoxyphenylethynyl)thiophene, 2,5-bis(para-methylphenylethynyl)thiophene and 2,5-bis(pentafluorophenylethynyl)thiophene were determined by X-ray diffraction at 120 K. DFT calculations show that the all-planar form of the compounds is the lowest in energy, although rotation of the phenyl groups about the C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C bond is facile and TD-DFT calculations suggest that, similar to 1,4-bis(phenylethynyl)benzene analogues, the absorption spectra in solution arise from a variety of rotational conformations. Frequency calculations confirm the assignments of the compounds' IR and Raman spectra

Imaging the water snow-line during a protostellar outburst

A snow-line is the region of a protoplanetary disk at which a major volatile, such as water or carbon monoxide, reaches its condensation temperature. Snow-lines play a crucial role in disk evolution by promoting the rapid growth of ice-covered grains^1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Signatures of the carbon monoxide snow-line (at temperatures of around 20 kelvin) have recently been imaged in the disks surrounding the pre-main-sequence stars TW Hydra^7, 8, 9 and HD163296 (refs 3, 10), at distances of about 30 astronomical units (au) from the star. But the water snow-line of a protoplanetary disk (at temperatures of more than 100 kelvin) has not hitherto been seen, as it generally lies very close to the star (less than 5 au away for solar-type stars^11). Water-ice is important because it regulates the efficiency of dust and planetesimal coagulation5, and the formation of comets, ice giants and the cores of gas giants^12. Here we report images at 0.03-arcsec resolution (12 au) of the protoplanetary disk around V883 Ori, a protostar of 1.3 solar masses that is undergoing an outburst in luminosity arising from a temporary increase in the accretion rate^13. We find an intensity break corresponding to an abrupt change in the optical depth at about 42 au, where the elevated disk temperature approaches the condensation point of water, from which we conclude that the outburst has moved the water snow-line. The spectral behaviour across the snow-line confirms recent model predictions^14: dust fragmentation and the inhibition of grain growth at higher temperatures results in soaring grain number densities and optical depths. As most planetary systems are expected to experience outbursts caused by accretion during their formation^15, 16, our results imply that highly dynamical water snow-lines must be considered when developing models of disk evolution and planet formation

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children

Structural Versatility of Pyrene-2-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-[1,3,2]dioxaborolane) and Pyrene-2,7-bis(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-[1,3,2]dioxaborolane)

Three polymorphs of pyrene-2,7-bis­(Bpin)₂ (<b>1</b>) and two of pyrene-2-(Bpin) (<b>2</b>), where Bpin = 4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-[1,3,2]­dioxaborolane, two different 1:1 co-crystals of <b>1</b> with toluene, and co-crystals of hexafluorobenzene (HFB) with <b>1</b> (of highly unusual 2:1 composition) and <b>2</b> (of usual 1:1 composition) were isolated, studied by X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry, and described using Hirshfeld surfaces and two-dimensional fingerprint plots. Centrosymmetric phases β- and γ-<b>1</b> have densities respectively lower and higher than the chiral α-<b>1</b>; α- and β-<b>2</b> have different packing modes, both with <i>Z</i>′ = 3. Compound <b>1</b> is prone to form channel host–guest structures, for example, α- and β-<b>1·</b>PhMe and <b>1</b>·2HFB. The drastically different stabilities of α- and β-<b>1·</b>PhMe are discussed. The complex <b>2·</b>HFB has a mixed-stack packing motif. The structural versatility of <b>1</b> and <b>2</b> is explained by synthon frustration between structurally incongruent pyrene and Bpin moieties