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1. A Nontemplated Route to Macrocyclic Dibridgehead Diphosphorus Compounds: Crystallographic Characterization of a “Crossed‐Chain” Variant of in / out Stereoisomers

   https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.201800739  

   Kharel, Sugam; Jia, Tiezheng; Bhuvanesh, Nattamai; Reibenspies, Joseph_H; Blümel, Janet; Gladysz, John_A (August 2018, Chemistry – An Asian Journal)

   Abstract Reactions of (O=)PH(OCH₂CH₃)₂and BrMg(CH₂)_mCH=CH₂(4.9–3.2 equiv;m=4 (a), 5 (b), 6 (c)) give the dialkylphosphine oxides (O=)PH[(CH₂)_mCH=CH₂]₂(2 a–c; 77–81 % after workup), which are treated with NaH and then α,ω‐dibromides Br(CH₂)_nBr (0.49–0.32 equiv;n=8 (a′), 10 (b′), 12 (c′), 14 (d′)) to yield the bis(trialkylphosphine oxides) [H₂C=CH(CH₂)_m]₂P(=O)(CH₂)_n(O=)P[(CH₂)_mCH=CH₂]₂(3 ab′,3 bc′,3 cd′,3 ca′; 79–84 %). Reactions of3 bc′and3 ca′with Grubbs’ first‐generation catalyst and then H₂/PtO₂afford the dibridgehead diphosphine dioxides(4 bc′,4 ca′; 14–19 %,n′=2m+2);³¹P NMR spectra show two stereoisomeric species (ca. 70:30). Crystal structures of two isomers of the latter are obtained,out,out‐4 ca′and a conformer ofin,out‐4 ca′that features crossed chains, such that the (O=)P vectors appearout,out. Whereas4 bc′resists crystallization, a byproduct derived from an alternative metathesis mode, (CH₂)₁₂P(=O)(CH₂)₁₂(O=)P(CH₂)₁₂, as well as3 ab′and3 bc′, are structurally characterized. The efficiencies of other routes to dibridgehead diphosphorus compounds are compared. 

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2. Thermal and electronic transport properties of A Cr X ₂ superionic conductors (A=Cu, Ag and X=S, Se)

   https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/addf7e  

   Rahman, Md_Towhidur; Ciesielski, Kamil; Pelkey, Joseph; Shawon, A_K_M_Ashiquzzaman; Toberer, Eric; Zevalkink, Alexandra (June 2025, Journal of Physics: Energy)

   Abstract Superionic conductors, includingACrX₂(A=Ag, Cu; X = S, Se) compounds, have attracted attention due to their low lattice thermal conductivity and high ionic conductivity. These properties are driven by structural characteristics such as anharmonicity, soft bonding, and disorder, which enhance both fast ion transport and thermal resistance. In the present study, we investigate the impact of various factors (e.g.A-site disorder, microstructure, speed of sound and chemical composition) on the thermal conductivity of the compounds CuCrS₂, CuCrSe₂, AgCrS₂and AgCrSe₂. The samples were synthesized using solid state reaction, ball milling and subsequent spark plasma sintering, and thermal diffusivity, electrical resistivity, Hall coefficients and Seebeck coefficients were measured as a function of temperature. The selenides were found to behave as degenerate semiconductors, with reasonable thermoelectric figure of merit (up to 0.79 in CuCrSe₂), while the sulfides behaved as non-degenerate semiconductors with high electrical resistivity. At room temperature, all samples are in the ordered phase and show low lattice thermal conductivity ranging from 0.60 W m⁻¹-K in AgCrSe₂to 1.1 W m⁻¹-K in CuCrSe₂. Little reduction in lattice thermal conductivity was observed in the high-temperature phase, despite the increased disorder on the cation site and the onset of superionic conductivity. This suggests that the low lattice thermal conductivity inACrX₂compounds is an inherent property of the crystal structure, caused by anharmonic bonding and diffuson dominated transport. 

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3. Tetra‐ tert ‐butyl‐ s‐ indacene is a Bond‐Localized C _2h Structure and a Challenge for Computational Chemistry

   https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202307379  

   Karas, Lucas J.; Jalife, Said; Viesser, Renan V.; Soares, João V.; Haley, Michael M.; Wu, Judy I. (September 2023, Angewandte Chemie International Edition)

   Abstract Whether tetra‐tert‐butyl‐s‐indacene is a symmetricD_2hstructure or a bond‐alternatingC_2hstructure remains a standing puzzle. Close agreement between experimental and computed proton chemical shifts based on minima structures optimized at the M06‐2X, ωB97X‐D, and M11 levels confirm a bond‐localizedC_2hsymmetry, which is consistent with the expected strong antiaromaticity of TtB‐s‐indacene. 

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4. Using multirate rapid A / C _i curves as a tool to explore new questions in the photosynthetic physiology of plants

   https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15657  

   Stinziano, Joseph R.; Adamson, Rachael K.; Hanson, David T. (January 2019, New Phytologist)

   Summary Steady‐state photosyntheticCO₂responses (A/C_icurves) are used to assess environmental responses of photosynthetic traits and to predict future vegetative carbon uptake through modeling. The recent development of rapidA/C_icurves (RACiRs) permits faster assessment of these traits by continuously changing [CO₂] around the leaf, and may reveal additional photosynthetic properties beyond what is practical or possible with steady‐state methods.Gas exchange necessarily incorporates photosynthesis and (photo)respiration. Each process was expected to respond on different timescales due to differences in metabolite compartmentation, biochemistry and diffusive pathways. We hypothesized that metabolic lags in photorespiration relative to photosynthesis/respiration andCO₂diffusional limitations can be detected by varying the rate of change in [CO₂] duringRACiR assays. We tested these hypotheses through modeling and experiments at ambient and 2% oxygen.Our data show that photorespiratory delays cause offsets in predictedCO₂compensation points that are dependent on the rate of change in [CO₂]. Diffusional limitations may reduce the rate of change in chloroplastic [CO₂], causing a reduction in apparentRACiR slopes under highCO₂ramp rates.MultirateRACiRs may prove useful in assessing diffusional limitations to gas exchange and photorespiratory rates. 

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5. Excited‐State Dynamics of a meta ‐Dimethylamino Locked GFP Chromophore as a Fluorescence Turn‐on Water Sensor ^†

   https://doi.org/10.1111/php.13552  

   Boulanger, Sean A.; Chen, Cheng; Myasnyanko, Ivan N.; Sokolov, Anatolii I.; Baranov, Mikhail S.; Fang, Chong (November 2021, Photochemistry and Photobiology)

   Abstract Strategic incorporation of ameta‐dimethylamino (–NMe₂) group on the conformationally locked green fluorescent protein (GFP) model chromophore (m‐NMe₂‐LpHBDI) has drastically altered molecular electronic properties, counterintuitively enhancing fluorescence of only the neutral and cationic chromophores in aqueous solution. A ~200‐fold decrease in fluorescence quantum yield ofm‐NMe₂‐LpHBDI in alcohols (e.g., MeOH, EtOH and 2‐PrOH) supports this GFP‐derived compound as a fluorescence turn‐on water sensor, with large fluorescence intensity differences between H₂O and ROH emissions in various H₂O/ROH binary mixtures. A combination of steady‐state electronic spectroscopy, femtosecond transient absorption, ground‐state femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) and quantum calculations elucidates an intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding chain between a solvent –OH group and the chromophore phenolic ring –NMe₂and –OH functional groups, wherein fluorescence differences arise from an extended hydrogen‐bonding network beyond the first solvation shell, as opposed to fluorescence quenching via a dark twisted intramolecular charge‐transfer state. The absence of ameta‐NMe₂group twisting coordinate upon electronic excitation was corroborated by experiments on control samples without themeta‐NMe₂group or with bothmeta‐NMe₂andpara‐OH groups locked in a six‐membered ring. These deep mechanistic insights stemming from GFP chromophore scaffold will enable rational design of organic, compact and environmentally friendly water sensors. 

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