Synthesis and intramolecular ring transformation of N,N'-dialkylated 2,6,9-triazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonadienes.

The first and facile synthesis of N,N'-dialkylated 2,6,9-triazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonadienes was achieved by the [4 + 4] self-condensation of ß-formyl-ß-nitroenamine in the presence of ammonium acetate. The 2,6- and 2,9-dialkylated products were found to be interconvertible when dissolved in a solvent. This isomerization proceeds through intramolecular ring transformation via a common intermediate under equilibrium.

A Purified, Solvent-Intercalated Precursor Complex for Wide-Process-Window Fabrication of Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules.

A high-purity methylammonium lead iodide complex with intercalated dimethylformamide (DMF) molecules, CH3 NH3 PbI3 ⋅DMF, is introduced as an effective precursor material for fabricating high-quality solution-processed perovskite layers. Spin-coated films of the solvent-intercalated complex dissolved in pure dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) yielded thick, dense perovskite layers after thermal annealing. The low volatility of the pure DMSO solvent extended the allowable time for low-speed spin programs and considerably relaxed the precision needed for the antisolvent addition step. An optimized, reliable fabrication method was devised to take advantage of this extended process window and resulted in highly consistent performance of perovskite solar cell devices, with up to 19.8 % power-conversion efficiency (PCE). The optimized method was also used to fabricate a 22.0 cm2 , eight-cell module with 14.2 % PCE (active area) and 8.64 V output (1.08 V/cell).

Free Excitons and Exciton-Phonon Coupling in CH3NH3PbI3 Single Crystals Revealed by Photocurrent and Photoluminescence Measurements at Low Temperatures.

We investigated the exciton-phonon couplings and exciton binding energy in CH3NH3PbI3 (MAPbI3) single crystals using temperature-dependent photocurrent (PC) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The PC and PL data provide clear evidence of the existence of excitons in orthorhombic-phase MAPbI3. The temperature-dependent PC data were found to be less influenced by the bound excitons than the PL data, and thus the PC data reflect the intrinsic scatterings of excitons. We observed that the exciton-phonon couplings were strong in MAPbI3 and determined the longitudinal optical phonon energy to be 16.1 meV. Moreover, on the basis of the temperature dependences of the PC and PL data, we evaluated the exciton binding energy to be 12.4 meV for orthorhombic-phase MAPbI3 single crystals. Our findings pave a way for using simultaneous PC and PL measurements to determine precisely fundamental properties of perovskites.

Synthesis of 4-substituted 3,5-dinitro-1,4-dihydropyridines by the self-condensation of ß-formyl-ß-nitroenamine.

3,5-Dinitro-1,4-dihydropyridines (DNDHPs) are readily constructed by the acid-promoted self-condensation of ß-formyl-ß-nitroenamines. In the DNDHPs, one molecule of the nitroenamine serves as a C3N1 building block and the other serves as a C2 block. This synthetic method does not require any special reagents and conditions. When the reaction is conducted in the presence of electron-rich benzene derivatives, arylation at the 4-position of DNDHP is achieved by trapping the 3,5-dinitropyridinium ion intermediate.

3-(3-Phenoxybenzyl)amino-ß-carboline: a novel antitumor drug targeting α-tubulin.

3-(3-Phenoxybenzyl)amino-ß-carboline 2h showed extremely-high activity; the IC(50) value was 0.074 µM. To verify 2h-induced cell death types, we observed the chromatin condensation, the DNA fragmentation and activated caspase-3 using Hoechst 33342, agarose electrophoresis and western blot, and suggesting 2h-induced cell death type was apoptosis. Flow cytometry showed that 2h-treated cell was induced SubG1 cell population after G2/M cell cycle arrest. In addition, using affinity chromatography and peptide mass fingerprinting, we found that interacting protein with this compound was α-tubulin protein.

Formylnitroenamines: useful building blocks for nitrated pyridones and aminopyridines with functional groups.

beta-formyl-beta-nitroenamines possess both an electrophilic formyl group and a nucleophilic amino group and, therefore, serve as C3N1 building blocks having a nitro group to afford nitropyridones and aminonitropyridines with a functional group at the 3-position. Upon treatment with malonic acid derivatives or beta-keto esters, nitropyridones were obtained, whereas reactions with functionalized acetonitriles afford aminonitropyridines, via a formal transfer of an alkyl group from the ring nitrogen to the imino group. These procedures provide practical and useful methods for preparation of heterocycles with a nitro group.

Dimerization of acetoacetamide leading to 5-carbamoyl-4,6-dimethyl-2-pyridone.

The dimerization of acetoacetamide easily proceeds at room temperature in a dimethyl sulfoxide solution to afford 5-carbamoyl-4,6-dimethyl-2-pyridone.

A convenient method for synthesizing modified 4-nitrophenols.

[reaction: see text] Beta-nitroenamine having a formyl group behaves as the synthetic equivalent of unstable nitromalonaldehyde upon treatment with ketones under basic conditions and leads to 2,6-disubstituted 4-nitrophenols. The present method is safer than the conventional one using sodium nitromalonaldehyde and enables the preparation of hitherto unknown nitrophenols.