Selective Defluorination of Trifluoromethyl Substituents by Conformationally Induced Remote Substitution.

The selective reduction of an aromatic trifluoromethyl substituent to a difluoromethyl substituent may be achieved by base-promoted elimination to form a difluoro-p-quinomethide which is trapped by an intramolecular nucleophile. High yields are obtained when the nucleophilic trap entails the conformationally favoured cyclisation of an aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) derivative. The resulting cyclised difluoromethyl-substituted arylimidazolidinone products are readily converted to versatile difluoromethyl-substituted aldehydes by reduction and hydrolysis. Defluorination is successful on a range of benzenoid (both para and ortho CF3-substituted) and heterocyclic substrates. Double defluorination may likewise be achieved sequentially, or in a single step, from an Aib dipeptide derivative.

Triarylmethanes and their Medium-Ring Analogues by Unactivated Truce-Smiles Rearrangement of Benzanilides.

Intramolecular nucleophilic aromatic substitution (Truce-Smiles rearrangement) of the anions of 2-benzyl benzanilides leads to triarylmethanes in an operationally simple manner. The reaction succeeds even without electronic activation of the ring that plays the role of electrophile in the SN Ar reaction, being accelerated instead by the preferred conformation imposed by the tertiary amide tether. The amide substituent of the product may be removed or transformed into alternative functional groups. A ring-expanding variant (n to n+4) of the reaction provided a route to doubly benzo-fused medium ring lactams of 10 or 11 members. Hammett analysis returned a ρ value consistent with the operation of a partially concerted reaction mechanism.

Nanoscale mapping of quasiparticle band alignment.

Control of atomic-scale interfaces between materials with distinct electronic structures is crucial for the design and fabrication of most electronic devices. In the case of two-dimensional materials, disparate electronic structures can be realized even within a single uniform sheet, merely by locally applying different vertical gate voltages. Here, we utilize the inherently nano-structured single layer and bilayer graphene on silicon carbide to investigate lateral electronic structure variations in an adjacent single layer of tungsten disulfide (WS2). The electronic band alignments are mapped in energy and momentum space using angle-resolved photoemission with a spatial resolution on the order of 500 nm (nanoARPES). We find that the WS2 band offsets track the work function of the underlying single layer and bilayer graphene, and we relate such changes to observed lateral patterns of exciton and trion luminescence from WS2.

Debrisoft is a wound debridement product, not a wound dressing.

In your April 2 edition (News) you highlighted the recent publication of NICE guidance on the Debrisoft monofilament debridement pad, which has the potential to save the NHS about £15 million a year.