Photoinduced reductive coupling of carbonyl compounds and α,β-unsaturated esters via ketyl radical intermediates for the synthesis of γ-lactones is described.

Conjugated polymer organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors (OMIECs) consist of a complex arrangement of crystalline and amorphous regions at the nanoscale. The arrangement of ions in this heterogeneous environment upon electrochemical doping influences the performance of devices that leverage mixed conductivity. This study investigates how varying the ratio of amorphous and crystalline content affects the distribution of ions in blends of regiorandom (RRa) and regioregular (RR) poly­(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). By correlating changes in the polymer lattice spacing upon ion uptake with spectroelectrochemistry measurements of polaron formation, we find that ions enter the crystalline regions of the polymer first. Using nanoscale infrared imaging with photoinduced force microscopy (PiFM) of the infrared-active PF6 – ions, we map the location of ions at the nanoscale and show that ions cluster in crystalline regions of P3HT thin films. We correlate the infrared images of ion locations with visible PiFM (785 nm) to map the presence of polarons in the film and find that the locations of ions and polarons are correlated. This study also reveals that balancing the distribution of amorphous and crystalline regions can enhance ion injection kinetics. These results underline the importance of controlling the nanoscale morphology of conjugated polymers for high-performing OMIECs.

During the past year, natural disasters including the major earthquakes in Pakistan, the Tsunami floods of Indonesia, and the hurricanes and destruction in New Orleans, LA and the Gulf Coast region of the United States have caused major loss of life, injury and significant loss of property.During the same period, insurgent attacks in Iraq, subway bombings in London, fire attacks on the city of Paris, and continued threats of terrorists throughout the world have placed life at risk.Terrorism is the systematic use of violence and force as a means of coercion through fear and intimidation. As we have seen since World War II and experienced first hand since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the calculated murder of political personalities has given way to the random killing of innocent people and civilian populations. Natural disasters are perhaps even more threatening. How are these two kinds of events similar and dissimilar? How can the discipline of systems engineering assist to prepare for, respond to, recover from and mitigate the risks of natural disasters and terrorist events.Since September 11, 2001, INCOSE through its Anti-Terrorism International Working Group (ATIWG) has focused the principles, techniques, and practices of systems engineering on how to reduce and eradicate international terrorism. We are taking this opportunity to expand emergency preparedness efforts to natural disasters as well.Through the ATIWG sponsoring of panels at previous INCOSE symposia (2002)(2003)(2004), writing papers for publication (2003), a tutorial (2004), and working group activities, the systems engineering community has discussed the application of collaborative engineering environments, simulation and modeling, religion, system solutions to defend against terrorism, psychology, and root causes of terrorism to address the vulnerabilities of systems as well as the attack responses to threats. 205This panel continues the INCOSE application of systems engineering to these international problems by discussing the similarities and dissimilarities of natural disaster events and terrorist attacks.The panel members will debate the similarities and dissimilarities between natural disasters and terrorist attacks. Each discussion will have a requirements analysis, add to or subtract from the current international strategies, address emergency preparedness strategy, and provide a benefit and risk analysis. Each argument will also address factors such as what is an affordable strategy, what are the consequences for the law and personal freedoms, what is feasible, and the ability to prepare, respond, recover and mitigate natural disaster and terrorist events.Panel members and attendees may question and challenge the arguments. Systems engineers will benefit from this multidisciplinary debate. They will see that our systems engineering principles, techniques, and practices have application to complex multidiscipline societal problems. The objective, disciplined approach to problem analysis controls the emotional response to s...