Jan Jadżyn

Bio: Jan Jadżyn is an academic researcher from Polish Academy of Sciences. The author has contributed to research in topics: Liquid crystal & Dielectric. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 234 publications receiving 2453 citations. Previous affiliations of Jan Jadżyn include Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

The viscous consequence of different trends in clustering of 1,2-diol and 1,n-diol molecules

Abstract: This paper presents the molecular basis for the quite different behavior of the viscosity of 1,2- and 1,n-diols in dependence of the length of the alkyl part of the molecules of these compounds. The experimental data on the dipolar orientational effects revealed a decidedly different role of that part of the molecules in creating a microstructure of both the hydrogen-bonded liquids. In the case of 1,n-diols, an increase in the alkyl radical length, i.e. an increasing of the distance between the OH groups within the molecule, highly stimulates molecular self-assembly in form of gradually longer and wider ribbon-like clusters. This effect yields a quite important increase in the viscosity of 1,n-diols as n increases. In the case of 1,2-diols, due to gradual separation of the hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts of the molecules, the situation is quite different. Two OH groups situated on one of the ends of the hydrocarbon radical form the clusters of a micelle-like shape, however, the dipole moment is not compensated. Along with an increase in the hydrocarbon part in 1,2-diol molecules, one only observes an increase in the intermolecular consolidation within the micelle-like entities. This manifests as a gradual decrease in the polarity of these clusters. So, actually, there are no relevant reasons for essential differences of viscosities in the series of 1,2-diols.

Dipolar Aggregation and the Static Dielectric Permittivity of Some Liquid Crystalline Materials

Abstract: In the paper, we show how some modifications in the chemical structure of mesogenic molecules can lead to an essential increase of the dielectric permittivity of liquid crystalline material due to the reduced molecular ability to the antiparallel dipolar aggregation. As an example, the static permittivities of two nematogenic homologous series, CnH2n+1PhPhCN and CnH2n+1PhCOOPhCN, are analyzed. However, the structural modifications of mesogenic molecules lead often to unfavorable changes in some important physical properties of liquid crystalline material, as a shift in the clearing temperature, for example, or can lead even to a disappearance of the mesophase. This paper presents such an event observed for the compound composed of C5H11PhPh(CH3)CN molecules, the methyl derivatives of C5H11PhPhCN molecules, which form a well-known nematic liquid crystal.

The study of structural transitions in liquid crystal droplets doped with magnetic particles

Abstract: The magnetically active ferronematic droplets were prepared in solutions of nematic liquid crystal 6CHBT with fme magnetic particles, dissolved in phenyl isocyanate. The phase diagram of the transitions between isotropic, droplet and nematic phases in prepared sample was found. The structural transitions in 6CHBT-based ferronematic and in 6CHBT ferronematic droplets, exposed to external fields, were investigated. The possibility to use the observations of structural transitions for the determination of the type of anchoring of nematic molecules on magnetic particles surfaces was demonstrated.

Study of Magnetic Fredericksz Transition in Ferronematics. Liquid Crystals Doped with Fine Magnetic Particles

Abstract: The magnetic Fredericksz transition in ferronematics (thermotropic nematic liquid crystals 7CB and MBBA combined with fine magnetic particles of size 10 nm) as a function of concentration of magnetic particles was studied by using simple dielectric measurements. The increase of the threshold magnetic field is observed in 7CB based ferronematic while the decrease of threshold field in MBBA based ferronematic is observed when the concentration of magnetic particles is increased. Experimental results are disscussed in framework of Brochard, de Gennes and Burylov, Raikher theories.

The restaurant at the end of the random walk: recent developments in the description of anomalous transport by fractional dynamics

Abstract: Fractional dynamics has experienced a firm upswing during the past few years, having been forged into a mature framework in the theory of stochastic processes. A large number of research papers developing fractional dynamics further, or applying it to various systems have appeared since our first review article on the fractional Fokker–Planck equation (Metzler R and Klafter J 2000a, Phys. Rep. 339 1–77). It therefore appears timely to put these new works in a cohesive perspective. In this review we cover both the theoretical modelling of sub- and superdiffusive processes, placing emphasis on superdiffusion, and the discussion of applications such as the correct formulation of boundary value problems to obtain the first passage time density function. We also discuss extensively the occurrence of anomalous dynamics in various fields ranging from nanoscale over biological to geophysical and environmental systems.

A Medicinal Chemist’s Guide to Molecular Interactions

Abstract: Molecular recognition in biological systems relies on the existence of specific attractive interactions between two partner molecules. Structure-based drug design seeks to identify and optimize such interactions between ligands and their host molecules, typically proteins, given their three-dimensional structures. This optimization process requires knowledge about interaction geometries and approximate affinity contributions of attractive interactions that can be gleaned from crystal structure and associated affinity data. Here we compile and review the literature on molecular interactions as it pertains to medicinal chemistry through a combination of careful statistical analysis of the large body of publicly available X-ray structure data and experimental and theoretical studies of specific model systems. We attempt to extract key messages of practical value and complement references with our own searches of the CSDa,(1) and PDB databases.(2) The focus is on direct contacts between ligand and protein functional groups, and we restrict ourselves to those interactions that are most frequent in medicinal chemistry applications. Examples from supramolecular chemistry and quantum mechanical or molecular mechanics calculations are cited where they illustrate a specific point. The application of automated design processes is not covered nor is design of physicochemical properties of molecules such as permeability or solubility. Throughout this article, we wish to raise the readers’ awareness that formulating rules for molecular interactions is only possible within certain boundaries. The combination of 3D structure analysis with binding free energies does not yield a complete understanding of the energetic contributions of individual interactions. The reasons for this are widely known but not always fully appreciated. While it would be desirable to associate observed interactions with energy terms, we have to accept that molecular interactions behave in a highly nonadditive fashion.3,4 The same interaction may be worth different amounts of free energy in different contexts, and it is very hard to find an objective frame of reference for an interaction, since any change of a molecular structure will have multiple effects. One can easily fall victim to confirmation bias, focusing on what one has observed before and building causal relationships on too few observations. In reality, the multiplicity of interactions present in a single protein−ligand complex is a compromise of attractive and repulsive interactions that is almost impossible to deconvolute. By focusing on observed interactions, one neglects a large part of the thermodynamic cycle represented by a binding free energy: solvation processes, long-range interactions, conformational changes. Also, crystal structure coordinates give misleadingly static views of interactions. In reality a macromolecular complex is not characterized by a single structure but by an ensemble of structures. Changes in the degrees of freedom of both partners during the binding event have a large impact on binding free energy. The text is organized in the following way. The first section treats general aspects of molecular design: enthalpic and entropic components of binding free energy, flexibility, solvation, and the treatment of individual water molecules, as well as repulsive interactions. The second half of the article is devoted to specific types of interactions, beginning with hydrogen bonds, moving on to weaker polar interactions, and ending with lipophilic interactions between aliphatic and aromatic systems. We show many examples of structure−activity relationships; these are meant as helpful illustrations but individually can never confirm a rule.

Supercooled dynamics of glass-forming liquids and polymers under hydrostatic pressure

Abstract: An intriguing problem in condensed matter physics is understanding the glass transition, in particular the dynamics in the equilibrium liquid close to vitrification Recent advances have been made by using hydrostatic pressure as an experimental variable These results are reviewed, with an emphasis in the insight provided into the mechanisms underlying the relaxation properties of glass-forming liquids and polymers

Ionic Liquid Crystals: Versatile Materials.

Abstract: This Review covers the recent developments (2005-2015) in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals. It was designed to give a comprehensive overview of the "state-of-the-art" in the field. The discussion is focused on low molar mass and dendrimeric thermotropic ionic mesogens, as well as selected metal-containing compounds (metallomesogens), but some references to polymeric and/or lyotropic ionic liquid crystals and particularly to ionic liquids will also be provided. Although zwitterionic and mesoionic mesogens are also treated to some extent, emphasis will be directed toward liquid-crystalline materials consisting of organic cations and organic/inorganic anions that are not covalently bound but interact via electrostatic and other noncovalent interactions.