Allelopathic activity and chemical constituents of extracts from roots of Euphorbia heterophylla L

Euphorbia heterophylla L. is regarded as a major weed worldwide. Its high aggressiveness in agricultural environment prompted us to investigate the allelopatic activity and chemical constitution of extracts from roots of this plant. Hexane extract showed low phytotoxic activity. Methanol extract at 2.0 mg mL^?1 inhibited 100% of germination, root and shoot growth of the indicator plants Sorghum bicolor and Lactuca sativa. β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and esters of lupeol, germanicol, taraxasterol, pseudotaraxasterol, α-amyrin and β-amyrin were isolated from the hexane extract and their structures elucidated on the basis of MS and ¹H, ¹³C and DEPT-135 NMR data. GC-MS analysis of the derivatized methanol extract allowed for identifying a series of allelopathic organic acids potentially involved in allelopathic interactions of E. heterophylla. This is the first study on the allelopathic activity of extracts and identification of metabolites from roots of E. heterophylla.     

Synthesis and properties of p-nitrophenylacetylene–phenylacetylene copolymers

Copolymers of phenylacetylene (PA) and p-nitrophenylacetylene (pNPA) with various monomers ratios were prepared and characterized. The solubility of copolymers is dependent on the number of PA units in the chain. They show a good degree of stereoregularity and the M_W s are in the 10³–10⁵ a.m.u. range, depending on the monomers and catalyst molar ratios. The soluble samples exhibit film-forming properties and the film-surface morphology may be varied by using different solvents. The copolymers give good electrical response to relative humidity variations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 36: 93–102, 1998     

Dependence of solar cell performance on the nature of alkaline counterion in gel polymer electrolytes containing binary iodides

Performance of dye-sensitized nano-crystalline TiO₂ thin film-based photo-electrochemical solar cells (PECSCs) containing gel polymer electrolytes is largely governed by the nature of the cation in the electrolyte. Dependence of the photovoltaic performance in these quasi-solid state PECSCs on the alkaline cation size has already been investigated for single cation iodide salt-based electrolytes. The present study reports the ionic conductivity dependence on the nature of alkaline cations (counterion) in a gel polymer electrolyte based on binary iodides. Polyacrylonitrile-based gel polymer electrolyte series containing binary iodide salts is prepared using one of the alkaline iodides (LiI, NaI, KI, RbI, and CsI) and tetrapropylammonium iodide (Pr₄NI). All the electrolytes based on binary salts have shown conductivity enhancement compared to their single cation counterparts. When combined with Pr₄NI, each of the Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺ cation containing iodide salts incorporated in the gel electrolytes has shown a room temperature conductivity enhancement of 85.59, 12.03, 12.71, 20.77, and 15.36%, respectively. The conductivities of gel electrolytes containing binary iodide systems with Pr₄NI and KI/RbI/CsI are higher and have shown values of 3.28, 3.43, and 3.23 mS cm⁻¹, respectively at room temperature. The influence of the nature of counterions on the performance of quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cells is investigated by assembling two series of cells. All the binary cationic solar cells have shown more or less enhancements of open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, fill factor, and efficiency compared to their single cation counterparts. This work highlights the importance of employing binary cations (a large and a small) in electrolytes intended for quasi-solid state solar cells. The percentage of energy conversion efficiency enhancement shown for the PECSCs made with electrolytes containing Pr₄NI along with Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺ iodides is 260.27, 133.65, 65.27, 25.32, and 8.36%, respectively. The highest efficiency of 4.93% is shown by the solar cell containing KI and Pr₄NI. However, the highest enhancements of ionic conductivity as well as the energy conversion efficiency were exhibited by the PECSC made with Li⁺-containing binary cationic electrolyte.

     

Platinum(II) complexes of 8-quinolylmethylphosphonates: Synthesis,characterization and antitumour activity

A series of novel platinum(II) complexes of diethyl (8-dqmp) and monoethyl (8-Hmqmp) ester of 8-quinolylmethylphosphonic acid has been prepared and studied. It was shown that molecular or ionic complexes could be isolated by reaction of these organophosphorus ligands with [PtX₄]²⁻ (X = Cl, Br), depending on the acidity of the reaction solution. In the neutral medium diester formed dihalide adducts, trans-[Pt(8-dqmp)₂X₂] (1 and 2), with N-bonded ligand through the quinoline nitrogen. Under acidic conditions (pH < 3) both ligands gave the quinolinium salt complexes [LH]₂[PtX₄] (3 and 4, L = 8-dqmp; 7 and 8, L = 8-Hmqmp), with protonated quinoline ligand as cation and tetrahalidoplatinate complex as anion. By heating in methanol complexes 3 and 4 were converted into the corresponding dimeric hexahalidodiplatinum complexes, [8-Hdqmp]₂[Pt₂X₆] (5 and 6). The chelate complex [Pt(8-mqmp)₂] (9), with monoester ligand bonded through the quinoline nitrogen and the deprotonated phosphonic acid oxygen and forming two seven-membered {N, O} chelate rings, was obtained in neutral and basic media by reaction of platinum(II) halides either with sodium or hydrochloride salt of this monoester. The complexes were identified and characterized by elemental and thermogravimetric analyses, conductometric measurements, and by spectroscopic studies. In vitro antitumour activity of complexes was evaluated against the human epidermoid KB and murine leukaemia L1210 cell lines. These results were compared with those obtained for the palladium(II) complexes of the same phosphonate ligands and with those of platinum(II) and palladium(II) complexes of diethyl and monoethyl 2-quinolylmethylphosphonate, in order to correlate the structural and biological properties of quinoline-based aminophosphonate compounds.     

Design of pressure-driven microfluidic networks using electric circuit analogy

This article reviews the application of electric circuit methods for the analysis of pressure-driven microfluidic networks with an emphasis on concentration- and flow-dependent systems. The application of circuit methods to microfluidics is based on the analogous behaviour of hydraulic and electric circuits with correlations of pressure to voltage, volumetric flow rate to current, and hydraulic to electric resistance. Circuit analysis enables rapid predictions of pressure-driven laminar flow in microchannels and is very useful for designing complex microfluidic networks in advance of fabrication. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the physics of pressure-driven laminar flow, the formal analogy between electric and hydraulic circuits, applications of circuit theory to microfluidic network-based devices, recent development and applications of concentration- and flow-dependent microfluidic networks, and promising future applications. The lab-on-a-chip (LOC) and microfluidics community will gain insightful ideas and practical design strategies for developing unique microfluidic network-based devices to address a broad range of biological, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other scientific and technical challenges.     

The local electronic structure of PdO crystal and PdO catalyst supported on SiO2 and γ-Al2O3 from L3 and L1 x-ray absorption Pd edge in XANES spectra

We have studied the local electronic structure of PdO catalysts supported on characteristic inert and quasi-inert substrate from experiment on X-ray absorption near edge structure XANES using Synchrotron radiation. From the joint analysis of L₃ absorption edge and XPS core data in Pd and PdO we find that the white line in PdO XANES is an excitonic state with 0.8 eV binding energy. From the joint analysis of L₃ and L₁ edges the p-like and the d-like local unoccupied electronic states have been determined. The local structure of PdO catalysts is different from that of PdO crystal. Evidence for structural disorder in PdO catalysts and PdO-substrate interaction is reported.     

XPS of coordination compounds: additive ligand effect in some copper(I) and copper(II) chelates with 1,2 phosphino (or phosphine/oxide)-sulfido ethane ligands

XPS spectra of Ph₂P-CH₂-CH₂-S-R ligands, of their P-oxides and of the corresponding 1: 2 complexes with Cu(I) and Cu(II) indicate a moderate donor shift on complexation of about 0.4 eV for S, and 0.3 eV for P on the 2p signals, and confirm complete chelation for both ligands in their metal complexes. The chemical shifts of Cu2P_{$\text{3}\text{2}$} b.e. values can be quantitatively described by a model of additive ligand contribution, for which parameter values of -0.2 eV for -S-, and -0.5+-0.6 eV for -0^? donors are proposed.     

Dynamic light scattering and optical absorption study of poly(monosubstituted)acetylene polymers and copolymers

Polymers and copolymers obtained from the polymerization of substituted phenylacetylenes, namely PMOPPA and copolymers PPA/PMOPPA, PMOPPA/PNPPA, PPA/PNPPA, have been characterized by means of dynamic light scattering and UV–Vis absorption measurements. The analysis of the light intensity correlation function shows a similar behaviour for all the systems investigated, with three decay modes correlated to the molecular structures. The steric hyndrance and the electron polarization modify the hydrodynamic radius of the polymers and cause polymer/solvent interactions, whose strength depends on the solvent. The polymers structure does not change appreciably during the time lasting for the experiments, as assessed by UV–Vis optical tests.     

Intrapulpar temperature during continuous CO2 laser irradiation in human molars: an in vitro study

To establish safety parameters, we in vitro studied the increase in intrapulpal temperature caused by the use of a cw CO2 laser. A thermistor was implanted in the inner part of the pulpal chamber of 25 human lower third molars to measure the intrapulpal temperature produced by laser powers between 2-10 W and exposure times of 0.5-25.0 s. The Pearson linear correlation factor applied to the measured values showed there is a direct relationship between the independent variable and the applied power. A variance analysis produced the linear regression equation: T = 1.10 + (0.127)E where T is the temperature and E the energy. The results showed that, with a power of 4 W and maximum exposure time of 2:5 s (10 J) and a power density of 12,738.85 W cm-2, there will be no damaging reactions affecting the pulpal tissues.