Cytotoxicity of nonionic amphiphilic copolymers

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the relationship between the structure of an amphiphilic nonionic polymer and its toxicity for cells (cytotoxicity) growing in a culture. To this end, 16 polymers of different architectures and chemical structures are tested, namely, linear triblock copolymers of poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(propylene oxide)-block-poly(ethylene oxide) (Pluronics); diblock copolymers of propylene oxide, ethylene oxide, and hyperbranched polyglycerol; alternating and diblock copolymers of ethylene oxide and dimethylsiloxane; and two surfactants containing linear (Brij-35) or branched (Triton X-100) aliphatic chains. Polymer-cell interaction is assayed in a culture medium in the absence of serum. Effective concentrations of the polymers causing 50% cell death, EC₅₀, vary within three orders of magnitude. Toxic concentrations of the alternating copolymer, Triton X-100, and Brij-35 are lower than their CMC values. In contrast, all block copolymers, regardless of their chemical structures, become toxic at concentrations above the CMC; that is, they acquire cytotoxicity only in the micellar form. The EC₅₀ values of the copolymers depend on their hydrophilic-liphophilic balance (HLB) through the following empirical formula: EC₅₀ × 10⁶ = 8.71 × HLB^2.1. This relationship makes it possible to predict the cytotoxic concentration region of a block copolymer of a known structure.     

Effect of polyaniline on the current passing through structural fragments of ion-exchange sulfonic-cationite resins and membranes

Concentration dependences of the specific electrical conductivity of ion-exchange resin KU-2 and ion-exchange heterogeneous membrane MK-40 made thereof are obtained and compared prior to and after the membrane modification with polyaniline. It is shown that the introducing of the polyaniline to polymer matrices of ionites results in the change of the specific electrical conductivity of both the resin KU-2 and the membrane MK-40, which correlates with the earlier data obtained for the MF-4SK/polyaniline composites. The quantitative evaluation of the polyaniline effect on the mechanism of current passing through structural fragments of initial and modified ionites is carried out. To this purpose, model parameters were used, which reflect the current paths and the conducting phases’ volume fractions and spatial orientation.     

Silyl- and germylpropynals in the synthesis of azolyl-substituted 2-imidazoline 3-oxide 1-oxyls

Azolyl-substituted nitronylnitroxyls were synthesized using Me 3Si- and Et 3Ge-substituted propynals. When synthesizing 2-[3-(triethylgermyl)-l H-pyrazol-4-yl]-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1 H-imidazole 3-oxide 1-oxyl ( 3b), the cycle was assembled by the reaction of CH2N2 with the corresponding triethylgermylethynyl-substituted nitronylnitroxyl. In the case of 2-[4-(trimethylsilyl)-l H-1,2,3-triazol-5yl]- (8a) and 2-[4-(triethylgermyl)-1 H-1,2,3-triazol-5-yl]-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-l H-imidazole 3-oxide l-oxyls (8b), the corresponding heterocyclic aldehydes were synthesized first and then were used for the preparation of compounds 8a and 8b. According to the X-ray diffraction study, the presence of the bulky substituent Me3Si or Et3Ge in the heterocycle causes its turn by 40.9(2)° in 8a and 33.6(6)° in 3b relative to the plane of the paramagnetic fragment ONCNO.