Synthesis of thermoplastic curdlan alkyl carbamates having hydrogen bonding ability

Rigid and little moldable curdlan, a linear β-1,3-glucan having intra- and interchain hydrogen bonds, was reacted with several alkyl isocyanates, which gave thermoplastic curdlan alkyl carbamates (CrdC) with degree of substitution about 2. The alkyl carbamation at hydroxy groups in the glucan skeleton effectively broke the interchain hydrogen bonds of curdlan and increased flexibility of CrdC, while the newly formed carbamate moieties could moderately keep the hydrogen bonding ability in CrdC. Elongating the alkyl groups in the carbamate side chains increased solubility in organic solvents and thermoplasticity of CrdC, which enabled to make homogeneous and free-standing films by both methods of solution-casting and hot-pressing.     

Decomposition of Insoluble and Hard-to-Degrade Animal Proteins by Enzyme E77 and Its Potential Applications

Insoluble and hard-to-degrade animal proteins are group of troublesome proteins, such as collagen, elastin, keratin, and prion proteins that are largely generated by the meat industry and ultimately converted to industrial wastes. We analyzed the ability of the abnormal prion protein-degrading enzyme E77 to degrade insoluble and hard-to-degrade animal proteins including keratin, collagen, and elastin. The results indicate that E77 has a much higher keratinolytic activity than proteinase K and subtilisin. Maximal E77 keratinolytic activity was observed at pH 12.0 and 65 °C. E77 was also adsorbed by keratin in a pH-independent manner. E77 showed lower collagenolytic and elastinolytic specificities than proteinase K and subtilisin. Moreover, E77 treatment did not damage collagens in ovine small intestines but did almost completely remove the muscles. We consider that E77 has the potential ability for application in the processing of animal feedstuffs and sausages.     

Effects of silica nanoparticle addition on polymer semiconductor wettability and carrier mobility in solution‐processable organic transistors on hydrophobic substrates

The effects of the addition of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) on wettability of regioregular poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) organic semiconductor solutions on hydrophobic substrates and the carrier mobility in organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs) made of these films are investigated. The dewetting of films made from P3HT solutions on hydrophobic substrates modified with octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODTS) is markedly suppressed after the addition of SNPs with phenyl surfactants. This enables us to fabricate continuous P3HT/SNPs films with high crystallinity by the conventional spin‐coating technique, leading to higher mobility compared with P3HT FETs fabricated on non‐modified substrates. Moreover, the addition of SNPs with larger diameters compensates for the degradation of mobility associated with the increase in the concentration of SNPs. Solution‐processed P3HT/SNPs FETs on ODTS‐modified substrates exhibit a field‐effect mobility of 1.3 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1, which is almost comparable to that of P3HT FETs without SNPs (2.1 × 10^?2 cm² V^?1 s^?1). © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 509–516     

Solution properties,unperturbed dimensions,and chain flexibility of poly(1‐adamantyl acrylate)

Poly(1‐adamantyl acrylate) (PAdA) exhibits much higher glass transition and degradation temperatures than other polyacrylates. However, the quantitative evaluation of the stiffness of this polymer chain has not been reported previously. In this study, the dilute solution properties and conformational characteristics of PAdA were evaluated using viscometry and scattering techniques. The unperturbed dimensions of this polymer were evaluated using the Burchard–Stockmayer–Fixman extrapolation and the touched‐bead wormlike chain model. The PAdA chain has a comparable persistence length, diameter per bead and characteristic ratio to poly(methyl methacrylate) and polystyrene. All these results indicate that PAdA is less flexible than common polyacrylates. In addition, the second virial coefficients (A₂) of PAdA in different solvents obtained by static light scattering were compared. Among the solvents investigated, tetrahydrofuran is a moderate solvent. Radius of gyration of a polymer sample in the various solvents ranged from 16.8 to 30.3 nm. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 1526–1531     

Helicity Control in the Preparation of Chiral Co-crystals from Tryptamine and Achiral Carboxylic Acids by Pseudo-seeding

Abstract

Chiral crystals of tryptamine and achiral carboxylic acids such as p-chlorobenzoic acid, cinnamic acid, p-chlorocinnarnic acid and p-methylcinnamic acid were prepared by crystallization from the solutions of both components. All the crystals belonged to typical chiral space group P2₁2₁2₁. The crystal chirality is generated through the formation of a unidirectional twofold helix between the two components through quaternary ammonium salt interaction and hydrogen bonding in the lattice. This kind of spontaneous crystallization necessarily gives crystals of both clockwise and counterclockwise helicites. Here, pseudo-seeding based on utilizing these crystals as seed crystals was examined, resulting in successful helicity control in crystallization from solutions of tryptamine and different carboxylic acids.     

Effect of Non‐Specifically Adsorbed Ions on the Surface Oxidation of Pt(111)

The oxidation processes of a Pt(111) electrode in alkaline electrolytes depend on non‐specifically adsorbed ions according to in situ X‐ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopic measurements. In an aqueous solution of LiOH, an OH_ad adlayer is formed in the first oxidation step of the Pt(111) electrode as a result of the strong interaction between Li⁺ and OH_ad, whereas Pt oxidation proceeds without OH_ad formation in CsOH solution. Structural analysis by X‐ray diffraction indicates that Li⁺ is strongly protective against surface roughening caused by subsurface oxidation. Although Cs⁺ is situated near the Pt surface, the weak protective effect of Cs⁺ results in irreversible surface roughening due to subsurface oxidation.     

Highly meso-Diastereoselective Pinacol Coupling of Aromatic Aldehydes Mediated by Al Powder/Copper Sulfate in Water

Pinacol-type coupling reaction products presenting a high meso-diastereoselectivity (the ratio dl/meso was 4/96 up to 1/99) were obtained in fair to good yields (24–69%) using several aromatic aldehydes as starting materials and aluminium powder/copper sulfate as catalysts, in water, under reflux conditions.     

Nuclear quantum effect and temperature dependency on the hydrogen‐bonded structure of base pairs

The structure of Watson–Crick‐type adenine‐thymine and guanine‐cytosine pairs has been studied by hybrid Monte Carlo (HMC) and path integral hybrid Monte Carlo (PIHMC) simulations with the use of semiempirical PM6‐DH+ method in the gas phase. We elucidated the nuclear quantum effect and temperature dependency on the hydrogen‐bonded moiety of base pairs. It was shown that the contribution of nuclear quantum effect on the hydrogen‐bonded structure is significant not only at low temperature 150 K but also at temperature as high as 450 K. The relative position of hydrogen‐bonded proton between two heavy atoms and the nuclear quantum nature of the proton are also shown. Furthermore, we have applied principal component analysis to HMC and PIHMC simulations to analyze the nuclear quantum effect on intermolecular motions. We found that the ratio of Buckle mode (lowest vibrational mode from normal mode analysis) decreases due to the nuclear quantum effect, whereas that of Propeller mode (second lowest vibrational mode) increases. In addition, nonplanar structures of base pairs were found to become stable due to the nuclear quantum effect from two‐dimensional free energy landscape along Buckle and Propeller modes. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.