An application of silaned glass beads to the preconcentration and spectrophotometric determination of traces of phosphorus with molybdate

Silaned glass beads are applied to the preconcentration and spectrophotometric determination of phosphorus as the phosphomolybdenum blue complex. Traces of phosphorus in water are collected as a phosphomolybdenum blue complex on a column of the beads. The phosphomolybdenum blue is eluted with N,N-dimethylformamide and the absorbance of the eluate continuously monitored at 700 nm. The height of the very sharp peak obtained is proportional to the amount of phosphorus present and 0.1-0.5 mug of phosphorus in a 10-ml sample can be determined reproducibly. Interference from arsenate is eliminated by addition of a reducing agent. High concentrations of silica cause a small positive error. This method is applicable to the analysis of river water and sea-water samples.     

Selective growth of ag nanowires on Si(111) surfaces by electroless deposition

Electroless deposition of Ag on atomically flat H-terminated Si(111) surfaces in aqueous alkaline solutions containing Ag ions produced two different sizes of Ag nanowires along atomic step edges: (1) a narrow nanowire of 10 nm in width and 0.5 nm in height and (2) a wide nanowire of 35 nm in width and 11 nm in height. The narrow and wide nanowires were formed by immersion in the solutions containing less than 1 ppb and 8 ppm dissolved-oxygen concentrations, respectively. This result indicates that the dissolved oxygen initiates the formation of Ag nucleation sites and that the fabrication method has a possibility of controlling the size of Ag nanowires.     

Reaction of magnesium alkylidene carbenoids with lithium acetylides and lithium thiolates: a novel synthesis of conjugated enynes and vinyl sulfides

Magnesium alkylidene carbenoids were generated from 1-chlorovinyl p-tolyl sulfoxides with i-PrMgCl at −78 °C in THF or toluene via the sulfoxide-magnesium exchange reaction. Reaction of the generated magnesium alkylidene carbenoids with lithium acetylides or lithium thiolates gave conjugated enynes or vinyl sulfides, respectively, in moderate to good yields. The intermediate of this reaction was found to be the alkenyl anion and it could be trapped with some electrophiles to give tetra-substituted conjugated enynes and vinyl sulfides.     

Dioxopyrrolines. LXII. Diels-Alder reaction of 1-Aryl-4- and 5-methoxycarbonyl-1H-pyrrole-2,3-diones with various 1,3-dienes

Two new dioxopyrrolines (1-aryl-4-methoxycarbonyl-1H-pyrrole-2,3-dione 6 and the 5-methoxycarbonyl isomer 8) behaved as good dienophiles to some kind of 1,3-dienes examined. In most cases, the products were explained by the reaction where the largest lobe of HOMO of dienes reacted to the larger LUMO of dienophiles in an expected cis-endo manner. However, in the reactions of 8 with alkylbutadienes, piperylene and isoprene, abnormality in the reaction was observed, which was well explained by taking account of steric factors.     

Wild ginseng grows in Myanmar

Ginseng, the underground parts of plants of Panax species, has been used in oriental traditional medicine for centuries. Unfortunately, because of extensive exploitation over thousands of years, the natural source of these species has been almost exhausted. Recently, we have found a wild ginseng growing in Myanmar. Here, by a combination of chemical composition study and gene sequence analysis, we unambiguously demonstrate that the wild ginseng is actually P. zingiberensis, commonly known as ginger ginseng. This ginseng was an indigenous to the southwestern China. However, now it is seriously threatened to brink of extinction and is put on the highest level of protection in China. Therefore, an appropriate protection measure is highly recommended to preserve this valuable resource, since this Myanmar ginseng might turn out to be the last P. zingiberensis, which could ever be seen in the planet.     

Fluorimetric determination of isatin in human urine and serum by liquid chromatography postcolumn photoirradiation

For the fluorimetric determination of isatin in human urine and serum, HPLC-postcolumn photoirradiation using a mobile phase has been developed. Isatin in the urine or serum sample was separated on a Capcell Pak C1 column (250 x 4.6 mm id). The mobile phase consisted of 70 mmol l-1 phosphate buffer (pH 7.2)-tetrahydrofuran (85 + 15% v/v) containing 5 mmol l-1 hydrogen peroxide, which was irradiated with germicidal light to induce fluorescence (lambda ex 302 nm, lambda em 418 nm). The addition of tetrahydrofuran to the mobile phase led to the peaks showing good separation as well as increased sensitivity. The calibration graph for isatin was linear over the range of 0.16-10.7 ng. The pretreatment of the acidified urine or serum samples consisted of diluting steps or deproteinizing steps using perchloric acid, respectively. The mean recovery of isatin from urine and serum was greater than 94%.     

Thermoswitching property in TCNQ salts of ionenes containing poly(ethylene oxide) segments

Ionene polymers characterized by the alternating structure of ionene and crystalline poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) segments were prepared as a function of PEO segment size. A microstructure of these ionenes and their 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) salts were investigated with x-ray diffraction patterns, thermal scanning behavior, and polarizing micrographs. On the basis of this microstructure, the change in resistivity with temperature was studied. In Arrhenius' plots of the resistivity the simple salts in which the spherulites consisting of the PEO segments were observed showed a sharp decrease in resistivity with a rise in temperature [critical temperature resistor (CTR)] at about the melting point of the PEO segments, whereas the other simple salts in which the spherulites were not observed showed linear temperature dependence. The switching properties were confirmed similarly in repetitive heating/cooling cycles. This CTR characteristic was attributed to an increase in continuity in the conduction paths by melting spherulites. The apparent switching properties were not observed in the complex salts.     

L-histidine decarboxylase as a probe in studies on histamine

Because the Falck-Hillarp formaldehyde fluorescence method, which was superbly applied to identify catecholaminergic and serotonergic neurons, is not applicable to histamine, the first author (T.W.) developed an antibody to L-histidine decarboxylase (HDC) for identification of the histaminergic neuron system in the brain. The anti-HDC antibody was of great use for mapping the location and distribution of this histaminergic neuron system. (S)-alpha-fluoromethylhistidine, a specific and potent irreversible inhibitor of HDC, was also very useful in studies on functions of the neuron system. The activity of HDC is increased by various agents, treatments, and physiological conditions. We found new compounds that increased HDC activity (i.e., tetradecanoylphobol acetate (TPA), other tumor promoters, and staphylococcal enterotoxin A); and using mast cell-deficient mutant (W/W(v)) mice, we obtained evidence that this increase occurred in macrophages. To further characterize the mechanism of increases in HDC activity, the second author (H.O.) cloned human HDC cDNA and a human HDC gene. In studies on the regulation mechanism of the HDC gene, which is expressed only in limited types of cells such as mast cells, enterochromaffin-like cells in the stomach, cells in the tuberomammillary nucleus of the brain, and macrophages, CpG islands in the promoter region of the HDC gene were found to be demethylated in cells expressing the gene, whereas they are methylated in other cells that do not express the HDC gene. In collaboration with many other researchers, we developed HDC knockout mice. The resulting research is producing a lot of interesting findings in our laboratory as well as in others. In summary, HDC has been and will be useful in studies on functions of histamine.     

The behaviour of dyes at oil/water interfaces

Summary The adsorption of ionic dyes, the builder effect, and the interaction between ionic dyes and surface active agents were investigated by using the electrocapillarity at oil/water interfaces. The oil phase was the solution of tetra-butylammonium chloride, sodium cetylsulphate, cetylpyridinium chloride or stearylamine in methylisobutylketone, and the water phase contained various dyes in addition to the inorganic electrolyte. The interfacial tension decreased over the anodic (or cathodic) polarization range, when anionic (or cationic) dyes were added to the water phase, thus indicating the dye adsorption at the interface. The interfacial excess of dye ions was found to increase linearly with the cubic roots of dye concentration and of ionic strength of the water phase. The counterion binding took place at the oil/water interface between anionic (or cationic) dyes and positive (or negative) head groups of surface active agent ions adsorbed at the interface. It was found that the equilibrium constants of binding between anionic dyes and cationic surface active agents at the oil/water interface were of the same order of magnitude as, and a little larger than, those obtained at the water bulk phase.

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Zusammenfassung An Öl-Wasser-Grenzflächen wurde die Adsorption ionischer Farbstoffe, die Füllerwirkung und die Wechselwirkung zwischen ionischen Farbstoffen und grenzflächenaktiven Verbindungen mit Hilfe der Elektrokapillarität untersucht. Die Ölphase bestand aus einer Lösung von Tetrabutylammoniumchlorid, Natriumcetylsulfat und Cetylpyridiniumchlorid oder Stearylamin in Methylisobutylketon. Die wässerige Phase enthielt verschiedene Farbstoffe und anorganische Elektrolyte. Die Grenzflächenspannung wurde durch anodische (bzw. kathodische) Polarisation erniedrigt, wenn anionischer (bzw. kationischer) Farbstoff zur Wasserphase gegeben wurde. Dies zeigt an, daß Farbstoff an der Grenzfläche adsorbiert wird. Die Grenzflächenkonzentration des Farbstoffions nimmt linear mit der Kubikwurzel der Farbstoffkonzentration und mit der Ionenstärke zu. Als Gegenionen für die anionischen (bzw. kationischen) Farbstoffe an der Grenzfläche wirken die positiven (bzw. negativen) Endgruppen der Tenside, die ebenfalls in der Grenzschicht adsorbiert sind. Die Gleichgewichtskonstanten für die Wechselwirkung zwischen den ionischen Farbstoffen und den grenzflächenaktiven Verbindungen sind an der Öl-Wasser-Grenzfläche von der gleichen Größenordnung bzw. geringfügig größer als in der wässerigen Volumenphase.

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With 12 figures and 2 tables