Influence of the Degree of Deacetylation of Chitosan and BMP-2 Concentration on Biocompatibility and Osteogenic Properties of BMP-2/PLA Granule-Loaded Chitosan/β-Glycerophosphate Hydrogels

Compositions based on chitosan/β-glycerophosphate hydrogels with highly porous polylactide granules can be used to obtain moldable bone graft materials that have osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties. To eliminate the influence of such characteristics as chain length, degree of purification, and molecular weight on a designed material, the one-stock chitosan sample was reacetylated to degrees of deacetylation (DD%) of 19.5, 39, 49, 55, and 56. A study of the chitosan/β-glycerophosphate hydrogel with chitosan of a reduced DD% showed that a low degree of deacetylation increased the MSCs (multipotent stromal cells) viability rate in vitro and reduced the leukocyte infiltration in subcutaneous implantation to Wistar rats in vivo. The addition of 12 wt% polylactide granules resulted in optimal composite mechanical and moldable properties, and increased the modulus of elasticity of the hydrogel-based material by approximately 100 times. Excessive filling of the material with PLA (polylactide) granules (more than 20%) led to material destruction at a ~10% strain. Osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties of the chitosan hydrogel-based material with reacetylated chitosan (39 DD%) and highly porous polylactide granules impregnated with BMP-2 (bone morphogenetic protein-2) have been demonstrated in models of orthotopic and ectopic bone formation. When implanted into a critical-size calvarial defect in rats, the optimal concentration of BMP-2 was 10 μg/mL: bone tissue areas filled the entire material’s thickness. Implantation of the material with 50 μg/mL BMP-2 was accompanied with excessive growth of bone tissue and material displacement beyond the defect. Significant osteoinductive and osteoconductive properties of the material with 10 μg/mL of BMP-2 were also shown in subcutaneous implantation.     

Numerical Modeling of Interior Ballistics Processes in Light Gas Guns

An improved procedure for modeling the operation of a light-gas gun is proposed. The motion of working bodies in both the firing chamber and the light-gas chamber is studied within the framework of the mechanics of heterogeneous media. The problem of barrel heating taking into account its melting and removal of thermal ablation products into the medium inside the bore is solved in a coupled formulation. Heat and mass transfer and friction on the barrel surface are calculated using empirical dependences. The deformable piston is considered compressible and elastoviscoplastic. Allowance is made for the presence of a clearance between the lateral surface of the piston and the barrel bore walls and the associated gas flow between the firing and the light-gas chamber. Calculation results are given.     

Synthesis and pyrolysis of (cyclobutylmethyl)trimethylsilane

Russian Chemical Bulletin -     

Mass spectra of methylsubstituted monosila- and monogermacyclobutanes, 1,2- disila- and 1,2-digermacyclopentanes. Some correlations with thermal decomposition

The mass spectra of 1,1-dimethyl-1-silacyclobutane (I—as reported by Cherniak et al.),⁶, 1,1-dimethyl-1-germacyclobutane (II), 1,1,2,2-tetramethyl-1,2-disilacyclopentane (III) and 1,1,2,2-tetramethyl-1,2-digermacyclopentane (IV) are compared and some correlations between electron-impact fragmentation and thermal decomposition are derived. The mass spectra of the germanium compounds with respect to the silicone compounds are enriched by light fragment ions and exhibit lower intensities of odd-electron ions. The composition of some ions and apparently of neutral fragments coincides with that of the unstable intermediates which are suggested in the thermal decomposition mechanism of some related compounds. The loss of C₂H₄ is more characteristic under electron-impact as well as in thermal decomposition of Si-compounds, while C₃H₆ is preferable eliminated by the Ge-compounds.     

Partially Hydrolyzed Alkylaluminums as the Active Heterogenized Components of Metallocene Catalysts

The heterogenized reaction products of the partial hydrolysis of the organoaluminum compounds AlMe₃ and Al(i-Bu)₃ with water as a constituent of highly hydrated supports, zeolite (ZSM-5-H₂O) and montmorillonite (MMT-H₂O), have been synthesized. The thermal degradation of the resulting heterogenized methylalumoxane compound and methylalumoxane (MAO) in a solid state is studied by temperature-programmed desorption with the mass-spectrometric analysis of liberated gaseous products, and the structural identity of the above compounds is found. Alkylalumoxanes prepared immediately on the surface of a support form heterogenized complexes with the metallocenes Cp₂ZrCl₂ and Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂. These heterogenized complexes exhibit high activity in the reactions of ethylene and propylene polymerization. For this reason, MAO can be replaced by AlMe₃ or Al(i-Bu)₃ and the additional introduction of MAO or another alkylaluminum for zirconocene activation is unnecessary. It has been found that, upon the immobilization of commercial MAO on dehydrated SiO₂, the MAO molecule loses a portion of its most reactive methyl groups and, as a result of this, becomes incapable of activating metallocenes.     

Synthesis of 1,1-dihydroperfluorooxaalkan-1-ols and their interaction with terephthaloyl chloride

A series of 1,1-dihydroperfluorooxaalkan-1-ols and ,,,-tetrahydroperfluorooxaalkanediols has been synthesized. Some tercphthalates were synthesized by the reaction of these alcohols and diols with terephthaloyl chloride.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1573–1576, June, 1996.     

Synthesis and properties of sym-triazine derivatives. 7. Synthesis of pyridyl-substituted 2-amino- and 2,4-diamino-sym-triazines

N-Substituted 2,4-diamino-6-pyridyl-sym-triazines were synthesized by cyclocondensation of pyridinecarboxylic acid esters with biguanides. 4,6-Disubstituted 2-amino-sym-triazines containing pyridyl residues were obtained by the reaction of pyridinecarboxylic acid nitriles with guanidine or of pyridinecarboxylic acid esters with N-imidoylguanidines. Aminotriazines of this type are also formed in the condensation of N-acylguanidines with nitriles or imino esters. The general principles of the fragmentation of 2-amino-4-dialkylamino-6-pyridyl-sym-triazines under the influence of electron impact were established.See [1] for Communication 6.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 674–680, May, 1988.     

Heterogenized methylaluminoxane and isobutylaluminoxane as activators for metallocene catalysts

Heterogenized alkylaluminoxanes prepared in situ on the montmorillonite (MMT) surface by the partial hydrolysis of AIR₃ with water of the support are effective activators for metallocenes. The thermal destruction of isobutylaluminoxane molecules in the MMT-H₂O/Al(i-Bu)₃ system has been studied by the temperature-programmed desorption method coupled with mass spectrometry (TPD-MS). The process begins at a lower temperature and is more complicated than the destruction of methylaluminoxane (MAO) in MMT-H₂O/AlMe₃. Isobutyl-substituted aluminoxane and the ansa-metallocene Me₂Si(Ind)₂ZrCl₂ form metal-alkyl complexes that are more active in propylene polymerization than methyl-substituted aluminoxane. The TPD-MS study of the initial stages of gas-phase ethylene and propylene polymerization shows that the nature of the metallocene in the heterogenized metallocene catalysts is an essential factor in the distribution of active sites by the activation energy of the thermal destruction of active Zr-C bonds.