Monolithic silica columns with various skeleton sizes and through-pore sizes for capillary liquid chromatography

Reduction of through-pore size and skeleton size of a monolithic silica column was attempted to provide high separation efficiency in a short time. Monolithic silica columns were prepared to have various sizes of skeletons (approximately 1-2 microm) and through-pores (approximately 2-8 microm) in a fused-silica capillary (50-200 microm I.D.). The columns were evaluated in HPLC after derivatization to C18 phase. It was possible to prepare monolithic silica structures in capillaries of up to 200 microm I.D. from a mixture of tetramethoxysilane and methyltrimethoxysilane. As expected, a monolithic silica column with smaller domain size showed higher column efficiency and higher pressure drop. High external porosity (> 80%) and large through-pores resulted in high permeability (K = 8 x 10(-14) -1.3 x 10(-12) m2) that was 2-30 times higher than that of a column packed with 5-mirom silica particles. The monolithic silica columns prepared in capillaries produced a plate height of about 8-12 microm with an 80% aqueous acetonitrile mobile phase at a linear velocity of 1 mm/s. Separation impedance, E, was found to be as low as 100 under optimum conditions, a value about an order of magnitude lower than reported for conventional columns packed with 5-microm particles. Although a column with smaller domain size generally resulted in higher separation impedance and the lower total performance, the monolithic silica columns showed performance beyond the limit of conventional particle-packed columns under pressure-driven conditions.     

Double Pore Silica Gel Monolith Applied to Liquid Chromatography

Silica gels retaining double pore structure in the size ranges of micrometer and nanometer have been applied to the rod-shaped monolithic column for liquid chromatography. The macropore structure was designed by controlling the phase separation process induced by the hydrolysis and polycondensation of alkoxysilane, whereas the mesopore structure was tailored by the solvent exchange treatments on wet gels. The size exclusion chromatograms on polystyrene standards exhibited almost similar features for octadecyl-modified rod and conventional packed beads columns. The dependence of plate height on the velocity of mobile phase determined for amylbenzene was by far weaker in the rod column than in the packed beads column, suggesting that additional geometrical factors should be considered in describing the separation mechanism in the rod column.     

Two New Spermidine Alkaloids from Chisocheton weinlandii

The investigation of the MeOH extract of the leaves of Chisocheton weinlandii Harms (Meliaceae) revealed two new open‐chain spermidine alkaloids, chisitine 1 ( 1 ) and chisitine 2 ( 2 ). Their structures were elucidated by NMR spectroscopy, tandem‐mass spectrometry, and independant syntheses (Scheme 3). Detailed MS/MS fragmentation pathways are discussed for both compounds based on H/D exchange and ¹⁸O‐labeling experiments (Schemes 1 and 2).     

Synthesis of (±)‐Kempa‐6,8‐dien‐3‐ol (=(2aRS,3SR,4aSR,7RS,7aSR,10bSR,10cSR)‐2,2a,3,4,4a,5,6,7,7a,8,10b,10c‐Dodecahydro‐2a,7,10,10c‐tetramethylnaphth[2,18‐cde]azulen‐3‐ol)

The synthesis of kempa‐6,8‐dien‐3β‐ol ( 4a ), as a synthetic leading model of the natural product 4b , was carried out starting from intermediate 12 , the synthetic route of which has been developed previously (Scheme 1). The conversion of 12 to the model compound 4a involved the elaboration of three structure modifications by three processes, Tasks A, B, and C (see Scheme 2). Task A was achieved by epoxy‐ring opening of 41 with Me₃SiCl (Scheme 9), and Task B being performed by oxidation at the 13‐position, followed by hydrogenation, and then epimerization (Schemes 4 and 5). The removal of the 2‐OH group from 12 (Task C) was achieved via 30b according to Scheme 6, whereby 30b was formed exclusively from 30a / 31a 1 : 1 (Scheme 7). In addition, some useful reactions from the synthetic viewpoint were developed during the course of the present experiments.     

THE 'OPSIN SHIFT' IN BACTERIORHODOPSIN: STUDIES WITH ARTIFICIAL BACTERIORHODOPSINS

Abstract— The difference (in cm⁻¹) in absorption maxima between the protonated Schiff base of retinals and the pigment derived therefrom has been defined as the opsin shift. It represents the influence of the opsin binding site on the chromophore. The analysis of the opsin shifts of a series of dihydrobacteriorhodopsins has led to the external point-charge model, which in addition to a counter anion near the Schiff base ammonium, carries another negative charge in the vicinity of the β-ionone ring. This is in striking contrast to the external point-charge model proposed earlier for the bovine visual pigment. The absorption maxima of rhodopsins formed from bromo- and phenyl retinals support the two models. A retinal carrying a photoaffinity label has yielded a nonbleachable bacteriorhodopsin.     

Profiling and comprehensive expression analysis of ABC transporter solute-binding proteins of Bacillus subtilis membrane based on a proteomic approach

We analyzed ABC transporter solute-binding proteins (SBPs) of the Bacillus subtilis membrane using a proteomic approach. We prepared a washed cell membrane fraction that was insoluble in 134 mM nondetergent sulfobetaine and then extracted proteins using mixtures of detergents in a stepwise manner. The membrane proteins were resolved by three two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE) or two one-dimensional (1-D) PAGE procedures, electroblotted, and digested in the presence of 5% or 80% acetonitrile. Thereafter, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) identified 637 proteins corresponding to 15.9% of the total cellular proteins. We predicted that among these, 256 were membrane proteins, 101 were lipoproteins or secretory proteins and 280 were soluble proteins containing peripheral proteins that function in both the cytoplasm and the cell membrane such as SecA and FtsY. Among the 637 proteins, we identified 30 SBPs among 38 importers predicted by a bioinformatic search of the genome. We confirmed expression of the genes for the 30 SBPs using DNA microarray analysis. We compared the 2-D gel separation profiles of submembrane fractions solubilized by 1% n-dodecyl-beta-D-maltoside from cells cultured on Luria Bertani (LB), S7, and S7 medium without glutamate as well as DNA microarray data on LB and S7. The results suggested that YcdH, YtmK and YurO are binding proteins for Mn(++), glutamate and glucose, respectively, and that YqiX and YxeM are binding proteins for amino acids (tryptophan in S7 medium).     

Preparation of Silicalite-1 Within Macroporous Silica Glass

Microcrystalline silicalite-1 was formed on the inner surface of macroporus silica glasses prepared by the sol-gel process. By heating a homogeneous precursor solution at 100°C under a hydrothermal condition, 2–5 m of plate-like particles of silicalite-1 were deposited. With an increase of mixing time of the precursor solution, the number of silicalite-1 particles increased, accompanied by the relative decrease of the particle size. Depending on the temperature and the duration of the heat-treatment of the macroporous silica, the amount of deposited silicalite-1 varied. Below 1000°C, the amount increased with the heat-treatment temperature, as a result of the competition between the precipitation of silicalite-1 and the dissolution of silica from the macroporous silica glass under a strongly basic condition. On the other hand, above 1000°C the amount of deposited silicalite-1 decreased in accordance with the decrease of the macropore diameter by the heat-treatment, because of the limited transport of the dissolved silicate species through the smaller macropores.     

NMR Spectroscopic Observation of a Metal‐Free Acetylide Anion

A metal‐free acetylide was observed by using NMR spectroscopy. Metal‐free acetylides are closely related to reactive intermediates (carbanions) in solution; therefore, they have been regarded as unobservable species. However, we generated this highly reactive and unstable species through the deprotonation of phenylacetylene by using the strong nonmetallic phosphazene base tBu‐P4. In the presence of tBu‐P4, the J coupling between the ethynyl carbon and hydrogen nuclei (¹J_C,H) of phenylacetylene disappeared; this indicates the deprotonation of the alkyne terminal. Furthermore, a large low‐field shift (approximately 90 ppm) of the alkyne carbon resonance was observed. We concluded that we have observed a metal‐free carbanion with a formal charge on an sp‐hybridized carbon atom for the first time.     

Epitaxial electrodeposition of Prussian blue thin films on single-crystal Au(110)

Epitaxial Prussian blue (PB) films are deposited electrochemically onto a Au(110) substrate. High-resolution X-ray diffraction shows that the PB films have a [111] out-of-plane orientation. The very large lattice mismatch of 148% is reduced to about 1% by the formation of (1 x 2)PB(111)[onemacr;10]//(6 x 5)Au(110)[onemacr;10] and (1 x 2)PB(111)[01onemacr;]//(6 x 5)Au(110)[onemacr;10] epitaxial relationships. Peaks in the cyclic voltammogram of PB on Au(110) are sharper than those on polycrystalline Au, consistent with higher structural order and a single out-of-plane orientation. The development of epitaxial films of PB and PB analogues will allow the measurement of the orientation-dependent properties of these molecular magnets. It will also open the door to the development of novel molecular spintronic devices, such as those which exhibit spin-dependent electron transfer.     

Spectrophotometric determination of cobalt(II) with 2-(3′-sulfobenzoyl)pyridine benzoylhydrazone

A simple method has been described for the Spectrophotometric determination of cobalt(II) with 2-(3′-sulfobenzoyl)pyridine benzoylhydrazone (SBPBH). In aqueous solution, cobalt(II) reacts with SBPBH to form a yellow complex, which is not destroyed even by the addition of 3.8 M perchloric acid. The absorption maximum of the complex in 1.5 M perchloric acid medium was found to be 400 nm; the molar absorptivity was 2.17 × 10⁴ liters mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹. The proposed method is fairly selective and has been applied to the determination of cobalt in standard alloy steel samples.