Conformation of linear polyethylene in 1-chloronaphthalene: Light scattering characterization of polymers. IV

Light scattering measurements were carried out on a linear polyethylene sample NBS 1475 in 1-chloronaphthalene at 135 and 115°C to determine the weight-average molecular weight, the second virial coefficient A₂, and the z-average mean-square radius of gyration. By use of these results, the system is analyzed in terms of the interpenetration function Ψ for A₂. Observed values of A₂ are rather large but the excluded volume is nevertheless relatively small. Such behavior seem to be similar to that of semiflexible polymers. The characteristic ratio C_n,LS as determined by light scattering is found to be almost twice the literature value of 6.7, which was obtained from viscosity measurements. This discrepancy is explained by comparing the theoretical value of the Flory viscosity parameter Φ at the nondraining limit with values calculated from the light scattering results.     

Inversion of enantioselectivity of asymmetric biocatalytic decarboxylation by site-directed mutagenesis based on the reaction mechanism

The introduction of two mutations (G74C/C188S) based on the estimated reaction mechanism resulted in the inversion of enantioselectivity of arylmalonate decarboxylase, which catalyses the asymmetric decarboxylation of arylmethylmalonate to give optically active arylpropionate.     

Understanding quantum entanglement by thermo field dynamics

We propose a new method to understand quantum entanglement using the thermo field dynamics (TFD) described by a double Hilbert space. The entanglement states show a quantum-mechanically complicated behavior. Our new method using TFD makes it easy to understand the entanglement states, because the states in the tilde space in TFD play a role of tracer of the initial states. For our new treatment, we define an extended density matrix on the double Hilbert space. From this study, we make a general formulation of this extended density matrix and examine some simple cases using this formulation. Consequently, we have found that we can distinguish intrinsic quantum entanglement from the thermal fluctuations included in the definition of the ordinary quantum entanglement at finite temperatures. Through the above examination, our method using TFD can be applied not only to equilibrium states but also to non-equilibrium states. This is shown using some simple finite systems in the present paper.     

A novel foam based separation strategy for extracting minute target impurities

The purpose of this study was to extract impurities from compounds using a simple separatory bottle to purify target compounds with a foam column and allow for the further characterization of impurities. Charged dyes were used as target compounds due to the ease of detection of dyes and isolated impurities. Foaming agents were used in a glass bottle with a modified cap to separate a target impurity using an appropriately charged ligand. By passing N₂ gas through the solution, the surfactants sodium dodecyl sulfate and cetylpyridinium chloride generated foams that separated the dyes, Methylene blue and Orange G, respectively, from a solution containing both dyes. Sodium dodecyl sulfate condensed Methylene blue from the solution with high purity while cetylpyridinium chloride condensed Orange G with less purity. A range of concentrations (0.01–0.5 mmol/L) of dyes were used for separation. The condensability (volume and/or concentration) of the target compound increased as its concentration decreased. This novel separation method is a simple, rapid, inexpensive, and effective way to prepare samples and allows for the characterization of these impurities using sensitive analytical detection techniques.     

Synthesis and inhibitory effect on fat accumulation of (-)-ternatin derivatives modified in the beta-OH-D-Leu(7) moiety

An efficient synthesis of (-)-ternatin derivatives directed toward their SAR at the beta-OH-D-Leu(7) moiety and their biological activities against 3T3-L1 murine adipocytes are described.     

Partial pair correlation functions of low-density supercritical water determined by neutron diffraction with the H/D isotopic substitution method

Neutron diffraction measurements were carried out on H/ D isotopically substituted water in the low-density supercritical condition (T = 673 K, P = 26.3 MPa, and rho = 0.0068 molecules.A-3) in order to obtain direct information on the intermolecular partial structure functions, gHH inter(r), gOH inter(r), and gOO inter(r). In correspondence to the high-density supercritical water previously reported, the intermolecular nearest neighbor peaks in gHH inter(r), gOH inter(r), and gOO inter(r) are diffuse compared with the ambient ones. The nearest neighbor O...O distance (3.3 A) and its coordination number (2.6) were determined from the observed gOO inter(r). These results indicate that the orientational correlation between neighboring water molecules is considerably lost in low-density supercritical water. Small clusters involving a few water molecules are preferentially formed in low-density supercritical water, which is consistent with results obtained by previous IR and NMR studies.