Utilisation des mélanges H2O+H2SO4+SO3 en tant que solvants: I. Étude du ferrocène et de quelques hydrocarbures polynucléaires dans les mélanges H2O+H2SO4. Comparaison des domaines d'électroactivité

The variation of the electroactivity range with composition of water+ sulphuric acid mixtures has been studied. It is shown that ferrocene provides a reference potential independent of solvent at low H₂SO₄ contents while polynuclear hydrocarbons fulfill the same function at high H₂SO₄ contents. Water+H₂SO₄ mixtures become more oxidizing (reduction limit) and less reducing (oxidation limit) when the H₂SO₄ concentration increases.     

Thin film platinum cuff electrodes for neurostimulation: in vitro approach of safe neurostimulation parameters

Thin film technology takes more and more importance in the development of biomedical devices dedicated to functional neurostimulation. Our research about the design of implant neurostimulating electrode is oriented toward thin film cuff electrodes based on a polyimide substrate covered by a chromium/gold/Pt film. The chromium/gold sputtered film serves as adhesion layer and current collector whereas platinum acts as an electrochemical actuator. The electrode surface has been designed to obey safe stimulation criteria (i.e. chemically inert noble metal, low electrode-electrolyte impedance, high electrochemical reversibility, high corrosion stability). The electrochemical behaviour of such platinum electrodes has been assessed and compared to a foil of platinum. Extensive in vitro characterisations of the both electrode types were carried out using AFM, SEM and electrochemical techniques. The role of enhanced surface roughness enabling high double layer capacitances to be achieved was clearly highlighted. The obtained results are discussed, with particular reference to thin film electrodes stability under in vitro electrical stimulation in NaCl 0.9% (physiological serum). Therefore, these thin film devices showed reversible PtOH formation and decomposition making them potentially attractive for the fabrication of implant stimulation cuff electrodes.     

Selective, controllable, and reversible aggregation of polystyrene latex microspheres via DNA hybridization

The directed three-dimensional self-assembly of microstructures and nanostructures through the selective hybridization of DNA is the focus of great interest toward the fabrication of new materials. Single-stranded DNA is covalently attached to polystyrene latex microspheres. Single-stranded DNA can function as a sequence-selective Velcro by only bonding to another strand of DNA that has a complementary sequence. The attachment of the DNA increases the charge stabilization of the microspheres and allows controllable aggregation of microspheres by hybridization of complementary DNA sequences. In a mixture of microspheres derivatized with different sequences of DNA, microspheres with complementary DNA form aggregates, while microspheres with noncomplementary sequences remain suspended. The process is reversible by heating, with a characteristic "aggregate dissociation temperature" that is predictably dependent on salt concentration, and the evolution of aggregate dissociation with temperature is observed with optical microscopy.     

A theoretical study of the formation of the parent phosphinine C5H5P from the flash vacuum thermolysis of diallylvinylphosphine

The gas-phase decomposition of diallylvinylphosphine 1 into C5H5P 12 is studied by DFT/6-311+G(d,p) calculations with the B3LYP functional, followed by single-point energy-only calculations at the CCSD(T)/6-311+G(d,p) level. According to these calculations, the first step involves a retro-ene elimination that yields 3-phosphahexatrienes 2Z and 2E. Both compounds equilibrate through the formation of 1,2- and 3,4-dihydrophosphetes 3 and 4, and it is shown that the formation of 2Z is favored by the exothermic formation of the 3,4-dihydrophosphinine 5 through a 6pi-electrocyclization. Though 5 can easily isomerize into 2,3- (6) and 1,2-diyhydrophosphinines (7) by successive 1,5-hydrogen shifts, the formation of 12 from 5, 6, or 7 through an elimination of H2 is found to be a high energy process. It is also shown that the elimination of H2 from lambda5-phosphinine 8 following a C2v pathway is a symmetry-forbidden process. Finally, 1,4-dihydrophosphinine 9, which can be formed through a 1,4-hydrogen shift from lambda5-phosphinine 8, is found to be a convenient precursor of 12 through a 1,4-elimination of H2. The formation of 9 from 5 involves the intermediary formation of 3-phosphabicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene 10. The mechanism eventually proposed for the formation of 12 from 2Z is given in Scheme 16 at the CCSD(T) level.     

New mono- and bis-carbene samarium complexes: synthesis, X-ray crystal structures and reactivity

New samarium carbene complexes have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis; the carbenic nature was assessed by reactivity studies.     

Probing macromolecular adsorbed layer structure and history dependence via the interfacial cavity function

Adsorbed layers of proteins and other macromolecules often relax structurally more slowly than they form, rendering layer growth an out-of-equilibrium process. We show here how the interfacial cavity function, Phi (the average Boltzmann factor for a single probe molecule), may be determined, using kinetic data available from optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy, and used as a continuous, in situ measure of history dependent adsorbed layer structure. The increase of Phi observed with residence time for fibronectin and lysozyme layers suggests post-adsorption clustering on a time scale longer than that predicted by a surface diffusion model.     

Structural investigation of high-valent manganese-salen complexes by UV/Vis,Raman, XANES,and EXAFS spectroscopy

XANES and EXAFS spectroscopic studies at the Mn-K- and Br-K-edge of reaction products of (S,S)-(+)-N,N'-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediaminomanganese(III) chloride ([(salen)Mn(III)Cl], 1) and (S,S)-(+)-N,N'-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylsalicylidene)-1,2-cyclohexanediaminomanganese(III) bromide ([(salen)Mn(III)Br], 2) with 4-phenylpyridine N-oxide (4-PPNO) and 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (MCPBA) are reported. The reaction of the Mn(III) complexes with two equivalents of 4-PPNO leads to a hexacoordinated compound, in which the manganese atom is octahedrally coordinated by four oxygen/nitrogen atoms of the salen ligand at an average distance of approximately 1.90 A and two additional, axially bonded oxygen atoms of the 4-PPNO at 2.25 A. The oxidation state of this complex was determined as approximately +IV by a comparative study of Mn(III) and Mn(V) reference compounds. The green intermediate obtained in reactions of MCPBA and solutions of 1 or 2 in acetonitrile was investigated with XANES, EXAFS, UV/Vis, and Raman spectroscopy, and an increase of the coordination number of the manganese atoms from 4 to 5 and the complete abstraction of the halide was observed. A formal oxidation state of IV was deduced from the relative position of the pre-edge 1s-->3d feature of the X-ray absorption spectrum of the complex. The broad UV/Vis band of this complex in acetonitrile with lambda(max)=648 nm was consistent with a radical cation structure, in which a MCPBA molecule was bound to the Mn(IV) central atom. An oxomanganese(V) or a dimeric manganese(IV) species was not detected.     

Synthesis, structure, and dynamics of six-membered metallacoronands and metallodendrimers of iron and indium

In the reaction of the N-substituted diethanolamines (H(2)L(1-3)) (1-3) with calcium hydride followed by addition of iron(III) or indium(III) chloride, the iron wheels [Fe(6)Cl(6)(L(1))(6)] (4) and [Fe(6)Cl(6)(L(2))(6)] (6) or indium wheels [In(6)Cl(6)(L(1))(6)] (5), [In(6)Cl(6)(L(2))(6)] (8) and [In(6)Cl(6)(L(3))(6)] (9) were formed in excellent yields. Exchange of the chloride ions of 6 by thiocyanate ions afforded [Fe(6)(SCN)(6)(L(2))(6)] (7). Whereas the structures of 4, 5 and 7 were determined unequivocally by single-crystal X-ray analyses, complexes 8 and 9 were characterised by NMR spectroscopy. Contrary to what is normally presumed, the scaffolds of six-membered metallic wheels are not generally rigid, but rather undergo nondissociative topomerisation processes. This was shown by variable temperature (VT) (1)H NMR spectroscopy for the indium wheel [In(6)Cl(6)(L(1))(6)] (5) and is highlighted for the enantiotopomerisation of one indium centre [ 1/6[S(6)-5]<==>[1/6[S(6)-5']]. The self-assembly of metallic wheels, starting from diethanolamine dendrons, is an efficient strategy for the convergent synthesis of metallodendrimers.     

Vitamin B12 as an allosteric cofactor; dual fluorescence, hysteresis, oscillations and the selection of corrin over porphyrin

Studies of the emission spectra of four Co(III) cobinamides (diaquo-, aquohydroxo-, dihydroxo- and dicyano-) show (1) that the excited states corresponding to the alphabeta and epsilon absorption bands behave like the S(1) and S(2) levels in the non-alternant hydrocarbon azulene (with emission from S(2)> S(1) in violation of Kasha's rule) and (2) that the excited states include a TICT (twisted intramolecular charge transfer) mechanism, as in the simpler cyanines, but where the TICT state gives rise to dual fluorescence instead of cis-trans isomerisation. Combined with the previously reported dual fluorescence from the S(1) level in synthetic metal corrinoids and in the naturally-occurring metal-free corrin, this provides evidence that the existence of an additional (metastable) ground state with a significantly different vibronic splitting and nuclear configuration is an intrinsic property of the basic corrin ligand (irrespective of the nature of the side-chains and the metal ion or even the absence of a metal) which distinguishes it from porphyrin. The occurrence of hysteresis (and its associated oscillations) in redox reactions of the cobinamides involving both the Co(III/II) and Co(II/I) couples indicates that the corrin ligand also has an intrinsic ability to exist in different conformations or "allosteric" forms with differing redox potential, which further distinguishes it from the porphyrin ligand. Possible links between the existence of an additional metastable ground state and of allosteric changes and the likely reasons for the selection of corrin over a porphyrin for the vitamin B(12)-dependent enzymes are discussed.     

Proteomic analysis of simulated occupational jet fuel exposure in the lung

We analyzed protein expression in the cytosolic fraction prepared from whole lung tissue in male Swiss-Webster mice exposed 1 h/day for seven days to aerosolized JP-8 jet fuel at concentrations of 1000 and 2500 mg/m3, simulating military occupational exposure. Lung cytosol samples were solubilized and separated via large scale, high resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and gel patterns scanned, digitized and processed for statistical analysis. Significant quantitative and qualitative changes in tissue cytosol proteins resulted from jet fuel exposure. Several of the altered proteins were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting, confirmed by sequence tag analysis, and related to impaired protein synthetic machinery, toxic/metabolic stress and detoxification systems, ultrastructural damage, and functional responses to CO2 handling, acid-base homeostasis and fluid secretion. These results demonstrate a significant but comparatively moderate JP-8 effect on protein expression and corroborate previous morphological and biochemical evidence. Further molecular marker development and mechanistic inferences from these observations await proteomic analysis of whole tissue homogenates and other cell compartment, i.e., mitochondria, microsomes, and nuclei of lung and other targets.