Interference of Copper(II) ions with Non-covalent Interactions in Uridine or Uridine 5′-Monophosphate Systems with Adenosine,Cytidine, Thymidine and their Monophosphates in Aqueous Solution

Coordination reactions of copper(II) ions and their effect on non-covalent interactions in uridine (Urd) or uridine 5′-monophosphate (UMP) systems with nucleosides (Ado, Cyd, Thd) and nucleotides (AMP and CMP) in aqueous solutions have been studied. At high pH the effective coordination centers are deprotonated N(3) atoms from Urd and Thd, whereas at low pH, the N(3) atoms of pyrimidine nucleosides are blocked for coordination and the metallation sites are endocyclic nitrogen atoms from Ado, Cyd, AMP and CMP. Moreover, at low pH, the main reaction center in nucleotide solutions is the phosphate group. The NMR study has proven the occurrence of non-covalent ion-dipole interactions and stacking interactions in the systems considered. Introduction of a copper ion in the majority of systems causes the disappearance of weak interactions between ligands. The structures of the complexes in solution have been inferred from the equilibrium study: an analysis of the pH range of their occurrence with respect to the pH range of deprotonation of particular groups in the compounds studied, using Vis, EPR and ¹³C as well as ³¹P NMR spectral analysis.     

Fast Marching Method for Calculating Reactive Trajectories for Chemical Reactions

We present a method for computing classical Newtonian trajectories that minimize the path length or transit time from reactant to product. Our approach is based on a generalization of the fast-marching method, which allows us to construct the solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the action that optimizes the desired quantity. The resulting “reactive paths” can be interpreted as reaction coordinates but, unlike more conventional choices, they contain dynamical information about the chemical system of interest.     

Dispersion of silica nano-particles in sol-gel hybrid resins for fabrication of multi-scale hybrid nanocomposite

Multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites containing both ∼15 nm silica colloids and ∼2 nm oligosiloxanes in a methacryl polymer matrix were newly designed and fabricated. Colloidal silica sols were dispersed in methacryl oligosiloxanes nano-hybrid resins synthesized by sol-gel reaction of methacryloxypropylmethoxysilane and diphenylsilanediol. On the basis of TEM and SANS analyses, it was confirmed that the silica colloids were compatibly dispersed and different sizes of colloidal silica and oligosiloxanes co-exist in the solutions. Multi-scale hybrid nanocomposites fabricated by UV and thermal curing with incorporation of silica colloids in the nano-hybrid materials show enhanced mechanical and thermal characteristics.     

Modification of the halogen end groups of polystyrene prepared by ATRP

The stabilization modification of the halogen end groups of polystyrene prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) has been attempted. The reaction mechanism adopted is radical chain transfer reaction, and iso-propylbenzene is employed as not only the chain transfer agent but also the solvent. Moreover, Cu⁰ is used as the acceptor of the transformed halogen atom in some experiments. As evidenced by ¹H NMR analysis of the modified products, the halogen end group can really be converted into the much more stable carbon-hydrogen structure. When Cu⁰ is not used, the conversion of the halogen end groups rises rapidly during the early stage and the increase rate slows down after about 8 h reaction. In view of the influence of reaction temperature on the modification, the conversion increases almost exponentially with temperature in the range of 80-100 °C, and the increase rate slows down at higher temperature. ¹H NMR and SEC analyses prove that the modification reaction does not destroy the polymer backbone and the molecular weights remain almost the same as those of the unmodified samples. When Cu⁰ is introduced, the modification reaction proceeds much rapidly, the conversion of the halogen end groups rises almost linearly at the early stage and the nearly complete (>95%) dehalogenation of the polymeric chains is observed after only 12 h reaction. However, the molecular weights rise and the polydispersities become wider after the modification, which implies that the modification is accompanied with the couple termination of the polystyrene radicals besides chain transfer reaction. Furthermore, the couple termination can be restrained at some lower catalyst concentration. Indeed, the modified polymers show improved thermal stability, the initial weight loss temperatures is increased from 196 °C to 378 °C for the linear polystyrene and from 203 °C to 261 °C for the hyperbranched polystyrene.     

Ab initio and infrared spectral study of 4′-substituted phenylthiolbenzoates

The geometry of the 4′-cyano-(4′-CNPTB) and the 4′-methoxy-(4′-MePTB) phenylthiolbenzoates were obtained by ab initio calculations employing 6–31G basis set at Hartee-Fock level of theory. The results predict an extended form of the molecules and torsional angle between the phenyl rings at 90.85(6)⁰ and 90.87(3)⁰, respectively. On the basis of vibrational analysis the frequency assignment was carried out. The calculated frequencies were compared with the experimental IR spectral data in carbon tetrachloride, carbon disulfide solutions and in solid state.     

Hydrogenated polybutadiene–polymethyl methacrylate (HPB–PMMA) block copolymer. I. Synthesis of polybutadiene–polymethyl methacrylate (PB–PMMA) block copolymer

To get hydrogenated polybutadiene-polymethyl methacrylate (HPB-b-PMMA) block copolymer to be used as a compatibilizer for blends of polyolefin/polar polymer, PB-b-PMMA was synthesized by anionic-free radical mechanism transformation polymerization. Selective extraction, gradient elution thin layer chromatography, and oil-oil emulsion separation techniques were tried to attempt to separate the copolymerization products. Hydrogenation of the PB sequence in PB-b-PMMA yielded HPB-b-PMMA. The compatibilizing function of PB-b-PMMA was shown in blending experiments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The Direct Resolution of the Enantiomers of Four Chiral Pesticides

Cellulose-tris(3,5-dimethylphenylcarbamate)(CDMPC) were synthesized as highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) chiral stationary phase(CSP). The successful resolution of four chiral pesticides on the CSP was realized and the influence of the temperature on the separation was studied.     

Determination of aristolochic acid by capillary zone electrophoresis

A simple and rapid capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) method for the determination of aristolochic acid (AA) in dietary supplements and selected herbs is described. A clear separation of AA from other sample constituents was achieved within 5 minutes without any sample clean up. A mixture of 20 mM-morpholinethanesulphonic acid+10 mM-BisTrisPropane+0.2% hydroxyethylcelullose in 10% methanol serves as a background electrolyte. The linearity, accuracy, intra-assay and detection limit of the developed method are 200–6000 ng/mL, 95–103%, 3.5%, and 50 ng/ml, respectively. Ease of use, sufficient sensitivity and low running cost are the most important attributes of the CZE method. The proposed CZE method was compared with HPLC.     

Studies of the soluble part of oxidised coals

Soluble products obtained from the oxidation of four types of coal, each characterised by different degree of coalification and different degree of sulphur content, are studied. The coals are oxidised with peracetic acid (PAA) and nitric acid. Analyses are performed by Atmospheric Pressure-Temperature Programmed Reduction (AP-TPR) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The soluble products contain much more sulphur than the insoluble products of oxidation. The products obtained from the reaction with HNO₃ contain higher amounts of inorganic sulphur compounds, while those obtained from the reaction with PAA are characterised by an increased content of organic sulphur species.     

Synthesis of novel tryptamine and β-carboline derivatives via palladium-catalyzed reaction of bromotryptamine with organic boronic acids

New tryptamine 5, 7 and β-carboline derivatives 3 were preparated by palladium-catalyzed coupling reaction of 5-bromotryptamine 1 with aryl boronic acids. Dedicated to Professor András Lipták on his 70^th birthday.