On the Landau-Teller approximation for energy exchanges with fast degrees of freedom

We revisit the Landau-Teller heuristic approach to adiabatic invariants and, following Rapp, use it to investigate the energy exchanges between the different degrees of freedom, in simple Hamiltonian systems describing the collision of fast rotating or vibrating molecules with a fixed wall. We critically compare the theoretical results with particularly accurate numerical computations (quite small energy exchanges, namely of one part over 10³⁰, are measured).     

Studies on the Enzymatic Acylation of Quinic Acid,Shikimic Acid,Shikimic Acid,and Their Derivatives in Organic Solvents

Quinic acid ( 1a ), shikimic acid ( 2 ), and their derivatives were acylated in organic solvents by several lipases and by the protease subtilisin Carlsberg. The most satisfactory results were obtained with methyl (or benzyl) quinate ( 7a (or 8a )) and lipase from Chromobacterium viscosum adsorbed on Celite, which showed an overshelming preference towards the acylation of OH–C(4). Under optimized conditions, the syntehtically useful 4-O -acetylquinate 8d was isolated in ca. 90% yield. On the other hand, acylation of methyl shikimate ( 10a ) showed no regioselectivity with any of the enzymes tested. A possible rationale for the different behavior of Chromobacterium viscosum lipase towards 7a and 10a is given, comparing the conformations of these two molecules, as deducted from ¹H-NMR and molecular-mechanics calculation.     

Effects of heat treatment on the aggregation and charging of Stöber-type silica

Measuring and modeling the surface charge of clays, and more especially smectites, has become an important issue in the use of bentonites as a waste confinement material aimed at retarding migration of water and solutes. Therefore, many studies of the acid-base properties of montmorillonite have appeared recently in the literature, following older studies principally devoted to cation exchange. It is striking that beyond the consensus about the complex nature of the surface charge of clays, there are many discrepancies, especially concerning the dissociable charge, that prevents intercomparison among the published data. However, a general trend is observed regarding the absence of common intersection point on raw titration curves at different ionic strengths. Analysis of the literature shows that these discrepancies originate from the experimental procedures for the preparation of the clays and for the quantification of their surface charge. The present work is an attempt to understand how these procedures can impact the final results. Three critical operations can be identified as having significant effects on the surface properties of the studied clays. The first one is the preparation of purified clay from the raw material: the use of acid or chelation treatments, and the repeated washings in deionized water result in partial dissolution of the clays. Then storage of the purified clay in dry or wet conditions strongly influences the equilibria in the subsequent experiments respectively by precipitation or enhanced dissolution. The third critical operation is the quantification of the surface charge by potentiometric titration, which requires the use of strong acids and bases. As a consequence, besides dissociation of surface sites, many secondary titrant consuming reactions were described in the literature, such as cation exchange, dissolution, hydrolysis, or precipitation. The cumulated effects make it difficult to derive proper dissociation constants, and to build adequate models. The inadequation of the classical surface complexation models to describe the acid-base behavior of clays is illustrated by the electrokinetic behavior of smectites, which is independent from the pH and the ionic strength. Therefore, there is still a need on one hand for accurate data recorded in controlled conditions, and on the other hand for new models taking into account the complex nature of the charge of clays.     

Development of a multiplexed microbioreactor system for high-throughput bioprocessing

A multiplexed microbioreactor system for parallel operation of multiple microbial fermentation is described. The system includes miniature motors for magnetic stirring of the microbioreactors and optics to monitor the fermentation parameters optical density (OD), dissolved oxygen (DO), and pH, in-situ and in real time. The microbioreactors are fabricated out of poly(methylmethacrylate)(PMMA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS), and have a working volume of 150 microl. Oxygenation of the cells occurs through a thin PDMS membrane at the top of the reactor chamber. Stirring is achieved with a magnetic spin bar in the reactor chamber. Parallel microbial fermentations with Escherichia coli are carried out in four stirred microbioreactors and demonstrate the reproducible performance of the multiplexed system. The profiles for OD, DO, and pH compare favourably to fermentations performed in bioreactor systems with multiple bench-scale reactors. Finally, the multiplexed system is used to compare two different reactor designs, demonstrating that the reproducibility of the system permits the quantification of microbioreactor performance.     

Addition reactions of ethoxycarbonylnitrene and ethoxycarbonylnitrenium ion to allylic ethers

Ethoxycarbonylnitrene (EtOCON) generated by α-elimination adds cleanly to allylic ethers giving substituted aziridines. Similar addition via nitrenium ion (EtOCONH⁺) gives derivatives of β-amino alcohols.     

Enantiomeric separation of acidic compounds of pharmaceutical interest by capillary electrochromatography employing glycopeptide antibiotic stationary phases

Enantiomeric separation of some selected acidic compounds of pharmaceutical interest belonging to the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were separated by capillary electrochromatography employing silica based glycopeptide antibiotic stationary phases, namely vancomycin or a teicoplanin derivatives (Hepta-Tyr). The vancomycin stationary phase allowed to achieve the chiral resolution of some racemic studied compounds only using mobile phases containing ammonium formate at a relatively low pH 2.5-3.5 and acetonitrile. Employing the teicoplanin derivative stationary phase, good enantiomeric resolution was achieved eluting with mobile phases containing sodium phosphate pH 6-acetonitrile. Enantiomers were moved to the detector because a relatively high reversed electroosmotic flow (due to the positive charge of the stationary phase) and to the electrophoretic mobility of analytes.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of 2-phenylselenenyl-1,3-anti-diols and 2-phenylselenenyl-1,3-anti-azido-alcohols via hydroxy and azido-selenenylation reactions

A method to synthesize 2-phenylselenenyl-1,3-anti-diols and 2-phenyl- selenenyl-1,3-anti-azidoalcohols via hydroxy- or azido-selenenylation of trans-allylic alcohols is reported. Moreover, the first example of hydroxyl-selenenylation of an allylic azide is presented. Yields ranging from moderate to good and diastereomeric ratios up to 95:5 are achieved.     

Surface modification of proteins by covalent binding of acrylic polymers

Surface modification of enzymes for a potential use in therapy was obtained with a new type of tailor-made copolymers ofNacryloylmorpholine andN-acryloxysuccinimide. The first monomer was designed to confer solubility on the polymer, whereas the second was used to give it reactivity toward protein amino groups. The reactivity of polymers of different composition towards amino acid derivatives and model proteins, such as catalase and ribonuclease-A, is described. Water soluble and catalytically active enzyme derivatives were obained using copolymers prepared with a mixture of N-acryloxysuccinimide andn-acryloylmorpholine in a 1:99 molar ratio. At increasing molar ratio (3:97, 10:90) extensive crosslinking between polymer and enzymes takes place, yielding insoluble adducts.     

Controlling the self-assembly of a deoxiguaninosine on mica

We report a tapping mode scanning force microscopy investigation on the growth from solutions of a lipophilic deoxiguanosine derivative on the basal plane of a muscovite mica surface. By varying the chemical composition of the substrate surface it is possible to drive the self-assembly towards either layered thin films, which are very likely to consist of guanosine quartets, or nanoribbons, comprising hydrogen bonded networks. Both these two architectures, which are peculiar to the guanine base itself, are of notable importance for the fabrication of molecular nanowires. Moreover, the first arrangement provides evidence that the guanosine is able to behave as ionophore, thus, suggesting its utilization in the development of solid-state ion selective sensors.     

Synthesis of new fluorinated 1,5-benzoxazepine derivatives

A simple approach to the fluorinated 1,5-benzoxazepine ring system is described. By reacting commercially accessible aminophenols 1 and the trifluoroacetylvinyl ether 2, high yields of enaminones 3 were obtained. Functionalization of methyl group of compounds 3 gave rise to dieneamines 4 that were cyclized in acidic environment to benzoxazepine derivatives 5.