Isocratic Separation of Dansylated Biogenic Amines on a C8‐Bonded Silica Column under the LC Elution of Methanol‐Based Mobile Phase

Under the elution of methanol‐based mobile phase, the isocratic resolution of 12 biogenic amines, including 1 aromatic, 2 heterocyclic and 9 aliphatic amines, as the dansylated derivatives has been accomplished in less than 25 minutes on a 15 cm C₈‐bonded column. The resolution can not be reproduced on other examined alkyl‐bonded phases (e.g., C₄ and C₁₈) under the same chromatographic conditions, or in the reversed‐phase mode. The retention, mainly as a result of hydrophobic interaction between analyte and stationary phase, can be adjusted by varying the percentage of methanol in the mobile phase. Also, incorporating acetic acid as additive to the mobile phase to protonate the analyte and silanol groups that are little shielding on the surface of silica gel reduces the dipole‐dipole interaction, and thus the retention scale, which in turn deteriorates the resolution. Furthermore, the elution reversal is plausible for some of analytes as a greater percent of acetic acid is used in the elution. Values of correlation coefficients (R²) range between 0.9995 and 0.9996, indicating good linearity.     

Hammett correlations in the chemistry of 3-phenylpropyl radicals

The energetics and kinetics of the reaction of variously substituted benzyl radicals with a model alkene were calculated at the G3(MP2)-RAD//B3-LYP/6-31G(d) level of theory to determine whether such reactions are amenable to Hammett analysis. The reactions were studied both in the gas phase and in toluene solution in the temperature range 298-353 K; calculations include 1D-hindered rotor corrections for low frequency torsional modes, and the solvation energies were calculated using COSMO-RS at the BP/TZP level of theory. The addition reaction was found to be dominated by radical stabilization effects, but under circumstances where olefin substituent effects were decoupled from aryl substituent effects, a modest polar effect comes into play, which is enhanced by solvation. Reasonable correlations with empirical substituent parameters such as Hammett σ and σ(?) are observed for the enthalpy of activation, but additional entropic factors act to decrease the degree of correlation with respect to free energies and rate coefficients, confirming hypotheses from earlier experimental work. Substituent effects on the reverse β-fragmentation reaction, and potential cyclization of the 3-phenylpropyl radicals formed by addition are also discussed.     

Synthesis of cationic quantum dots via a two-step ligand exchange process

A new class of quaternary ammonium derivatives has been used to synthesize cationic CdSe/ZnS quantum dots with exceptional stability in water as well as in biological media.     

Antibacterial characteristics and activity of water-soluble chitosan derivatives prepared by the Maillard reaction

The antibacterial activity of water-soluble chitosan derivatives prepared by Maillard reactions against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, and Salmonella typhimurium was examined. Relatively high antibacterial activity against various microorganisms was noted for the chitosan-glucosamine derivative as compared to the acid-soluble chitosan. In addition, it was found that the susceptibility of the test organisms to the water-soluble chitosan derivative was higher in deionized water than in saline solution. Metal ions were also found to reduce the antibacterial activity of the water-soluble chitosan derivative on S. aureus. The marked increase in glucose level, protein content and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity was observed in the cell supernatant of S. aureus exposed to the water-soluble chitosan derivative in deionized water. The results suggest that the water-soluble chitosan produced by Maillard reaction may be a promising commercial substitute for acid-soluble chitosan.     

Synthesis of hexagonal ZnO clubs with opposite faces of unequal dimensions for the photoanode of dye-sensitized solar cells

Novel sub-micro sized hexagonal clubs of ZnO (HC-ZnO), which are coated as a scattering layer (SL) for the photoanode of a DSSC, are synthesized. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the ZnO clubs show clear peaks corresponding to wurtzite crystal phase of ZnO. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) images show that each club has two opposite hexagonal faces (parts) of unequal dimensions. High resolution transmission electron microscopic (HR-TEM) image of a single ZnO club reveals that the ZnO is single crystalline and has wurtzite crystal structure; the image indicates a lattice spacing (d) of 0.26 nm; this is ascribed to the (002) planar spacing of the hexagonal ZnO. A solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency (η) of 3.36% is achieved for the cell with the double layer (DL) film, which is 16% higher than that of the cell with only transparent layer (TL) of commercial ZnO (2.89%) and far higher than that of the cell with SL (0.05%). The η of the cell with the DL (3.36%) could further be improved to 4.28% through the modification of the DL surface with TiO(x). Incident photo-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE) curves, UV-vis absorption spectra, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectra, and electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) are also used to substantiate the results.     

On the Congruences of Some Combinatorial Numbers

In this paper, we apply Lucas' theorem to evaluate the congruences of several combinatorial numbers, including the central Delannoy numbers and a class of Apéry-like numbers, the numbers of noncrossing connected graphs, the numbers of total edges of all noncrossing connected graphs on n vertices, etc. One of these results verifies a conjecture given by Deutsch and Sagan recently. In the end, we use an automaton to explain the idea of our approach.     

The Structure of 3-Phenyl-4-(N-Carbamyl-1,4,2-Oxathiazolimin-3-yl)Sydnone,C11H7N5O4S·0.8 CH2Cl2

The title compound (M_r = 373) crystalizes in the othorhombic space group P bna with a = 10.410(2), b = 11.658(4), c = 23.108(3) Å, V = 2804.4 Å Z = 8. The single crystal intensity data were collected using MoK∞ radiation (λ = 0.7093Å) at room temperature. The crystal and molecular structure was solved with the final agreement index R = 0.039 for 1046 observed reflections. The bond lengths N(1)- C(7) and C(7)-C(8) of the title compound are slightly longer than those of 3-substituted sydnone derivatives. This may be attributed to the steric effect arising from the interaction of the phenyl ring and the 4-substituent with the neighboring atoms of sydnone ring. Both the title compound and 4-acetyl-3-(p-tolyl)sydnone have smaller dihedral angles between the sydnone ring and the plane of the sp² orbital of the double bond of the 4-substituent and both have shorter C(7)-C(9) bond lengths than those of other similar sydnone derivatives.     

Fiber-fault monitoring technique for passive optical networks based on fiber Bragg gratings and semiconductor optical amplifier

A novel monitoring method for in-service fault indemnification in passive optical networks (PONs) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The proposed monitoring technique is based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors and fiber laser scheme, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is used to serve as a gain medium. By detecting the number of the wavelength lasing, the fiber-fault can be monitored without affecting the in-service channels. Moreover, the strain behavior on the FBGs has also been discussed.     

Photoluminescence from ordered and disordered Si-SiGe superlattices

Ordered (Ord-SL) and disordered (Dis-SL) Si-SiGe superlattices are grown using ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapour deposition (UHVCVD). The results of cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and high-resolution double crystal x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) indicate that high quality Si-SiGe superlattices can be achieved. Well-defined band-edge excitonic luminescence is observed for the Si_0.86Ge_0.14-Si superlattice. Stronger phosoluminescence (PL) is observed for the Si-SiGe disordered superlattice compared with the corresponding Si-SiGe ordered superlattice. Furthermore, PL peak energy of the Dis-SL shifts to lower value with respect to the peak position of the corresponding Ord-SL. The stronger intensity of the no-phonon (NP) peak and the red shift of the PL peak are possibly a result of two probable mechanisms: (i) the tunnelling effect and (ii) the formation of localized states.