Long term stability of organic selenium species in aqueous solutions

Long term stability of organic selenium compounds (selenocystine, selenomethionine, trimethylselenonium ion) has been studied over a one year period for 2 analyte concentrations: 25 and 150 μg/L Se, at pH 4.5 in the dark, under different storage conditions: temperature of –20°C, 4°C, 20°C, 40°C; in Pyrex, Teflon, or polyethylene containers; in an aqueous matrix or in the presence of a chromatographic counter ion (pentyl sulfonate at 10^–4 mol/L concentration). Light effects have also been tested. The stability of the selenium species was monitored by HPLC-ICP/MS. Storage conditions can drastically alter the stability of organic selenium species. Organoselenium compounds were shown to be stable in the dark over a one year period in an aqueous matrix at pH 4.5 in Pyrex containers at both 4°C and 20°C. Pyrex vials exposed to natural sunlight at room temperature resulted in a steady decrease of the selenoamino acid concentration. Teflon containers caused losses of less than 25% at both 4° C and 20° C in the dark. However, polyethylene vials presented, at all temperatures tested, a rapid decrease of the TMSe⁺ concentration. The stability of the Se species studied did not show significant differences between 4° C and 20° C in any container material used. Storage of solutions at 40° C led to slight differences between the Pyrex and Teflon containers. However, polyethylene presented a drastic decrease of the three species over time at this higher temperature. Solutions frozen at –20° C in polyethylene vials did not stabilize the TMSe⁺ signal. Finally, concentrations and matrices of the samples did not significantly affect the stability of the species. Received: 15 July 1996 / Revised: 14 July 1997 / Accepted: 18 July 1997     

Catalyzed Asymmetric Arylation Reactions

Addition and substitution reactions with carbon nucleophiles are fundamental processes in organic synthesis, and the development of general catalytic asymmetric variants thereof is still a major challenge today. In contrast to enantioselective alkyl transfer reactions, the corresponding arylations have not yet reached a high level of maturity. The existing protocols are either of no general applicability or are limited in terms of selectivity. This article summarizes established routes for catalytic asymmetric aryl transfer together with the latest developments in this area. The scope and limitations of this reaction are discussed.     

Atomic Force Microscopy Study of TiO2 Films Obtained by the Sol-Gel Method

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) was used to study the influence of thermal treatments on the structural and textural properties of the sol-gel TiO2 films obtained from Ti(OC3H7i)4. X-ray diffraction (XRD), ellipsometric and porosity measurements have also been made.The TiO2 sol-gel films were homogeneous, transparent and amorphous. Heat treatments in the 400–600°C range indicate that the films have a strong tendency to crystallization. The high initial homogeneity of the TiO2 films was preserved during the crystallization process. AFM shows that the thermally treated films exhibit uniform, monodispersed crystals.     

Hydrophobic Molecular Similarity from MST Fractional Contributions to the Octanol/water Partition Coefficient

Summary The use of a recently proposed hydrophobic similarity index for the alignment of molecules and the prediction of their differences in biological activity is described. The hydrophobic similarity index exploits atomic contributions to the octanol/water transfer free energy, which are evaluated by means of the fractional partitioning scheme developed within the framework of the Miertus-Scrocco-Tomasi continuum model. Those contributions are used to define global and local measures of hydrophobic similarity. The suitability of this computational strategy is examined for two series of compounds (ACAT inhibitors and 5-HT₃ receptor agonists), which are aligned to maximize the global hydrophobic similarity using a Monte Carlo-simulated protocol. Indeed, the concept of local hydrophobic similarity is used to explore structure–activity relationships in a series of COX-2 inhibitors. Inspection of the 3D distribution of hydrophobic/hydrophilic contributions in the aligned molecules is valuable to identify regions of very similar hydrophobicity, which can define pharmacophoric recognition patterns. Moreover, low similar regions permit to identify structural elements that modulate the differences in activity between molecules. Finally, the quantitative relationships found between the pharmacological activity and the hydrophobic similarity index points out that not only the global hydrophobicity, but its 3D distribution, is important to gain insight into the activity of molecules. J.M.M. and S.P. have contributed equally to this study.     

ELECTROCHEMICAL POLYMERIZATION OF ANILINE IN PHOSPHORIC ACID AND THE PROPERTIES OF POLYANILINE

The behavior of the electrochemical polymerization of aniline in a weak acid, phosphoric acid, is very similar to that in strong acids, i.e. its polymerization rate increases quickly with the electrolysis time. The FTIR spectra of polyaniline samples synthesized in phosphoric acid indicate that the counter ion H2PO4^- is present in both the oxidized form and the reduced form of polyaniline. The counter ion plays an important role in adjusting the pH value at the electrode surface of polyaniline during the oxidation and reduction processes. As a result, a pair of redox peaks still appear in cyclic voltammograms of polyaniline in a solution of sodium sulfate of pH 5.5 and in a solution of NaH2PO4 of pH 7.0,respectively, at low potential scan rate; and the color of polyaniline film also changes with applied potential at pH 7.0. Thus,the pH region for the electrochemical activity and the electrochromism of polyaniline is extended to pH 5.5 for a solution of sodium sulfate and to pH 7.0 for a solution of NaH2PO4. The conductivity of polyaniline is 3.3 S cm^-1, depending on the concentration of phosphoric acid used in the stage of polymerization of aniline. The result of elemental analysis of polyaniline is presented here.     

掺杂阴离子对电化学合成的聚邻甲苯胺性质的影响

邻甲苯胺在酸性介质中的聚合速率与酸的种类有关,聚合速率影响了各种掺杂阴离子聚合物膜的形态,聚合物的电导率、循环伏安曲线形状受掺杂阴离子的影响,其电容量与掺杂阴离子的种类及形态有关,阴离子的种类对电极电位和紫外-可见光谱无影响。     

Photochemically induced fluorescence investigation of aβ-cyclodextrin: Azure A inclusion complex and determination of analytical parameters

The photooxidation of Azure A and fluorescence properties of Azure A and its photoproduct have been investigated in aqueous media and in the presence of-cyclodextrin (-CD). The fluorescence intensity of the complex formed between the photoproduct and -CD was found to be three times higher than that of the uncomplexed Azure A photoproduct. A complex formation constant of 110±40 M^–1 was calculated using the Benesi-Hildebrand treatment of the fluorescence emission data. Although the stoichiometry of the Azure A photoproduct: -CD complex was found to be 1: 1, it seems that the Azure A structure is only partially included. Calibration graphs were plotted for the free Azure A photoproduct and the photogenerated product included in -CD. The analytical parameters and quantification limits were determined.     

邻苯二酚的高效液相色谱分析

本文提出了邻苯二酚成品质量的高效液相色谱分析方法。     

STM study on quinacridone derivative assemblies: modulation of the two-dimensional structure by coadsorption with dicarboxylic acids

We describe the two-dimensional (2D) assemblies of N,N'-dialkyl-substituted quinacridone derivatives on highly orientated pyrolytic graphite observed by scanning tunneling microscopy, and focus our discussion on whether the supramolecular organization can be modulated by the coadsorption of dicarboxylic acids. Our experiments have demonstrated that the quinacridone derivatives can form different 2D nanostructures when coadsorbed with dicarboxylic acids of different length at the liquid/graphite interface. Interestingly, N,N'-dihexadecyl-substituted quinacridone derivative alternately takes two different conformations in two columns for its coadsorption with pentadecanedioic acid and form a gridlike structure. It is shown that a cooperative effect of different interactions can be modulated by introducing guest molecule, leading to formation of different self-assembled nanostructures.     

Carbohydrate-based DNA ligands: sugar-oligoamides as a tool to study carbohydrate-nucleic acid interactions

Sugar-oligoamides have been designed and synthesized as structurally simple carbohydrate-based ligands to study carbohydrate-DNA interactions. The general design of the ligands 1-3 has been done as to favor the bound conformation of Distamycin-type gamma-linked covalent dimers which is a hairpin conformation. Indeed, NMR analysis of the sugar-oligoamides in the free state has indicated the presence of a percentage of a hairpin conformation in aqueous solution. The DNA binding activity of compounds 1-3 was confirmed by calf thymus DNA (ct-DNA) NMR titration. Interestingly, the binding of the different sugar-oligoamides seems to be modulated by the sugar configuration. Semiquantitative structural information about the DNA ligand complexes has been derived from NMR data. A competition experiment with Netropsin suggested that the sugar-oligoamide 3 bind to DNA in the minor groove. The NMR titrations of 1-3 with poly(dA-dT) and poly(dG-dC) suggested preferential binding to the ATAT sequence. TR-NOE NMR experiments for the sugar-oligoamide 3-ct-DNA complex both in D(2)O and H(2)O have confirmed the complex formation and given information on the conformation of the ligand in the bound state. The data confirmed that the sugar-oligoamide ligand is a hairpin in the bound state. Even more relevant to our goal, structural information on the conformation around the N-glycosidic linkage has been accessed. Thus, the sugar asymmetric centers pointing to the NH-amide and N-methyl rims of the molecule have been characterized.