A Planar‐Chiral Rhodium(III) Catalyst with a Sterically Demanding Cyclopentadienyl Ligand and Its Application in the Enantioselective Synthesis of Dihydroisoquinolones

The rapid development of enantioselective C?H activation reactions has created a demand for new types of catalysts. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel planar‐chiral rhodium catalyst [(C₅H₂^tBu₂CH₂^tBu)RhI₂]₂ in two steps from commercially available [(cod)RhCl]₂ and tert‐butylacetylene. Pure enantiomers of the catalyst were obtained through separation of its diastereomeric adducts with natural (S)‐proline. The catalyst promoted enantioselective reactions of aryl hydroxamic acids with strained alkenes to give dihydroisoquinolones in high yields (up to 97 %) and with good stereoselectivity (up to 95 % ee).     

Catalytic Three‐Component Machinery: Control of Catalytic Activity by Machine Speed

Three supramolecular slider‐on‐deck systems DS1 – DS3 were obtained as two‐component aggregates from the sliders S1 – S3 and deck D with its three zinc porphyrin (ZnPor) binding sites. The binding of the two‐footed slider to the deck varies with the donor qualities of and the steric hindrance at the pyridine/pyrimidine (pyr) feet, and was effected by two N_pyr→ZnPor interactions. Accordingly, the sliders move over the three zinc porphyrins in the deck at different speeds, namely with 32.2, 220, and 440 kHz at room temperature. The addition of N‐methylpyrrolidine as an organocatalyst to DS1 – DS3 generates catalytic three‐component machineries. By using a conjugate addition as a probe reaction, we observed a correlation between the operating speed of the slider‐on‐deck systems and the yields of the catalytic reaction. As the thermodynamic binding of the slider decreases, both the frequency of the sliding motion and the yield of the catalytic reaction increase.     

Two polymorphs of chlorpropamide: the δ‐form and the high‐temperature ɛ‐form

The ɛ‐form of chlorpropamide [systematic name: 4‐chloro‐N‐(propylaminocarbonyl)benzenesulfonamide], C₁₀H₁₃ClN₂O₃S, has been obtained as single crystals from solution (and not as a polycrystalline sample by heating the α‐, γ‐ or δ‐forms). The results of anisotropic structure refinements for the ɛ‐ and δ‐forms are reported. The density of the δ‐polymorph is the highest, and that of the ɛ‐polymorph the lowest, among the five known chlorpropamide polymorphs. The main intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding pattern in polymorphs δ and ɛ is the same as in polymorphs α, β and γ, but the conformations differ. The densities of the polymorphs were found to depend on the molecular conformations.     

Electrophoresis-Assisted Multilayer Assembly of Nanoparticles for Sensitive Lateral Flow Immunoassay**

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is a rapid, simple, and inexpensive point-of-need method. A major limitation of LFIA is a high limit of detection (LOD), which impacts its diagnostic sensitivity. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a signal-enhancement procedure that is performed after completing LFIA and involves controllably moving biotin- and streptavidin-functionalized gold nanoparticles by electrophoresis. The nanoparticles link to immunocomplexes forming multilayer aggregates on the test strip, thus, enhancing the signal. Here, we demonstrate lowering the LOD of hepatitis B surface antigen from approximately 8 to 0.12 ng mL⁻¹, making it clinically acceptable. Testing 118 clinical samples for hepatitis B showed that signal enhancement increased the diagnostic sensitivity of LFIA from 73 % to 98 % while not affecting its 95 % specificity. Electrophoresis-driven enhancement of LFIA is universal (antigen-independent), takes two minutes, and can be performed by an untrained person.     

Immunoassay based on peroxidase silver conjugate for the determination of human immunoglobulins against tick-borne borreliosis (lyme disease) by voltammetry and spectrophotometry

In this work two strategies for the synthesis of peroxidase silver conjugates for the qualitative and quantitative determination of immunoglobulins (IgG) to ixodid tick-borne borreliosis (ITBB) (Lyme disease) in human serum were proposed. The first approach for Ab-HRP@AgNP conjugate synthesis involved silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) capped with a commercial peroxidase conjugate (Ab-HRP) by passive adsorption. The second strategy was based on the initial coupling of Ag NPs with human anti-species antibodies (Ab) by passive adsorption followed by the introduction of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzyme into the reaction mixture as a blocking reagent for Ab@AgNP@HRP conjugate synthesis. The formation of peroxidase silver conjugates was proved by UV/Vis spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The catalytic activity of Ab-HRP@AgNP and Ab@AgNP@HRP conjugates was evaluated by Michaelis-Menten kinetics. A commercially available 96-well microtiter plate with recombinant antigens to ITBB was used as a platform for immobilization of analyzed IgG. The HRP in Ab-HRP@AgNP conjugate was found to retain a sufficient level of activity for interaction with the H₂O₂ substrate to form an intensely colored reaction product. Therefore Ab-HRP@AgNP conjugate can be used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with spectrophotometric detection of 3,3’,5,5’-Tetramethylbenzidine (TMB Ox) for quantitative determination of IgG to ITBB in human serum in the concentration range 12.5–800 ng ml⁻¹ with LOD 2 ng ml⁻¹. Ab@AgNP@HRP conjugate is recommended for the electrochemical determination of IgG to ITBB in human serum at LOD 3 ng ml⁻¹ with registration of silver oxidation by linear sweep anodic stripping voltammetry (LSASV). Ag NPs in Ab-HRP@AgNP and Ab@AgNP@HRP conjugates do not change electrochemical activity during storage and can be used as an electrochemical label in LSASV method in case of HRP inactivation. The immunoassay based on peroxidase silver conjugates expands the analytical potential for the determination of IgG to ITBB especially during the period of increasing incidence.     

Theory of spin-peierls transitions in chains of exchange clusters

A theoretical approach to the analysis of magnetostructural phase transitions of chain polymeric heterospin complexes is suggested. The approach is based on a model of the spin-Peierls transition in chains of exchange clusters. The chain elasticity parameter is found to be a main factor determining the order of phase transition.     

Option Pricing Under Jump-Diffusion Processes with Regime Switching

We study an incomplete market model, based on jump-diffusion processes with parameters that are switched at random times. The set of equivalent martingale measures is determined. An analogue of the fundamental equation for the option price is derived. In the case of the two-state hidden Markov process we obtain explicit formulae for the option prices. Furthermore, we numerically compare the results corresponding to different equivalent martingale measures.     

Efficient synthetic route toward biologically active γ-carboline derivatives

An efficient and short route was established for the synthesis of anti-bovine viral diarrhea virus agents, namely 4-methyl-γ-carboline (SK4M) 1, 3-methyl-γ-carboline (SK3M) 2, 5-methyl-γ-carboline (SK5M) 3, and a new γ-carboline derivative 4, using thermal electrocyclization reaction as a key step. The evaluation of cytotoxicity of compound 4 against human cervical cancer cell line HeLa and leukemic cell line HL-60 furnished CC₅₀ value of 19.5 and 18.8 µM respectively.     

Mixed Convection in a Ventilated Cavity Filled with a Triangular Porous Layer

Accurate prediction of the macroscopic flow parameters needed to describe flow in porous media relies on a good knowledge of flow field distribution at a much smaller scale—in the pore spaces. The extent of the inertial effect in the pore spaces cannot be underestimated yet is often ignored in large-scale simulations of fluid flow. We present a multiscale method for solving Oseen’s approximation of incompressible flow in the pore spaces amid non-periodic grain patterns. The method is based on the multiscale finite element method [MsFEM Hou and Wu in J Comput Phys 134:169–189, 1997)] and is built in the vein of Crouzeix and Raviart elements (Crouzeix and Raviart in Math Model Numer Anal 7:33–75, 1973). Simulations of inertial flow in highly non-periodic settings are conducted and presented. Convergence studies in terms of numerical errors relative to the reference solution are given to demonstrate the accuracy of our method. The weakly enforced continuity across coarse element edges is shown to maintain accurate solutions in the vicinity of the grains without the need for any oversampling methods. The penalisation method is employed to allow a complicated grain pattern to be modelled using a simple Cartesian mesh. This work is a stepping stone towards solving the more complicated Navier–Stokes equations with a nonlinear inertial term.