Partitioning Solvophobic and Dispersion Forces in Alkyl and Perfluoroalkyl Cohesion

Fluorocarbons often have distinct miscibility properties compared to their nonfluorinated analogues. These differences may be attributed to van der Waals dispersion forces or solvophobic effects, but their contributions are notoriously difficult to separate in molecular recognition processes. Here, molecular torsion balances were used to compare cohesive alkyl and perfluoroalkyl interactions in a range of solvents. A simple linear regression enabled the energetic partitioning of solvophobic and van der Waals forces in the self‐association of apolar chains. The contributions of dispersion interactions in apolar cohesion were found to be strongly attenuated in solution compared to the gas phase, but still play a major role in fluorous and organic solvents. In contrast, solvophobic effects were found to be dominant in driving the association of apolar chains in aqueous solution. The results are expected to assist the computational modelling of van der Waals forces in solution.     

Synergetic Spin Crossover and Fluorescence in One‐Dimensional Hybrid Complexes

Hybrid materials integrated with a variety of physical properties, such as spin crossover (SCO) and fluorescence, may show synergetic effects that find applications in many fields. Herein we demonstrate a promising post‐synthetic approach to achieve such materials by grafting fluorophores (1‐pyrenecarboxaldehyde and Rhodamine B) on one‐dimensional SCO Fe^II structures. The resulting hybrid materials display expected one‐step SCO behavior and fluorescent properties, in particular showing a coupling between the transition temperature of SCO and the temperature where the fluorescent intensity reverses. Consequently, synergetic effect between SCO and fluorescence is incorporated into materials despite different fluorophores. This study provides an effective strategy for the design and development of novel magnetic and optical materials.     

Cooperative Lewis Pairs Based on Late Transition Metals: Activation of Small Molecules by Platinum(0) and B(C6F5)3

A Lewis basic platinum(0)–CO complex supported by a diphosphine ligand and B(C₆F₅)₃ act cooperatively, in a manner reminiscent of a frustrated Lewis pair, to activate small molecules such as hydrogen, CO₂, and ethene. This cooperative Lewis pair facilitates the coupling of CO and ethene in a new way.     

Acceleration of Acetal Hydrolysis by Remote Alkoxy Groups: Evidence for Electrostatic Effects on the Formation of Oxocarbenium Ions

In contrast to observations with carbohydrates, experiments with 4‐alkoxy‐substituted acetals indicate that an alkoxy group can accelerate acetal hydrolysis by up to 20‐fold compared to substrates without an alkoxy group. The acceleration of ionization in more flexible acetals can be up to 200‐fold when compensated for inductive effects.     

In vitro evaluation of antiproliferative effect of ethyl gallate against human oral squamous carcinoma cell line KB

Although some polyphenols are known to possess anticancer activity against different cancer cell lines through induction of apoptosis, the mode of antiproliferative effect of ethyl gallate against human oral squamous carcinoma cell line KB was not studied until now. Therefore, the antiproliferative effect of ethyl gallate was evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay in comparison with the reference drug paclitaxel. Generation of reactive oxygen species, mitochondrial membrane potential loss, DNA damage and apoptosis were determined using 2,7-diacetyldichlorofluorescein fluorescence, uptake of rhodamine-123 by mitochondria, comet assay and acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual-dye staining method. Both ethyl gallate and paclitaxel exhibited cytotoxicity in a dose-dependent manner. The 50% inhibitory concentration for ethyl gallate was 30 and 20 μg/mL for paclitaxel. A volume of 50 μg/mL of ethyl gallate was found to be significantly effective (P < 0.05) in controlling the cancer cell proliferation leading to acute apoptosis.     

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of essential oil from aerial parts of Teucrium flavum L. subsp. flavum growing spontaneously in Tunisia

The objectives of this study were to chemically characterise and evaluate the antioxidant potential of the essential oil from Teucrium flavum L. subsp. flavum growing spontaneously in Tunisia. The volatile oil was extracted by hydrodistillation of the aerial parts in a Clevenger type apparatus. Forty constituents were identified via GC and GC-MS analysis. β-caryophyllene (32.5%) and α-humulene (17.8%) were the most abundant components. The evaluation of free radical scavenging activity using stable DPPH free radical showed that the volatile oil exhibits a moderate antioxidant activity and reduces DPPH to 50% at EC₅₀ value of 1230 μg mL^? 1.     

Study of the matrix effects of tetrodotoxin and its content in cooked seafood by liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry

Tetrodotoxin is a marine biotoxin with high acute toxicity. The levels in cooked seafood will help us to assess its intake in humans and may help assess the risk of toxicity. However, heavy matrices hinder the direct quantitation of tetrodotoxin. A quantitative method of measuring tetrodotoxin in cooked seafood using liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry was established in this study. Tetrodotoxin was extracted from the sample matrix using 2% formic acid in methanol and cleaned using a cation exchange cartridge. The cleanup conditions were optimized. The matrix effects were determined using the postextraction spiking method and by comparing the slope of the linear regression equation in sample matrix to that in solvent. The limit of detection in the sample matrix was 5 μg/kg and the limit of quantification was 10 μg/kg. The mean recoveries at three spiking levels were 66.9–89.2% with relative standard deviations of 5.0–10.8% (n = 6) in five different matrices. Tetrodotoxin was found at concentrations of 26.1–2462 μg/kg in nine of 83 cooked seafoods tested in this study. Eight analogs of Tetrodotoxin were detected in the samples studied.     

Altering the Position of Phenyl Substitution to Adjust Film Morphology and Memory Device Performance

In this study, two structural isomers α‐PBT and β‐PBT, which only differ in the phenyl substituent position on the quinoline chromophore, have been designed and successfully synthesized. The influences of substituent position on the film morphology and the storage performance of the devices were investigated. Both molecules employed in the memory devices exhibited same nonvolatile binary (write‐once‐read‐many‐times; WORM) characteristics, but the switch threshold voltage (Vth) of the β‐PBT‐based device was clearly lower than that of the α‐PBT‐based device. Simulation results demonstrate that the variation of the phenyl substituent position led to different intermolecular stacking styles and thus to varied grain sizes for each film morphology. This work illustrates that altering the phenyl substituent position on the molecular backbone could improve the quality of the film morphology and reduce power consumption, which is good for the rational design of future advanced organic memory devices (OMDs).