Biosynthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyalkanoates) by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains

Biosynthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) consisting of 3-hydroxyalkanoates (3HAs) of 4 to 10 carbon atoms was examined in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains. When the fadA and/or fadB mutant E. coli strains harboring the plasmid containing the Pseudomonas sp. 61-3 phaC2 gene and the Ralstonia eutropha phaAB genes were cultured in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium supplemented with 2 g/L of sodium decanoate, all the recombinant E. coli strains synthesized PHAs consisting of C4, C6, C8, and C10 monomer units. The monomer composition of PHA was dependent on the E. coli strain used. When the fadA mutant E. coli was employed, PHA containing up to 63 mol% of 3-hydroyhexanoate was produced. In fadB and fadAB mutant E. coli strains, 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) was efficiently incorporated into PHA up to 86 mol%. Cultivation of recombinant fadA and/or fadB mutant E. coli strains in LB medium containing 10 g/L of sodium gluconate and 2 g/L of sodium decanoate resulted in the production of PHA copolymer containing a very high fraction of 3HB up to 95 mol%. Since the material properties of PHA copolymer consisting of a large fraction of 3HB and a small fraction of medium-chain-length 3HA are similar to those of low-density polyethylene, recombinant E. coli strains constructed in this study should be useful for the production of PHAs suitable for various commercial applications.     

乙酰化淀粉/DL-丙交酯接枝共聚物的合成及降解性能研究

用醋酸乙烯酯和玉米淀粉反应制备出了不同取代度乙酰化淀粉，再用乙酰化淀粉同DL－丙交酯接枝共聚合成乙酰化淀粉／DL－丙交酯接枝共聚物。研究了原料配比，淀粉取代度对接枝反应单体转化率（C％），接枝率（G％）接枝效率（GE％）和接枝支链数均分子量（Mn)的影响，结果表明在给定的试验条件下接枝共聚反应的C％，G％，GE％和Mn可分别达到40％，225％，80％和1．4万。接枝共聚物在磷酸缓冲溶液和户外土壤掩埋降解实验表明，在160天内样品失重率分别为71％和60％，表明合成的乙酰化淀粉／DL－丙交酯接枝共聚物具有很好的降解性能。     

乳液聚合共聚物玻璃化转变温度及其理论计算

从共聚单体的竞聚率、油相水相分布系数出发,通过动力学模拟计算了丙烯酸丁酯与醋酸乙烯酯乳液共聚物的链结构,并用Johnson公式对其玻璃化转变温度(T_g)进行了理论计算,给出了共聚物T_g及其对应聚合物的重量分布图。发现半连续共聚物有1个T_g,其值随共聚物组成而变化;但一步法共聚物有两个T_g:低温区T_g代表富丙烯酸丁酯共聚物,高温区T_g则代表PVA均聚物。计算结果与实验十分吻合。     

两亲性丙烯酸酯共聚物的聚合研究

利用过氧化苯甲酰为引发剂探讨了甲基丙烯酸β－羟乙酯和丙烯酸长链烷基酯的自由基共聚合。重点讨论了合成条件如溶剂、沉淀剂、引发剂用量、单体配比、反应时间等对共聚反应的影响以及各种聚合条件对该共聚物的组成、结构和性能的影响。并用ＩＲ，ＧＰＣ，＾１３ＣＮＭＲ等手段对共聚物进行了表征。     

Quantitative thermogravimetric analysis of binary mixtures

Thermogravimetric analysis is used to determine the amounts of Mg(OH)₂ and Mg(CH₃COO)₂in a mixture thereof. The application and suitability of different analysis methods are discussed. In the first method the mass losses in the temperature ranges as indicated by the decomposition of the pure compounds were used. Results obtained using these temperature ranges were unusable. The percentage mass losses due to the decomposition of Mg(OH)₂ and Mg(CH₃COO)₂ were then determined in a second method using the minimum in the derivative mass vs. temperature curves. The results obtained by this method compared well with the actual values for mixtures containing more than 15% magnesium acetate. The third method employed the total experimental mass loss of both decomposition reactions. The results obtained using this method compared well to the actual values, giving a R ² value of more than 0.99. This method of using the total mass losses can however only be used for binary mixtures that consist only of magnesium hydroxide and magnesium acetate. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cycloaddition reactions of β-trifluoroacetylvinyl ethers

β-Trifluoroacetyl vinyl ethers ROCHCHCOCF₃ react smoothly as dienophiles with α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds to give the unexpected 2-alkoxyl-5-trifluoroacetyl-3,4-dihydro-2H pyrans. These products are formed by elimination and addition of the alcohol to the products of the normal hetero Diels-Alder reaction (2-alkoxyl-3-trifluoroacetyl-2,3-dihydro-2H pyrans). In contrast, 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of ROCHCHCOCF₃ with ArCHN(O)Me proceeds via a Z-endo transition state to give regio- and stereospecific 4-trifluoroacetyl substituted isoxazolidines and their derivatives.     

Synthesis, characterization and thermal studies on cellulose acetate membranes with additive

Cellulose acetate (CA) membranes are used in ultrafiltration applications, although they show low chemical, mechanical and thermal resistance. In order to prepare membranes with improved properties, modification of cellulose acetate with polyethelene glycol (PEG 600) has been attempted. In this study, CA has been mixed with PEG 600 as an additive in a polar solvent. The effects of CA composition and additive concentration given by a mixture design of experiments on membrane compaction, pure water flux, water content and membrane hydraulic resistance have been studied and discussed. The efficiency of protein separation by the developed CA membranes have been quantified using model proteins such as pepsin, egg albumin (EA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The thermal stability of the developed membranes prepared with PEG 600 additive has also been investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry.     

Application of solid phase peptide synthesis to engineering PEO–peptide block copolymers for drug delivery

This work describes a simple, versatile solid-phase peptide-synthesis (SPPS) method for preparing micelle-forming poly(ethylene oxide)-block-peptide block copolymers for drug delivery. To demonstrate its utility, this SPPS method was used to construct two series of micelle-forming block copolymers (one of constant core-composition and variable length; the other of constant core length and variable composition). The block copolymers were then used to study in detail the effect of size and composition on micellization. The various block copolymers were prepared by a combination of SPPS for the peptide block, followed by solution–phase conjugation of the peptide block with a proprionic acid derivative of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) to form the PEO-b-peptide block copolymer. The composition of each block component was characterized by mass spectrometry (MALDI and ES-MS). Block copolymer compositions were characterized by ¹H NMR. All the block copolymers were found to form micelles as judged by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and light scattering analysis. To demonstrate their potential as drug delivery systems, micelles prepared from one member of the PEO-b-peptide block copolymer series were physically loaded with the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). Micelle static and dynamic stability were found to correlate strongly with micelle core length. In contrast, these same micellization properties appear to be a complex function of core composition, and no clear trends could be identified from among the set of compositionally varying, fixed length block copolymer micelles. We conclude that SPPS can be used to construct biocompatible block copolymers with well-defined core lengths and compositions, which in turn can be used to study and to tailor the behavior of block copolymer micelles.     

以廉价国产化试剂合成大孔径高度有序介孔氧化硅分子筛

新一代大孔径（１～３０nm）介孔分子筛在大分子转化、吸附、生物大分子分离以及电磁、传感器、光电子等领域均具有广泛的应用前景犤１～４犦。由昂贵的长链有机季铵盐阳离子表面活性剂为模板合成的MCM－４１介孔分子筛，由于其孔径小，水热稳定性差，受到了较大的限制。与其相比，以嵌段高分子共聚物为模板剂合成的介孔分子筛SBA－１５具有孔径均一，有序度高，并且其孔径大以及水热性能良好等优点，近年来得到了广泛的研究犤５～９犦。其骨架上修饰有机硅烷，可用于重金属的分离、回收，以及蛋白质的控释与分离。利用主－客体方法在SB…     

聚醚醚酮酮和含联苯聚醚醚酮酮共聚物的熔融热

根据Ｆｌｏｒｙ热力学统计理论和比容－熔融热作国法，由ＤＳＣ结果得到了不同联苯含量的聚醚醚酮酮－含联苯聚醚醚酮酮（ＰＥＥＫＫ－ＰＥＢＥＫＫ）共聚物的熔融热，两种方法获得的结果吻合。在此基础上给出了ＰＥＥＫＫ－ＰＥＢＥＫＫ共聚物不同联苯含量的熔点计算表达式。结果还表明，随着联苯含量ｎＢ，的变化，明显改变；当ｎＢ＝０．３５时，ＰＥＥＫＫＰＥＢＥＫＫ共聚物的值最小。