Plasmid DNA isolation using amino-silica coated magnetic nanoparticles (ASMNPs)

A simple and efficient approach for the rapid isolation of plasmid DNA from crude cell lysates has been described. The approach took advantage of the amino-modified silica coated magnetic nanoparticles (ASMNPs) with positive zeta potential at neutral pH and superparamagnetism under the external magnetic fields. As a demonstration, the pEGFP-N3 plasmid has been concentrated and isolated from the E. coli DH5α transformed with pEGFP-N3 plasmid through electrostatic binding between the positive charge of the amino group of ASMNPs and the negative charge of the phosphate groups of the plasmid DNA. Then the pEGFP-N3 plasmid has been released easily and quickly from the pEGFP-N3 plasmid-ASMNPs complexes with 3 M NaCl. The entire procedure could be carried out by the aid of external magnetic fields in 15 min and eliminate the need of phenol, cesium chloride gradients or other noxious reagents and complexes operation. Moreover, the pEGFP-N3 plasmid obtained by this approach retains biological activity that can be suitable for restriction enzyme digestion and cells transfection with expression of green fluorescence protein.     

非线型聚苯类大分子的研究进展

对支化及树枝状聚苯、环状聚苯、环状聚苯乙炔以及环蕃等几类以苯环为基本结构单元的非线型大分子的研究, 特别是合成作了综述。     

三甲基硅基化反应的研究

本文研究了以水玻璃作为硅酸盐阴离子,按Lentz方法进行的三甲基硅基化反应。在改变反应克分子比例时,可得到不同分子量和硅基化程度的硅树脂,由此说明,在硅基化反应时可能发生聚合、解聚和水解等副反应。对影响硅树脂产率的反应条件和三甲基硅基化树脂的一些物理性质也进行了讨论。     

[M(en)3] (ndt)•H2O的水热合成、晶体结构和光学性能 ( M=NiⅡ, CoⅡ, MnⅡ and ndt=1,5-naphthalenedithiolate )

水热条件下，合成了三个新的配合物[Ni(en)₃] (ndt) ·H₂O 1, [Co(en)₃] (ndt) ·H₂O 2 和[Mn(en)₃] (ndt) ·H₂O 3。晶体结构通过X-射线单晶衍射进行了表征。三个配合物均属于单斜晶系，Cc空间群。[M(en)₃]²⁺阳离子、ndt阴离子和结晶水分子通过氢键自组装出相同结构的三维网。通过紫外-可见-近红外漫反射光谱对这三个配合物的光吸收性能和能带进行了测定。     

α-Al2O3阻氢微观机制研究

采用基于密度泛函理论广义梯度近似下的平面波赝势方法研究了刚玉(α-Al2O3)的阻氢微观机制, 对氢原子在α-Al2O3中的占据结构进行了计算, 发现氢原子占据空隙位置时能量最低, 寻找其过渡态得到活化能为1.59 eV, 利用动力学计算得到了氢原子在α-Al2O3中的扩散系数表达式为D(T)=(3.37×10-7)exp(-1.59/kT). 结果表明, 氢原子占据在α-Al2O3八面体空隙处的结构最稳定; 低温时扩散难以发生; 高温时扩散沿着空隙方向.     

Gas-phase spectroscopy of the unstable sulfur diisocyanate molecule S(NCO)2.

Sulfur diisocyanate is generated from a heterogeneous reaction of gaseous sulfur dichloride with silver cyanate and studied for the first time in the gas phase. Combined with quantum chemical calculations, the electronic structure is characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES). Simultaneously, an investigation of the possible ionization and dissociation processes for the molecular cation is presented based on experimental soft ionization mass spectrometry. From the calculated bond-dissociation energies, the dissociation pathway is determined. S(NCO)2+ undergoes 1,3-sigmatropic rearrangement with a smaller barrier height (9.9 kcal mol(-1)) than the neutral counterpart. Thus, the 1,3-sigmatropic rearrangement is preferred for the molecular cation, and OCNCO+ and NS+ is produced by subsequent dissociation of the rearrangement product. The analysis agrees very well with the experimental mass spectrum.     

Assembly of well-aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes in confined polyacrylonitrile environments: electrospun composite nanofiber sheets

Highly oriented, large area continuous composite nanofiber sheets made from surface-oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were successfully developed using electrospinning. The preferred orientation of surface-oxidized MWNTs along the fiber axis was determined with transmission electron microscopy and electron diffraction. The surface morphology and height profile of the composite nanofibers were also investigated using an atomic force microscope in tapping mode. For the first time, it was observed that the orientation of the carbon nanotubes within the nanofibers was much higher than that of the PAN polymer crystal matrix as detected by two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray diffraction experiments. This suggests that not only surface tension and jet elongation but also the slow relaxation of the carbon nanotubes in the nanofibers are determining factors in the orientation of carbon nanotubes. The extensive fine absorption structure detected via UV/vis spectroscopy indicated that charge-transfer complexes formed between the surface-oxidized nanotubes and negatively charged (-CN[triple bond]N:) functional groups in PAN during electrospinning, leading to a strong interfacial bonding between the nanotubes and surrounding polymer chains. As a result of the highly anisotropic orientation and the formation of complexes, the composite nanofiber sheets possessed enhanced electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, thermal deformation temperature, thermal stability, and dimensional stability. The electrical conductivity of the PAN/MWNT composite nanofibers containing 20 wt % nanotubes was enhanced to approximately 1 S/cm. The tensile modulus values of the compressed composite nanofiber sheets were improved significantly to 10.9 and 14.5 GPa along the fiber winding direction at the MWNT loading of 10 and 20 wt %, respectively. The thermal deformation temperature increased with increased MWNT loading. The thermal expansion coefficient of the composite nanofiber sheets was also reduced by more than an order of magnitude to 13 x 10(-6)/ degrees C along the axis of aligned nanofibers containing 20 wt % MWNTs.     

Influence of organic bases on constructing 3D photoluminescent open metal-organic polymeric frameworks

Four three-dimensional non-interpenetrating open coordination frameworks constructed from the CTC ligand (CTC =cis,cis-1,3,5-cyclohexanetricarboxylate) coordinated to metal ions (Mn(II) and Cd(II)): Mn(3)(CTC)(2)(DMF)(2)(1); Cd(3)(CTC)(2)(H(2)O)(3).H(2)O (2); Cd(3)(CTC)(2)(4,4'-bpy)(2)(EG)(2)(3); Cd(3)(CTC)(2)(mu(2)-hmt)(DMF)(C(2)H(5)OH)(H(2)O).2H(2)O (4)(DMF = dimethylformamide and EG = ethylene glycol) have been synthesized by slow evaporation of DMF-C(2)H(5)OH-H(2)O solutions of M(II)(Mn(II) or Cd(II)) and CTC in the presence of the organic bases TEA (triethylamine), TEA, 4,4'-bpy (4,4'-bipyridine) and hmt (hexamethylenetetramine), respectively, and structurally characterized by X-ray crystallography. The polymer constructed by CTC and Mn(II) exhibits a 3-D architecture with 5 x 9 A channels; the polymer formed by CTC and Cd(II) exists a 3-D extended framework with 9 x 9 A channels; wave-like sheet subunits of the polymer are upheld by 4,4'-bpy ligands resulting in a 3-D framework with 4 x 10 A channels; two-fold alternate sheet subunits of the polymer are interlinked by mu(2)-hmt ligands to form a novel 3-D architecture with 7 x 8 A channels. Polymers exhibit their strongest excitation peaks at 391, 390 and 394 nm, respectively, and their main strong emission peaks are at 543, 460 (with a shoulder peak at about 570 nm) and 557 nm, respectively.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Optical Properties of ZnO Nanostructured Films Directly Grown from/on Zinc Substrates

Uniform ZnO nanorods arrays are grown directly from and on Zn foils in pure water under hydrothermal conditions at a relatively low temperature. The nanorods are 80–200 nm in diameter and ∼ 1 μm in length, which grow on the Zn foil along the [001] direction. By changing the pure water to a urea solution, a Zn compound ([Zn₅(OH)₆(CO₃)₂], a precursor of ZnO nanoflowers film, is created by self-assembly. The ZnO nanoflowers film can be easily obtained by heating the [Zn₅(OH)₆(CO₃)₂] compound in N₂ at 350∘C for 5–6 hours. Possible growth processes of the ZnO nanorods arrays and the [Zn₅(OH)₆(CO₃)₂] nanoflowers are discussed. Photoluminescence properties of the as-prepared ZnO nanostructures have been measured. The ZnO nanorods array synthesized using our method has minimal defects so that only band-gap emission is observed. However, the ZnO nanoflowers film, obtained by heating the [Zn₅(OH)₆(CO₃)₂] nanoflower precursor in N₂, is polycrystalline and displays strong defect-related emission.     

Gaseous nitryl azide N4O2: A joint theoretical and experimental study

Gaseous nitryl azide N₄O₂ is generated by the heterogeneous reaction of gaseous ClNO₂ with freshly prepared AgN₃ at −50 °C. The geometric and electronic structure of the molecule in the gas phase has been characterized by in situ photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and quantum chemical calculations. The experimental first vertical ionization energy of N₄O₂ is 11.39 eV, corresponding to the ionization of an electron on the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) {4a″(π_{nb(N4–N5–N6)})}⁻¹. An apparent vibrational spacing of 1600 ± 60 cm⁻¹ (ν_asO1N2O3) on the second band at 12.52 eV (π_{nb(O1–N2–O3)}) further confirms the preference of energetically stable chain structure in the gas phase. To complement the experimental results, the potential-energy surface of this structurally novel transient molecule is discussed. Both calculations and spectroscopic results suggest that the molecule adopts a trans-planar chain structure, and a five-membered ring decomposition pathway is more favorable.