Two Polymorphs of (Anilinium)(18-Crown-6)[Ni(dmit)2]: Structure and Magnetic Properties

Two polymorphs of monovalent [Ni(dmit)₂]⁻ (dmit²⁻=2-thioxo-1,3-dithiole-4,5-dithiolate) crystals A and B, (anilinium)(18-crown-6)[Ni(dmit)₂], were prepared, and the structure and magnetic properties were investigated. In these crystals, the [Ni(dmit)₂]⁻ molecules form dimers, which arranged into chains between the supramolecular cation structure (anilinium)(18-crown-6). In crystal A, supramolecular cation formed a regular stack, inducing ladder structure of [Ni(dmit)₂], whose magnetism had been well fitted by spin ladder equation with the spin gap of Δ=190 K. Crystal B is ca. 3% more densely packed compared to crystal A. Due to the dense packing, supramolecular cation stack is distorted, which prevented the intermolecular interaction between [Ni(dmit)₂]⁻ dimers in direction corresponds to the ladder-leg direction in crystal A. Reflecting the [Ni(dmit)₂]⁻ arrangement, crystal B showed a temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility well reproduced by the singlet-triplet thermal activation model, whose antiferromagnetic exchange interaction (2J) was 140 K.     

Selective desorption and analysis of humic substances on suspended particles in river water

The elemental analysis and morphology of individual particles indicate that the dominant suspended particles in river water are kaolin covered with hydrated iron(III) oxide which strongly sorbs humic substances. Suspended particles, about 1 mg, collected from 250 ml of water by centrifugation, are treated with 0.7 ml of 0.1M sodium hydroxide to desorb humic substances. Approximately 60% of copper and 30% of lead on or in suspended particles exist as humic complexes.     

Preparation and characterization of silicalite-1 membranes prepared by secondary growth of seeds with different crystal sizes

MFI-type zeolite particles of 0.1–1 μm in diameter were prepared by adjusting tetra-n-propylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH) and water contents in synthesis mixtures. Using those particles as seeds, MFI-type zeolite membranes were prepared on the surface of a porous mullite tube by secondary growth. The membranes were formed as polycrystalline zeolite layers on and inside the porous support, and the membranes were composed of the [h 0 h]-oriented crystallites. The membrane consisting of a-oriented crystallites could be also prepared. However, the a-oriented zeolite layers were not active on the permeation properties of butanes. Rather the size and loaded amount of the seed particles influenced on the permeation properties through the membranes. As a result, the n-C₄H₁₀/i-C₄H₁₀ permselectivity could be increased to 220 by adjusting the size and the loaded amount of particles. These results suggest that the number of loaded particles affects on the permeation properties through the membranes.     

Speciation of mercury in salmon egg cell cytoplasm in relation with metallomics research

Speciation of mercury in salmon egg cell cytoplasm was investigated by surfactant-mediated high-performance liquid chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC/ICP-MS), where an ODS (octadecylsilica) column coated with a bile acid derivative, CHAPS (3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propane sulfonate), was used for species separation. Prior to the speciation analysis, total Hg in the cell cytoplasm was determined by ICP-MS at m/z 202 in a flow injection mode. For the precise measurement, salmon egg cell cytoplasm was diluted five-fold with 0.1 M Tris (Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane)-HNO₃ buffer solution, and the standard addition method was employed. Thus, the total concentration of Hg in cell cytoplasm was estimated to be 12.4 ng g⁻¹ on the wet weight basis. Next, the cell cytoplasm diluted five-fold with 0.1 M Tris-HNO₃ buffer solution was analyzed by surfactant-mediated HPLC with the dual detection system of a UV absorption detector and an ICP-MS instrument. Two peaks corresponding to some proteins and small molecules were mainly observed in those chromatograms. When salmon egg cell cytoplasm was diluted five-fold with 0.01 M Tris buffer solution or pure water, some precipitates appeared probably because of precipitation of hydrophobic proteins in cytoplasm. After the precipitates were eliminated with a membrane filter, the filtrate was subjected to the analysis by surfactant-mediated HPLC/UV/ICP-MS. As a result, the peaks for small molecular species of Hg were clearly observed at the retention time near 4.0 min (corresponding to low-molecular weight zone) in the chromatograms with UV absorption detection as well as with Hg- and S-specific ICP-MS detections. The small molecule bound with Hg was identified as cysteine through the cysteine-spiked experiment. In addition, the protein fraction on the chromatogram obtained by using the CHAPS-coated ODS column was further analyzed by SEC (size exclusion chromatography). Consequently, several protein peaks with molecular weight of 300, 50 and 12 kDa were observed in all the detections of UV absorption, Hg and Se, although two peaks among them were coincident in the case of S. These results indicate that Hg in salmon egg cell cytoplasm binds with proteins containing selenocysteine and/or cysteine residues in proteins.     

Contrasteric stereochemical dictation of the cyclobutene ring-opening reaction by a vacant boron p orbital

Cyclobutene, having a pinacolatoboryl group at the 3-position, was prepared by the reaction of trimethyl borate with a cyclobutenyl anion, which was generated by reductive lithiation of 3-(phenylselenyl)cyclobutene. Its thermal ring-opening reaction provided (Z)-1-borylbuta-1,3-diene selectively despite the arising steric congestion. The contrasteric behavior was accounted for by assuming an electron-accepting interaction of the vacant boron p orbital with the distorted breaking sigma orbital in the inward transition state.     

Crystal structures and topochemical polymerizations of 7,7,8,8-tetrakis(alkoxycarbonyl)quinodimethanes

Highly conjugated monomers, 7,7,8,8-tetrakis(alkoxycarbonyl)quinodimethanes (methoxy (1a), ethoxy (1b), isopropoxy (1c), benzyloxy (1d), chloroethoxy (1e), and bromoethoxy (1f)), were synthesized. Recrystallizations of 1a, 1c, 1e, and 1f yielded two crystal forms (prisms (1a-A) and needles (1a-B), needles (1c-A) and plates (1c-B), prisms (1e-A) and plates (1e-B), and prisms (1f-A) and needles (1f-B)), which have different molecular packing modes by X-ray crystal structure analysis, indicating that the crystals are polymorphic. In the photopolymerizations of these monomer crystals in the solid state, 1a-A, 1e-A, and 1f-A polymerized topochemically to give crystalline polymers. For their thermal polymerizations in the solid state, in addition to 1a-A, 1e-A, and 1f-A, 1e-B and 1f-B polymerized, but polymers formed from the 1e-B and 1f-B were amorphous. The packing of quinodimethane molecules in the crystals was defined by four kinds of parameters, stacking distance (d(s)), the distance between the reacting exomethylene carbon atoms (d(cc)), the angles formed between the stacking axis and longer axis of the monomer molecule (theta(1)), and the shorter axis of the monomer molecule (theta(2)), and then the polymerization reactivity of these quinodimethanes in the solid state was discussed on the basis of these parameters.     

Co-hydrolysis products of tetraethoxysilane and methyltriethoxysilane in the presence of tetramethylammonium ions: Part 2 [1]

²⁹Si NMR peaks due to species with the double four-membered ring siloxane backbone composed of both Si(O^–)_4/2 and CH₃Si(O^–)_3/2 units, (CH₃) _n Si₈O _{20 – n} ^{/(8 – n) –} (n=1–3), formed by co-hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane and methyltriethoxysilane in the presence of tetramethylammonium ions in methanol have been assigned. It has been found that ²⁹Si NMR peaks due to Si(OSi)₃(O^–) units shift to lower frequencies by replacement of the adjacent Si(O^–)_4/2 units by CH₃Si(O^–)_3/2 units, in other words, with increasing m value in Si[OSi(O^–)₃]_{3 – m} [OSi(CH₃) (O^–)₂] _m (O^–) (m=0–2). Peaks from CH₃ Si(OSi)₃ units in the species have also appeared as separated due to the kind of neighbor structural units. On the basis of the assignments, positions of CH₃Si(O^–)_3/2 units in the cubic octameric siloxane framework of (CH₃) _n Si₈O _{20 – n} ^{/(8 – n) –} (n=2, 3), for both of which three isomers are present, have been estimated.     

Role of the special pair in the charge-separating event in photosynthesis

We synthesized special-pair/electron-acceptor systems consisting of a complementary slipped cofacial dimer of imidazolyl-substituted zinc porphyrin, bearing pyromellitdiimide as the electron acceptor. In the case of the dimer, the first and second oxidation potentials were split into a total of four peaks in the differential pulse voltammetry measurement. Furthermore, the shift values of the first oxidation potentials obtained by changing the solvent polarity for the dimer were almost half of those observed for the monomer. These results indicate that the radical cation is delocalized over the whole pi system of the dimer. Time-resolved transient absorption measurements revealed that, relative to the corresponding monomer, the dimer accelerated the charge separation rate, but decelerated the charge recombination rate. The smaller reorganization energy of the slipped cofacial dimer relative to that of the monomeric system demonstrates the significance of the special-pair arrangement for efficient charge separation in photosynthesis.     

Effect of lipid composition on phospholipase A2-catalyzed membrane leakage in immobilized liposomes: sensitization for polychlorinated biphenyls detection with antibody affinity column tandem with fluorescent liposome column

Phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2))-catalyzed membrane leakage can be detected by immobilized liposomes containing a self-quenching fluorescent dye, calcein, on an open column using off-line analysis with a fluorescent spectrophotometer. The calcein release was found to be affected by the pH value, incubation time, and liposome compositions. The fluorescent signal from the negatively charged liposomes hydrolyzed by PLA(2) was 5 times higher than that from neutral liposomes. We utilized this enzymatic reaction to amplify signal to detect polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). To achieve this goal, we conjugated an analogue of PCB, 3,4-dichloroaniline, to PLA(2). The competitive immunoreaction between the 3,4-dichloroaniline-PLA(2) conjugate and PCB samples on the anti-PCB antibody column caused the release of the bound PLA(2) conjugates in proportion to the PCB concentration. The released PLA(2) conjugates was then passed through the tandem fluorescent liposome column causing release of fluorescent dye from the liposomes. Therefore, the signal of immunocompetitive assay was amplified on the fluorescent liposome column. The tandem column system achieves a high sensitivity by detecting the PCB concentration as low as 0.5 ng/mL in less than 20 min. It has great potential in detecting other pollutants, and has been used for sensitive immunoassays.     

Photocatalytic Reduction of NO with C2H6 on a Hollandite-Type Catalyst

The photocatalytic reduction of nitrogen monoxide (NO) with ethane on the hollandite type catalyst (K₂Ga₂Sn₆O₁₆KGSO) was investigated. Using a closed-gas circulating system equipped with a Q-MASS detector and in-situ diffuse reflectance FT-IR spectroscopy. The reactant gases of NO and ¹³C₂H₆ decreased with the increasing irradiation time. In contrast, the N₂ yield increased proportionally to the conversion of ¹³C₂H₆. Nitrogen oxides such as N₂O did not reach their detectable levels. The NO adsorbed on KGSO was found to change to its activated species by UV irradiation. The oxidized products of C₂H₆ such as CH₃CHO increased in proportion to the reaction time. The present results strongly suggest that KGSO has remarkable photocatalytic activity for the reduction of NO with C₂H₆.