Highly enantioselective synthesis of silahelicenes using Ir-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition

Silahelicenes, which contain two silole moieties in a helically chiral structure, were synthesized by a chiral Ir-catalyzed intermolecular [2+2+2] cycloaddition of tetraynes with diynes along with a Ni-mediated intramolecular [2+2+2] cycloaddition. The photophysical properties of the obtained highly enantiomerically enriched silahelicenes (up to 93% ee) were also measured.     

Label-free detection of C-reactive protein using reflectometric interference spectroscopy-based sensing system

Reflectometric interference spectroscopy (RIfS) is a label-free, time-resolved technique, and suitable for detecting antibody–antigen interaction. This work describes a continuous flow biosensor for C-reactive protein (CRP), involving an effective immobilization method of a monoclonal antibody against CRP (anti-CRP) to achieve highly sensitive RIfS-based detection of CRP. The silicon nitride-coated silicon chip (SiN chip) for the RIfS sensing was first treated with trimethylsilylchloride (TMS), followed by UV-light irradiation to in situ generation of homogeneous silanols on the surface. Following amination by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, carboxymethyldextran (CMD) was grafted, and subsequently, protein A was immobilized to create the oriented anti-CRP surface. The immobilization process of protein A and anti-CRP was monitored with the RIfS system by consecutive injections of an amine coupling reagent, protein A and anti-CRP, respectively, to confirm the progress of each step in real time. The sensitivity was enhanced when all of the processes were adopted, suggesting that the oriented immobilization of anti-CRP via protein A that was coupled with the grafted CMD on the aminated surface of TMS-treated SiN chip. The feasibility of the present sensing system was demonstrated on the detection of CRP, where the silicon-based inexpensive chips and the simple optical setup were employed. It can be applied to other target molecules in various fields of life science as a substitute of surface plasmon resonance-based expensive sensors.     

Evolution of Structure of the Precursor During Sol-Gel Processing of ZnO and Low Temperature Formation of Thin Films

ZnO thin films were prepared on silicon substrate with Pt electrode by the sol-gel processing using Zn alkoxide solution prepared from Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O and 2-methoxyethanol. FT-IR spectroscopy showed the presence of Zn species in the alkoxide, with methoxyethoxide and nitrato groups as coordination ligands, indicating formation of Zn(NO₃)(OCH₂CH₂OCH₃). Smooth and homogeneous thin films were obtained by heat treating coating gel films in the temperature range from 250 to 500°C. The ZnO thin films exhibited a preferred growth of crystals with c-axis perpendicular to the Si substrate surface when fired at 250°C. It was discussed that the presence of nitrogen atoms in precursors had affected the phase development of crystals and was the basis of the structural relaxation for crystallization at low temperature.     

How Is the Local-scale Gravitational Instability Influenced by the Surrounding Large-scale Structure Formation?

We develop the formalism to investigate therelation between the evolution of the large-scale(quasi) linear structure and that of the small-scalenonlinear structure in Newtonian cosmology within theLagrangian framework. In doing so, we first derive thestandard Friedmann expansion law using the averagingprocedure over the present horizon scale. Then thelarge-scale (quasi) linear flow is defined by averaging the full trajectory field over a large-scaledomain, but much smaller then the horizon scale. Therest of the full trajectory field is supposed todescribe small-scale nonlinear dynamics. We obtain the evolution equations for the large-scale andsmall-scale part of the trajectory field. These arecoupled each other in most general situations. It isshown that if the shear deformation of fluid elements is ignored in the averaged large-scaledynamics, the small-scale dynamics is described byNewtonian dynamics in an effectiveFriedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) background with a localscale factor. The local scale factor is defined by the sum of theglobal scale factor and the expansion deformation of theaveraged large-scale displacement field. This means thatthe evolution of small-scale fluctuations is influenced by the surrounding large-scale structurethrough the modification of FRW scale factor. The effectmight play an important role in the structure formationscenario.     

Nano-crater formation on a Si(1 1 1)-(7 × 7) surface by slow highly charged ion-impact

Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF/SIMS), we observed radiation effects on a Si(1 1 1)-(7 × 7) surface in the collision of a single highly charged ion (HCI) with a charge state q up to q = 50. The STM observation with atomic resolution revealed that a nanometer sized crater-like structure was created by a single HCI impact, where the size increased rapidly with q. The secondary ion yields also increased with q in which multiply charged Si ions (Siⁿ⁺) were clearly observed in higher q HCI-collisions. The sputtering mechanism is briefly discussed, based on the so-called Coulomb explosion model.     

Enantiomer-selective radical cyclopolymerization of rac-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate using a ruthenium-mediated chiral atom transfer radical polymerization initiating system

The enantiomer-selective radical polymerization of rac-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate, an equimolar mixture of (2S,4S)-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate (SS- 1 ) and (2R,4R)-2,4-pentanediyl dimethacrylate (RR- 1 ), was carried out with a chiral atom transfer radical polymerization initiating system consisting of methyl 2-bromoisobutyrate ( 3 ), dichlorotris(triphenylphosphine)ruthenium [RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃], and a chiral additive in anisole at 60 °C. When (S)-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol ( a-3 ) was used as the chiral additive, the recovered monomer was enriched in SS- 1 , and the enantiomeric excess was 16.9% at a 22.6% monomer conversion. The specific rotation ([α]₄₃₅, c 0.3, CHCl₃) of the resulting polymer was +40.3° at a 22.6% monomer conversion. For the copolymerization of SS- 1 and RR- 1 with 3 /RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃/ a-3 in anisole at 60 °C, the monomer reactivity ratio for RR- 1 (r_R) was determined to be 4.94, and that for SS- 1 (r_S) was 0.27. For the homopolymerizations of SS- 1 and RR- 1 with 3 /RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃/ a-3 in anisole at 60 °C, the polymerization rate of RR- 1 was considerably faster than that of SS- 1 , and the rate constants for the homopolymerizations were determined to be k_SS = 2.0 × 10⁻³ h⁻¹ and k_RR = 8.2 × 10⁻³ h⁻¹, respectively. With the values of k_SS, k_RR, r_R, and r_S, the relative ratio k_SS/k_RR/k_SR/k_RS was determined to be 1.2:4.9:4.5:1, which indicated that both the growing end of SS- 1 and that of RR- 1 preferentially reacted with RR- 1 . © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4563–4569, 2004     

Evaluating Optical Quality of a Bifocal Soft Contact Lens in Near Vision Using a Shack–Hartmann Wavefront Aberrometer

To assess optical characteristics of bifocal soft contact lenses (BCLs) in use, we measured wavefront aberrations of human eyes, of eyes with a monofocal soft contact lens (MCL), and of eyes with a BCL. Modulation transfer functions (MTFs), Strehl ratios, and simulated images for far and near vision were produced with the measured aberrations. High order aberrations of subject 1 were significantly smaller than those of subject 2 (t-test, P = 0.001). We found that wearing the BCL improved the optical quality of an eye in subject 1, expressed as the horizontal MTF from 2 to 48 cycles per degree (cpd) for near vision and the Strehl ratio (t-test, P = 0.009 for Strehl ratio). But we did not find the same effect in subject 2. This difference may be due to the difference in the aberrations of the eyes of the two subjects.     

Atrazine transformation using synthetic enzymes prepared by molecular imprinting

Atrazine imprinted synthetic polymers were prepared using a combination of methacrylic acid and 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate that bound and converted atrazine and other 6-chlorotriazine herbicides to less toxic compounds. A chloride at the 6-position of the triazines was converted to a methoxy group by the polymer in a methanol-containing solvent, where the imprinting effects enhanced the catalytic activity. Competitive inhibition of the atrazine methanolysis was observed in the presence of a structurally related binder, ametryn, suggesting that the catalytic reaction proceeded in the binding sites generated by the molecular imprinting process.     

Stereoselective reduction of 2-butenolides to chiral butanolides by reductases from cultured cells of Glycine max

The stereoselective reduction of 2-butenolides by two reductases, p51 and p83, from cultured plant cells of Glycine max was investigated. The reduction of 2-methyl-2-butenolide by p51 reductase produced (R)-2-methylbutanolide, whereas the reduction by p83 reductase gave (S)-2-methylbutanolide. Both reductases reduced 3-methyl-2-butenolide to (R)-3-methylbutanolide. The reduction of 2,3-dimethyl-2-butenolide by p51 reductase gave (2R,3R)-2,3-dimethylbutanolide, whereas the reduction by p83 reductase produced (2S,3R)-2,3-dimethylbutanolide. The reduction of 4-alkyl-2-butenolides with these reductases was accompanied by resolution of chiral centers affording (R)-4-alkylbutanolides.