Theoretical approach and the practice to the evaluation of structural parameters characterizing concentration polarization alongside ion-exchange membranes by means of dielectric measurement

As the application of a dielectric theory proposed previously (J Membrane Sci 64:153–161 (1991)), theoretical formulation and the practical procedure of dielectric analysis are developed to calculate the structural parameters such as the conductivity gradient and the thickness of the concentration polarization layer, the capacitances and the conductances of the two adjoining aqueous phases from the observed dielectric parameters. The procedure of calculation consequent upon the theoretical formulation was applied to double relaxation data observed for cation-exchange membrane systems under application of d.c. bias voltage. As a consequence, the structural parameters of concentration polarization were readily obtained with accuracy.     

Propagating transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes in liquid crystal-clad planar waveguides

ABSTRACT

In a planar dielectric waveguide, weak confinement of a propagating mode in a high index core leads to a measurable evanescent interaction with the cladding. In this work, we study the effect of a reorientable anisotropic cladding on the behaviour of Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) mode polarisations using a liquid crystal (LC)-clad waveguide architecture. The polarised evanescent field of a guided mode interacts with a voltage-tunable birefringent LC cladding to deflect an out-coupled beam. Experimental measurements are coupled with a theoretical framework and show good consistency with simulation results. We isolate the effect of mode confinement by changing the thickness of the high index core. Interactions between the LC index ellipsoid and the mode polarisation are probed by changing the initial alignment of the LC. Finally, we examine the difference in deflection between TE and TM modes, which incorporates both a change in mode confinement and a difference in LC index components.     

Evidence of a phase transition of RbHCO3 from high-resolution solid-state 13C and 87Rb NMR by comparison with KHCO3

A variable-temperature high-resolution 13C and 87Rb solid-state NMR study of powder rubidium hydrogencarbonate, RbHCO3, is presented for the first time. At ambient temperature, RbHCO3 is formed by centrosymmetric dimers linked by hydrogen bonds, but almost no information is available on this compound concerning proton disorder and the low-temperature phase. However, potassium hydrogencarbonate, KHCO3, which has an isomorphic structure for the high temperature phase, was well studied: it undergoes a non-ferroic, non-ferroelectric phase transition at Tc = 318 K between two monoclinic structures. The protons are disordered in an asymmetric double-well potential in the low-temperature phase, and the double-well potential becomes symmetric in the high-temperature phase. By comparison with recent solid-state NMR experimental results on KHCO3, we show that RbHCO3 undergoes a phase transition at Tc approximately 245 K, and give evidence that the proton dynamic disorder in both compounds is very similar.     

The Study on the Thermal Stability of CLA in Egg Yolk

Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) have been a subject of extensive investigation for their anticarcinogenic, hypolipidemic, antiatherosclerotic and immune-enhancing activities. Stability of CLA in foods has not received much attention by both academics and industry. Although CLA has shown many beneficial effects, its decomposition must be prevented when CLA in foods is processed, stored and transported. However, no study to date has addressed the stability of CLA in foods. The present study was carried out further to examine the stability of CLA in egg yolk during the storage and frying, using gas liquid chromatography (GLC) and silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography (Agt-HPLC). The eggs, containing 4.0% CLA per gramme of egg yolk, were 40s. Either storage for 6 months or frying for 40 s did not significantly change the composition of CLA in egg yolk. However, the degradation of CLA was statistically significant when the CLA components of egg yolk protected CLA from degradation. It is concluded that CLA is well preserved in egg before it is consumed.     

A simple and green procedure for the conjugate addition of thiols to conjugated alkenes employing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as an efficient recyclable medium

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is found to be an inexpensive, nontoxic, environmentally friendly reaction medium for the conjugate addition of thiols to conjugated alkenes to afford the corresponding adducts in excellent yields under mild and neutral conditions. Products of undesirable side reactions resulting from polymerization are not observed. The use of PEG avoids the use of either acid or base catalysts for this conversion and moreover PEG can be recovered and reused.     

The reaction of fluorine-containing compounds with conjugated dienoic acids initiated by sodium dithionite

The reaction of fluorine-containing halides and acetamides with conjugated dienoic acids initiated by sodium dithionite gave halide-free 1,4-adducts in 40-80% yields, with the E configuration as the major products.     

Reaction of magnesium alkylidene carbenoids with lithium acetylides and lithium thiolates: a novel synthesis of conjugated enynes and vinyl sulfides

Magnesium alkylidene carbenoids were generated from 1-chlorovinyl p-tolyl sulfoxides with i-PrMgCl at −78 °C in THF or toluene via the sulfoxide-magnesium exchange reaction. Reaction of the generated magnesium alkylidene carbenoids with lithium acetylides or lithium thiolates gave conjugated enynes or vinyl sulfides, respectively, in moderate to good yields. The intermediate of this reaction was found to be the alkenyl anion and it could be trapped with some electrophiles to give tetra-substituted conjugated enynes and vinyl sulfides.     

Comparison of linear-scaling semiempirical methods and combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical methods for enzymic reactions. II. An energy decomposition analysis

QM/MM methods have been developed as a computationally feasible solution to QM simulation of chemical processes, such as enzyme-catalyzed reactions, within a more approximate MM representation of the condensed-phase environment. However, there has been no independent method for checking the quality of this representation, especially for highly nonisotropic protein environments such as those surrounding enzyme active sites. Hence, the validity of QM/MM methods is largely untested. Here we use the possibility of performing all-QM calculations at the semiempirical PM3 level with a linear-scaling method (MOZYME) to assess the performance of a QM/MM method (PM3/AMBER94 force field). Using two model pathways for the hydride-ion transfer reaction of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase studied previously (Titmuss et al., Chem Phys Lett 2000, 320, 169-176), we have analyzed the reaction energy contributions (QM, QM/MM, and MM) from the QM/MM results and compared them with analogous-region components calculated via an energy partitioning scheme implemented into MOZYME. This analysis further divided the MOZYME components into Coulomb, resonance and exchange energy terms. For the model in which the MM coordinates are kept fixed during the reaction, we find that the MOZYME and QM/MM total energy profiles agree very well, but that there are significant differences in the energy components. Most significantly there is a large change (approximately 16 kcal/mol) in the MOZYME MM component due to polarization of the MM region surrounding the active site, and which arises mostly from MM atoms close to (<10 A) the active-site QM region, which is not modelled explicitly by our QM/MM method. However, for the model where the MM coordinates are allowed to vary during the reaction, we find large differences in the MOZYME and QM/MM total energy profiles, with a discrepancy of 52 kcal/mol between the relative reaction (product-reactant) energies. This is largely due to a difference in the MM energies of 58 kcal/mol, of which we can attribute approximately 40 kcal/mol to geometry effects in the MM region and the remainder, as before, to MM region polarization. Contrary to the fixed-geometry model, there is no correlation of the MM energy changes with distance from the QM region, nor are they contributed by only a few residues. Overall, the results suggest that merely extending the size of the QM region in the QM/MM calculation is not a universal solution to the MOZYME- and QM/MM-method differences. They also suggest that attaching physical significance to MOZYME Coulomb, resonance and exchange components is problematic. Although we conclude that it would be possible to reparameterize the QM/MM force field to reproduce MOZYME energies, a better way to account for both the effects of the protein environment and known deficiencies in semiempirical methods would be to parameterize the force field based on data from DFT or ab initio QM linear-scaling calculations. Such a force field could be used efficiently in MD simulations to calculate free energies.     

Recent progress in nanomaterial-enhanced fluorescence polarization/anisotropy sensors

In this review, we summarize the number of scientific publications in the field of FP/FA sensor in recent five years, and introduce the recent progress of FP/FA sensor based on nanomaterial. The various analytical applications of FP/FA sensor based on nanomaterial are discussed. We also provide perspectives on the current challenges and future prospects in the promising field.