Theory of the high-frequency limiting viscosity of a dilute polymer solution

Summary A general formula for the high-frequency limiting viscosity of dilute solution of polymers is derived.N beads successively connected withN-1 bonds are employed as the model of a polymer chain and the viscosity is calculated from the sum of frictional loss of each beads, assuming that the chain is free-draining, the internal rotation of the bonds is frozen and the beads move by the hydrodynamic force under some geometrical constraints. The derived formula proves to be equivalent to the frequency-independent term in theErpenbeck-Kirkwood theory on the viscosity for the same model. The formula is applied to a freely jointed chain and it is shown that the intrinsic limiting viscosity of the chain is 2.51 times as large as that of the individual segment which consists of a single bond with two half beads at each ends. This result is compared with existing experimental values of the high-frequency viscosity of poly(L-glutamic acid) in the broken helix state and polystyrene in a highly viscous solvent.

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Zusammenfassung Eine allgemeine Formel für die Hochfrequenz-Grenzviskosität von verdünnten Polymerlösungen wird abgeleitet.N Perlen miteinander verknüpft mitN-1-Bindungen werden als Modell einer Polymerkette verwendet und die Viskosität berechnet von der Summe der Reibungsverluste aller Perlen. Dabei wird angenommen, daß die Kette frei durchströmt ist und die interne Rotation um die Bindung eingefroren ist, sowie daß die Perlen sich durch hydrodynamische Kräfte unter gewissen geometrischen Spannungen bewegen. Die abgeleitete Formel zeigt Gleichheit zu dem frequenzunabhängigen Term in derErpenbeck-Kirkwood-Theorie für die Viskosität des gleichen Modells. Die Formel wird angewendet auf freibewegliche Ketten, und es wird gezeigt, daß die intrinsic-Grenzviskosität der Kette 2,51 mal größer ist als die eines individuellen Segments, welches aus einer Einzelbindung mit zwei Halbperlen an jedem Ende besteht. Dieses Ergebnis wird mit gegebenen experimentellen Daten für die Hochfrequenzviskosität von Poly-L-glutamatsäure im Zustand der stückweisen Helix und von Polystyrol im hochviskosen Zustand verglichen.

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With 2 figures     

Unique sugar metabolism and novel enzymes of hyperthermophilic archaea

Hyperthermophiles are a group of microorganisms that have their optimum growth temperature above 80 degrees C. More than 60 species of the hyperthermophiles have been isolated from marine and continental volcanic environments. Most hyperthermophiles belong to Archaea, the third domain of life, and are considered to be the most ancient of all extant life forms. Recent studies have revealed the presence of unusual sugar metabolic processes in hyperthermophilic archaea, for example, a modified Embden-Meyerhof pathway, that has so far not been observed in bacteria and eucarya. Several novel enzymes, such as ADP-dependent glucokinase, ADP-dependent phosphofructokinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate ferredoxin oxidoreductase, phosphoenolpyruvate synthase, pyruvate : ferredoxin oxidoreductase, and ADP-forming acetyl-CoA synthetase, have been found to be involved in a modified Embden-Meyerhof pathway of the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus. In addition, a unique mode of ATP regeneration has been postulated to exist in the pathway of P. furiosus. The metabolic design observed in this microorganism might reflect the situation at an early stage of evolution.     

Local chain mobility of gellan in aqueous systems studied by fluorescence depolarization

The local chain mobility of a gellan, an electrolyte polysaccharide, in aqueous systems was examined with respect to the effect of the temperature, the concentration of gellan (c(G)), and the concentration of added salt (c(S)). The relaxation time of local motion was estimated for fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled-gellan by the fluorescence depolarization technique, and the chain mobility was discussed. The relaxation time increased with decreasing temperature, in particular when accompanying the coil-helix transition due to the great difference in chain mobility between the coil and the helical conformations. The effect of c(G) was observed for gellan solutions even below the critical concentration of chain entanglement (2 wt.-%) for well-expanded nonelectrolyte polymers with size similar to that of the gellan. This suggests that the actual excluded volume of gellan is larger than that of nonelectrolyte polymers due to the electrostatic repulsion between segments. The relaxation time for 0.2 wt.-% systems of gellan in coil conformation is independent of c(S), whereas a c(S) dependence of the relaxation time is clearly observed for 0.5 wt.-% systems. The degree of expansion of the gellan chain is independent of the shielding effect of cations on the electrostatic repulsion between gellan segments due to the stiffness of gellan chain. On the other hand, the c(G) as well as the c(S) dependence of the chain mobility is clearly observed for gellan in the helical conformation, examined over the concentration range, probably due to the partial aggregation of helices induced by the attractive interaction between gellan segments.     

A cis amide bond surrogate incorporating 1,2,4-triazole

A novel cis amide bond surrogate incorporating 1,2,4-triazole was designed and synthesized by the reaction of a thionotripeptide, formic hydrazide, and mercury(II) acetate. This method of surrogate formation was also applicable to a cyclic thionopeptide.     

Copper(I) tert-butoxide-promoted 1,4 C sp 2-to-O silyl migration: generation of vinyl copper equivalents and their stereospecific cross-coupling with allylic,aryl, and vinylic halides

Successive treatment of the (Z)-gamma-trimethylsilyl allylic alcohols with copper(I) tert-butoxide and allylic halides followed by the tetrabutylammonium fluoride-assisted hydrolysis produced the allylation products, 2,5-alkadien-1-ols, with complete retention of configuration. Similar treatment of the organometallic intermediates with aryl and vinylic halides in the presence of palladium(0) catalyst gave the corresponding cross-coupling products in good yields. The stereoselective preparation of the starting materials is also described.     

Total Synthesis and Complete Stereostructure of a Marine Macrolide Glycoside, (−)‐Lyngbyaloside B

We have described in detail the total synthesis of both the proposed and correct structures of (?)‐lyngbyaloside B, which facilitated the elucidation of the complete stereostructure of this natural product. Our study began with the total synthesis of 13‐demethyllyngbyaloside B, in which an esterification/ring‐closing metathesis (RCM) strategy was successfully used for the efficient construction of the macrocycle. We also established reliable methods for the introduction of the conjugated diene side chain and the l ‐rhamnose residue onto the macrocyclic framework. However, the esterification/RCM strategy proved ineffective for the parent natural product because of the difficulties in acylating the sterically encumbered C‐13 tertiary alcohol; macrolactionization of a seco‐acid was also extensively investigated under various conditions without success. We finally completed the total synthesis of the proposed structure of (?)‐lyngbyaloside B by means of a macrolactonization that involves an acyl ketene as the reactive species. However, the NMR spectroscopic data of our synthetic material did not match those of the authentic material, which indicated that the proposed structure must be re‐examined. Inspection of the NMR spectroscopic data of the natural product and molecular mechanics calculations led us to postulate that the configuration of the C‐10, C‐11, and C‐13 stereogenic centers had been incorrectly assigned in the proposed structure. Finally, our revised structure of (?)‐lyngbyaloside B was unambiguously verified through total synthesis.     

Low molecular weight aromatic compounds possessing nonflammable and flammable characteristics in calcium fluoride nanocomposite matrices after calcination at 800 °C

Calcium chloride reacted with potassium fluoride in the presence of low molecular weight aromatic compounds (ArH) such as bisphenol AF, bisphenol A, bisphenol F, biphenyl, and 1-(2-naphthyl)ethanol under alkaline conditions to afford new calcium fluoride/ArH composites. Dynamic light scattering and field emission scanning electron micrographs measurements show that these calcium fluoride/ArH composites are nanometer size-controlled fine particles and have a good dispersibility and stability in water, tetrahydrofuran, 1,2-dichloroethane, methanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N-dimethylformamide, and 2-propanol. Interestingly, aromatic compounds possessing acidic hydroxyl groups in the calcium fluoride nanocomposites were found to exhibit a nonflammable characteristic even after calcination at 800 °C, although the corresponding aromatic compounds possessing neither acidic hydroxyl groups nor hydroxyl groups in the nanocomposites exhibited a usual flammable characteristic under similar conditions. In contrast, calcium fluoride/ArH nanocomposites, which were prepared under no catalytic conditions, afforded a clear weight loss corresponding to the contents of ArH in the composites to exhibit a usual flammable characteristic.

Concise Synthesis and Biological Assessment of (+)‐Neopeltolide and a 16‐Member Stereoisomer Library of 8,9‐Dehydroneopeltolide: Identification of Pharmacophoric Elements

We describe herein a concise synthesis of (+)‐neopeltolide, a marine macrolide natural product that elicits a highly potent antiproliferative activity against several human cancer cell lines. Our synthesis exploited the powerful bond‐forming ability and high functional group compatibility of olefin metathesis and esterification reactions to minimize manipulations of oxygen functionalities and to maximize synthetic convergency. Our findings include a chemoselective olefin cross‐metathesis reaction directed by H‐bonding, and a ring‐closing metathesis conducted under non‐high dilution conditions. Moreover, we developed a 16‐member stereoisomer library of 8,9‐dehydroneopeltolide to systematically explore the stereostructure–activity relationships. Assessment of the antiproliferative activity of the stereoisomers against A549 human lung adenocarcinoma, MCF‐7 human breast adenocarcinoma, HT‐1080 human fibrosarcoma, and P388 murine leukemia cell lines has revealed marked differences in potency between the stereoisomers. This study provides comprehensive insights into the structure–activity relationship of this important antiproliferative agent, leading to the identification of the pharmacophoric structural elements and the development of truncated analogues with nanomolar potency.     

Vinyl Polymerization. CLXVII. Vinyl Polymerization Initiated with p-Methoxy p′-nitrobenzoyl Peroxide

It was described in the literature that p-methoxy-p′-nitrobenzoyl peroxide decomposed homolytically in benzene, but heterolytically in acetone. However, in the present study the polymerizations of styrene and acrylonitrile were found to proceed always through radical mechanism in benzene, dimethylformamide, or acetone. And in the above various solvents, the rate of polymerization was found to be almost equal.