Quantitative estimation of interaction between carbohydrates and concanavalin A by surface plasmon resonance biosensor

We measured the affinity of more than 20 sugars with concanavalin A (ConA) by an optical biosensor (surface plasmon resonance sensor) using asialofetuin (ASF) as an immobilized binding partner of ConA. We determined kinetic parameters of the effects of sugars on the dissociation of ConA from ASF quantitatively, and the structural requirements of the functional groups of sugars for binding with ConA. We found that the affinity of ConA for sugars is dependent on its conformation induced by interaction with the binding partner. In addition, the results showed that optical biosensor system is well mimics the interaction of ConA with sugars in biomembrane.     

Specific interaction between polyethylenimine and azo dyes carrying hydroxyl groups

The binding of acid azo dyes having phenolic hydroxyl groups such as orange I ( I ), orange II ( II ), chrome violet ( III ), 4-hydroxyazobenzene-4′-sulfonate ( IV ), and 2,4-dihydroxyazobenzene-4′-sulfonate ( V ) by polyethylenimine was studied by equilibrium dialysis and spectroscopic methods. The results obtained indicate that dyes ( III ) and ( V ) with two OH groups are bound much more strongly than dyes ( I ), ( II ), and ( IV ) with one OH group. Also polyethylenimine is far superior to any other polymers which have been examined, including bovine serum albumin, polyvinylpyrrolidone, and poly-L -lysine, in its ability to form complexes with these dyes ( III ) and ( V ). The OH groups involved participate preferentially in complex formation with polyethylenimine. The unusual affinity of polyethylenimine for the dyes carrying OH groups is discussed.     

Reaction of 1-alkylthioisoquinolinium salts with active methylene compounds

2-Alkyl-1-alkylthioisoquinolinium salts were readily prepared from 2-alkyl-1(2H)-isoquinolones via 2-alkyl1(2H)-thioisoquinolones in two steps. Under mild conditions, the reaction of 2-alkyl-1-alkylthioisoquinolinium salts with active methylene compounds in the presence of sodium hydride afforded 2-alkyl-1-(substituted methylene)iso-quinolines in good yields. Pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolines were synthesized by the cyclization of 2-benzyl-1-(substituted methylene)isoquinolines using acetic anhydride.     

Production of polyacrylonitrile particles by precipitation polymerization in supercritical carbon dioxide

Polyacrylonitrile particles were produced by precipitation polymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) without any colloidal stabilizer in supercritical carbon dioxide as a polymerization medium at about 30 MPa for 24 h at 65 °C at different initiator concentrations (0.8–45.2 mmol/l) and at different AN concentrations (10–40% w/v). An increase in the initiator concentration led to increases in the conversion and in the degree of coagulation and to a decrease in the molecular weight. At AN concentration of 20% w/v, micron-sized, relatively monodisperse polyacrylonitrile particles with clean and uneven surfaces were produced.     

A systematic preparation of new contracted Gaussian-type orbital sets. VIII. MINI-1 and MIDI-1 sets for Ga through Cd

Minimal contracted Gaussian basis sets are presented for Ga through Cd. Characteristically these Gaussian-based minimal sets give far better d orbital energies than those by minimal STO basis sets. These new basis sets were tested on Br₂ for which a new benchmark calculation was also performed. The test result is satisfactory in that these basis sets produce good general agreement with the near Hartree–Fock calculation with respect to the molecular spectroscopic constants.     

Sol–gel preparation and properties of hydroxypropylcellulose–titania hybrid thin films

Hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC)–titania hybrid thin films were prepared by sol–gel method where titanium tetraisopropoxide Ti(OC₃H₇ ⁱ )₄ was hydrolyzed under acidic conditions in the presence of HPC, followed by dip-coating and drying at 120 °C for 24 h. The viscosity average molecular weight of HPC was 55,000–70,000 or 110,000–150,000, and the TiO₂/(HPC + TiO₂) mass ratio ranged from 0 to 1, which was calculated on the assumption that all Ti(OC₃H₇ ⁱ )₄ is converted into TiO₂. The films were 0.35–1.0 μm thick, transparent in visible region and opaque in ultraviolet (UV) region, where the optical absorption coefficient in UV region increased with increasing titania content. The refractive index increased with increasing titania content, ranging from 1.6 to 1.8 for the hybrid thin films. The pencil hardness increased from 6B to 5H, the durability in hot water significantly increased and the contact angle of water on films increased from 35° to 89° with increasing titania content. Crack-free films could be deposited on organic polymer substrates irrespective of titania or HPC contents, where cracking did not occur at higher HPC contents even when the substrate was bent.     

Capacitance-conductance detector for high-pressure liquid chromatography. Application to alkaloids and fatty acids

Summary A new type of detector for high-pressure liquid chromatography has been designed. This detector is equipped with a RC resonance circuit, and is similar to the capacitance detector previously reported. It is operated as a capacitance detector with nonpolar eluents; while with polar solvents, it behaves as a conductance detector. Electrolytes such as salts, acids and bases are sensitively detected. The detector was successfully used for the detection of fatty acids and alkaloids.

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Zusammenfassung Ein neuartiger Detektor für die Hochdruck-Flüssigchromatographie wurde entwickelt. Dieser ist mit einem Resonanzstromkreis ausgestattet und ähnelt dem kürzlich beschriebenen Kapazitanz-Detektor. Als solcher funktioniert er mit nichtpolaren Eluenten, während er sich mit polaren Lösungsmitteln wie ein Leitfähigkeitsdetektor verhält. Salze, Säuren und Basen werden empfindlich nachgewiesen. Das Gerät wurde zum Nachweis von Fettsäuren und Alkaloiden verwendet.

     

Hydrogen migrations in mass spectrometry. VI—the chemical ionization mass spectra of substituted benzoic acids and benzyl alcohols

The H₂ and CH₄ chemical ionization mass spectra of a series of series of substituted benzoic acids and substituted benzyl alcohols have been determined. For the benzoic acids the major fragmentation reactions of the protonated molecule involve elimination of H₂O or elimination of CO₂, the latter reaction involving migration of the carboxylic hydrogen to the aromatic ring. For the benzyl alcohols the major fragmentation reactions of [MH]⁺ involve loss of H₂O or CH₂O, analogous to the CO₂ elimination reaction for the benzoic acids. It is shown that the CO₂ and CH₂O elimination reactions occur only when a conjugated aromatic ring system is present, and that for the carboxylic acid systems, methyl groups and, to a lesser extent, phenyl groups are capable of migrating. The only discernible effect of substituents on the fragmentation of [MH]⁺ is an enhancement of the H₂O loss reaction in the benzoic acid system when an amino, hydroxyl, or halogen substituent is ortho to the carboxyl function. This ‘ortho’ effect, which differs in scope from that observed in electron impact mass spectra, is attributed to an intramolecular catalysis by the ortho substituent of the 1,3 hydrogen migration in the carbonyl protonated acid followed by H₂O elimination. Apparently, this route is favoured over the direct elimination of H₂O from the carbonyl protonated acid, since the latter has a high activation energy barrier because of unfavourable orbital symmetry restrictions.     

Vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography of carboxylic acids on a weakly acidic cation-exchange resin

In this preliminary study, a new approach to ion-exclusion chromatography is proposed to overcome the relatively poor conductivity detection response which occurs in ion-exclusion chromatography when acids are added to the eluent in order to improve peak shape. This approach, termed vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography, requires the sample to be used as eluent and a sample of water to be injected onto a weakly acidic cation-exchange column (TSKgel OApak-A). Vacancy peaks for each of the analytes appear at the retention times of these analytes. Highly sensitive conductivity detection is possible and sharp, well-shaped peaks are produced, leading to efficient separations. Retention times were found to be affected by the concentration of the analytes in the eluent, and also by the presence of an organic modifier such as methanol in the eluent. Detection limits for oxalic, formic, acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids were 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 microM, respectively, and linear ranges for some acids extended over two orders of magnitude. Precision values for retention times were 0.21% and for peak areas were <1.90%. The vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography method was found to give detection responses four to 10 times higher than conventional ion-exclusion chromatography using sulfuric acid eluent and two to five times higher than conventional ion-exclusion chromatography using benzoic acid eluent.     

Excited states of porphyrin isomers and porphycene derivatives: a SAC-CI study

Excited states of free-base porphyrin isomers, porphycene (Pc), corrphycene (Cor), and hemiporphycene (hPc), were studied by the Symmetry-Adapted Cluster (SAC)/SAC-Configuration Interaction (CI) method. The absorption peaks of the porphyrin isomers were assigned on the basis of the SAC-CI spectra. The X, Y, X', and Y' bands of the porphyrin isomers, which have weak intensities, are identified. The differences in the Q-band absorptions among the isomers were clearly explained by the four-orbital model. In Cor and hPc, the wave function of the B-band corresponds to the mixture of the four-orbital excitations and the optically forbidden excitation of free-base porphin (P), due to the molecular symmetry lowering in the isomers. The B-band character is described by the five-orbital model in Pc and the six-orbital model in Cor and hPc. Two tetrazaporphycenes and two ring-extended (dibenzo) porphycenes were designed, and the Q-band transition moment was successfully controlled. These examples show that the control of the four-orbital energy levels is the guiding principle for pigment design in porphyrin compounds.