Glycosidation with a disarmed glycosyl iodide: promotion and scope

[reaction: see text] Glucuronyl iodide 1 has been studied in detail as a "disarmed" glycosyl donor. In a model reaction, using N-iodosuccinimide (NIS) as a promoter and 2-phenylethanol as acceptor, best results were obtained using NIS with I(2), followed by trimethylsilyltrifluoromethanesulfonate (TMSOTf). When a series of primary and secondary alcohols was glycosylated using these conditions, yields of 60-83% of beta-glucuronides were obtained. Various "nonheavy" metal salts also effectively catalyzed the model reaction but led to significant amounts of alpha-product with less reactive secondary alcohols.     

Experimental and Computational Study of the Thermal Decomposition of 3‐Methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol in m‐Xylene Solution

An experimental study of the thermal decomposition of a β‐hydroxy alkene, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution, has been carried out at five different temperatures in the range of 513.15–563.15 K. The temperature dependence of the rate constants for the decomposition of this compound in the corresponding Arrhenius equation is given by ln k (s^?1) = (25.65 ± 1.52) ? (17,944 ± 814) (kJ·mol^?1)·T^?1. A computational study has been carried out at the M05–2X/6–31+G(d,p) level of theory to calculate the rate constants and the activation parameters by the classical transition state theory. There is a good agreement between the experimental and calculated rate constants and activation Gibbs energies. The bonding characteristics of reactant, transition state, and products have been investigated by the natural bond orbital analysis, which provides the natural atomic charges and the Wiberg bond indices. Based on the results obtained, the mechanism proposed is a one‐step process proceeding through a six‐membered cyclic transition state, being a concerted and slightly asynchronous process. The results have been compared with those obtained previously by us (Struct Chem 2013, 24, 1811–1816) for the thermal decomposition of 3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution. We can conclude that in the compound studied in this work, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, the effect of substitution at position 3 by a weakly activating CH₃ group is the stabilization of the transition state formed in the reaction and therefore a small increase in the rate of thermal decomposition.     

Structural and Kinetic Aspects of Blood Plasma Protein Adsorption on the Surface of Hydrophobic Polymers

Abstract

Due to the wide use of polymers in medicine, researchers are required to solve a very important problem–to understand the interaction between materials of nonphysiological origin and the surrounding biological liquids, and tissues, particularly blood.     

Ablation mechanism study on metallic materials with a 10 ps laser under high fluence

Single shot ablation of metallic materials of aluminium, titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) and gold has been studied with 10 picoseconds (ps) laser pulses experimentally and theoretically. The ablation rate variation at high fluence was explained by a simplified predictive model based on critical-point phase separation (CPPS) theory. A comparison between experimental and numerical results inferred that CPPS may well be the dominant ablation mechanism for high fluence laser ablation at 10 ps laser duration.     

Photochemistry of refractive index structures in poly(methyl methacrylate) by femtosecond laser irradiation

Femtosecond, subablation threshold photomodification of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) at 387 nm is explored to enable fabrication of optical components. Volatile fragment analysis (thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) and molecular weight distribution monitoring (size exclusion chromatography) suggest photochemical modification, involving direct cleavage of the polymer backbone and propagation via chain unzipping under formation of monomers, similar to the pyrolytic degradation of PMMA. Waveguides were produced in undoped, clinical-grade PMMA, showing an increased refractive index in the laser focal region (Dnmax=4x10(-3)).     

Robust spatially resolved pressure measurements using MRI with novel buoyant advection-free preparations of stable microbubbles in polysaccharide gels

MRI of fluids containing lipid coated microbubbles has been shown to be an effective tool for measuring the local fluid pressure. However, the intrinsically buoyant nature of these microbubbles precludes lengthy measurements due to their vertical migration under gravity and pressure-induced coalescence. A novel preparation is presented which is shown to minimize both these effects for at least 25 min. By using a 2% polysaccharide gel base with a small concentration of glycerol and 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine coated gas microbubbles, MR measurements are made for pressures between 0.95 and 1.44 bar. The signal drifts due to migration and amalgamation are shown to be minimized for such an experiment whilst yielding very high NMR sensitivities up to 38% signal change per bar.