Pseudo cyclic ionophores: ‘Binary-effect’ of quinolinyloxy groups at both ends of oligoethylene glycols on the conformational stabilization of their complexes with alkali metal salts

A series of noncyclic neutral ionophores has been synthesized by the reaction of oligoethylene glycol dihalides with 8-quinolinol. Complexation properties for alkali metal picrates were evaluated from solvent extraction and bulk liquid membrane transport experiments. Complexation profiles of the newly synthesized ionophores with a hexyl chain were similar to those of their homologues without the hexyl chain in the extraction experiments. Among them, the pentaethylene glycol derivatives showed the highest extraction efficiency and selectivity towards potassium ion. From the¹H NMR spectra (400 MHz), the change in chemical shifts of the aromatic protons upon the addition of alkali metal thiocyanates suggested the existence of a stabilization effect which is caused by intramolecular stacking conformations between the quinoline rings during complexation. Aryl stacking interactions depend on the size of the cations and on the chain length of the oligoethylene glycol. The relationship between transport ability towards alkali metal cations and lipophilicity of these ionophores is also discussed.     

Syntheses of TiO2(B) nanowires and TiO2 anatase nanowires by hydrothermal and post-heat treatments

TiO₂(B) nanowires and TiO₂ anatase nanowires were synthesized by the hydrothermal processing in 10 M NaOH aq. at 150 °C followed by the post-heat treatment at 300-800 °C. As-synthesized Na-free titanate nanowires (prepared by the hydrothermal treatment and repeated ion exchanging by HCl (aq.) were transformed into TiO₂(B) structure with maintaining 1-D morphology at 300-500 °C, and further transformed into anatase structure at 600-800 °C with keeping 1-D shape. At 900 °C, they transformed into rod-shaped rutile grains. Microstructure of these 1-D TiO₂ nanomaterials is reported.     

Acidity distribution of carboxyl groups in Loy Yang brown coal: its analysis and the change by heat treatment

Brown coals have a considerable number of acidic functional groups of which the main component is carboxyl groups, and the acidity has a wide distribution. In this paper, changes of the acidity distribution were examined by aqueous titration when brown coal was heat-treated to control its acidity distribution. For Loy Yang brown coal from Australia dried at 50 degrees C under vacuum (LY50), the acid dissociation constant, Ka, was distributed over a wide pKa range between 2 and 9. Then, using Gaussian functions, the acidity distribution was divided into four groups, which were characterized by average pKa values: average pKa value of 3.8 (hereafter referred to as Group A), 5.2 (Group B), 6.8 (Group C), and 8.3 (Group D). Among them, Groups A, B, and C were assigned to carboxyl groups. From the changes of the number of carboxyl groups when brown coal was heat-treated up to 400 degrees C, it was found that the way of decrease was different among these acidic groups. The decrease of the amount of carboxyl groups in Group C was significant, and at 325 degrees C most of them disappeared. On the other hand, the carboxyl groups in Group A remained even at a high temperature of 400 degrees C. We estimated approximately the structures around carboxyl groups for LY50 and their structural changes by heat treatment using the known pKa values for simple carboxylic acids and the pKa values calculated by the MOPAC program for complicated carboxylic acids.     

Small-angle neutron scattering study on microstructure of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) in water

By employing small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), we investigated the microstructures of, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) (NE) in deuterated water D₂O, as related to macroscopic behaviors of fluidity, turbidity and synerisis. SANS revealed following results: (i) microphase separation occurs at around above 17 °C in a temperature range of transparent sol below 30 °C. In the microdomain appeared in the transparent sol state, both block chains of PNIPA and PEG are swollen by water; (ii) for the NE solution of polymer concentration W_p > 3.5% (w/v), corresponding to opaque gel above 30 °C, a percolated structure, i.e., network-like domain is formed by NE as a result of macrophase separation due to dehydration of the PNIPA chains. As the temperature increases toward 40 °C, the network domain is squeezed along a direction parallel to the NE interface, which leads to increase of the interfacial thickness given by swollen PEG chains and to the macroscopic synerisis behavior.     

原位Raman光谱揭示中性条件下硫化钼结构变化对其电催化析氢反应的促进作用（英文）

硫化钼是析氢反应(HER)有前途的电催化剂.S-或Mo物种均被认为是形成吸附氢触发HER反应的活性位,但Mo中心和S配体间相互作用的本质仍不清楚.另外,采用中性的水作为质子源用于产氢,来开发低成本的水裂解催化剂体系为研究者高度关注,但人们很少研究中性水条件下HER反应的机理.本文采用原位电化学Raman光谱对所合成的硫化钼中Mo–Mo和S–S物种在中性条件下的结构变化进行了监测.结果显示,归属于端位S–S物种的谱带随着和Mo–S振动谱带频率而同步变化,表明Mo–Mo键与端位S–S键起着协同作用,从而有利于氢气的生成.这可能是通过三核物种的内部重组而确认的.本文所揭示的HER反应中金属-配体相互作用的本质与作用表明了一个不同的反应机理,而以往的机理认为,S或Mo活性位独立起作用而促进HER反应的进行.     

Polymerization of Acrylamide in Aqueous Solution of Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) at Lower Critical Solution Temperature

Acrylamide (AAm) was found to polymerize in a solution of poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) in water at around its lower critical solution temperature (LCST) (32°C) without any initiators. This phenomenon was specifically observed in aqueous solutions of the polymers having LCST such as PNIPAAm and poly(methylvinylether) (PMVE). AAm polymerized only when PNIPAAm and AAm were dissolved in water below LCST of PNIPAAm and then the solution was warmed up to the polymerization temperature (40°C). On the other hand, the polymerization of AAm did not proceed when AAm was added into aqueous PNIPAAm solution during and after the phase separation above 32°C. Furthermore the polymerizability of AAm was remarkably affected by the concentration and molecular weight of the PNIPAAm additives. Under the condition of lower PNIPAAm concentration (0.30 mol/L), the increase in the molecular weight of PNIPAAm considerably increased the molecular weight of the resulting PAAm but decreased the yield of PAAm. Under the condition of higher PNIPAAm concentration (0.60 mol/L) the polymerizability was not so affected by the molecular weight of PNIPAAm, while the molecular weight of PAAm formed by using higher molecular weight PNIPAAm was higher than those of PAAm formed by using lower molecular weight PNIPAAm. Moreover, the molecular weight of PAAm formed by the PNIPAAm induced polymerization of AAm was much higher than that of the polymer obtained by the radical polymerization using AIBN in THF or VA‐ 061 in water.     

Complexation of acyclic ligands having two terminal quinoline units with alkali metal cations

Abstract

Acyclic multidentate ligands consisting of an oligooxyethylene chain (di-, tri-, tetra-, and penta-) and two terminal rigid quinaldate end groups were newly prepared and their complexation properties with alkali metal cations were estimated by the solvent extraction method to indicate a better affinity for K⁺. Among them, the tetraethylene glycol derivative showed the highest K⁺ binding on about the same level as 18-crown-6. Their conformations in solution and in the solid state were examined by using ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystal analyses, respectively. The better binding of K⁺ in comparison with the corresponding glymes or analogues having the same donor sites was reasonably explained by considering the effective co-ordination of the carbonyl oxygen of the ester groups and the parallel π-stacking interaction between two quinaldate surfaces.     

Leveraging Material Properties in Fluorescence Anion Sensor Arrays: A General Approach

As the demand for probes suitable for sensor development increases, investigation of approaches that utilize known successful receptors gains in general importance. This study describes a two‐prong approach that can be used as a guide to developing sensors from known receptors. First, the conversion of a simple receptor, calix[4]pyrrole, into a fluorescent probe to establish a ratiometric signal is described. Secondly, the sensors that employ an output from a single ratiometric calix[4]pyrrole probe are fabricated by using poly(ether‐urethane) hydrogel copolymers. These hydrogels are designed to absorb, internalize and transport aqueous electrolytes. A sensor array of ten different poly(ether‐urethane) matrices with varying comonomer proportions were doped with a single probe and were exposed to eight different anions: acetate, benzoate, fluoride, chloride, phosphate, pyrophosphate, hydrogen sulfide, and cyanide, eight urine samples and anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The poly(ether‐urethane) matrices comprise different proportions of anion‐binding urethane moieties and different hydrophilicity given by the ratio between ethylene glycol ether and butylene glycol ether. This diversity in the hydration behavior provides different environment polarity, in which the recognition and self‐assembly processes display enough diverse behavior to allow for unique response of the probe to the analytes. Furthermore, a single probe is shown to recognize eight different aqueous anions and eight urine samples when embedded in ten different polyurethanes in an array that displays 100 % classification accuracy. To demonstrate the potential of the concept for quantitative studies, an estimation of non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and diclofenac in water and in saliva was performed. A limit of detection of 0.1 ppm and a dynamic range of 0.1–0.6 and 0.05–60 ppm was observed, respectively. Given the general difficulty of chemosensors to recognize aqueous anions, the fact that one probe recognizes eight different analytes attests to an enormous effect of the polymer environment on the recognition process. This method could be used to generate a variety of sensor arrays for various analyses including species that are difficult to recognize, such as small‐molecule‐ and inorganic anions.     

On the induced‐fit mechanism of substrate‐enzyme binding structures of nylon‐oligomer hydrolase

We present a detailed computational investigation of the induced‐fit motion in a nylon‐oligomer hydrolase (NylB) upon substrate binding. To this aim, we resort on the recently introduced parallel cascade selection molecular dynamics approach, allowing for an accelerated access to the set of conformational changes from an open‐ to a closed‐state structure to form the enzyme‐substrate complex in a specific induce‐fit mechanism. The structural investigation is quantitatively complemented by free energy analyses within the umbrella sampling algorithm accompanied by weighted histogram analysis. We find that the stabilization free energy is about 1.4 kcal/mol, whereas the highest free energy barrier to be overcome is about 2.3 kcal/mol. Conversely, the energetic contribution for the substrate binding is about 20 kcal/mol, as estimated from Generalized Born/Surface Area. This means that the open‐close induced‐fit motion could occur frequently once the substrate binds to the open state of NylB. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.