Biodegradable/biocompatible ABC triblock copolymer bearing hydroxyl groups in the middle block

New biodegradable/biocompatible ABC block copolymers, poly(ethylene oxide)‐b‐poly(glycidol)‐b‐poly(L ,L ‐lactide) (PEO‐PGly‐PLLA), were synthesized. First, PEO‐b‐poly(1‐ethoxyethylglycidol)‐b‐PLLA was synthesized by a successive anionic ring‐opening copolymerization of ethylene oxide, 1‐ethoxyethylglycidyl ether, and L ,L ‐lactide initiated with potassium 2‐methoxyethanolate. In the second step, the 1‐ethoxyethyl blocking groups of 1‐ethoxyethylglycidyl ether were removed at weakly acidic conditions leaving other blocks intact. The resulting copolymers were composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments joined by short polyglycidol blocks with one hydroxyl group in each monomeric unit. These hydroxyl groups may be used for further copolymer transformations. The PEO‐PGly‐PLLA copolymers with a molecular weight of PLLA blocks below 5000 were water‐soluble. Above the critical micellar concentration (ranging from 0.05 to1.0 g/L, depending on the composition of copolymer), copolymers formed macromolecular micelles with a hydrophobic PLLA core and hydrophilic PEO shell. The diameters of the micelles were about 25 nm. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3750–3760, 2003     

Bis[3‐(trimethyl­silyl)prop­yl] ethyl­enebisphospho­nate,H2DTMSP[EBP]

The title compound (H₂DTMSP[EBP]), C₁₄H₃₆O₆P₂Si₂, was crystallized by the slow evaporation of a solution in a 20:1 mixture of pentane and acetone. The H₂DTMSP[EBP] mole­cule lies about an inversion center. In the solid state, the mol­ecule exists in an anti configuration, with the mol­ecular backbone C—C bond located on an inversion center. The compound exists in the solid state as hydrogen‐bonded infinite sheets in the ab plane, unlike the methyl­ene analogue, which exists as hydrogen‐bonded infinite chains, demonstrating an `even–odd' effect of the length of the backbone alkyl chain.     

Composition of particles emitted at largep T and medium angles inpp,dd, andαα collisions at the CERN intersecting storage rings

The relative yields of kaons and protons compared with the yield of pions at highp _T and polar angles θ away from 90° (in the range from 10° to 45°) are presented forpp, dd, and αα interactions at a centre-of-mass energy \(\sqrt {s_{NN} } = 31\) GeV per nucleon-nucleon collision. The measured particle ratios depend on the atomic mass numberA of the beam particles and on θ. TheA dependence of the ratios becomes stronger for largerp _T and is more pronounced at smaller polar angles.     

The beta-fluorine effect. Electronic versus steric effects in radical deoxygenations of fluorine-containing pentofuranose nucleosides

Stereoselective pyramidalization of free radicals by a vicinal fluorine substituent, the beta-fluorine effect, was invoked to rationalize a 77:23 anti/syn ratio of 2-deuterio-1-fluorocyclopentanes obtained by radical reduction of trans-2-fluoro-1-bromocyclopentane with tributyltin deuteride (Dolbier, W. R., Jr.; Bartberger, M. D. J. Org. Chem. 1995, 60, 4984-4985). We have evaluated analogous reductions of the four possible stereoisomers of some adenine 2'(3')-fluoro-3'(2')-O-phenoxythiocarbonyl nucleoside derivatives. In all cases, the steric effect of adenine on the beta face directs deuterium transfer from the stannane to C2'(C3') on the alpha face of the furanose ring. However, the beta-fluorine effect enhances ratios of deuterium transfer anti to the vicinal fluorine substituent.     

Synthesis, characterization and potential biomedical applications of N-succinimidyl ester functionalized, polypyrrole-coated polystyrene latex particles

N-Succinimidyl ester functionalized polypyrrole-coated polystyrene latex particles (PS_E-PPyNSE) were prepared by the in situ copolymerization of pyrrole and the active ester-functionalized pyrrole (pyrrole-NSE) in the presence of polystyrene latex particles. Polystyrene microspheres were prepared by emulsion polymerization (PS_E) leading to particles having a diameter of 450 nm. These PS_E particles were precoated with poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) prior to the in situ copolymerization of pyrrole and pyrrole-NSE. The initial comonomer concentration fractions were 25/75, 50/50 and 75/25 for pyrrole and pyrrole-NSE, respectively. The PPy-coated PS_E particles were characterized in terms of morphology, particle size, electrophoretic mobility and chemical composition. The study of morphology by means of scanning electron microscopy showed roughening of the underlying PS_E particles owing to the addition of PPyNSE, the overlayer thickness of which was estimated to be around 7 nm. Moreover, loading PPyNSE overlayers resulted in a shift of the electrophoretic mobility from –5.31 m cm/V s to a very small but positive value (0.082–0.112 m cm/V s). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and IR spectroscopy permitted the detection of pyrrole-NSE repeat units at the surface indicating that pyrrole and pyrrole-NSE did indeed copolymerize. The PS_E-PPyNSE particles were further evaluated as bioadsorbents of human serum albumin used as a test protein. For this study, PS_E-PPyNSE₅₀ particles, synthesized from a comonomer feed ratio of 50/50 in pyrrole/pyrrole-NSE, were used and were shown to attach efficiently human serum albumin macromolecules with a maximum amount of 0.2 mg m^–2.

Phase relationships in the system SrBr2SrCl2

Strontium bromide-chloride phases (SrBr_xCl_2?x) in the composition region 2.00 > x > 0 were prepared and examined by the Guinier powder X-ray diffraction technique. Observed and calculated powder intensities for the compositions x = 1.60, 1.40, and 0.30 are presented. The anions assume an ordered arrangement at the first two compositions and a random arrangement at the third. Two previously unreported intermediate phases at the composition about x = 1.50 and x = 0.60, both of unknown structure, were identified and their d values are reported. SrBr₂ is found to be insoluble in SrCl₂.     

Level crossing resonance due to chlorine nuclei in a free radical

Muonium adds to allyl chloride, CH₂=CHCH₂Cl, to form two radicals: MuCH₂CHCH₂Cl (main product) and CH₂CHMuCH₂Cl (minor product). Both radicals were fully characterized bySR andLCR. In the main product, the LCR lines due to the³⁵Cl and³⁷Cl nuclei were observed. Also, the temperature dependence of various hyperfine coupling constants (hfc) indicates that both Mu and Cl eclipse the unpaired electronp ₂-orbital in the minimum energy conformation. For the fragment-CH₂Cl, the presence of Mu in the-position is found to affect significantly the hfc of Cl in the-position; an internal rotational barrier of 12 kJ mol^–1 was estimated using a simpleV ₂ torsional potential.     

μSR Investigation of ethyl radicals adsorbed on silica

SR spectra of the ethyl radical adsorbed on porous silica were observed in transverse and in longitudinal magnetic fields in the temperature range 190–298 K. The line widths reflect the dynamic partial averaging of the hyperfine anisotropy due to reorientation and surface diffusion.     

Volumes of restricted Minkowski sums and the free analogue of the entropy power inequality

In noncommutative probability theory independence can be based on free products instead of tensor products. This yields a highly noncommutative theory: free probability theory (for an introduction see [9]). The analogue of entropy in the free context was introduced by the second named author in [8]. Here we show that Shannon's entropy power inequality ([6, 1]) has an analogue for the free entropy (X) (Theorem 2.1).The free entropy, consistent with Boltzmann's formulaS=klogW, was defined via volumes of matricial microstates. Proving the free entropy power inequality naturally becomes a geometric question.Restricting the Minkowski sum of two sets means to specify the set of pairs of points which will be added. The relevant inequality, which holds when the set of addable points is sufficiently large, differs from the Brunn-Minkowski inequality by having the exponent 1/n replaced by 2/n. Its proof uses the rearrangement inequality of Brascamp-Lieb-Lüttinger ([2]). Besides the free entropy power inequality, note that the inequality for restricted Minkowski sums may also underlie the classical Shannon entropy power inequality (see 3.2 below).Research supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation.