Near-IR Luminescent YbIII Coordination Polymers Composed of Pyrene Derivatives for Thermostable Oxygen Sensors

Oxygen-sensitive and near-infrared (NIR) luminescent Yb^III coordination polymers incorporating ligands based on pyrene derivatives were synthesized: Yb^III–TBAPy and Yb^III–TIAPy (TBAPy: 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(p-benzoate)pyrene; TIAPy: 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(3,5-isophthalic acid)pyrene). The coordination structures of these materials have been characterized by means of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. Moreover, the porous structure of Yb^III–TIAPy has been evaluated by measuring its N₂ adsorption isotherm. The NIR luminescence properties of Yb^III–TBAPy and Yb^III–TIAPy have been examined by acquiring emission spectra and determining emission lifetimes under air or argon and in vacuo. Yb^III–TIAPy exhibited high thermal stability (with a decomposition temperature of 400 °C), intense luminescence (with an emission quantum yield under argon of 6.6 %), and effective oxygen-sensing characteristics. These results suggest that NIR luminescent Yb^III coordination polymers prepared using pyrene derivatives could have applications in novel thermo-stable oxygen sensors.     

Comprehensive Metabolite Profiling in Genetic Resources of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Collected from Different Geographical Regions

Garlic (Allium sativum) is the second most important Allium crop that has been used as a vegetable and condiment from ancient times due to its characteristic flavor and taste. Although garlic is a sterile plant that reproduces vegetatively through cloves, garlic shows high biodiversity, as well as phenotypic plasticity and environmental adaptation capacity. To determine the possible mechanism underlying this phenomenon and to provide new genetic materials for the development of a novel garlic cultivar with useful agronomic traits, the metabolic profiles in the leaf tissue of 30 garlic accessions collected from different geographical regions, with a special focus on the Asian region, were investigated using LC/MS. In addition, the total saponin and fructan contents in the roots and cloves of the investigated garlic accessions were also evaluated. Total saponin and fructan contents did not separate the garlic accessions based on their geographical origin, implying that saponin and fructan contents were clone-specific and agroclimatic changes have affected the quantitative and qualitative levels of saponins in garlic over a long history of cultivation. Principal component analysis (PCA) and dendrogram clustering of the LC/MS-based metabolite profiling showed two major clusters. Specifically, many Japanese and Central Asia accessions were grouped in cluster I and showed high accumulations of flavonol glucosides, alliin, and methiin. On the other hand, garlic accessions grouped in cluster II exhibited a high accumulation of anthocyanin glucosides and amino acids. Although most of the accessions were not separated based on country of origin, the Central Asia accessions were clustered in one group, implying that these accessions exhibited distinct metabolic profiles. The present study provides useful information that can be used for germplasm selection and the development of new garlic varieties with beneficial biotic and abiotic stress-adaptive traits.     

Synthesis of well‐defined,soluble poly(3‐alkyl‐4‐benzamide) by chain‐growth condensation polymerization

Well‐defined poly(3‐alkyl‐4‐benzamide) was synthesized by means of chain‐growth condensation polymerization of phenyl 3‐octyl‐4‐(4‐octyloxybenzyl(OOB)amino)benzoate ( 1c ) from initiator 2 , followed by removal of the OOB groups on amide nitrogen of poly 1c . Polymerization of 1c with phenyl 4‐(trifluoromethyl)benzoate ( 2b ) in the presence of 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexamethyldisilazide (LiHMDS) and LiCl in THF at ?10 °C gave poly 1c with a narrow molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n ≤ 1.08) and a well‐defined molecular weight (M_n = 4480–12,700) determined by the feed ratio of monomer to initiator (from 10 to 30). The OOB groups of poly 1c were removed with H₂SO₄ to give the corresponding N‐unsubstituted poly(p‐benzamide) (poly 1c′ ) with low polydispersity. The solublity of poly 1c′ in polar organic solvents was dramatically higher than that of poly(p‐benzamide), demonstrating that introduction of an alkyl group on the aromatic ring is very effective for improving the solubility of poly(p‐benzamide). © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 360–365     

Effect of Acid Treatment of Montmorillonite on “Support‐Activator” Performance to Support Metallocene for Propylene Polymerization Catalyst

This work is focused on montmorillonite (MMT)‐based “support‐activators” (S‐As) for the metallocene‐catalyzed propylene polymerization. This catalyst was previously industrialized; however, for further technological advances, the activation mechanism is investigated. The chemical and morphological requirements of the S‐A are surveyed using both commercially available raw clay minerals (non‐acid‐treated) and acid‐treated clay minerals. The S‐A possessing strong‐acid sites (pK a < ?8.2) gives a highly active catalyst. Acid treatment of MMT induces morphological changes as well as the formation of strong acid sites. Based on pore size distribution analysis and atomic force microscopy observations, it is concluded that the strong acid sites are located in the small pores around the edge of the clay mineral (not in the interlayer), where the structure is disordered by the acid treatment.

     

How to make a linear network code (strongly) secure

A linear network code is called k-secure if it is secure even if an adversary eavesdrops at most k edges. In this paper, we show an efficient deterministic construction algorithm of a linear transformation T that transforms an (insecure) linear network code to a k-secure one for any k, and extend this algorithm to strong k-security for any k . Our algorithms run in polynomial time if k is a constant, and these time complexities are explicitly presented. We also present a concrete size of \(|\mathsf{F}|\) for strong k-security, where \(\mathsf{F}\) is the underling finite field.     

Some functional inequalities on non-reversible Finsler manifolds

We continue our study of geometric analysis on (possibly non-reversible) Finsler manifolds, based on the Bochner inequality established by Ohta and Sturm. Following the approach of the \(\Gamma \)-calculus of Bakry et al (2014), we show the dimensional versions of the Poincaré–Lichnerowicz inequality, the logarithmic Sobolev inequality, and the Sobolev inequality. In the reversible case, these inequalities were obtained by Cavalletti and Mondino (2015) in the framework of curvature-dimension condition by means of the localization method. We show that the same (sharp) estimates hold also for non-reversible metrics.     

Palladium-Catalyzed Skeletal Rearrangement of Substituted 2-Silylaryl Triflates via 1,5-C−Pd/C−Si Bond Exchange

A palladium-catalyzed skeletal rearrangement of 2-(2-allylarylsilyl)aryl triflates has been developed to give highly fused tetrahydrophenanthrosilole derivatives via unprecedented 1,5-C−Pd/C−Si bond exchange. The reaction pathways can be switched toward 4-membered ring-forming C(sp²)−H alkylation by tuning the reaction conditions to give completely different products, fused dihydrodibenzosilepin derivatives, from the same starting materials. The inspection of the reaction conditions revealed the importance of carboxylates in promoting the C−Pd/C−Si bond exchange.     

Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Fumarate Metabolism by Parahydrogen-induced Polarization: A Proof-of-Concept in vivo Study

Hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]fumarate is a promising magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarker for cellular necrosis, which plays an important role in various disease and cancerous pathological processes. To demonstrate the feasibility of MRI of [1-¹³C]fumarate metabolism using parahydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP), a low-cost alternative to dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization (dDNP), a cost-effective and high-yield synthetic pathway of hydrogenation precursor [1-¹³C]acetylenedicarboxylate (ADC) was developed. The trans-selectivity of the hydrogenation reaction of ADC using a ruthenium-based catalyst was elucidated employing density functional theory (DFT) simulations. A simple PHIP set-up was used to generate hyperpolarized [1-¹³C]fumarate at sufficient ¹³C polarization for ex vivo detection of hyperpolarized ¹³C malate metabolized from fumarate in murine liver tissue homogenates, and in vivo ¹³C MR spectroscopy and imaging in a murine model of acetaminophen-induced hepatitis.