Synthesis and Study of Spectroscopic Properties of 5-(1-Oxido-3-pyridyl)-10,15,20-triphenyl Porphyrin and Its Zn(Ⅱ) Complex

Two novel sensitizers with pyridine-N-oxide zinc porphyrin and its zinc porphyrin as the anchor group and electron acceptor have been synthesized. The structures have been characterized by UV, elemental analyses and ~1H NMR. UV and fluorescence spectra show that they have good light absorbing properties in the range of visible light and suggest that they have potential applications in dye-sensitized solar cells.     

Comment on "The mathematical origins of the kinetic compensation effect" parts 1 and 2 by P. J. Barrie, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2012, 14, 318 and 327

The concept of kinetic compensation and the associated isokinetic relation continue to be subject to debate, despite the fact that the conditions under which they are to be expected are now well established, and the criteria for deciding that they have been observed are known. We present these conditions and criteria, and the reality of these relations, and stress their importance for catalysis. We then discuss the fact that statistical arguments against their reality continue to be presented. Recently two articles, based upon the statistical point of view have been published in this Journal. We show that, despite the fact that the mathematics of these articles is error free, they present a distorted image of the present understanding of the subject.     

Polymer Nanocomposites: How to Reach Low Flammability?

The paper investigates critically the feasibility to make fire proof polymer using nanoparticles. It includes organoclay, polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) and carbon nanotube (CNT). It is shown that they can be used to make material exhibiting low heat release rate (HRR) when they undergo heat. We have developed novel approaches to characterize quantitatively the nanodispersion by solid state NMR and by TEM associated with image analysis and we have demonstrated that the dispersion at the nanoscale is essential to achieve the best performance. On the other hand, low flammability of nanocomposites is only achieved in terms of HRR but they fail in terms of UL-94 and limiting oxygen index (LOI). To overcome this problem, we have combined nanoparticles with traditional flame retardants (intumescents) or with plasma treatment. The nanofillers act as synergists and offer an exceptional way for making fire safe polymers.     

Dithiocarbamates as Precursors in Organic Chemistry; Synthesis and Uses

Abstract

Organic dithiocarbamates have received great attention due to their interesting chemistry and wide utility as radical precursors and intermediates in organic synthesis. They also have found many of applications, that is, in agriculture and medicine. They are in use as pesticides, as well as in the rubber industries as vulcanization accelerators; and as antioxidants. Because they exhibit strong metal-binding capacity, they can act as in inhibitors of enzymes and have a profound effect on biological systems. Moreover, they have found application in the treatment of cancer and HIV.     

两种槲皮素-Zn配合物的抗氧化活性及其结构的量子化学研究

按照不同比例合成了两种槲皮素-Zn配合物, 采用邻苯三酚自氧化法测定了其抗氧化活性, 然后对其结构在HF/LanL2DZ基组水平上进行了量子化学计算, 讨论了它们的几何构型、电荷分布、原子轨道对前沿分子轨道贡献、分子轨道能量及振动频率. 实验和理论分析都表明, 两种槲皮素-Zn配合物都具有较高的结构稳定性和不同程度的催化超氧阴离子的抗氧化活性.     

Syntheses and phase-transfer properties of dendritic nanocarriers that contain perfluorinated shell structures

Perfect dendrimers that contain perfluorinated shells have recently attracted attention because they have been shown to encapsulate polar molecules in supercritical CO(2) and catalytically active metal nanoparticles in perfluorinated solvents. Moreover, they can then be easily separated after reaction from the biphasic organic/fluorous system. In this paper several dendritic architectures that contain perfluorinated shells were derived by covalent modification of glycerol dendrimers ([G0.5]-[G3.5]), hyperbranched polyglycerol, and polyethyleneimine. These core-shell architectures show interesting physicochemical properties. For example, they are soluble in fluorinated solvents, they are able to transport different guest molecules, and they display thermomorphic behavior. The transport capacity of these molecular nanocarriers increases significantly when amino groups are present in the core. Certain functionalized polyethyleneimines that contain perfluorinated shells show high transport capacities (up to 3 dye molecules per nanocarrier) in perfluorinated solvents. Moreover, these perfluoro-functionalized dendritic polyethyleneimines can act as templates that stabilize nanoparticles; for example, encapsulation and subsequent chemical reduction of Ag(I) ions. Silver nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution (3.9+/-1 nm) have been prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the encapsulated guest molecules remain accessible to small molecules after transport into the fluorous phase. Therefore, dendritic nanocarriers that contain perfluorinated shells are currently being investigated as polar environments in nonpolar reaction media such as fluorous phases and supercritical CO(2), in particular, for application in homogenous catalysis.     

Microcomputer interfaced stopped-flow spectrometer with interactive graphics

One problem in the use of stopped-flow rapid-mixing systems is that data can be collected much more rapidly than they can be digitized and analyzed. Microprocessor based systems can overcome this problem, but until now they have been expensive and have required experts to assemble the appropriate components.     

Cyclic nucleotides, thioldisulfide status of proteins, and cellular control processes.

It is shown that cyclic nucleotides can have a variety of effects on cell division, cell shape, cell adhesion, and cell movement, depending on the cells selected and the conditions under which they are used. For example, while CHO cells elongate under the influence of exogenous dibutyryl CAMP, Y-1 adrenal tumor cells round up and polyoma-transformed 3T3 cells show no change in shape. The totality of experience with cyclic nucleotides suggests that where they have been used by cells as control elements involving the four processes listed above, they are superimposed on basic cellular processes that progress in their absence--that is, they must be acting indirectly. In attempting to understand the inhibitory action of methyl xanthines on egg development, we were forced to abandon the idea that they acted through cyclic nucleotides. We found that methyl xanthines inhibited the activation of glutathione reductase and that glutathione oxidizing agents act as mitotic inhibitors. Further, we found that tubulin polymerizability, NAD-kinase activity, and a mitotic apparatus associated Ca+2-ATP-ase were all inhibited by oxidation of some of their sulfhydryls and were activated by reduction of the resulting disulfides. These results are discussed in terms of reported cycles and activations of glutathione reductase (GR) in cells and reports that mixed disulfides of glutathione and proteins can act as substrates for GR. Using the fact that a CAMP-dependent protein kinase has been reported to be activated by glutathione, we have suggested potential sites where sulfhydryl control processes and cyclic nucleotide control processes and cyclic nucleotide control processes may interact in certain restricted cases.     

Conjugation and deconjugation of ubiquitin regulating the destiny of proteins

The homeostasis for a number of cellular proteins is regulated by not only phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, but also ubiquitination and deubiquitination. A number of proteins involved in the degradation of polypeptides have been isolated in various eukaryotic organisms from Saccharomyces cerevisiae to human. Recently, several deubiquitinating enzymes, classified into either the Ub C-terminal hydrolase (UCH) or the Ub-specific processing protease (UBP), have been reported. It has been shown that they contain conserved domains including Cys, His, and Asp residues throughout the enzyme. These proteins have been demonstrated that Cys and His domains are critical for deubiquitinating enzymatic activity. Recently, we have shown that the Asp domain localized between Cys and His domains is also essential for cleaving the ubiquitin from protein substrates. Mouse deubiquitinating enzymes including DUB-1, DUB-2, and DUB-2A have been isolated and they showed the expression specificity. Of these, DUB- 1 and DUB-2 are expressed in lymphocytes depending on the presence of cytokines (interleukin-3 in B-lymphocytes and interleukin-2 in T- lymphocytes, respectively), indicating that they are involved in cytokine signaling pathways. Isolation of all putative DUBs will help to identify their substrates and to regulate the homeostasis of cellular proteins, especially in proliferative cells.     

Dead Ends and Detours En Route to Total Syntheses of the 1990s A list of abbreviations can be found at the end of the article

From the very beginning organic chemistry and total synthesis have been intimately joined. In fact, one of the first things that freshmen in organic chemistry learn is how to join two molecules together to obtain a more complex one. Of course they still have a long way to go to become fully mature synthetic chemists, but they must have the primary instinct to build molecules, as synthesis is the essence of organic chemistry. With the different points of view that actually coexist in the chemical community about the maturity of the science (art, or both) of organic synthesis, it is clear that nowadays we know how to make almost all of the most complex molecules ever isolated. The primary question is how easy is it to accomplish? For the readers of papers describing the total synthesis of either simple or complex molecules, it appears that the routes followed are, most of the time, smooth and free of troubles. The synthetic scheme written on paper is, apparently, done in the laboratory with few, if any, modifications and these, essentially, seem to be based on finding the optimal experimental conditions to effect the desired reaction. Failures in the planned synthetic scheme to achieve the goal, detours imposed by unexpected reactivity, or the absence of reactivity are almost never discussed, since they may diminish the value of the work reported. This review attempts to look at total synthesis from a different side; it will focus on troubles found during the synthetic work that cause detours from the original synthetic plan, or on the dead ends that eventually may force redesign. From there, the evolution from the original route to the final successful one that achieves the synthetic target will be presented. The syntheses discussed in this paper have been selected because they contain explicit information about the failures of the original synthetic plan, together with the evolution of the final route to the target molecule. Therefore, they contain a lot of useful negative information that may otherwise be lost.     

Transition Metal Polysulfides: Coordination Compounds with Purely Inorganic Chelate Ligands

It has been long known that certain transition metal sulfides dissolve in aqueous ammonium polysulfide. Although it was assumed that they thereby formed metal polysulfides, attention was first paid to such compounds only a few years ago. In recent years a host of new complexes with polysulfido chelate ligands have been isolated and characterized. The complexes are of interest not only regarding their structure and reactivity but also in view of their potential uses; they can be used for the directed preparation of sulfur rings of a given size, and there are indications that they will find applications in catalysis.     

A DFT study of the ground state multiplicities of linear vs angular polyheteroacenes

Unrestricted density functional calculations in combination with the broken-symmetry approach and spin-projection methods have been employed to study a series of formally 4n pi antiaromatic linear and angular polyheteroacenes. Calculations show that the linear polyheteroacene molecules have either stable singlet zwitterionic 6-9 or singlet diradical 5 ground states because they sacrifice the aromaticity of the central arene to form two independent cyanines. The corresponding angular compounds 10-14 have robust triplet states, since they cannot create independent cyanines to escape their overall antiaromaticity. An analysis based on the SOMO-SOMO energy splittings, their spatial distributions, and the spin density populations for the triplet states is presented to clarify the factors that determine their ground state multiplicities.     

Preparation of cellulose hydrogels via self-assembly in DMAc/LiCl solutions and study of their properties

Cellulose-based hydrogels have been prepared from solutions of hardwood and flax lignocelluloses and cotton cellulose in an N,N-dimethylacetamide–lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl) mixture by regeneration and subsequent self-assembly of cellulose chains. The main physicochemical characteristics of the hydrogels have been investigated. It has been shown that they can retain large amounts of water (up to 2500 wt %) and have high porosity and specific surface area. The studied hydrogels are classical stable 3D structures; however, unlike other hydrogels, they possess high stability in aqueous medium and irreversibility of gelation.     

油溶性Ag纳米微粒的制备及表征

Surface modified silver nano particles were synthesized in a mixture solvent of water-alcohol with Pyridinium di-n-octadecyldithio phosphate(PyDDP) as a modification agent. Themorphology and structure of DDP-coated Ag (Ag-DDP) nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction(XRD), Transmission electron microscopy(TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR) and Thermo gravimetric analysis(TGA). Anti wear properties of Ag-DDP nano particles were tested using a four-ball tribological testing machine. The disperse properties of Ag-DDP nanoparticles were evaluated in solvents such as chloroform, benzen, toluene, liquid paraffin, distilled water and ethanol. The results show that Ag-DDP nanoparticles disperse in organic solvents, but they don’t disperse in water or ethanol. The good disperse properties in organic solvents enable Ag-DDP nanoparticles to be used as oil additives. The XRD pattern of Ag-DDP nanoparticles indicates that they have fcc crystal structure, and the modification layer can prevent the oxidation of Ag nanocores. TEM graphs show that Ag-DDP nanoparticles have a homogeneous grain distribution; the average diameter is about 15nm. FT-IR and TGA curves indicate that the existence of modification layer can prevent the adsorption of water on the surface of nanoparticles. Tribological tests show that Ag-DDP nanoparticles have good anti-wear properties in liquid paraffin, and they can improve the applied load of base oil.     

Silyl Modification of Biologically Active Compounds. 7. Synthesis, Structure, Physicochemical and Biological Properties of Some Silicon-containing “3+1” Oxorhenium(V) Complexes

With the aim of studying the structure-physicochemical properties-biological activity relation, we have synthesized a series of organosilicon neutral oxorhenium(V) complexes with mixed ligands and we have determined their lipophilicity. X-ray diffraction has been used to establish the molecular structure of (3-triphenylsiloxypropanethiolato)(3-thiapentane-1,5-dithiolato)oxorhenium(V), (2-trimethylsiloxy- and 2-hydroxyethanethiolato)[3-(N-methyl)azapentane-1,5-dithiolato]oxorhenium(V). We have studied the neurotropic properties and acute toxicity of the synthesized complexes in vivo and their dependence on the nature of the monodentate and tridentate ligands. We have established that all the studied compounds have pronounced sedative action (they prolong the life of mice under hypoxia conditions, they are phenamine antagonists, they exhibit anticonvulsive action and prevent retrograde amnesia).     

光谱法研究钙调素与蜂毒肽片断及其类似物的相互作用

设计合成了蜂毒肽片断及其类似物: Mel15, Mel15(8F)和Mel15(7P), 这些多肽与钙调素有很强的结合力, 而且链段很短, 因此它们可作为钙调素可结合蛋白质的结合部位的模型。本文采用光谱法研究了它们与钙调素的相互作用。荧光发射光谱法结果表明, 多肽Mel15在与钙调素相互作用时, 肽链中的Trp基团的微环境变得更加疏水, 说明Mel15中的Trp残基可能与钙调素的疏水性表面靠近。紫外差谱测试表明, 只有当钙调素分子结合2个Ca^2^+后, 才可以与多肽Mel15(8F)结合。圆二色谱法研究表明, 多肽与钙调素结合后多肽分子和钙调素分子的α-螺旋结构的含量都被诱导而增加, 结合力越大, 则越多的残基被诱导形成α-螺旋结构。     

Skin Wound Healing: Normal Macrophage Function and Macrophage Dysfunction in Diabetic Wounds

Macrophages play a prominent role in wound healing. In the early stages, they promote inflammation and remove pathogens, wound debris, and cells that have apoptosed. Later in the repair process, they dampen inflammation and secrete factors that regulate the proliferation, differentiation, and migration of keratinocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells, leading to neovascularisation and wound closure. The macrophages that coordinate this repair process are complex: they originate from different sources and have distinct phenotypes with diverse functions that act at various times in the repair process. Macrophages in individuals with diabetes are altered, displaying hyperresponsiveness to inflammatory stimulants and increased secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. They also have a reduced ability to phagocytose pathogens and efferocytose cells that have undergone apoptosis. This leads to a reduced capacity to remove pathogens and, as efferocytosis is a trigger for their phenotypic switch, it reduces the number of M2 reparative macrophages in the wound. This can lead to diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) forming and contributes to their increased risk of not healing and becoming infected, and potentially, amputation. Understanding macrophage dysregulation in DFUs and how these cells might be altered, along with the associated inflammation, will ultimately allow for better therapies that might complement current treatment and increase DFU’s healing rates.     

The selective addition of water to C=C bonds; enzymes are the best chemists

Water is the liquid of life. Nature has therefore evolved countless enzymes that catalyse the addition of water to C=C bonds, isolated or conjugated. These reactions are regio- and enantioselective, they are part of primary metabolism as well as the secondary metabolism. The enzymes that catalyse these reactions (hydratases or hydro-lyases) are applied industrially in selected cases. However, they are not generally used in the laboratory although they outperform all currently available catalytic chemical methodologies. This feature article highlights the potential that hydratases have for chemistry compared to the acid catalysed addition of water.     

A Multivariate Analysis on the Influence of Indigenous Crude Oil Components on the Quality of Produced Water. Comparison Between Bench and Rig Scale Experiments

A matrix of 30 crude oils have been analyzed to investigate if there is any correlation between the physiochemical properties of the crude oils and the quality of the produced water. As an approach to study produced water quality, oil. and brine water (3.5 wt%) have been mixed together, and transmission profiles from the separation process have been investigated by means of Turbiscan LAb. The Turbiscan LAb enables the study of stability of colloidal dispersions without any dilution or modification of the sample. The oil-in-water emulsions (30:70) were made by mixing oil and water at low speed to be sure that they separate within a short period of time. Drop size distributions were investigated for all crude oil emulsions by using a Coulter Counter (COULTER Multisizer II). The correlations between transmission profiles and crude oil characteristics were made by using principal component analysis (PCA), a method that helps visualize the most important information contained in a data set and find combinations of variables that describe major trends. A Vortoil K-liner hydrocyclone connected to a mixing rig has been used to separate oil and water in larger scale experiments. The objective with these experiments was to compare the results with separation experiments done at bench scale. Six crude oils have been investigated at the separation rig, and both droplet size distribution and dispersed oil concentration have been performed. The main conclusions from this work are that Turbiscan LAb is a suitable technique to study the separation of oil-in-water with good reproducibility. The results from the multivariate data analysis show that the crude oils group according to if they are light or heavy and according to if they get high or low transmission. From the larger scale experiments it has been shown that the droplet sizes, oil/water density differential, and viscosity have a significant impact on separation efficiency.