Kinetics and mechanisms of chlorine dioxide and chlorite oxidations of cysteine and glutathione

Chlorine dioxide oxidation of cysteine (CSH) is investigated under pseudo-first-order conditions (with excess CSH) in buffered aqueous solutions, p[H+] 2.7-9.5 at 25.0 degrees C. The rates of chlorine dioxide decay are first order in both ClO2 and CSH concentrations and increase rapidly as the pH increases. The proposed mechanism is an electron transfer from CS- to ClO2 (1.03 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1)) with a subsequent rapid reaction of the CS* radical and a second ClO2 to form a cysteinyl-ClO2 adduct (CSOClO). This highly reactive adduct decays via two pathways. In acidic solutions, it hydrolyzes to give CSO(2)H (sulfinic acid) and HOCl, which in turn rapidly react to form CSO3H (cysteic acid) and Cl-. As the pH increases, the (CSOClO) adduct reacts with CS- by a second pathway to form cystine (CSSC) and chlorite ion (ClO2-). The reaction stoichiometry changes from 6 ClO2:5 CSH at low pH to 2 ClO2:10 CSH at high pH. The ClO2 oxidation of glutathione anion (GS-) is also rapid with a second-order rate constant of 1.40 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1). The reaction of ClO2 with CSSC is 7 orders of magnitude slower than the corresponding reaction with cysteinyl anion (CS-) at pH 6.7. Chlorite ion reacts with CSH; however, at p[H+] 6.7, the observed rate of this reaction is slower than the ClO2/CSH reaction by 6 orders of magnitude. Chlorite ion oxidizes CSH while being reduced to HOCl, which in turn reacts rapidly with CSH to form Cl-. The reaction products are CSSC and CSO3H with a pH-dependent distribution similar to the ClO2/CSH system.     

Preparation and properties of metallacyclobutanes of nickel and palladium

Bis(phosphine)-3,3-dimethylnickela- and palladacyclobutanes have been prepared by intramolecular C-H insertion reaction of the corresponding dineopentyl metal complexes. Nickelacyclobutane complexes decompose when heated thereby undergoing competitive carbon-carbon bond cleavage to give isobutene and ethylene, with reductive elimination affording 1,1-dimethylcyclopropane and skeletal isomeri-zation of the metallacyclic ring yielding 3-methyl-1-butene, whereas the palladium analog gave no significant amounts of CC bond cleavage products.Added phos-phine was seen to have an effect on CC bond scission of nickelacyclobutane complexes. Nickelacyclobutane complexes in solution are thought to be in equilibrium with olefin-coordinated nickel-carbene complex on the basis of available experimental evidence from hydrogenolysis, carbene-trap reactions with olefins and reaction with carbon monoxide     

Synthesis and Reactions of Enediynes and Enyne-Allenes

The thermal cycloaromatization reactions of (Z)-3-hexene-1,5-diynes (enediynes) and (Z)-1,2,4-heptatrien-6-ynes (enyne-allenes) provide easy entries to a variety of carbon biradicals. Several new synthetic routes to these highly unsaturated compounds were developed by using multifunctional reagents properly substituted with combinations of boron, silicon, and tin appendages. Condensation of γ-(trialkylsilyl)allenylboranes 1 and 2 with conjugated acetylenic and allenic aldehydes followed by the elimination step of the Peterson olefination reaction furnished enediynes and enyne-allenes with high geometric purity. Convenient procedures for the synthesis of enediynes and enyne-allenes were also developed by using alkenylboronic ester 28 and the trimethyltin-substituted alkenylboranes 34 for cross-coupling reactions. On heating, acyclic enyne-allene 22 underwent a sequence of intramolecular transformations through biradical intermediates to form 26 , providing a new example of a one-step 0 → ABCD ring construction of the tetracyclic-steroidal skeleton.     

Thermodynamics and Spectroscopy of Halogen- and Hydrogen-Bonded Complexes of Haloforms with Aromatic and Aliphatic Amines

Similarities and differences of halogen and hydrogen bonding were explored via UV–Vis and ¹H NMR measurements, X-ray crystallography and computational analysis of the associations of CHX₃ (X=I, Br, Cl) with aromatic (tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine) and aliphatic (4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane) amines. When the polarization of haloforms was taken into account, the strengths of these complexes followed the same correlation with the electrostatic potentials on the surfaces of the interacting atoms. However, their spectral properties were quite distinct. While the halogen-bonded complexes showed new intense absorption bands in the UV–Vis spectra, the absorptions of their hydrogen-bonded analogues were close to the superposition of the absorption of reactants. Additionally, halogen bonding led to a shift in the NMR signal of haloform protons to lower ppm values compared with the individual haloforms, whereas hydrogen bonding of CHX₃ with aliphatic amines resulted in a shift in the opposite direction. The effects of hydrogen bonding with aromatic amines on the NMR spectra of haloforms were ambivalent. Titration of all CHX₃ with these nucleophiles produced consistent shifts in their protons’ signals to lower ppm values, whereas calculations of these pairs produced multiple hydrogen-bonded minima with similar structures and energies, but opposite directions of the NMR signals’ shifts. Experimental and computational data were used for the evaluation of formation constants of some halogen- and hydrogen-bonded complexes between haloforms and amines co-existing in solutions.     

Synthesis and Anti-Hepatocarcinoma Effect of Amino Acid Derivatives of Pyxinol and Ocotillol

Aiming at seeking an effective anti-hepatocarcinoma drug with low toxicity, a total of 24 amino acid derivatives (20 new along with 4 known derivatives) of two active ocotillol-type sapogenins (pyxinol and ocotillol) were synthesized. Both in vitro and in vivo anti-hepatocarcinoma effects of derivatives were evaluated. At first, the HepG2 human cancer cell was employed to evaluate the anti-cancer activity. Most of the derivatives showed obvious enhanced activity compared with pyxinol or ocotillol. Among them, compound 2e displayed the most excellent activity with an IC₅₀ value of 11.26 ± 0.43 µM. Next, H22 hepatoma-bearing mice were used to further evaluate the anti-liver cancer activity of compound 2e. It was revealed that the growth of H22 transplanted tumor was significantly inhibited when treated with compound 2e or compound 2e combined with cyclophosphamide (CTX) (p < 0.05, p < 0.01), and the inhibition rates of tumor growth were 35.32% and 55.30%, respectively. More importantly, compound 2e caused limited damage to liver and kidney in contrast with CTX causing significant toxicity. Finally, the latent mechanism of compound 2e was explored by serum and liver metabolomics based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF-MS) technology. A total of 21 potential metabolites involved in 8 pathways were identified. These results suggest that compound 2e is a promising agent for anti-hepato-carcinoma, and that it also could be used in combination with CTX to increase efficiency and to reduce toxicity.     

Multimodal Imaging and Phototherapy of Cancer and Bacterial Infection by Graphene and Related Nanocomposites

The advancements in nanotechnology and nanomedicine are projected to solve many glitches in medicine, especially in the fields of cancer and infectious diseases, which are ranked in the top five most dangerous deadly diseases worldwide by the WHO. There is great concern to eradicate these problems with accurate diagnosis and therapies. Among many developed therapeutic models, near infra-red mediated phototherapy is a non-invasive technique used to invade many persistent tumors and bacterial infections with less inflammation compared with traditional therapeutic models such as radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgeries. Herein, we firstly summarize the up-to-date research on graphene phototheranostics for a better understanding of this field of research. We discuss the preparation and functionalization of graphene nanomaterials with various biocompatible components, such as metals, metal oxides, polymers, photosensitizers, and drugs, through covalent and noncovalent approaches. The multifunctional nanographene is used to diagnose the disease with confocal laser scanning microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging computed tomography, positron emission tomography, photoacoustic imaging, Raman, and ToF-SMIS to visualize inside the biological system for imaging-guided therapy are discussed. Further, treatment of disease by photothermal and photodynamic therapies against different cancers and bacterial infections are carefully conferred herein along with challenges and future perspectives.     

Synthesis and modification of silicon nanosheets and other silicon nanomaterials

Silicon nanomaterials and nanostructures exhibit different properties from those of bulk silicon materials based on quantum confinement effects. They are expected to lead to the development of new applications of silicon, in addition to wide use in semiconductor devices. Aside from industrial interest, intriguing issues of academic interest still remain with respect to the origins of their characteristic properties. Zero- and one-dimensional crystalline silicon nanomaterials have been synthesized, to date, by using many methods and there has been rapid progress in size control and modification procedures. However, there have been only a few examples of silicon nanomaterials with atomic-order thickness akin to carbon nanomaterials, such as two-dimensional silicon nanosheets. Moreover, mass production of silicon nanomaterials with relatively low cost is not easily achievable, due to the typically severe conditions required for fabrication, such as high temperature and ultralow pressure. Recently, we have developed a soft synthetic method for silicon nanosheets with chemical surface modification in a solution process. This review provides methods for the synthesis and modification of silicon nanosheets and other silicon nanomaterials with examples of their potential applications.     

Sulfines and Sulfenes – the S-Oxides and S,S-Dioxides of Thioaldehydes and Thioketones

Four sulfines have so far been prepared by elimination of HCl from sulfinyl chlorides with triethylamine and by oxidation of diaryl thioketones with peracid. They are colored, crystalline compounds, which slowly decompose at room temperature. Attempts to prepare sulfenes have not yet been successful, but mesylsulfene^[1] has been isolated as the trimethylamine adduct. It can be shown by interception reactions that sulfenes are formed as intermediates by the action of trialkylamines on aliphatic sulfonyl chlorides and by the action of sulfur dioxide on diazoalkanes. They react with ROD to form monodeuterated sulfonates, with diazoalkanes to give three-membered rings, with enamines, dienamines, ketene O,O,O,N-, and N,N-acetals, and chloral, and in some cases with vinyl ethers, to give four-membered rings. They also react with nitrones to give five-membered rings, and with β-aminovinyl ketones and dienamines to give six-membered rings.     

Synthesis and characterization of asymmetric polyethersulfone membranes: effects of concentration and polarity of nonsolvent additives on morphology and performance of the membranes

In this study, effects of methanol, ethanol and 1‐propanol as variable nonsolvent additives (NSAs) on the morphology and performance of flat sheet asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were investigated. The membranes were prepared from PES/Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)/N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (NMP) system via phase inversion. The obtained results indicate that with the addition of NSAs to the casting solution, the membrane morphology changes slowly from macrovoids to an asymmetric structure with finger‐like pores. By increasing the NSAs concentrations in the casting solution and decreasing their polarities, the membrane structure changes from finger‐like pores to sponge. The AFM and SEM images reveal that addition of NSA to the casting solution decreases the pore size of the prepared membranes and reduces the pure water flux and BSA solution flux, while increasing the protein rejection. Surface analysis of the membranes showed that mean pore size and surface porosity of the prepared membranes with NSAs in the casting solution are smaller compared with those of the membrane prepared with no NSA. Pure water flux and BSA solution flux through the membranes decrease and BSA rejection increases with increase in the concentration of NSAs and decrease in their polarity. Finally, it can be concluded that the T_g values of the PES membranes increase by addition of NSAs to the casting solution. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of the thermal decomposition and flammability of PEEK and its carbon and glass-fibre composites

Conventional thermally durable materials such as metals are being replaced with heat resistant engineering polymers and their composites in applications where burn-through resistance and structural integrity after exposure to fire are required. Poly aryl ether ether ketone (PEEK) is one such engineering polymer. Little work has been published with regards to the flammability of PEEK and its filled composites. The current study aims to assess the flammability and fire behaviour of PEEK and its composites using thermogravimetric analysis, pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry, limiting oxygen index, a vertical flame resistance test, and fire (cone) calorimetry.     

扩链剂对脂肪族聚氨酯脲和聚脲弹性体结构与性能的影响

用异佛尔酮二胺(IPDA)、乙二胺(EDA)和己二胺(HDA)三种扩链剂合成了不同结构的脂肪族聚氨酯脲和聚脲, 并考察了扩链剂对聚氨酯脲和聚脲形态结构与性能的影响. 研究结果表明, 与EDA和HDA扩链的聚氨酯脲和聚脲相比, IPDA扩链的聚氨酯脲和聚脲中脲羰基的氢键化程度较低, 软段和硬段间的相混合程度较好; 同时它们具有更好的拉伸强度、硬度和撕裂强度, 但断裂伸长率较低. EDA和HDA扩链的聚氨酯脲和聚脲相比, 两者性能相差不大. 聚氨酯脲的脲羰基较完善氢键化程度以及整个氢键化程度都比聚脲的要低, 同时聚氨酯脲的吸水率也较低.     

Interaction and Stability of Mixed Micelle and Monolayer of Nonionic and Cationic Surfactant Mixtures

Interaction and stability of binary mixtures of cationic surfactants hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HTAB) or hexadecylpyridinium bromide (HPyBr) with nonionic surfactant decanoyl-N-methyl-glucamide (Mega-10) have been studied at different mole fraction of cationic surfactants by using interfacial tension measurements and fluorescence probe techniques. From interfacial tension measurements, the critical micellar concentration and various interfacial thermodynamic parameters have been evaluated. The experimental cmc's were analyzed with the pseudophase separation model, the regular solution theory, and the Maeda's approach. These approaches allowed us to determine the interaction parameter and composition in the mixed state. By using the static quenching method, the mean micellar aggregation numbers of pure and mixed micelles of HTAB + Mega-10 were obtained. It has been observed that the aggregation number of mixed micelles deviates negatively from the ideal behavior. The micropolarity of the micelle was monitored with pyrene fluorescence intensity ratio and found to be increase with the increase of ionic content. The polarization of fluorescence probe Rhodamine B was monitored at different mole fraction of cationic surfactants.     

Nucleophilicities and Nucleofugalities of Thio- and Selenoethers

Rate constants for the reactions of dialkyl chalcogenides with laser flash photolytically generated benzhydrylium ions have been measured photometrically to integrate them into the comprehensive benzhydrylium-based nucleophilicity scale. Combining these rate constants with the previously reported equilibrium constants for the same reactions provided the corresponding Marcus intrinsic barriers and made it possible to quantify the leaving group abilities (nucleofugalities) of dialkyl sulfides and dimethyl selenide. Due to the low intrinsic barriers, dialkyl chalcogenides are fairly strong nucleophiles (comparable to pyridine and N-methylimidazole) as well as good nucleofuges; this makes them useful group-transfer reagents.     

Synthesis and optical properties of diaza- and tetraazatetracenes

A series of functionalized diaza- and tetraazatetracenes was synthesized, either by condensation of an aromatic diamine with an ortho-quinone/diethyloxalate followed by chlorination with POCl(3) to give diazatetracenes or by palladium-catalyzed coupling of a phenylenediamine with various 2,3-dichloroquinoxalines to give tetraazatetracenes (after oxidation with MnO(2)). Representative examples included halogenated and nitrated derivatives. The optical properties of these azatetracenes were discussed with respect to their molecular structures and substitution patterns. The diazatetracenes and tetraazatetracenes formed two different groups that had significantly different electronic structures and properties. Furthermore, 1,2,3,4-tetrafluoro-6,11-bis((triisopropylsilyl)ethynyl)benzo[b]phenazine was synthesized, which is the first reported fluorinated diazatetracene. Single-crystal X-ray analysis of this compound is reported.     

Synthesis of isocyanates and carbodiimides

The reaction of 1,3-disubstituted ureas and 1-arylsulfonyl-3-alkylureas with phosgene permits the preparation of a number of isocyanates and sulfonyl isocyanates that had not previously been described, or that were difficult to prepare. 1,3-Disubstituted thioureas and 1-aryl-(or alkyl)sulfonyl-3-alkylthioureas give carbodiimides. Thionyl chloride and phosphorus pentachloride react with the urea derivatives in the same way as phosgene. Oxalyl chloride reacts with ureas to form parabanic acid derivatives, whereas with thiourea it gives 2-imino-1,3-thiazolidine-4,5-diones, which can isomerize to parabanic acid derivatives.     

N-alkylation and N-acylation of polyaniline and its effect on solubility and electrical conductivity

Various alkylating and acylating agents, with different electrophilicity, were allowed to react with polyaniline “emeraldine base” (Pan-EB) or its anion. Replacing the N-hydrogens of polyaniline by various acyl or benzyl groups strongly affected the solubility and the electrical conductivity of the polymer. Neutral Pan-EB was reacted with benzoyl chloride, p-t-butylbenzoyl chloride or pivaloyl chloride in N,N′-dimethylpropylene urea (DMPU) solutions. While the benzoyl and pivaloyl derivatives showed very poor solubility in common organic solvents, the p-t-butylbenzoyl derivative was readily soluble in THF, chloroform, DMSO, etc. As expected, these acyl derivatives showed diminished electrical conductivity relative to that of the parent Pan-EB. Benzyl chlorides did not react with neutral Pan-EB. Attempts to prepare solutions of the nitrogen anion of Pan-EB by reaction with sodium hydride in DMSO or DMPU led invariably to crosslinked insoluble material. This was ascribed to Michael addition of the formed nitrogen anions to the quinonimine moieties. However forming the nitrogen anion in presence of p-t-butylbenzyl chloride trapped it to form N-benzylated Pan-EB. This was a soluble high molecular weight, electrically conductive (4.3 × 10⁻¹ S cm⁻¹ as the hydrochloride) N-alkyl Pan-EB. Reacting Pan-EB with excess of both sodium hydride and benzyl chlorides led to film-forming per-benzylated Pan-leucoemeraldine reduced form. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 1673–1679, 1997     

Synthesis of trifluoromethyl derivatives of pyrazolidine- and 2-pyrazoline-1-carboxamides and pyrazolidine- and 1-pyrazoline-carbothioamides

The reactions of enones containing trifluoromethyl groups with semicarbazide in basic media proceed unequivocally to give pyrazolidine-1-carboxamides. The direction of the reactions of these enones with thiosemicarbazide depends on their structure; the reaction products are pyrazolidine- and 2-pyrazoline-1-carbothioamides. An enone containing a CF₃ group and an ethoxy group capable of replacement reacts with semicarbazide to give 2-pyrazoline-1-carboxamide and with thiosemicarbazide to give the double addition product, 5-(1-thiosemicarbazido)-2-pyrazoline-1-carbothiamide.M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119899 Moscow, Russia, N. S. Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117907 Moscow, Russia. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 634–644, May, 1998.     

Electron beam modification and crosslinking: Influence of nitrile and carboxyl contents and level of unsaturation on structure and properties of nitrile rubber

The structural changes of nitrile rubber with varying nitrile contents, hydrogenated nitrile rubber and carboxylated nitrile rubber in the presence and absence of a polyfunctional monomer, namely trimethylolpropane triacrylate, at different doses of electron beam irradiation, were investigated with the help of FTIR spectroscopy (in the attenuated total reflectance mode), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and sol–gel analysis. Solid-state NMR with gated high power decoupling technique was used to understand the mechanism of crosslinking of the irradiated samples. The allylic radicals generated in the butadiene chains react to form intermolecular crosslinkages. There was a significant decrease in the concentration of olefinic groups for the nitrile rubber on irradiation. This was also affirmed by the increase in the carbon resonances due to C–C linkages from the NMR technique, indicating more crosslinkages. The spectroscopic crosslink densities were determined and the results were compared with the swelling measurements. The variation in the crosslink clustering for rubbers with different acrylonitrile contents was explained using the NMR technique. The increase in crosslinking was also revealed by the increase in the percent gel content and dynamic storage moduli with radiation doses. The lifetime of spurs formed and the critical dose, an important criterion for overlapping of spurs, were determined for both the grafted and the ungrafted nitrile rubbers of different grades and compared using a mathematical model. The ratio of scissioning to crosslinking for nitrile rubber was determined using Charlesby–Pinner equation. The mechanical properties had also been studied for both the modified and the unmodified systems.     

Sulfur-containing aminoacid derivatives of cholchicine and cholchamine and derivatives of isothiouronium and mercaptoethylamine

New sulfur-containing derivatives of cholchicine and cholchamine with reduced toxicity and preserved pharmacological properties (cytostatic activity for human cancer cells) are prepared. The ability of the new compounds to affect radiation treatment is studied, enabling cholchicine derivatives with more significant radio-sensitizing properties to be found. Institute of Oncology and Radiology, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 5, pp. 640–650, September–October, 1999.     

温敏性壳聚糖共聚膜的制备与细胞吸附/脱附行为

将丙烯酸(AAc)与壳聚糖(CS)反应, 合成了壳聚糖大单体(CS-AAc), 再用CS-AAc与N-异丙基丙烯酰胺(NIPAAm)共聚, 制备P(CS-AAc-NIPAAm)共聚物. 通过红外光谱和X射线光电子能谱等分析证实了产物的结构和组成. 对P(CS-AAc-NIPAAm)共聚膜的动态接触角及对细胞的吸附与脱附行为研究发现, 共聚膜表现出良好的温度敏感性, 其表面成功地种植了成纤维细胞(L929). 当环境温度降低后, 共聚膜表面细胞自动脱附, 从而避免了使用酶解法脱附细胞造成的细胞功能损伤.