Henry condensation under high pressure 2. Effect of aromatic aldehyde type and pressure on the yield of ω-nitrostyrenes and secondary processes

Condensation of aromatic aldehydes (I)-(XX) with EtNO₂ and n-PrNO₂ in AcOH in the presence of AcONH₄ or i-BuNH₂ gives primarily-nitrostyrenes (Ia, b)-(XXa, b) and small quantities of nitriles (Ic)-(XXc), oximes (Id)-(XXd), and ketones (Ie, f)-(XXe, f). The yields of (Ia, b)-(XXa, b) at P=1 atm are higher for acceptor substituents on the aromatic ring whereas at P=10 kbar, they are higher for donor substituents. High pressures suppress the formation of (Ic-f)-(XXc-f) and the Z-isomers of (Ia, b)-(XXa, b). The high pressure technique is especially useful in the preparation of donor-substituted (Ia, b)-(XXa, b) which are intermediates in the synthesis of the psychotropic -phenylethylamines.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 426–433, February, 1991.     

Effect of β-carotene on immunity function and tumour growth in hepatocellular carcinoma rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate the anticancer and immunity activity of β-carotene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) rats. Three days after transplantation, forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups, each group consisting of 10 animals. These groups were control group (untreated), low-dose β-carotene-treated group (20 mg/kg), middle-dose group (40 mg/kg) and high-dose (60 mg/kg) group. β-Carotene-treated groups were fed with β-carotene (20, 40, 60 mg/kg b.w.) orally for 30 days. Control group was treated with the same volume of physiological saline. Another ten rats were served as the normal group. Results showed that 30 days of β-carotene treatment could significantly inhibit tumour growth, enhance blood NK, IL-2, TNF-α, WBC, TP, ALB and A/G levels, and decrease blood ALT, AST and ALP activities in HCC rats. Pathological analysis of liver tissue showed that β-carotene treatment may decrease damage of liver tissue in HCC rats. It can be concluded that β-carotene may improve the immunity function and inhibit tumour growth in HCC rats.     

Effect of magnesium cations on the activity and stability of β-galactosidases

It was shown that the presence of magnesium cations in the reaction mixture increases, approximately twofold, the activity of bacterial Escherichia coli and yeast Kluyveromyces lactis β-galactosidases but does not affect the activity of bovine liver and fungous Penicillium canescens β-galactosidases. The catalytic constants for E. coli and yeast K. lactis β-galactosidases in the presence of 0.01 M and in the absence of Mg²⁺ cations were determined (490 and 220 s^?1 and 59.8 and 37.4 s^?1, respectively). It was shown that the Michaelis constants for these two enzymes are higher in the presence of Mg²⁺ cations, that the thermal stability of E. coli and K. Lactis β-galactosidases is higher in the presence of 0.01 M Mg²⁺, and that the effective rate constants of thermal inactivation of the enzymes are two-to eightfold lower, depending on conditions, in the presence of Mg²⁺ cations. The maximum stabilizing effect of magnesium cations was observed at weak alkaline pH values (7.5–8.5).     

The synthesis of ZnP4 based on liquid–solid reaction under high pressure and temperature

In this article we reported the successful high pressure and temperature synthesis of micron-sized zinc tetraphosphide (ZnP₄) crystals based on the liquid–solid reaction between Zn and P at a large-volume cubic press. Techniques of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA) were employed to investigate the phase structure, grain size, morphology and stoichiometric ratio of crystals. The results indicate that the synthesized ZnP₄ has a tetragonal structure with the space group of P41212, and the grains with size of about 50 μm can be prepared at 4.0 GPa and 1000 °C. We also obtained the pressure–temperature (P–T) formation region of ZnP₄ and discussed the formative mechanism of ZnP₄ crystals.     

Effect of substituents on the solubility and the distribution of alkyl-substituted β-diketone iron chelates

The solubilities and the distributions of nine alkyl-substituted β-diketone iron chelates were measured in a number of common organic solvents, in order to establish the effect of substituents. In synthesis of iron chelates, acetylacetone, di-isobutyrylmethane and di-pivaloylmethane chelates were available with red-orange solid, while other chelates were red-orange oil. Using the solubilities and the respective molar volumes of these solid chelates, the solubility parameter values (δ_M) were calculated. The constancy of the calculated values was taken as evidence of the adequacy of the regular solution concept for explaining the observed solubility trends in the solvents studied. The molar volumes of iron chelates were nearly 1.5 times those of corresponding copper chelates and the solubility parameter values of the former were about the same as those of the latter. In the extraction of iron chelates, the extracted species were identified to be FeA₃ (A: β-diketone anion). The extraction constants (K_ex) of iron chelates does not depend on the nature of organic solvents. The distribution coefficients (P_Fe) of iron chelates increase regularly with the increase in the number of additional carbon atoms of the alkyl chain in the chelate molecule. The relationship between the solubilities or the distribution ratios of iron chelates and those of corresponding copper chelates were discussed.     

Effect of urea on synchronous fluorescence spectra and electrochemical behaviour of cytochrome

The changes of the synchronous fluorescence spectra and the electrochemical behaviour of cytochrome c with the urea concentration are studied. It has been found that with the increase of urea concentration, there occur sequentially the deaggregation of cytochrome c molecules, the increase of exposure extent of the heme group to the solvent, the disruption of Fe-S bond of the heme group and the change in the electrochemical behaviour of cytochrome c. It is suggested that the reason why the electrochemical reaction of cytochrome c is irreversible is that cytochrome c molecules exist in the concentrated solution as oligomers which are electrochemically inactive.     

FT-IR and raman spectra of a series of metallo-β-cyclodextrin complexes

A series of metallo--CD complexes were prepared and formulated as [M₂(OH)₂ -CD·2 H₂O] ^n– . Changes in the FT-IR and Raman Spectra of-CD on coordination may be taken as evidence for complexation and support for a hydroxy bridged binuclear structure. Further support was obtained from uv/visible and magnetic moment measurements.     

Evolution of thermal disorder in the absorption and Raman spectra of all-trans-β-carotene

The temperature-dependent visible absorption and resonant Raman spectra of all-trans-β-carotene extremely diluted in dimethyl sulfoxide are investigated to clarify the effects of temperature on conjugated polyenes. The visible absorption and Raman spectra are found to blueshift with increasing temperature. The blueshift in polyenes is attributed to the decrease in the liquid density and the concomitant decrease in the refractive index by the Lorentz–Lorenz relation. We demonstrate that visible absorption is reproduced well by simple Franck–Condon analysis using a single Huang–Rhys factor over a temperature range. The analysis reveals features of temperature dependence in terms of important spectral parameters, such as line width, Raman scattering cross section and Huang–Rhys factor.     

Comparative Study on the Effect of NaBr on the Interaction Between Alkyltrimethylammonium Bromide and β-Cyclodextrin

The effect of NaBr on the interaction between alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (CnTAB (n = 14 for TTAB and 16 for CTAB)) and ß-CD was studied by surface tension method. The first decrease in the γ_cmc of TTAB/ß-CD in the presence of NaBr mainly due to the elongated effective chain length of the hydrophobic part of the TTAB/ß-CD complexes; while the increase in the γ_cmc of both of the TTAB/ß-CD and CTAB/ß-CD in the presence of NaBr could be attributed to the close pack of CnTAB at the air/water interface.     

Adsorption of β-carotene on modified magnesium silicate

Modified flocculation magnesium silicate is prepared by a hydrothermal process at 120°C for 18 h after adding Al₂(SO₄)₃ into the magnesium silicate gel. Compared with standard magnesium silicate with 328.116 m² g^–1 surface area, this modified magnesium silicate has a bigger BET surface area of 536.803 m² g^–1 and a lower interlayer water content. Modified magnesium silicate exhibits high β-carotene adsorption with a maximum adsorption capacity of 364.96 mg g^–1. It is shown that when suspended in organic solvent, this material can be used effectively for carotenoid separation. Furthermore, our results suggest that modified magnesium silicate may be a promising candidate as an absorbent in the decoloring of oil.     

Experimental and theoretical study on the structure and vibrational spectra of β-2-aminopyridinium dihydrogenphosphate

Experimental and theoretical vibrational spectra of β-2-aminopyridinium dihydrogenphosphate (β-2APDP) have been investigated. The FT-IR spectrum of β-2APDP was recorded in the region 4000-400 cm(-1). The optimized molecular structure and theoretical vibrational frequencies of β-2APDP have been investigated using ab initio Hartree-Fock (HF) and density functional B3LYP method with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The optimized geometric parameters (bond lengths and bond angles) and theoretical frequencies have been compared with the corresponding experimental data and it is found that they agree well with each other. All the assignments of the theoretical frequencies were performed by potential energy distributions using VEDA 4 program. Furthermore, the used scale factors were obtained from the ratio of the frequency values of the strongest peaks in the experimental and theoretical IR spectra. From the results it was concluded that the B3LYP method is superior to the HF method for the vibrational frequencies.     

Measurement of the rotational viscosity, γ1 of nematic liquid crystals under high pressure

Abstract

A method for the measurement of the rotational viscosity, γ₁ of nematic liquid crystals under high pressure is described. First measurements for the liquid crystals 4'-methoxybenzylidene-4-n-butylaniline, a broad range nematic mixture of substituted cyclohexyl-phenyls and a re-entrant nematic mixture are presented.     

Effect of urea on the β-hairpin conformational ensemble and protein denaturation mechanism

Despite the daily use of urea to influence protein folding and stability, the molecular mechanism with which urea acts is still not well understood. Here the use of combined parallel tempering and metadynamics simulation allows us to study the free-energy landscape associated with the folding/unfolding of β-hairpin GB1 equilibrium in 8 M urea and pure water. The nature of the unfolded state in both solutions has been analyzed: in urea solution the addition of denaturants acts to expand the denatured state, while in pure water solution the unfolded state is noticeably more compact. For what concerns the mechanism by which urea acts as a denaturant, a preferential direct interaction between urea molecules and protein backbone has been found. However, the bias toward urea solvation is largest at intermediate values of the gyration radius.     

Effect of π–π interaction between carbon nanotubes and phenyl groups on the thermal stability of silicone rubber

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - To investigate the effect and mechanism of π–π interaction between carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and phenyl groups on the thermal stability...     

Effect of β- and γ-cyclodextrins and their methylated derivatives on the degradation rate of benzylpenicillin

Benzylpenicillin is characterized by instability in aqueous media, low oral bioavailability, and short biological half-life. Since their degradation products can cause allergic reactions, β-lactam antibiotics are supplied as a powder for injection and require special precaution when stored and re-constituted in water. An efficient method for β-lactam stabilization in the aqueous environment could reduce allergic side effects and facilitate their handling. Previously we proposed that complexation with cyclodextrins (CDs) is a way to achieve this goal. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of methylation of CD on the chemical stability of benzylpenicillin. Kinetic studies revealed that degree of methylation of the CD molecule determines whether the CD has destabilizing or stabilizing effect on the β-lactam. The fully methylated βCD derivative Trimeb stabilizes benzylpenicillin while partial methylation of βCD only decreases to some extent the catalytic effect of native βCD. The complexes of all investigated CDs were also studied by DSC, FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy.     

Effect of inclusion complexation on the photophysical behavior of diphenylamine in β-cyclodextrin medium: a study by electronic spectra

Spectral characteristics of diphenylamine (DPA) have been investigated in β-cyclodextrin (β-CDx) solution. The formation of the complex was revealed by UV, steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The stoichiometry of DPA:β-CDx complex, determined using Benesi-Hildebrand equation and Job's continuous variation method is 1:1. The binding constants calculated from various methods are reported. This inclusion complex formation from DPA and β-CDx was also confirmed by the FT-IR spectral study and SEM image analysis of solid complex prepared by co-precipitation method.