Solvent effects on the aggregation state of lithium dialkylaminoborohydrides

DFT calculations were performed to determine the effects of ethereal solvents on the aggregation state of lithium dialkylaminoborohydrides (LABs). The calculations included dimerization energies in the gas phase, with continuum solvation only, microsolvation with coordinating ethereal ligands, and a combination of the microsolvation and continuum models. The continuum model alone overestimates the stability of the dimers, apparently due to the lack of steric effects from the coordinating ethereal ligands. The use of the combined microsolvation and continuum solvation models predicts lithium dimethylaminoborohydride to be a mixture of monomer and dimer in THF, and more sterically hindered lithium aminoborohydrides to exist primarily as monomers. The kinetics of amination of 1-chlorodecane by lithium dimethylaminoborohydride showed no detectable change in reaction rate with time, suggesting that the LAB reagent may exist primarily as a monomer in THF.     

Temperature effects on the aggregation of decylpyridinium chloride in aqueous solution

Surface tension and conductivity measurements were used to study micelle formation in an aqueous solution of decylpyridinium chloride at 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40°C. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) was minimum at about 30–35°C. After CMC₁, aggregation with CMC₂ and CMC₃ occurred as the concentration increased.     

Salt effects on aggregation of O-carboxymethylchitosan in aqueous solution

The effects of salt with different valences (NaCl, CaCl2 and CrCl3) on the aggregation of O-carboxylmethylchitosan (OCMCS) in dilute aqueous solution were investigated using viscometry, dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). With increasing OCMCS concentration beyond a critical aggregation concentration (cac) of approximately 0.045 g/l, the aggregation of OCMCS appears in solution. The driving forces of the OCMCS aggregation are intermolecular hydrogen bond, hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic repulsion. The OCMCS aggregation behavior strongly depends on the valence of salt. When NaCl is added, the aggregate size increases with NaCl concentration. When CaCl2 or CrCl3 is added to a given OCMCS concentration, there exists a critical concentration each of Ca2+ and Cr3+. Before the critical concentration, the aggregates decrease in size with increasing salt concentration due to the intra-aggregate complexation; while after the critical concentration, the size of the aggregates increases with salt concentration due to the inter-aggregate complexation. Moreover, the effect of Cr3+ on the OCMCS aggregation is greater than that of Ca2+. The formation of the intra-aggregate complexation is found to be a kinetic process and the aggregate size decreases with time; the formation of the inter-aggregate complexation is also kinetic where the aggregate size increases with time. The aggregates dominated by the intra-aggregate complexation are small, compact and spherical, while the aggregates dominated by the inter-aggregate complexation show the big, compact and spherical morphology.     

Synthesis, aggregation, and binding behavior of synthetic amphiphilic receptors

Amphiphilic bowl-shaped receptor molecules have been synthesized starting from diphenylglycoluril. Upon dispersion in water, these molecules self-assemble to form vesicles that bind neutral guests and alkali metal ions. In the case of bis(alkylester)-modified receptor compound 4, electron microscopy reveals that an increase in the size of the alkali metal ion (from Na(+) or K(+) to Rb(+) and to Cs(+)) leads to a change in the shape of the aggregates, viz. from vesicles to tubules. Monolayer experiments suggest that this behavior is due to a change in the conformation of this amphiphilic receptor. In water, molecules of 4 have an elongated conformation that changes to a sandwich-like one upon binding of alkali metal ions. Binding studies with vesicles from the bis-ammonium receptors 6 and 9 and the guest 4-(4-nitrophenylazo)resorcinol (Magneson) reveal that below the critical aggregation concentration (CAC) of the amphiphile 1:1 host-guest complexes are formed with high host-guest association constants. Above the CAC, a host-guest ratio of 2:1 was observed that indicates that only the cavities on the outside of the vesicle can be occupied. In the case of the naphthalene walled compound 8 changes in the vesicle structure are induced by the organic guest Magneson.     

Environmental effects on the aggregation of some xanthene dyes used in lasers

The effect of solvents, halo substituents and surfactants on the aggregation of xanthene dyes (fluorescein and eosin Y) has been investigated. It has been found that polar protic solvents promote the aggregation of both the dyes while polar aprotic solvents hinder the aggregation process. Apolar solvents can disintegrate the aggregates previously formed in aqueous medium. The nature of the driving forces for aggregation in the two dyes is different. Surfactants bearing charge opposite to the dye molecules facilitate aggregation. These observations bear direct relevance to the possible use of fluorescein and eosin Y as quantum yield standards, photosensitizers, laser dyes and biological labels.     

Effect of reticuloendothelial blockade on tissue distribution of 99mTc-labeled synthetic liposomes in Ehrlich solid tumor-bearing mice

The effect of a reticuloendothelial blockade was examined on the tissue distribution of 99mTc-labeled synthetic liposomes prepared from N,N-didodecyl-N alpha-[6-(trimethylammonio)hexanoyl]-L-alaninamide bromide (N+C5Ala2C12) in Ehrlich solid tumor-bearing mice. While a pre-dose of unlabeled phosphatidyl choline liposomes (natural liposomes) hardly influenced the tissue distribution of N+C5Ala2C12 liposomes, the pretreatment of dextran sulfate depressed the uptake in liver accompanied by increasing that in tumor and other tissues except the stomach. However, the extent of liver depression of N+C5Ala2C12 liposomes by dextran sulfate was lower than that of natural liposomes and the pre-dose of unlabeled natural liposomes had a minor effect on the tissue distribution of N+C5Ala2C12 liposomes compared with that of natural liposomes. In the liver uptake of N+C5Ala2C12 liposomes, it was suggested that Kupffer cell phagocytosis was not the main mechanism.     

Calorimetric study of the effects of 2,4-dichlorophenol on the thermotropic phase behavior of DPPC liposomes

The effect of 2,4-dichlorophenol (DCP) on the main transition and pretransition of fully hydrated (20 mass%) dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) multilamellar liposomes has been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). It was observed that an increase in the molar ratio of DCP/DPPC (from 4·10^-5 up to 2·10^-2) causes progressive reductions in the temperature and enthalpy of the pretransition. The higher concentration of DCP eliminates the pretransition. The influence of DCP on the main transition in this molar ratio range is not drastic, but a decrease in temperature and in the enthalpy values was observed. In the molar ratio range (from 2·10^-1 up to 4·10^-1) the DSC scans show multiple main transition peaks instead of the characteristic single peak of the main transition. Above a DCP/DPPC molar ratio of 0.6 a new peak appears at 25°C having about the same transition enthalpy as the main transition of the pure system.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Hydrodynamic and interparticle potential effects on aggregation of colloidal particles

The effects of both hydrodynamic interaction and the form of the interparticle potential on the aggregation process for dispersed spherical particles are investigated by computational simulation. The simulation methods of Brownian Dynamics (BD) and Stokesian Dynamics (SD) are applied, over a range of solid volume fraction of $0.04???0.12$. The interparticle potential is a combination of a generalized Lennard-Jones form and a Yukawa potential, the latter of which describes a screened electrostatic repulsion at longer range. The combined potential is parameterized to include a roughly constant primary minimum near contact, along with a variable repulsive barrier at slightly larger separation. The microstructure is characterized through the pair distribution function, g(r), and the static structure factor. The repulsive barrier reduces the rate of aggregation and is also seen to affect the structure, with a large repulsion associated with a more tenuous structure. This is reflected in the potential having a strong effect on the evolution of ‘bonds’ per particle. Hydrodynamic interactions were found to reduce the solid fraction required for percolation, with the influence depending upon the form of the potential; the difference in percolation threshold was significant, with ${?}_{c\text{,}\mathit{SD}}?0.06$ and ${?}_{c\text{,}\mathit{BD}}?0.08$ a typical difference for moderate repulsion barriers. These results are for 864 particles in a cubic unit cell. To address the mechanism for this influence of hydrodynamic interactions, a complementary analysis of the evolution of numerous independent three-particle aggregates was performed. The analysis shows that hydrodynamic interaction slows the evolution toward a condensed aggregate of lowest potential energy in a way which cannot be explained by a simple rescaling of the drag due to uncorrelated particle motions.     

The effects of polyelectrolytes on the inhibition and aggregation of calcium oxalate crystallization

The influence of polyelectrolytes with different architecture on spontaneous batch crystallization of calcium oxalate was investigated. A series of acidic acrylate block copolymers were been made, by radical polymerization, with defined molecular weight and structure. Radical polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) was carried out in the presence of α‐thiopolyethylene glycol monomethylether as a chain transfer agent to produce poly(ethylene glycolblockacrylic acid) copolymers. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) block length in the copolymers was controlled by using three different molecular weight chain transfer agents (M_n = 350, 750 and 2000 g/mol). The presence of copolymers inhibited the crystal growth of calcium oxalate possibly through adsorption onto the active growth sites for crystal growth due to the charge and hydrophilic effects. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two-dimensional colloidal aggregation: concentration effects

Extensive numerical simulations of diffusion-limited (DLCA) and reaction-limited (RLCA) colloidal aggregation in two dimensions were performed to elucidate the concentration dependence of the cluster fractal dimension and of the different average cluster sizes. Both on-lattice and off-lattice simulations were used to check the independence of our results on the simulational algorithms and on the space structure. The range in concentration studied spanned 2.5 orders of magnitude. In the DLCA case and in the flocculation regime, it was found that the fractal dimension shows a linear-type increase with the concentration phi, following the law: d(f)=d(fo)+aphi(c). For the on-lattice simulations the fractal dimension in the zero concentration limit, d(fo), was 1.451+/-0.002, while for the off-lattice simulations the same quantity took the value 1.445+/-0.003. The prefactor a and exponent c were for the on-lattice simulations equal to 0.633+/-0.021 and 1.046+/-0.032, while for the off-lattice simulations they were 1.005+/-0.059 and 0.999+/-0.045, respectively. For the exponents z and z', defining the increase of the weight-average (S(w)(t)) and number-average (S(n)(t)) cluster sizes as a function of time, we obtained in the DLCA case the laws: z=z(o)+bphi(d) and z'=z'(o)+b'phi(d'). For the on-lattice simulations, z(o), b, and d were equal to 0.593+/-0.008, 0.696+/-0.068, and 0.485+/-0.048, respectively, while for the off-lattice simulations they were 0.595+/-0.005, 0.807+/-0.093, and 0.599+/-0.051. In the case of the exponent z', the quantities z'(o), b', and d' were, for the on-lattice simulations, equal to 0.615+/-0.004, 0.814+/-0.081, and 0.620+/-0.043, respectively, while for the off-lattice algorithm they took the values 0.598+/-0.002, 0.855+/-0.035, and 0.610+/-0.018. In RLCA we have found again that the fractal dimension, in the flocculation regime, shows a similar linear-type increase with the concentration d(f)=d(fo)+aphi(c), with d(fo)=1.560+/-0.004, a=0.342+/-0.039, and c=1.000+/-0.112. In this RLCA case it was not possible to find a straight line in the log-log plots of S(w)(t) and S(n)(t) in the aggregation regime considered, and no exponents z and z' were defined. We argue however that for sufficiently long periods of time the cluster averages should tend to those for DLCA and, therefore, their exponents should coincide with z and z' of the DLCA case. Finally, we present the bell-shaped master curves for the scaling of the cluster size distribution function and their evolution when the concentration increases, for both the DLCA and RLCA cases.     

Study on the behavior of hyper-rayleigh scattering for silver nanoparticles with aggregation effects

The absorption spectra as well as the Hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) signals of a highly monodisperse 10.5-nm diameter silver colloids with the addition of KNO(3) and pyridine have been measured. Strongly enhanced HRS signals are observed by 15x and 6x, respectively. Through size distribution and TEM measurements, the morphology of aggregated silver nanoparticles has been observed as a chainlike aggregation. The dramatically enhanced second-order nonlinearity was explained by the enhanced electromagnetic (EM) field near the surface of the silver nanoparticles as they approached. The different enhancement between these two kinds of aggregates was considered with the diversity of separated distance between silver nanoparticles. The experimental results reveal that there is an optimum size for the aggregates to yield the maximum HRS response.     

The effects of ionizing radiations on synthetic organic ion exchangers

Effects of ionizing radiations on organic ion exchangers are recognized as a vexing problem in the processing of special nuclear materials and high specific activity radioactive waste forms. An extensive literature survey, started in 1976 and updated periodically, indicates that radiation decomposition of ion exchange materials has the potential for a variety of undesirable consequences. It is also apparent from this survey that systematic efforts to identify and resolve these problems and to develop radiation resistant ion exchangers are extremely limited. There is, however, widely scattered information in the literature that is useful in designing and operating ion-exchange-based process systems with reasonable assurance of safety. The compilation of experimental data presented in this paper can contribute to better design and safer operations of synthetic organic ion exchange systems at nuclear material processing facilities.     

稀土离子及其配合物对二棕榈酰磷脂酰乙醇胺相变性质的影响

用差示扫描量热研究了金属离子和稀土配合物对二棕榈酰磷脂酰乙醇胺(DPPE)脂双层由凝胶态向液晶态相转变的影响T~m的影响。发现加入金属离子提高了DPPE脂双层的相转变温度。其中, Na^+＜Ca^2^+＜Ln^3^+。Pr^3^+的影响较La^3^+强。在pH 7.4时, 柠檬酸镧对T~m影响很小, 相反在pH 2.0时, 则降低相变温度T~m。乳酸稀土在pH 2.0和pH 7.4时都显著提高T~m, 在中性条件下, 对T~m影响更大。同时, 乳酸稀土较相同浓度下的稀土离子影响大, 说明乳酸稀土中稀土离子和乳酸根配体存在协同作用。我们初步探讨了金属离子以及稀土配合物对DPPE脂双层相变温度影响的原因。     

Molecular dynamics investigation of the effects of a water surface on the aggregation of bent-core molecules

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to determine how the presence of a water surface affects the way that bent-core surfactant molecules interact with one another. The simulations are carried out for isolated pairs of bent-core molecules, and for pairs of bent-core molecules on a water surface. The results show that the water surface fundamentally alters the nature of the interaction between the bent-core molecules: a stable complex is formed when the two molecules are on the water surface, but not for an isolated pair of molecules. This difference occurs because the water surface constrains the internal structure and orientation of the molecules, which makes the packing of the molecules into a stable complex more thermodynamically favorable.     

Inhibitory effects of catechol derivatives on arachidonic acid-induced aggregation of rabbit platelets

Pyrocatechol and other non-substituted dihydric phenols, which have strong redox power, inhibited arachidonic acid-induced aggregation of rabbit platelets at much lower concentrations than those at which these phenols inhibited stable prostaglandin endoperoxide, U46619-induced aggregation. Among non-substituted dihydric phenols, pyrocatechol was most potent. In order to clarify the physicochemical properties of the phenolic compounds which control the inhibitory potencies of dihydric phenols, we observed the inhibitory effects of 3- and 4-substituents of pyrocatechol on arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation. Among seven derivatives tested, the inhibitory effect of 4-C6H5-substituent was strongest and 4-COOH-substituent was weakest. Inhibitory effects of the catechol derivatives were well correlated with the quotients of their hydrophobicities and oxidation-reduction potentials. Inhibitory effects of hydroquinone and resorcinol were also on the same correlation line. These results suggest that the inhibitory effects of catechol derivatives and other dihydric phenols are controlled by two physicochemical properties: oxidation-reduction potential and hydrophobicity.     

疏水-亲脂相互作用对反应性的影响2.长链分子簇集和绕曲的溶剂效应

研究了一系列不同链长的对硝基苯酚羧酸酯在十种有机溶剂和水的二元混合溶剂中的水解反应,有机溶剂的体积含量分别为30％(Φ=0.30)和50％(Φ=0.50).结果表明,在Φ=0.50的各溶剂体系中,只有乙二醇-水和二甲亚砜-水体系,十六酸酯的水解速度才因受物分子的簇集绕曲而减慢.而在Φ=0.30的各溶剂体系中,除t-BuOH-H_2O体系外,十六酸酯全都存在簇集和绕曲现象,水解速度因此而受抑制的程度有如下次序:乙二醇>二甲亚砜>乙二醇单甲醚>二甲基甲酰胺～乙二醇二甲醚>二氧六环>乙醇～丙酮～乙腈>叔丁醇.如以log(k_(C8)/k_(a16))值作为衡量溶剂对受物的疏水-亲脂作用大小的定量标准,则发现各log(k_(C8)/k_(a16))和有机溶剂的介电常数ε,溶剂极性标度Kosower’s Z值,Dimroth’sE_T(30)值及Taft’s π值都不相关,但和Rekker的疏水常数f值却有较好的相关关系.这说明在这些“促簇性”溶剂中,控制长链酯水解的主要因素是疏水-亲脂相互作用,而和溶剂的极性无直接关系.此外,还讨论了不同比例的二元溶剂体系中水解的活化参数△S,△H.本工作首次提供了Rekker疏水常数应用于研究有机化合物反应性的实例.     

The enhancement of immunosuppressive effects of cyclosporine A on human T-cells using fusogenic liposomes

The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize neutral, positively charged, negatively charged and fusogenic liposomes of different sizes that contain cyclosporine A (CyA) and to evaluate their immunosuppressive activity on human T-cells. Neutral liposomes containing CyA were prepared from dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and cholesterol using the solvent evaporation method. To prepare positively charged, negatively charged and fusogenic liposomes containing CyA; stearylamine (SA), dicetylphosphate (DCP) and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) were added to the neutral liposome formulation, respectively. To reduce the size of liposomes containing CyA, extrusion through polycarbonate filters (1000, 400 and 100 nm) was used. The liposomes were characterized by their size, zeta potential and encapsulation efficiency. The in vitro immunosuppressive effects of an aqueous solution of CyA and different liposomes containing CyA were determined on human T-cells by the MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] assay. The mean diameter of the various multilamellar vesicle (MLV) liposomes containing CyA was between 1.76 and 2.49 μm. The encapsulation efficiency for the different MLV and extruded liposomes containing CyA ranged from 73% to 90%. In vitro immunosuppressive evaluation by T-cell culture showed that fusogenic liposomes have the best inhibitory effects on T-cell proliferation compared to the other liposomes. Reducing the size of the liposomes did not affect the in vitro immunosuppressive activity. The average IC₅₀ for the aqueous solution of CyA and the neutral, positively charged, negatively charged and fusogenic liposomes containing CyA was 4.98 × 10⁻², 7.38, 1.43, 3.84 × 10⁻³ and 7.93 × 10⁻⁵ mM, respectively. The results of this study indicate that fusogenic liposomes have the strongest immunosuppressive activity and could be considered as a suitable delivery system for CyA.