Properties of meso-tetrakis (4- n -alkanoyloxyphenyl) porphyrin liquid crystal Co and Ni complexes

Six series of meso-tetrakis (4-n-alkanoyloxyphenyl) porphyrin Co and Ni complexes (12 kinds) were reported. Nine of the compounds were found to exhibit liquid crystal properties and display a hexagonal columnar discotic columnar (Col_h) phase. Molecular structure of all synthesized compounds was confirmed by IR, UV, MS, ¹H NIVR, and elemental analysis. These liquid crystalline compounds have been studied by cyclic voltammetry, luminescence, and surface photovoltage spectroscopy. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 59783001), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Y2006B41), the Foundation of Shandong Provincial Education Department (Grant No. J06A53), the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong University of Technology (Grant No. 2004KJM15) and Doctor Foundation of Shandong University of Technology     

Discussions about whether radioactive half life can be changed by mechanic motion

In this essay, some discussions and comments about the paper entitled “Can the decay rate of ³²P be changed by mechanic motion?” (Ding et al., Science in China Series B: Chemistry (Chinese version), 2008, 38(11):1035–1037) are given. It was strongly suggested that its experimental methods, data calculations and conclusion should be reconsidered. After the data were recalculated, the new results supported that the chiral mechanic motion could induce the changes of radioactive half life. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20571085, and 20877099), Fund of the President of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 0521021T04), 2005/2006 USA Li’s Foundation Merit Prize Fund, Fund of Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 065101HM03), and Fund of the Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analysis of the Institute of High Energy Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. K129)     

Synthesis,structure and nonlinear optical properties of two novel two-photon absorption chromophores

Two triphenylamine-based derivatives that can be used as two-photon absorption chromophore,tris{4-[4-(3-trifluoromethyl-3-oxopanoyl)]phenyl}amine (1) and tris{4-[4-(3-phenyl-3-oxopanoyl)] phenyl} amine (2) were successfully synthesized and fully characterized by elemental analysis,IR,1H NMR and MS. The single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the molecules possess D-(π-A)3 structures. One-and two-photon absorption and fluorescence in various solvents were experimentally investigated. A data rec...     

Biocomposites of covalently linked glucose oxidase on carbon nanotubes for glucose biosensor

The formation of covalently linked composites of multi–walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and glucose oxidase (GOD) with high-function density for use as a biosensing interface is described. The reaction intermediates and the final product were characterized by using FT–IR spectroscopy, and the MWCNT-coated GOD nanocomposites were examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Interestingly, it was found that the GOD–MWCNT composites are highly water soluble. Electrochemical characterization of the GOD–MWCNT composites that were modified on a glassy carbon electrode shows that the covalently linked GOD retains its bioactivity and can specifically catalyze the oxidation of glucose. The oxidation current shows a linear dependence on the glucose concentration in the solution in the range of 0.5–40 mM with a detection limit of 30 μM and a detection sensitivity of 11.3 μA/mMcm². The present method may provide a way to synthesize MWCNT related composites with other biomolecules and for the construction of enzymatic reaction-based biofuel cells and biosensors. Supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 20125515; 90206037; 20375016) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK 2004210)     

Recent developments in intelligent biomedical polymers

Intelligent polymers or stimuli-responsive polymers may exhibit distinct transitions in physical-chemical properties, including conformation, polarity, phase structure and chemical composition in response to changes in environmental stimuli. Due to their unique 'intelligent' characteristics, stimuli-sensitive polymers have found a wide variety of applications in biomedical and nanotechnological fields. This review focuses on the recent developments in biomedical application of intelligent polymer systems, s...     

Chiral assembly of achiral pseudoisocyanine with D- and L-phenylalanine

Supramolecular chirality and molecular self-assembly are important and interesting phenomena in living and non-living systems.In this work,supramolecular chirality of achiral pseudoisocyanine(PIC) J-aggregates was successfully induced by D-,L-phenylalanine(Phe) and other amino acids in NaCl solution.The chiral J-aggregates showed a characteristic,induced circular dichroism(ICD) in the visible region of J-band chromophore which depends on the absolute configuration,concentration and side groups of α-amino ac...     

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes based catalyst plasmon resonance light scattering analysis of tetracycline hydrochloride

It was found that multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) could catalyze the redox reaction between chlorauric acid (HAuCl4) and reductive drugs such as tetracycline hydrochloride (TC), producing gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). By measuring the plasmon resonance light scattering (PRLS) signals of the resulting Au NPs, tetracycline hydrochloride can be detected simply and rapidly with a linear range of 4―26 μmol/L, a correlated coefficient (r ) of 0.9955, and a limit of detection (3σ) of 6.0 nmol/L. This method has been successfully applied to the detection of tetracycline hydrochloride tablets in clinic with the recovery of 101.9% and that of fresh urine samples with the recovery of 98.3%―102.0%.     

Statistical theory for hydrogen bonding fluid system of AaDd type (Ⅲ): Equation of state and fluctuations

The equation of the state of the hydrogen bonding fluid system of A_aD_d type is studied by the principle of statistical mechanics. The influences of hydrogen bonds on the equation of state of the system are obtained based on the change in volume due to hydrogen bonds. Moreover, the number density fluctuations of both molecules and hydrogen bonds as well as their spatial correlation property are investigated. Furthermore, an equation describing relation between the number density correlation function of “molecules-hydrogen bonds” and that of molecules and hydrogen bonds is derived. As application, taking the van der Waals hydrogen bonding fluid as an example, we considered the effect of hydrogen bonds on its relevant statistical properties. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20303006 and 20574016), the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant Nos. B2006000959 and B2004000093) and the Natural Science Foundation of Education Committee of Hebei Province (Grant No. 2003101)     

Preparation of electrolyte membranes for micro tubular solid oxide fuel cells

Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) micro tubular electrolyte membranes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) were prepared via the combined wet phase inversion and sintering technique. The as-derived YSZ mi- cro tubes consist of a thin dense skin layer and a thick porous layer that can serve as the electrode of fuel cells. The dense and the porous electrolyte layers have the thickness of 3-5 μm and 70-90 μm, respectively, while the inner surface porosity of the porous layer is higher than 28.1%. The two layers are perfectly integrated together to preclude the crack or flake of electrolyte film from the electrode. The presented method possesses distinct advantages such as technological simplicity, low cost and high reliability, and thus provides a new route for the preparation of micro tubular SOFCs.     

Removal of nitrate from groundwater by heterotrophic denitrification using the solid carbon source

Removal of nitrate from groundwater was investigated using biodegradable meal box(BMB) and poly(ε-caprolactone)(PCL) as carbon source and biofilm carrier.The experimental results show that nitrate in groundwater can be effectively removed using BMB and PCL as carbon source.Denitrification rates supported by BMB and PCL were 52.80 and 42.77 mg(NO3-N)/(m2h),respectively,at 30 ℃ and pH 7.5.The pH value of effluent ranged from 7 to 8,and NO2-N concentration was less than 0.1 mg/L.Compared with BMB,PCL could dec...     

Host-guest complexes of a water soluble cucurbit[6]uril derivative with some dications of 1,ω-alkyldipyridines: <Superscript>1</Superscript>H NMR and X-ray structures

Interactions between a symmetrical tetramethyl-substituted cucurbit[6]uril (host: TMeQ[6]) and 1,ω-alkylenedipyridine (ω = 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) dicationic guests were investigated using ¹H NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray crystallography. In these inclusion complexes, combined cavity and portal binding in TMeQ[6] were observed, and the length of the bridged alkylene was found to play an important role not only in balancing the overall hydrophilic/hydrophobic interaction between the host and the guest, but also in defining the structure of the resulting inclusion complexes. For the guest 1,2-ethylenedipyridine (Edpy), TMeQ[6] includes a positively charged pyridine ring of Edpy to form an unsymmetrical inclusion complex; for the guest 1,4-butylenedipyridine (Bdpy), TMeQ[6] includes a positively charged pyridine ring of Bdpy, but the different competitive interactions in and between the related inclusion complexes could lead to a fast exchange between the hosts and guests. For the guests with longer bridge chains, such as 1,6-hexamethylenedipyridine (Hdpy) or 1,8-octylenedipyridine (Odpy), a stable pseudorotaxane inclusion complex is formed by combining the hydrophobic cavity and the outer portal dipole-ion interactions. However, for 1,10-decatylenedipyridine (Ddpy), the two TMeQ[6] host molecules include the two end pyridine rings of Ddpy and form a dumbbell inclusion complex. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 20662003 & 20767001), the International Collaborative Project of Guizhou Province (Grant No. 2007400108), the Science Technology Fund of Guizhou Province (Grant No. J-2008-2012) and the Natural Science Youth Foundation of Guizhou University (Grant No. 2007-005)     

Unprecedented synthesis of chiral calix[4](aza)crowns and its potent encapsulating methanol

Unprecedented synthesis of chiral (aza)crown ethers of calix[4]arene derivatives bearing a carboxyl amide bridge was described. The synthesis proceeds through condensation of the corresponding dinitriles with optically active 1,2-aminoalcohols,and is catalyzed by the ZnCl2 Lewis acid at elevated temperature in a very efficient one-pot process. The cavity of calix[4](aza)crowns can encapsulate methanol molecules by O—H...π interaction,which has been confirmed by X-ray crystal structures and ESI-MS.     

New bienzymatic strategy for glucose determination by immobilized-gold nanoparticle-enhanced chemiluminescence

Bienzymatic biosensor for the determination of glucose by flow injection chemiluminescence (CL) detection was proposed. Hybrids of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and chitosan were chosen as the immobilization matrix of glucose oxidase (GOD) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to fabricate the biosensors with silane-pretreated glass microbeads. After the enzyme catalyzing oxidation of glucose in GOD biosensor, the produced H₂O₂ flowed into HRP biosensor to react with luminol. The doped GNPs in chitosan were found to enhance the classical CL reaction of luminol-H₂O₂-HRP. The CL enhancement was investigated in detail by CL and UV-visible spectrum. Under the optimized experimental conditions, glucose could be determined in a linear range from 0.01 to 6.0 mmol/L with a detection limit of 5.0 μmol/L at 3σ. The accuracy of the proposed method was examined by detecting the glucose level in four clinical serum samples from hospital. The proposed method provides a new alternative to determine glucose. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Q2007B03), the Doctoral Fund of Qingdao University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 0022141), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20775038)     

Preparation of polymer-supported hydrated ferric oxide based on Donnan membrane effect and its application for arsenic removal

In the present study a novel technique was proposed to prepare a polymer-supported hydrated ferric oxide (D201-HFO) based on Donnan membrane effect by using a strongly basic anion exchanger D201 as the host material and FeCl3-HCl-NaCl solution as the reaction environment. D201-HFO was found to exhibit higher capacity for arsenic removal than a commercial sorbent Purolite ArsenX. Furthermore, it presents favorable adsorption selectivity for arsenic removal from aqueous solution, as well as satis- factory kinetics. Fixed-bed column experiments showed that arsenic sorption on D201-HFO could re- sult in concentration of this toxic metalloid element below 10 μg/L, which was the new maximum con- centration limit set recently by the European Commission and imposed by the US EPA and China. Also, the spent D201-HFO is amenable to efficient regeneration by NaOH-NaCl solution.     

Nanosilver resonance scattering spectral method for determination of hydroxyl radical and its application

Silver nanoparticles were prepared under a microwave high-pressure condition using citric acid sodium as a reducer while the excess citrate was removed under high speed centrifugation. There is a resonance scattering (RS) peak at 470 nm for silver nanoparticles. In a pH 4.0 HAc-NaAc buffer solution, hydroxyl radicals from the Fenton reaction can oxidize silver nanoparticles to Ag , resulting in the RS intensity decreasing. The decreased RS intensity at 470 nm (△I 470 nm) is linear with respect to the concentration of H2O2 (C) in the range of 0.27-7.56 μmol/L with a detection limit of 0.23 μmol/L. Its regression equation is △I 470 nm = 24.3 C 13.8 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9959. This method was applied to screening the antioxidants with satisfactory results.     

A dynamical Lie algebraic mehtod for quantum reactive scattering

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A capacitive sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymers and poly( p -aminobenzene sulfonic acid) film for detection of pazufloxacin mesilate

A novel capacitive sensor for pazufloxacin mesilate (pazufloxacin) determination was developed by electropolymerizing p-aminobenzene sulfonic (p-ABSA) and molecularly imprinted polymers (MPs), which was synthesized through thermal radical copolymerization of metharylic acid (MAA) and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) in the presence of pazufloxacin template molecules, on the gold electrode surface. Furthermore, 1-dedecanethiol was used to insulate the modified electrode. Alternating current (ac) impedance experiments were carried out with a Model IM6e to obtain the capacitance responses. Under the optimum conditions, the sensor showed linear capacitance response to pazufloxacin in the range of 5 ng·mL⁻¹ to 5 μg·mL⁻¹ with a relative standard deviation (RSD) 5.3% (n=7) and a detection limit of 1.8 ng·mL⁻¹. The recoveries for different concentration levels of pazufloxacin samples varied from 94.0% to 102.0%. Electrochemical experiments indicated the capacitive sensor exhibited good sensitivity and selectivity and showed excellent parameters of regeneration and stability. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20675064), the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing City (Grant No. CSTC-2004BB4149 and 2005BB4100) and High Technology Project Foundation of Southwest University (Grant No. XSGX02).     

Enantiomer separation by CEC

Three chiral compounds were successfully separated in a short time with two enantiomer separation models on packed-capillary electrochromatography (CEC). (i) 75 μm I.D. capillaries were packed with 5 μm β-cyclodextrin (βCD) chiral stationary phase (CSP). Effects of voltage, pH and concentration of organic modifier on electroosmotic flow (EOF) and chiral separations were investigated systematically. Enantiomers of a neutral compound (benzoin) and a neutral drug (mephenytoin) were separated within a short time with high efficiency. Efficiency of 32 000 theoretical plates per meter and resolution (R8) of 1.42 were achieved for enantiomers of benzoin using a βCD packed column with 6.2crn packed length. Efficiency of 45 000 theoretical plates per meter andR8 of 3.40 were obtained for enantiomers of mephenytoin. Especially, the enantiomer separation of mephenytion was performed in just 3.4 min with R₈ of 2.60. (ii) 75 μm I.D. capillary was packed with octadecylsilica particles (ODs). Chiral separation of a basic drug, propranolol, was studied with chiral agent, via addition of the dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin (DM β-CD) directly into the mobile phase on this column. Baseline separation and efficiency of 81 000 theoretical plates per meter were achieved for propranolol. Project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province, China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.29875030), and the Excellent Young Scientist Award from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. (Grant No.29725512).     

A hydrophilic fluorescent polymer containing naphthalimide moiety as chemosensor for microbioreactors

A novel hydrophilic copolymer P(NI-HEMA) containing the pendant group of naphthalimide moiety has been prepared. In the aqueous buffer solution, its film on the glass substrate shows an obvious fluorescence change and excellent linear relevance in the pH range of 5.8–8.0. Specifically, using the isobestic point at 406 nm as excitation wavelength can avoid the UV irradiation and the tedious calibration process. The film stability and hydrophilicity of copolymer P(NI-HEMA) were studied. Because of the easy synthesis, low price and high linear relevance to pH, the hydrophilic chemosensor film of P(NI-HEMA) could be potentially applied as a low-cost pH indicator for high-throughput bioprocessing in microreactors. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20672036), Program for Shanghai Shuguang Project (Grant No. 07SG34), and New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. NCET-06-0418)