The condition on the stability of stationary lines in a curvature flow in the whole plane

The long time behavior of a curve in the whole plane moving by a curvature flow is studied. Studying the Cauchy problem, we deal with moving curves represented by entire graphs on the x-axis. Here the initial curves are given by bounded functions on the x-axis. It is proved that the solution converges uniformly to the solution of the Cauchy problem of the heat equation with the same initial value. The difference is of order O(t−1/2) as time goes to infinity. The proof is based on the decay estimates for the derivatives of the solution. By virtue of the stability results for the heat equation, our result gives the sufficient and necessary condition on the stability of constant solutions that represent stationary lines of the curvature flow in the whole plane.     

Simultaneous ultramicrodetermination of heterogeneous halogens in organic compounds

The simultaneous ultramicrodetermination of heterogeneous halogens in organic compounds was carried out by the potentiometric titration with 0.002 M silver nitrate after the sample was decomposed by the flask combustion method. In examination of the titration, it was found that clear potential break at the end point was obtained by controlling the delivery speed of the titrant at 0.2 ml/min or slower and the temperature of the solution to be titrated at ca. 10 °C when chloride ion is present. The error due to coprecipitation during the titration and the effect of the mole ratio of heterogeneous halide ions in the sample solution was examined and discussed. The analysis of organic halogen compounds resulted in an error of within 0.4% and standard deviation of less than 0.25%.     

Additive Pummerer reaction of heteroaromatic sulfilimines with carbon nucleophiles

The additive Pummerer reaction of several heteroaromatic sulfilimines has been investigated. The overall process involves the reaction of the sulfilimine with TFAA to produce a transient N-tosyl-N-trifluoroacetyl sulfonium ion. Nucleophilic attack at the adjacent vinyl carbon results in the ejection of the sulfonamide group and the resulting thionium ion loses a proton to give the observed product.     

2,2′-Isopropylidenebis[(4S,5R)-4,5-di(2-naphthyl)-2-oxazoline] ligand for asymmetric cyclization-carbonylation of meso-2-alkyl-2-propargylcyclohexane-1,3-diols

The oxidative cyclization-carbonylation of meso-2-alkyl-2-propargylcyclohexane-1,3-diols mediated by Pd(II) with chiral bisoxazoline (box ligand) afforded bicyclic-β-alkoxyacrylates. Based on a ligand screening, 2,2′-isopropylidenebis[(4S,5R)-4,5-di(2-naphthyl)-2-oxazoline] ligand has been developed. The products with a chiral quaternary carbon were obtained in 71-100% yields with 85-95% ee.     

Peroxotungstate immobilized on ionic liquid-modified silica as a heterogeneous epoxidation catalyst with hydrogen peroxide

Peroxotungstate immobilized on ionic liquid-modified SiO2 is capable of heterogeneously epoxidizing a wide range of olefins with the maintenance of the catalytic activity of homogeneous analogue. The epoxidation was immediately stopped by the removal of the catalyst, and no tungsten species could be found in the filtrate after the removal of the catalyst. These results can rule out any contribution to the observed catalysis from the tungsten species that leached into the reaction solution, and the observed catalysis is truly heterogeneous in nature. Furthermore, the catalyst was reusable without the loss of the catalytic performance.     

Profiling analysis of oligosaccharides in antibody pharmaceuticals by capillary electrophoresis

Carbohydrate chains in glycoprotein pharmaceuticals have important roles for the expression of their biological activities. Therefore, development of an assessment method for the carbohydrate chains is an important parameter for quality control of glycoprotein pharmaceuticals such as newly developed therapeutic antibodies. In this report, we applied capillary electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection to the analysis of carbohydrate chains after releasing with glycoamidase followed by derivatization with 3-aminobenzoic acid. We found that four major oligosaccharides present in antibody pharmaceuticals were successfully separated with good resolution. The present method showed good precision in both migration times and relative peak areas, and gave comparable accuracy with that using a derivatization method with 8-aminopyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate.     

Ruthenium‐catalyzed fast living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate: The R?Cl/Ru(Ind)Cl(PPh3)2/n‐Bu2NH initiating system

A fast living radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) proceeded with the (MMA)₂? Cl/Ru(Ind)Cl(PPh₃)₂ initiating system in the presence of n‐Bu₂NH as an additive [where (MMA)₂? Cl is dimethyl 2‐chloro‐2,4,4‐trimethyl glutarate]. The polymerization reached 94% conversion in 5 h to give polymers with controlled number‐average molecular weights (M_n's) in direct proportion to the monomer conversion and narrow molecular weight distributions [MWDs; weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight (M_w/M_n) ≤ 1.2]. A poly(methyl methacrylate) with a high molecular weight (M_n ～ 10⁵) and narrow MWD (M_w/M_n ≤ 1.2) was obtained with the system within 10 h. A similarly fast but slightly slower living radical polymerization was possible with n‐Bu₃N, whereas n‐BuNH₂ resulted in a very fast (93% conversion in 2.5 h) and uncontrolled polymerization. These added amines increased the catalytic activity through some interaction such as coordination to the ruthenium center. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 617–623, 2002; DOI 10.1002/pola.10148     

Visible light-responsive cell scaffolds with bilayer structures for single cell separation

Collagen is a major component of the extracellular matrix, and collagen gels have been used as cell scaffolds. We previously prepared gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-embedded collagen gels (AuCol) to serve as cell scaffolds that were sensitive to visible light. We performed single cell detachment from this cell scaffold using a microscope equipped with a laser irradiation system. In the present study, we adjusted hydrogel thickness and AuNP concentration in AuCol, with a goal of improving cell detachment efficiency. Thin hydrogels became blackened after the laser irradiation, and thick hydrogels with high AuNP concentrations were not permeable to the laser light. We, therefore, prepared bilayer gels, composed of AuCol as the upper layer and intact collagen gel (Col) as the bottom layer. These bilayer gels allowed more effective cell detachment, because they were thick and optically transparent. Our results indicated that an AuCol/Col ratio of 2 enabled the highest cell detachment efficiency. Essentially, no cell damage was observed in our system, suggesting that this is a cell-friendly single cell separation system.