Fluctuations and micro-heterogeneity in aqueous mixtures

The problem as to why water-water density correlations are systematically overestimated in computer simulation of aqueous mixtures is examined through an extensive molecular dynamics study of mixtures of the extended single point charge water model with a fully miscible weaker version of it, obtained by scaling down the site partial charges by a factor 2/3, thereby eliminating solute-solvent size differences. The study reveals that enhanced water correlations is a genuine physical effect, and are not an artifact of the simulations or the models, as previously suggested in the context of realistic aqueous mixtures. Rather, they correspond to the existence of strongly correlated water domains, for "weak-water" mole fraction x > 0.4, that modulate the spatial decay of the density correlations. These domains produce a prepeak in the structure factor, suggesting that simple aqueous mixture might behave just like micro-emulsions. The overestimated long range water correlations result from incorrect predictions of the asymptote of these correlations, which themselves arise from size limitations of the simulation box. However, by requiring consistency between thermodynamical and structural expressions of the concentration fluctuations, a method to predict the proper decay of the correlation function is obtained herein, inspired by the formal analogy with micro-emulsions. This study provides a new insight for the large values of the experimental Kirkwood-Buff integrals for many aqueous mixtures: these mixtures are in a Lifshitz-type regime, where concentration fluctuations compete with water domain formation.     

Cancer detection using nanoparticle-based sensors

This tutorial review surveys the latest achievements in the use of nanoparticles to detect cancer biomarkers and cancer cells with a focus on optical and electrochemical techniques. Nanoparticle based cancer diagnostics are becoming an increasingly relevant alternative to traditional techniques. Although some drawbacks exist in relation to the obtained sensitivity the use of nanoparticle-based sensors in biomarker detection or cancer cell detection offers some advantages in comparison to conventional methods. The developed techniques can be interesting and relevant for their use in point-of-care of cancer diagnostics. The methods can be of low cost and in addition easy to be incorporated into user-friendly sensing platforms.     

Hydrogen adsorbed in a metal organic framework-5: coupled translation-rotation eigenstates from quantum five-dimensional calculations

We report rigorous quantum five-dimensional (5D) calculations of the coupled translation-rotation (T-R) eigenstates of a H(2) molecule adsorbed in metal organic framework-5 (MOF-5), a prototypical nanoporous material, which was treated as rigid. The anisotropic interactions between H(2) and MOF-5 were represented by the analytical 5D intermolecular potential energy surface (PES) used previously in the simulations of the thermodynamics of hydrogen sorption in this system [Belof et al., J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 9316 (2009)]. The global and local minima on this 5D PES correspond to all of the known binding sites of H(2) in MOF-5, three of which, α-, β-, and γ-sites are located on the inorganic cluster node of the framework, while two of them, the δ- and ε-sites, are on the phenylene link. In addition, 2D rotational PESs were calculated ab initio for each of these binding sites, keeping the center of mass of H(2) fixed at the respective equilibrium geometries; purely rotational energy levels of H(2) on these 2D PESs were computed by means of quantum 2D calculations. On the 5D PES, the three adjacent γ-sites lie just 1.1 meV above the minimum-energy α-site, and are separated from it by a very low barrier. These features allow extensive wave function delocalization of even the lowest translationally excited T-R eigenstates over the α- and γ-sites, presenting significant challenges for both the quantum bound-state calculations and the analysis of the results. Detailed comparison is made with the available experimental data.     

Monomeric organoantimony(III) sulphide and selenide with terminal Sb-E bond (E = S, Se). Synthesis, structure and theoretical consideration

NCN chelated monomeric chalcogenides, LSbE (E = S (1), Se (2), L = 2,6-bis[N-(2',6'-dimethylphenyl)ketimino]phenyl), were synthesized and characterized with the help of elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. The terminal Sb-E (E = S, Se) bonds in 1 and 2 were subjected to theoretical investigation and the results are compared with the hypothetical molecules, PhSb=E (E = S, Se, Te), and earlier reported analogues.     

Homo- and heteronuclear meso,meso-(E)-ethene-1,2-diyl-linked diporphyrins: preparation, x-ray crystal structure, electronic absorption and emission spectra and density functional theory calculations

Homo- and heteronuclear meso,meso-(E)-ethene-1,2-diyl-linked diporphyrins have been prepared by the Suzuki coupling of porphyrinylboronates and iodovinylporphyrins. Combinations comprising 5,10,15-triphenylporphyrin (TriPP) on both ends of the ethene-1,2-diyl bridge M(2)10 (M(2) =H(2)/Ni, Ni(2), Ni/Zn, H(4), H(2)Zn, Zn(2)) and 5,15-bis(3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl)porphyrinato-nickel(II) on one end and H(2), Ni, and ZnTriPP on the other (M(2)11), enable the first studies of this class of compounds possessing intrinsic polarity. The compounds were characterized by electronic absorption and steady state emission spectra, (1)H?NMR spectra, and for the Ni(2) bis(TriPP) complex Ni(2)10, single crystal X-ray structure determination. The crystal structure shows ruffled distortions of the porphyrin rings, typical of Ni(II) porphyrins, and the (E)-C(2)H(2) bridge makes a dihedral angle of 50° with the mean planes of the macrocycles. The result is a stepped parallel arrangement of the porphyrin rings. The dihedral angles in the solid state reflect the interplay of steric and electronic effects of the bridge on interporphyrin communication. The emission spectra in particular, suggest energy transfer across the bridge is fast in conformations in which the bridge is nearly coplanar with the rings. Comparisons of the fluorescence behaviour of H(4)10 and H(2)Ni10 show strong quenching of the free base fluorescence when the complex is excited at the lower energy component of the Soret band, a feature associated in the literature with more planar conformations. TDDFT calculations on the gas-phase optimized geometry of Ni(2)10 reproduce the features of the experimental electronic absorption spectrum within 0.1 eV.     

Application of bare gold nanoparticles in open-tubular CEC separations of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and peptides

In this study, bare gold nanoparticles (GNPs) immobilized in the sol-gel-pretreated fused-silica (FS) capillary as a stationary phase for open-tubular capillary electrochromatography (OT-CEC) are for the first time shown to be able to separate both hydrophobic polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as well as hydrophilic cationic antimicrobial peptides. Model mixture of four PAHs, naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and anthracene, was resolved by OT-CEC in the GNP-modified FS capillaries using the hydro-organic background electrolyte (BGE) composed of 20 mmol/L sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7, modified with ACN at 8:2 v/v ratio. On the other hand, three synthetic analogues of an antimicrobial peptide mastoparan PDD-B, basic tetradecapeptides INWKKLGKKILGAL-NH(2), INSLKLGKKILGAL-NH(2) and NWLRLGRRILGAL-NH(2), were separated in aqueous acidic BGEs, pH 2.1-3.1, composed of weak acids (formic and acetic) or amphoteric amino or imino acids (aspartic or iminodiacetic), utilizing the advantage of a slow reversed (anodic) EOF and slightly positive charge of the GNP-modified FS capillary suppressing the adsorption of cationic peptides on the inner capillary wall and improving their resolution.     

Radiative decays and the nature of heavy quarkonia

We argue that the photon spectra in radiative decays of various heavy quarkonium states provide important information on their nature. If two of these states are in the strong coupling regime, we are able to produce a parameter-free model-independent formula, which holds at next-to-leading order and includes both direct and fragmentation contributions. When the formula is checked against recent CLEO data it favors Y(2S) and Y(3S) in the strong coupling regime and disfavors Y(1S) in it.     

Determination of ng/mL levetiracetam using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode absorbance

This paper demonstrates the analysis of levetiracetam, a new chiral antiepileptic drug, at ng/mL levels using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)-photodiode absorbance (PDA) method. Three different sample preparation methods, liquid-liquid extraction with Extrelut, solid phase extraction (SPE) with Oasis HLB and Oasis MAX SPE cartridges, and protein precipitation with organic solvents were carried out. The last preparatory method is the simplest and provides the best recoveries: between 97.1% and 100.4% with RSD value below 5%. The column for separation is BEH C18 column (1.7 μm particle size and 100 × 2.1 mm i.d.) and acetonitrile-phosphate buffer (pH = 6.6; 0.01 M) (10/90 v/v) is the mobile phase. The results obtained are compared to analysis conducted by the HPLC method. The UHPLC method was validated in the range of 2-100 μg/mL levetiracetam concentration (R(2) = 0.9997). LOD and LOQ are 10 ng/mL and 33 ng/mL, respectively. The developed UHPLC method was applied to plasma samples of patient with epilepsy.