Plasma-Assisted Reaction Chemical Ionization for Elemental Mass Spectrometry of Organohalogens

We present plasma-assisted reaction chemical ionization (PARCI) for elemental analysis of halogens in organic compounds. Organohalogens are broken down to simple halogen-containing molecules (e.g., HBr) in a helium microwave-induced plasma followed by negative mode chemical ionization (CI) in the afterglow region. The reagent ions for CI originate from penning ionization of gases (e.g., N₂) introduced into the afterglow region. The performance of PARCI-mass spectrometry (MS) is evaluated using flow injection analyses of organobromines, demonstrating 5–8 times better sensitivities compared with inductively coupled plasma MS. We show that compound-dependent sensitivities in PARCI-MS mainly arise from sample introduction biases.

Multiple functions of microfluidic platforms: Characterization and applications in tissue engineering and diagnosis of cancer

Microfluidic system, or lab-on-a-chip, has grown explosively. This system has been used in research for the first time and then entered in the clinical section. Due to economic reasons, this technique has been used for screening of laboratory and clinical indices. The microfluidic system solves some difficulties accompanied by clinical and biological applications. In this review, the interpretation and analysis of some recent developments in microfluidic systems in biomedical applications with more emphasis on tissue engineering and cancer will be discussed. Moreover, we try to discuss the features and functions of microfluidic systems.     

Tapered copolymers of styrene and 4-vinylbenzocyclobutene via carbanionic polymerization for crosslinkable polymer films

Well-defined polystyrene homopolymers with surface-adhesive triethoxysilyl end group were synthesized via living carbanionic polymerization, epoxide end-functionalization and subsequent hydrosilylation with triethoxysilane. Grafting-to performance of polymers with various molecular weight (M_n = 3000–14,000 g mol⁻¹) to a silicon surface was examined in dependence of reaction time, polymer concentration, solvent and number of alkoxysilyl end groups. Crosslinkable polymers for surface modification were synthesized by statistical carbanionic copolymerization of 4-vinylbenzocyclobutene (4-VBCB) and styrene, followed by epoxide end-functionalization and triethoxysilane modification (M_n = 4000–14,000 g mol⁻¹). The copolymers were characterized by ¹H-NMR, THF-SEC, and matrix-assisted laser desorption and ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. In situ ¹H-NMR kinetic studies in cyclohexane-d₁₂ provided information regarding the monomer gradient in the polymer chains, with styrene being the more reactive monomer (r_s = 2.75, r_4-VBCB = 0.23). Thin polymer films on silicon wafers were prepared by grafting-to surface modification under conditions derived for the polystyrene homopolymer. The traceless, thermally induced crosslinking reaction of the benzocyclobutene units was studied by DSC in bulk as well as in 3–6 nm thick polymer films. Crosslinked films were analyzed by atomic force microscopy, ellipsometry, and nanoindentation, showing smooth polymer films with an increased modulus. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 58, 181–192     

Adsorption and Micellization Behavior of Cationic Surfactants (Gemini and Conventional)—Amphiphilic Drug Systems

In the present work, the behavior of mixed drug–surfactant systems has been studied by surface tension measurements. The drug used in this work is adiphenine hydrochloride (ADP) and the surfactants are of m-s-m type geminis, i.e., alkanediyl-α,ω-bis(dimethylalkylammonium bromide), with m = (14, 16), s = (4, 5, 6), and conventional alkyltrimethylammonium bromides (CTAB, TTAB). The excess surface concentration (Γ _max ) increases and the minimum head group area at the air/water interface (A _min) decreases with increasing concentration of surfactant in the drug solution. Both the critical micelle concentration (cmc) and ideal cmc (cmc*) values decrease with mole fraction of surfactants. Also, the cmc values are lower than cmc*, indicating attractive interactions are present in the mixed micelles. The mole fractions of surfactant in the micelles $ \left( {X_{1}^{m} } \right) $ and monolayers $ \left( {X_{1}^{\sigma } } \right) $ , as well as the respective interaction parameters ( $ \beta^{m} $ , $ \beta^{\sigma } $ ), indicate that monolayer formation is easier than micelle formation due to the rigid hydrophobic part of the drug.     

A Simple Synthesis of Stable Phosphorus Ylides Derived from 2-Benzoxazolinone and 2-Mercaptobenzoxazole

The reaction of triphenylphosphine with dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates in the presence of a strong SH-acid or NH-acid, such as 2-mercaptobenzoxazole and 2-benzoxazolinone, has been studied. In some cases, stable phosphorus ylides are obtained in excellent yields. The ylide moiety of these compounds is strongly conjugated with the adjacent carbonyl group, and the rotation about the partial double bond in (E) and (Z) geometrical isomers is slow on the NMR time scale at an ambient temperature. Thus, these exist as a mixture of geometrical isomers.     

Micelle-Catalyzed Interaction Between [Ni(II)-Gly-Gly]+ and Ninhydrin

The effect of cationic micelles of cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) on the observed pseudo-first-order rate constant for the interaction of nickel dipeptide complex [Ni(II)-Gly-Gly]⁺ with ninhydrin has been studied spectrophotometrically. At constant temperature and pH, increase in the [CTAB] from 0.0 to 60.0 × 10^?3 mol dm^?3 caused nearly three-fold increase of the rate constant. The micellar catalysis is explained in terms of the pseudophase model. From the observed kinetic data, binding constants of micelle–[Ni(II)-Gly-Gly]⁺ (K _S), and micelle–ninhydrin (K _N) are evaluated, respectively, to be 5.3 mol^?1 dm³ and 84.0 mol^?1 dm³. The role of added inorganic (NaCl, NaBr, Na₂SO₄) and organic salts (NaBenz, NaSal) on the reaction rate has also been examined.     

Synthesis and characterization of optically active poly(amide-imide)s based on [N,N′-(4,4′-carbonyldiphtaloyl)-bis-lamino diacid]s and 1,5-bis(4-aminophenyl)penta-1,4-dien-3-one

Six dicarboxylic acids 3a-3f were synthesized by the reaction of 3,3’,4,4’-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride 1 with L-aminoacids 2a-2f in a solution of glacial acetic acid/pyridine(Py) at refluxing temperature.Then six new poly(amide-imide)s PAIs were synthesized from the direct polycondensation reaction of[N,N’-(4,4’- carbonyldiphtaloyl)-bis-L-amino diacid]s with 1,5-bis(4-aminophenyl)penta-1,4-dien-3-one(APPD).The polymerization reactions produced a series of new optically active PAIs with high yield and good inherent viscosity.Also these PAIs are optically active and soluble in various organic solvents.These resulting new polymers can be used in column chromatography for the separation of enantiomeric mixtures.The resulted polymers were fully characterized by means of FTIR and ~1H-NMR spectroscopy,elemental analyses,inherent viscosity measurements,solubility tests and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA).     

Luminescence characteristics of minerals separated from irradiated onions during storage under different light conditions

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of light conditions during 2 years of storage on the luminescence characteristics of contaminating minerals, isolated from irradiated onions of 2 different origins. The potential use of photostimulated luminescence (PSL) as a screening and thermoluminescence (TL) as a confirmatory identification method was investigated during post-irradiation periods. Nonirradiated onions had 1,612 photon counts (PCs), However, the irradiated onions had much higher PCs (45,672–469,696, positive). The PCs of the irradiated onions decreased with storage time. However, all the irradiated onions had PCs with positive values (>5,000) even after 2 years of storage except onions stored under natural light. The decline in PCs because of light conditions during storage was in the order of sunlight, artificial light, and a darkroom, respectively. Minerals extracted from the nonirradiated samples exhibited TL glow curves of low intensities with maximum peak after 300 ^°C. However, all irradiated samples had TL glow peaks in the temperature ranges of 185–225 ^°C. The TL intensity and TL ratio of the irradiated samples decreased during storage with a slight shift in the TL peak temperature towards higher temperatures. The TL characteristics were most promising for samples stored under natural light conditions, however all the irradiated onions could be identified even after 2 years of storage.