How Strain Affects the Reactivity of Surface Metal Oxide Catalysts

Highly dispersed molybdenum oxide supported on mesoporous silica SBA‐15 has been prepared by anion exchange resulting in a series of catalysts with changing Mo densities (0.2–2.5 Mo atoms nm^?2). X‐ray absorption, UV/Vis, Raman, and IR spectroscopy indicate that doubly anchored tetrahedral dioxo MoO₄ units are the major surface species at all loadings. Higher reducibility at loadings close to the monolayer measured by temperature‐programmed reduction and a steep increase in the catalytic activity observed in metathesis of propene and oxidative dehydrogenation of propane at 8 % of Mo loading are attributed to frustration of Mo oxide surface species and lateral interactions. Based on DFT calculations, NEXAFS spectra at the O‐K‐edge at high Mo loadings are explained by distorted MoO₄ complexes. Limited availability of anchor silanol groups at high loadings forces the MoO₄ groups to form more strained configurations. The occurrence of strain is linked to the increase in reactivity.     

A Comparative Study of Biocathodes Based on Multiwall Carbon Nanotube Buckypapers Modified with Three Different Multicopper Oxidases

14 Single‐ and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes from different sources were characterized in detail, and the characteristics obtained were carefully analyzed. The carbon material with the highest capacitance, and also other superior properties (“Taunit‐M” from “NanoTechCenter”, Russia), was chosen for further modification and fabrication of buckypaper based electrodes. These electrodes were biomodified with plant and fungal laccases, as well as fungal bilirubin oxidase. The designed biocathodes were investigated in simple buffers and also in a complex physiological fluid (human serum). Biocathodes based on immobilized fungal laccase were bioelectrocatalytically inactive in chloride containing media at neutral pH. In spite of the quite high current densities realized using biodevices based on plant laccase and fungal bilirubin oxidase, the limited thermal stability of the enzymes renders the biocathodes inadequate for practical applications in implanted situations.     

The Novel Phosphadiazacalixcrown Compounds

Abstract

A new series of calixcrown compounds (11) containing some VA group elements (N, P) was synthesized. 1.3-bis-(aminoethoxy) calix[4]arene (I) was used as starting platform for the preparation of calixcrown compounds. Reaction of (I) with bis(a-hydroxyalky1)phenylphosphines in toluene lead to phosphadiazacalixcrown compounds (11). All obtained receptors are hydrolytic stable and are not oxidized by air. A more convenient synthesis of (II) involves treatment of (I) with 2.5-diphenyl-1.3.2.5-dioxaboraphosphorinanes (III) which are stable on air unlike bis-(a-hydroxyalkyl) phenylphosphines. Structure of obtained macrocycles was established by ¹H and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy.     

Simultaneous serum desalting and total protein determination by macroporous reversed-phase chromatography

Macroporous reversed-phase (mRP) chromatography was successfully used to develop an accurate and precise method for total protein in serum. The limits of detection (0.83 μg, LOD) and quantification (2.51 μg, LOQ) for the mRP method are comparable with those of the widely used micro BCA protein assay. The mRP method can be used to determine the total protein concentration across a wide dynamic range by detecting chromatographic peaks at 215 nm and 280 nm. The method has the added advantage of desalting and denaturing proteins, leading to more complete digestion by trypsin and to better LC–MS–MS identification in shotgun proteomics experiments.

An improved SPE method for fractionation and identification of phospholipids

This work reports an efficient and universal SPE method developed for separation and identification of phospholipids derived from complex biological samples. For the separation step, sequential combination of silica gel‐aminopropyl‐silica gel SPE cartridges is applied. This setup enables separation of phosphatidylcholine, lysophosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylserine, cardiolipin, and sphingomyelin into four fractions according to the polarity of their headgroups. Sample acquisition of the SPE fractions is performed by a high‐resolution LC‐MS system consisting of a hybrid linear IT Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer coupled to RP‐HPLC. The unequivocal advantage of our SPE sample preparation setup is avoidance of analyte peak overlapping in the determination step done by RP‐HPLC. Overlapping phospholipid signals would otherwise exert adverse ion suppression effects. An additional benefit of this method is the elimination of polar and nonpolar (e.g. neutral lipids) contaminants from the phospholipid fractions, which highly reduces contamination of the LC‐MS system. The method was validated with fermentation samples of organic waste, where 78 distinct phospholipid and sphingomyelin species belonging to six lipid classes were successfully identified.