Unraveling the Mechanism of the IrIII-Catalyzed Regiospecific Synthesis of α-Chlorocarbonyl Compounds from Allylic Alcohols

We have used experimental studies and DFT calculations to investigate the Ir^III-catalyzed isomerization of allylic alcohols into carbonyl compounds, and the regiospecific isomerization–chlorination of allylic alcohols into α-chlorinated carbonyl compounds. The mechanism involves a hydride elimination followed by a migratory insertion step that may take place at Cβ but also at Cα with a small energy-barrier difference of 1.8 kcal mol⁻¹. After a protonation step, calculations show that the final tautomerization can take place both at the Ir center and outside the catalytic cycle. For the isomerization–chlorination reaction, calculations show that the chlorination step takes place outside the cycle with an energy barrier much lower than that for the tautomerization to yield the saturated ketone. All the energies in the proposed mechanism are plausible, and the cycle accounts for the experimental observations.     

Development of a new three-phase membrane-assisted liquid-phase microextraction method: determination of nitrite in tap water samples as model analytical application

A novel and simple device for membrane-assisted liquid-phase microextraction is used for the first time in a three-phase system. The device consists of a glass vial containing the aqueous acceptor phase, whose septum of its screw stopper has been replaced by a sized piece of polytetrafluoroethylene membrane impregnated with n-decane. The vial is assembled to a volumetric flask containing the aqueous donor phase, and the membrane comes in contact alternatively with both donor and acceptor aqueous phases by orbital agitation. The device has been tested for the determination of nitrite in tap water samples, which is extensively carried out in routine analysis, as model analytical application. Experimental variables, such as the organic solvent used to form the supported liquid membrane, the volumes of both donor and acceptor phases, the orbital agitation rate, and the extraction time were studied and optimized in terms of enrichment factor. Under the selected working conditions, the analytical figures of merit for nitrite determination were a linearity range up to 50 ng mL⁻¹, limits of detection and quantification of 0.15 and 0.50 ng mL⁻¹, respectively, and a good repeatability (RSD < 10%). The method has been applied to four tap water samples of different origins, and accurate and precise results were achieved. Besides, the very low volume of organic solvent used, its low cost and the no-risk of cross-contamination are significant operational advantages.     

Application of a renormalization-group treatment to the statistical associating fluid theory for potentials of variable range (SAFT-VR)

An accurate prediction of phase behavior at conditions far and close to criticality cannot be accomplished by mean-field based theories that do not incorporate long-range density fluctuations. A treatment based on renormalization-group (RG) theory as developed by White and co-workers has proven to be very successful in improving the predictions of the critical region with different equations of state. The basis of the method is an iterative procedure to account for contributions to the free energy of density fluctuations of increasing wavelengths. The RG method has been combined with a number of versions of the statistical associating fluid theory (SAFT), by implementing White's earliest ideas with the improvements of Prausnitz and co-workers. Typically, this treatment involves two adjustable parameters: a cutoff wavelength L for density fluctuations and an average gradient of the wavelet function Φ. In this work, the SAFT-VR (variable range) equation of state is extended with a similar crossover treatment which, however, follows closely the most recent improvements introduced by White. The interpretation of White's latter developments allows us to establish a straightforward method which enables Φ to be evaluated; only the cutoff wavelength L then needs to be adjusted. The approach used here begins with an initial free energy incorporating only contributions from short-wavelength fluctuations, which are treated locally. The contribution from long-wavelength fluctuations is incorporated through an iterative procedure based on attractive interactions which incorporate the structure of the fluid following the ideas of perturbation theories and using a mapping that allows integration of the radial distribution function. Good agreement close and far from the critical region is obtained using a unique fitted parameter L that can be easily related to the range of the potential. In this way the thermodynamic properties of a square-well (SW) fluid are given by the same number of independent intermolecular model parameters as in the classical equation. Far from the critical region the approach provides the correct limiting behavior reducing to the classical equation (SAFT-VR). In the critical region the β critical exponent is calculated and is found to take values close to the universal value. In SAFT-VR the free energy of an associating chain fluid is obtained following the thermodynamic perturbation theory of Wertheim from the knowledge of the free energy and radial distribution function of a reference monomer fluid. By determining L for SW fluids of varying well width a unique equation of state is obtained for chain and associating systems without further adjustment of critical parameters. We use computer simulation data of the phase behavior of chain and associating SW fluids to test the accuracy of the new equation.     

Directing energy transfer in discrete one-dimensional oligonucleotide-templated assemblies

Monodisperse DNA-templated one dimensional dye assemblies have been constructed in which the energy transfer can be directed. Fluorescence experiments suggest an optimum transfer efficiency for stacks of 30 bases long.     

Chemical variability in the essential oil of Cinnamomum tamala L. leaves from India

The chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from the fresh leaves of Cinnamomum tamala Nees et Eberm. was determined by GC and GC-MS. The yield of the oil on a dry weight basis ranged from 1.2% to 3.9% (w/w). Phenyl propanoids constitute the major portion (88.9-95.0%) of the oils. Fifty-four compounds were identified from the oils. Eugenol (91.4-41.8%) was the main compound, followed by eugenyl acetate (0.0-47.1%) and α-phellandrene (0.6-2.5%) in the analysed oils.     

Atomic force microscopy of mechanically trapped bacterial cells.

This article presents a study on the influence of the protocol used for immobilization of bacterial cells onto surfaces by mechanically trapping them into a filter. In this sense, the surface and structure of trapped cells are analyzed. Bacteria can be present solely or with extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). To test the behavior of the EPS layer duing the filtering process, different strains of a well-known EPS-producer bacteria (Staphylococcus epidermidis), which produce an extracellular matrix clearly visible in AFM images, have been used. Results show that this immobilization method can cause severe structural and mechanical deformation to the cell membrane. This altered mechanical state may possibly influence the parameters derived from AFM force curves (which are micro/nano-mechanical tests). Also, our results suggest that the EPS layer might move during the filtering process and could accumulate at the upper part of the cell, thus favoring distorted data of adhesion/pull-off forces as measured by an AFM tip, especially in the case of submicron-sized microbial cells such as bacteria.     

Speciation analysis of calcium,iron, and zinc in casein phosphopeptide fractions from toddler milk-based formula by anion exchange and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/flame atomic-absorption spectroscopy

Casein phosphopeptides (CPP) are phosphorylated casein-derived peptides that can be released by in-vitro or in-vivo enzymatic hydrolysis of _s1-casein, _s2-casein, and -casein (CN). Many of these peptides contain a highly polar acidic sequence of three phosphoseryl groups followed by two glutamic acid residues. These domains are binding sites for minerals such as calcium, iron, and zinc and play an important role in mineral bioavailability. The aim of this study was speciation analysis of calcium, iron, and zinc in CPP fractions from the soluble fraction of a toddler milk-based formula. Methods for CPP separation by anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (AE-HPLC) were combined with CPP identification by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and determination of the calcium, iron, zinc, and phosphorus content of the fractions obtained by AE-HPLC. Calcium and phosphorus were detected in all the analyzed AE-HPLC fractions. Calcium and zinc could be bound to CPP derived from _s1-CN and _s2-CN in fraction 3. Iron could be bound to CPP in fraction 4 in which -CN(15-34)4P was present with the cluster sequence S(P)S(P)S(P)EE. The results obtained prove the different distribution of calcium, iron, and zinc in heterogeneous CPP fractions.     

Simultaneous determination of cobalt,nickel and iron by multi-wavelength spectrophotometry

A method for the simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of cobalt, nickel and iron based on the formation of their complexes with 1,5-bis(di-2-pyridylmethylene) thiocarbonohydrazide is proposed. The absorption curves of these complexes overlap severely in the scanning range 390–510 nm. The analyte concentrations are calculated by a least squares fit of the pure spectra to the mixture spectra, which therefore makes the simultaneous determination of these metallic ions possible without tedious pretreatment. The detection limits afforded by the proposed method range from 0.05 g/ml for Fe and Ni to 0.1 g/ml for Co. Root-mean-squared errors of prediction of 0.085 g/ml for Co, 0.048 g/ml for Ni and 0.1172 g/ml for Fe were obtained using the wavelength range 400–510 nm and 0.147 g/ml for Co, 0.107 g/ml for Ni and 0.127 g/ml for Fe using the wavelength range 420–434 nm. The effect of interferences is studied and the proposed method is applied to analysis for the above elements in synthetic samples and real samples, such as biological materials and alloys.