Understanding the Impact of Key Wine Components on the Use of a Non-Swelling Ion-Exchange Resin for Wine Protein Fining Treatment

The impact of key classes of compounds found in wine on protein removal by the ion-exchange resin, Macro-Prep^® High S, was examined by adsorption isotherm experiments. A model wine system, which contained a prototypical protein Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), was used. We systematically changed concentrations of individual chemical components to generate and compare adsorption isotherm plots and to quantify adsorption affinity or capacity parameters of Macro-Prep^® High S ion-exchange resin. The pH (hydronium ion concentration), ethanol concentration, and prototypical phenolics and polysaccharide compounds are known to impact interactions with proteins and thus could alter the adsorption affinity and capacity of Macro-Prep^® High S ion-exchange resin. At low equilibrium protein concentrations (< ~0.3 (g BSA)/L) and at high equilibrium protein concentrations in model wines at various pH, the adsorption behavior followed the Langmuir isotherm, most likely due to the resin acting as a monolayer adsorbent. The resulting range of BSA capacity was between 0.15–0.18 (g BSA)/(g Macro-Prep^® High S resin). With the addition of ethanol, catechin, caffeic acid, and polysaccharides, the protein adsorption behavior was observed to differ at higher equilibrium protein concentrations (> ~0.3 (g BSA)/L), likely as a result of Macro-Prep^® acting as an unrestricted multilayer adsorbent at these conditions. These data can be used to inform the design and scale-up of ion-exchange columns for removing proteins from wines.     

Chiral Resolution of Spin-Crossover Active Iron(II) [2x2] Grid Complexes

Chiral magnetic materials are proposed for applications in second-order non-linear optics, magneto-chiral dichroism, among others. Recently, we have reported a set of tetra-nuclear Fe(II) grid complex conformers with general formula C/S-[Fe₄L₄]⁸⁺ (L: 2,6-bis(6-(pyrazol-1-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-1,5-dihydrobenzo[1,2-d : 4,5-d′]diimidazole). In the grid complexes, isomerism emerges from tautomerism and conformational isomerism of the ligand L, and the S-type grid complex is chiral, which originates from different non-centrosymmetric spatial organization of the trans type ligand around the Fe(II) center. However, the selective preparation of an enantiomerically pure grid complex in a controlled manner is difficult due to spontaneous self-assembly. To achieve the pre-synthesis programmable resolution of Fe(II) grid complexes, we designed and synthesized two novel intrinsically chiral ligands by appending chiral moieties to the parent ligand. The complexation of these chiral ligands with Fe(II) salt resulted in the formation of enantiomerically pure Fe(II) grid complexes, as unambiguously elucidated by CD and XRD studies. The enantiomeric complexes exhibited similar gradual and half-complete thermal and photo-induced SCO characteristics. The good agreement between the experimentally obtained and calculated CD spectra further supports the enantiomeric purity of the complexes and even the magnetic studies. The chiral resolution of Fe(II)- [2×2] grid complexes reported in this study, for the first time, might enable the fabrication of magneto-chiral molecular devices.     

A geometric mixed norm approach to shallow water acoustic channel estimation and tracking

The shallow water acoustic channel is challenging to estimate and track due to rapid temporal fluctuations of its large delay spread. However, the impulse response and representations of its time-variability often exhibit a sparse structure that can be exploited to improve estimator performance. We propose a sparse reconstruction of the shallow water acoustic channel that employs a novel optimization metric combining the complex square root of the channel coefficients and a non-convex complex function based on the $L_2$ estimation error. Our mixed norm formulation is mathematically equivalent to conventional $L_2$ constrained $L_1$ minimization, but fundamentally different in the non-convex topology we employ to solve for and track the optimal coefficients in real time directly over the complex field. Our estimation and tracking algorithm is designed for robustness with respect to the ill-conditioned nature of the data matrix, can smoothly handle different levels of sparsity, and is modeled to include delays due to multi-path and the Doppler spread induced by the channel. We present numerical evidence over simulated as well as field data to compare the performance of our method to conventional sparse reconstruction techniques.     

Highly Converged Valence Bands and Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity for High-Performance SnTe Thermoelectrics

A two-step optimization strategy is used to improve the thermoelectric performance of SnTe via modulating the electronic structure and phonon transport. The electrical transport of self-compensated SnTe (that is, Sn_1.03Te) was first optimized by Ag doping, which resulted in an optimized carrier concentration. Subsequently, Mn doping in Sn_1.03−xAg_xTe resulted in highly converged valence bands, which improved the Seebeck coefficient. The energy gap between the light and heavy hole bands, i.e. ΔE_v decreases to 0.10 eV in Sn_0.83Ag_0.03Mn_0.17Te compared to the value of 0.35 eV in pristine SnTe. As a result, a high power factor of ca. 24.8 μW cm⁻¹ K⁻² at 816 K in Sn_0.83Ag_0.03Mn_0.17Te was attained. The lattice thermal conductivity of Sn_0.83Ag_0.03Mn_0.17Te reached to an ultralow value (ca. 0.3 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) at 865 K, owing to the formation of Ag₇Te₄ nanoprecipitates in SnTe matrix. A high thermoelectric figure of merit (z T≈1.45 at 865 K) was obtained in Sn_0.83Ag_0.03Mn_0.17Te.     

Few‐Layer Nanosheets of n‐Type SnSe2

Layered p‐block metal chalcogenides are renowned for thermoelectric energy conversion due to their low thermal conductivity caused by bonding asymmetry and anharmonicity. Recently, single crystalline layered SnSe has created sensation in thermoelectrics due to its ultralow thermal conductivity and high thermoelectric figure of merit. Tin diselenide (SnSe₂), an additional layered compound belonging to the Sn‐Se phase diagram, possesses a CdI₂‐type structure. However, synthesis of pure‐phase bulk SnSe₂ by a conventional solid‐state route is still remains challenging. A simple solution‐based low‐temperature synthesis is presented of ultrathin (3–5 nm) few layers (4–6 layers) nanosheets of Cl‐doped SnSe₂, which possess n‐type carrier concentration of 2×10¹⁸ cm^?3 with carrier mobility of about 30 cm² V^?1 s^?1 at room temperature. SnSe₂ has a band gap of about 1.6 eV and semiconducting electronic transport in the 300–630 K range. An ultralow thermal conductivity of about 0.67 Wm^?1 K^?1 was achieved at room temperature in a hot‐pressed dense pellet of Cl‐doped SnSe₂ nanosheets due to the anisotropic layered structure, which gives rise to effective phonon scattering.     

The Thiophene “Sigma‐Hole” as a Concept for Preorganized,Specific Recognition of G⋅C Base Pairs in the DNA Minor Groove

In spite of its importance in cell function, targeting DNA is under‐represented in the design of small molecules. A barrier to progress in this area is the lack of a variety of modules that recognize G ? C base pairs (bp) in DNA sequences. To overcome this barrier, an entirely new design concept for modules that can bind to mixed G ? C and A ? T sequences of DNA is reported herein. Because of their successes in biological applications, minor‐groove‐binding heterocyclic cations were selected as the platform for design. Binding to A ? T sequences requires hydrogen‐bond donors whereas recognition of the G‐NH₂ requires an acceptor. The concept that we report herein uses pre‐organized N‐methylbenzimidazole (N‐MeBI) thiophene modules for selective binding with mixed bp DNA sequences. The interaction between the thiophene sigma hole (positive electrostatic potential) and the electron‐donor nitrogen of N‐MeBI preorganizes the conformation for accepting an hydrogen bond from G‐NH₂. The compound–DNA interactions were evaluated with a powerful array of biophysical methods and the results show that N‐MeBI‐thiophene monomer compounds can strongly and selectively recognize single G ? C bp sequences. Replacing the thiophene with other moieties significantly reduces binding affinity and specificity, as predicted by the design concept. These results show that the use of molecular features, such as sigma‐holes, can lead to new approaches for small molecules in biomolecular interactions.     

Synthesis and cation binding properties of new arylazo- and heteroarylazotetrathiacalix[4]arenes

New macrocyclic tetrathiacalix[4]arenes have been synthesized by incorporating arylazo-, thiazoleazo- and β-naphthylazo- units in the tetrathiacalix[4]arene molecular architecture through diazotization and coupling reactions. The new compounds have been characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and FAB-MS spectroscopic analysis. X-ray crystallography for one of the new dyes (4a) reveals that the compound is present in the cone conformation. The synthesized macrocycles have been examined for their binding with alkali (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Cs⁺ and Rb⁺), alkaline earth (Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Ba²⁺) and transition metal cations (Cr³⁺, Fe²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Hg⁺, Hg²⁺, Pd²⁺ and Pt²⁺) by UV-visible spectroscopy to reveal selective bathochromic shifts for heavier alkali metal ions (cesium and rubidium) and palladium in a 1:1 and 2:1 stoichiometry respectively. The study has a significant bearing on the development of useful ionic filters and sensor materials.