Aqueous dispersions of single-wall and multiwall carbon nanotubes with designed amphiphilic polycations

Poor solubility of single-walled and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (NTs) in water and organic solvents presents a considerable challenge for their purification and applications. Macromolecules can be convenient solubilizing agents for NTs and a structural element of composite materials for them. Several block copolymers with different chemical functionalities of the side groups were tested for the preparation of aqueous NT dispersions. Poly(N-cetyl-4-vinylpyridinium bromide-co-N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium bromide-co-4-vinylpyridine) was found to form exceptionally stable NT dispersions. It is suggested that the efficiency of macromolecular dispersion agents for NT solubilization correlates with the topological and electronic similarity of polymer-NT and NT-NT interactions in the nanotube bundles. Raman spectroscopy and atomic force and transmission electron microcopies data indicate that the polycations are wrapped around NTs forming a uniform coating 1.0-1.5 nm thick. The ability to wind around the NT originates in the hydrophobic attraction of the polymer backbone to the graphene surface and topological matching. Tetraalkylammonium functional groups in the side chains of the macromolecule create a cloud of positive charge around NTs, which makes them hydrophilic. The prepared dispersions could facilitate the processing of the nanotubes into composites with high nanotube loading for electronic materials and sensing. Positive charge on their surface is particularly important for biological and biomedical applications because it strengthens interactions with negatively charged cell membranes. A high degree of spontaneous bundle separation afforded by the polymer coating can also be beneficial for NT sorting.     

Determination of cadmium in mixtures with metal ions

A method for the determination of cadmium microamounts in mixtures with metallic ions withE _1/2 near toE _1/2 of cadmium is discussed. For higher selectivity cadmium was extracted in the form of the pyridin-thiocyanate complexes prior to polarography.

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Bestimmung von Cadmium(II) neben anderen Metallionen

Zusammenfassung Es wird eine polarographische Methode zur Bestimmung von Cd(II) neben anderen Metallionen mitE _1/2 naheE _1/2(Cd) diskutiert. Zur Erhöhung der Selektivität und Genauigkeit wird eine Pyridin-Thiocyanat-Extraktion vorgeschalten.

     

Reduction requirements for Ru/(K)Fe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> catalytic activity in water-gas shift reaction

This paper is focused upon the influence of potassium on the reduction behavior and catalytic properties of Fe₂O₃, Ru/Fe₂O₃ and Ru/(K)Fe₂O₃ catalysts for the water gas shift (WGS) reaction. The effect of promotion by potassium is attributed to stabilization of a highly dispersed ruthenium phase on the iron oxide surface. The hydrogen reduction behavior of Fe₂O₃ catalysts is strongly influenced by time-pressure dependent processes and comprises two or three heavily overlapped TPR peaks which can be ascribed to the following stages of the iron(III) oxide reduction 3Fe₂O₃ 2Fe₃O₄ 6FeO 6Fe. The appearance of FeO as an intermediate phase was confirmed by XRD. The presence of ruthenium(IV) oxide substantially changes the kinetics of the reduction process. In the case of potassium-doped catalysts, the reduction of Fe₂O₃ is substantially different and is assigned to the reduction phase of KFeO₂. Both ruthenium and potassium have a promoting effect on the catalytic activity for the WGS reaction.From Kinetika i Kataliz, Vol. 45, No. 6, 2004, pp. 930–941.Original English Text Copyright © 2004 by Jówiak, Maniecki, Basiska, Góralski, Fiedorow.This article was submitted by the authors in English.     

Synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene precursors bearing biphenyl units and their use in ruthenium-catalyzed ring-opening metathesis polymerization

A range of new imidazolium and imidazolinium chlorides bearing biphenyl units on their nitrogen atoms was synthesized. They differed by the electron-withdrawing or -donating nature and the steric bulk of the substituents on their aromatic rings. These various N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) precursors were combined with the [RuCl₂(p-cymene)]₂ dimer and potassium tert-butoxide to generate the corresponding ruthenium-arene complexes [RuCl₂(p-cymene)(NHC)] in situ. The catalytic activity of these species was investigated in the photoinduced ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of cyclooctene. The results obtained confirmed the necessity of blocking the ortho-positions of the phenyl rings in the vicinity of the metal center in order to attain high catalytic efficiencies. They also showed that changing the steric and electronic properties of the substituents on the remote phenyl rings of the biphenyl units had no significant influence on the outcome of the polymerization.     

Binary and ternary chromium(III) complexes with cellular reductants and DNA components isolated from redox type systems. Part 1. Chromium(VI)–cysteine–adenine (adenosine,ATP)

The reduction of CrO₃ with an excess of L-cysteine and its interaction with DNA fragments (adenine, adenosine) and ATP nucleotide was studied by analysis of the isolated solid products. The precipitates were characterised by elemental analyses, FAB mass spectral data, spectroscopic methods (u.v.–vis., f.i.r., i.r.) and magnetic measurements. The Cr^III complexes obtained appear to be various Cr^III cysteinate and adenine or ATP (but not adenosine) ternary species of the addition type bound through the hydrogen bonding network.     

Second-generation mimics of ganglioside GM1 oligosaccharide: a three-dimensional view of their interactions with bacterial enterotoxins by NMR and computational methods

As a step to delineate a strategy of ligand design for cholera toxin (CT), NMR studies were performed on several mimics of the GM1 ganglioside oligosaccharide. The conformation of these analogues was investigated first in solution and then upon binding to cholera toxin by transferred nuclear Overhauser effect (TR-NOE) measurements. It was demonstrated that CT selects a conformation similar to the global minima of the free saccharides from the ensemble of presented conformations. No evidence of major conformational distortions was obtained, but one or two of the available conformers of the hydroxyacid side chain appear to be selected in the bound state. The NMR data were interpreted with the aid of computer models, generated and analyzed by using a combination of different approaches (MacroModels' MC/EM and MC/SD, Autodock, and GRID). Analysis of the NMR data supported by computational studies allowed us to interpret the experimental observations and to derive workable models of the ligand:toxin complexes. These models suggest that the higher affinity of the (R)-lactic acid derivative 3 may stem from lipophilic interactions with a hydrophobic area in the toxin binding site located in the vicinity of the sialic acid side chain binding region of the CT:GM1 complex, and formed by the side chain of Ile-58 and Lys-34. Thus, the models obtained have allowed us to make useful design suggestions for the improvement of ligand affinity.     

Characterization of low-energy chlorophylls in the PSI-LHCI supercomplex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. A site-selective fluorescence study

Almost all photosystem I (PSI) complexes from oxygenic photosynthetic organisms contain chlorophylls that absorb at longer wavelength than that of the primary electron donor P700. We demonstrate here that the low-energy pool of chlorophylls in the PSI-LHCI complex from the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, containing five to six pigments, is significantly blue-shifted (A(max) at 700 nm at 4 K) compared to that in the PSI core preparations from several species of cyanobacteria and in PSI-LHCI particles from higher plants. This makes them almost isoenergetic with the primary donor. However, they keep the other characteristic features of "red" chlorophylls: clear spectral separation from the bulk chlorophylls, big Stokes shift revealing pronounced electron-phonon coupling, and large homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening of approximately 170 and approximately 310 cm(-1), respectively.     

X-ray diffraction and solid-state NMR studies of a germanium binuclear complex

A compound formulated as (C4H12N2)[Ge2(pmida)2(OH)2] x 4 H2O (where pmida(4-) = N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetate and C4H12N2(2+) = piperazinedium cation), containing the anionic [Ge2(pmida)2(OH)2]2- complex, has been synthesised by the hydrothermal approach and its structure determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Several high-resolution solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR techniques, in particular two-dimensional 1H-X(13C,31P) heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) and 1H-1H homonuclear correlation (HOMCOR) experiments incorporating a frequency-switched Lee-Goldburg (FS-LG) decoupling scheme, have been employed for the first time in such a material. Using these tools in tandem affords an excellent general approach to study the structure of other inorganic-organic hybrids. We assigned the NMR resonances with the help of C...H and P...H internuclear distances obtained through systematic statistical analyses of the crystallographic data. The compound was further characterised by powder X-ray diffraction techniques, IR and Raman spectroscopy, and by elemental and thermal analyses (thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry).     

Structural basis for discriminative regulation of gene expression by adenine- and guanine-sensing mRNAs

Metabolite-sensing mRNAs, or "riboswitches," specifically interact with small ligands and direct expression of the genes involved in their metabolism. Riboswitches contain sensing "aptamer" modules, capable of ligand-induced structural changes, and downstream regions, harboring expression-controlling elements. We report the crystal structures of the add A-riboswitch and xpt G-riboswitch aptamer modules that distinguish between bound adenine and guanine with exquisite specificity and modulate expression of two different sets of genes. The riboswitches form tuning fork-like architectures, in which the prongs are held in parallel through hairpin loop interactions, and the internal bubble zippers up to form the purine binding pocket. The bound purines are held by hydrogen bonding interactions involving conserved nucleotides along their entire periphery. Recognition specificity is associated with Watson-Crick pairing of the encapsulated adenine and guanine ligands with uridine and cytosine, respectively.     

Amino-Modified Silicate Xerogels Complexed with Cu(II) as Catalyst Precursors. Coordination State and Thermal Decomposition

The sol-gel process is a useful method for preparing two series of organically and co-ordinately modified xerogels of the types [CuN _n ]·N _5–n ·5xSiO_4/2 (n < 4) and [Cu(N–N)_n]·(N–N)_2–n ·2x SiO_4/2(n 2), where N = NH₂(CH₂)₃ SiO_3/2, N–N = NH₂(CH₂)₂NH·(CH₂)₃SiO_3/2 and x = [SiO_4/2]/[N] or [SiO_4/2]/[N–N]. The amino groups in the materials are coordinately active and participate partly in the coordination sphere of Cu(II) ions. The composition of the coordination sphere can be varied with the SiO_4/2 content and also as a result of the thermal decomposition of the organic residues at higher temperatures.Because the xerogel materials are considered to be catalyst precursors, this study is focused on their coordination and thermal properties. The prepared xerogels, such as silica, aminated silicates with N and N–N, as well as those entities complexed with Cu(II), were characterised by FT-IR spectroscopy. During gelation and thermal decomposition the materials were analysed by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The xerogels were additionally studied by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. The gaseous products of the thermal decomposition of these materials in an Ar atmosphere were investigated by the use of FT-IR spectroscopy coupled with TG and DTG thermal analysis. These data were complemented by temperature-programmed decomposition (TPDec) in a 2% O₂ + 98% Ar stream coupled with quadrupole mass spectroscopy.