Nb2O5·nH2O as a heterogeneous catalyst with water-tolerant Lewis acid sites

Niobic acid, Nb(2)O(5)·nH(2)O, has been studied as a heterogeneous Lewis acid catalyst. NbO(4) tetrahedra, Lewis acid sites, on Nb(2)O(5)·nH(2)O surface immediately form NbO(4)-H(2)O adducts in the presence of water. However, a part of the adducts can still function as effective Lewis acid sites, catalyzing the allylation of benzaldehyde with tetraallyl tin and the conversion of glucose into 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural in water.     

Solvent-induced selectivity switching: intermolecular allylsilylation, arylsilylation, and silylation of alkynes over montmorillonite catalyst

Proton-exchanged montmorillonite showed catalytic activity for intermolecular allylsilylation, arylsilylation, and terminal silylation of alkynes with allylsilanes. The reaction selectivity greatly depended on the solvent used. Reactions proceeded with various terminal alkynes and allylsilanes in good to moderate yields. The reaction pathways involving cationic Si species on the montmorillonite surface were also investigated.     

The confirmation of the formation of clathrate-like hydrates of poly(tetrabutylammonium ethenesulfonate) and of poly(tetraisopentylammonium ethenesulfonate)

A thermal method using differential scanning calorimeter has been applied to aqueous solutions of a series of poly(tetraalkylammonium ethenesulfonates) (R₄NPES). It was found that only the salts withR=n-C₄H₉ andR=i-C₅H₁₁ could form stable hydrates having large hydration numbers. The melting point and hydration numbers of these two hydrates were 12.0°C and 30±1 for the (n-C₄H₉)₄NPES hydrate and 16.0°C and 53±2 for the (i-C₅H₁₁)₄NPES hydrate, respectively. It was concluded that these hydrates were clathrate-like essentially similar to such hydrates as (n-C₄H₉)₄NF·30H₂O and (i-C₅H₁₁)₄NF·40H₂O.     

A clinical trial for therapeutic drug monitoring using microchip-based fluorescence polarization immunoassay

Microchip analysis is a promising method for therapeutic drug monitoring. This led us to evaluate a microchip-based fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) system for point-of-care testing on patients being treated with theophylline. The sera were collected from 20 patients being treated with theophylline. Fluorescence polarization was measured on the microchip and theophylline concentrations in serum were obtained. Regression analysis of the correlations was done between the results given by the microchip-based FPIA and the conventional cloned enzyme donor immunoassay (CEDIA), and between the results given by the microchip-based FPIA and the conventional particle-enhanced turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (PETINIA). We successfully carried out a quantitative analysis of theophylline in serum at values near its therapeutic range in 65 s. The results obtained by the microchip-based FPIA correlated well with CEDIA and PETINIA results; the correlation coefficients (R ²) were 0.986 and 0.989, respectively. The FPIA system is a simple and rapid method for point-of-care testing of drugs in serum, and its accuracy is the same as the conventional CEDIA and PETINIA. It is essential to use real samples from patients and to confirm good correlations with conventional methods for a study on the realization of microchip.     

On the induced‐fit mechanism of substrate‐enzyme binding structures of nylon‐oligomer hydrolase

We present a detailed computational investigation of the induced‐fit motion in a nylon‐oligomer hydrolase (NylB) upon substrate binding. To this aim, we resort on the recently introduced parallel cascade selection molecular dynamics approach, allowing for an accelerated access to the set of conformational changes from an open‐ to a closed‐state structure to form the enzyme‐substrate complex in a specific induce‐fit mechanism. The structural investigation is quantitatively complemented by free energy analyses within the umbrella sampling algorithm accompanied by weighted histogram analysis. We find that the stabilization free energy is about 1.4 kcal/mol, whereas the highest free energy barrier to be overcome is about 2.3 kcal/mol. Conversely, the energetic contribution for the substrate binding is about 20 kcal/mol, as estimated from Generalized Born/Surface Area. This means that the open‐close induced‐fit motion could occur frequently once the substrate binds to the open state of NylB. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Synthesis of 1-beta-O-acyl glucuronides of diclofenac, mefenamic acid and (S)-naproxen by the chemo-selective enzymatic removal of protecting groups from the corresponding methyl acetyl derivatives

Using a straightforward chemo-enzymatic procedure, 1-beta-O-acyl glucuronides of three non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, diclofenac (DF) 5, mefenamic acid (MF) 6 and (S)-naproxen (NP) 7, were prepared. Caesium salts of these carboxylic acid drugs reacted with commercially available methyl 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-1-bromo-1-deoxy-alpha-D-glucopyranuronate 4 to give exclusively the corresponding 1-beta-O-acyl glucuronides 8-10 in moderate yields. The protecting acetyl (for -OH group) and methyl ester (for -CO2H group) groups of each sugar moiety were easily removed to provide the corresponding free 1-beta-O-acyl glucuronides 1-3 in high yields. Deprotection was achieved through effective enzyme-catalysed chemo-selective hydrolyses of the acetyl groups using lipase AS Amano (LAS), and of the methyl ester group using esterase from porcine liver (PLE).     

Electrical Network of Single‐Crystalline Metal Oxide Nanoclusters Wired by π‐Molecules

In a mixed‐valence polyoxometalate, electrons are usually delocalized within the cluster anion because of low level of inter‐cluster interaction. Herein, we report the structure and electrical properties of a single crystal in which mixed‐valence polyoxometalates were electrically wired by cationic π‐molecules of tetrathiafulvalene substituted with pyridinium. Electron‐transport characteristics are suggested to represent electron hopping through strong interactions between cluster and cationic π‐molecules.     

Chemical and Genetic Study of Ligularia cyathiceps in Yunnan Province of China

Root chemicals and evolutionarily neutral DNA regions in L. cyathiceps samples collected in the Zhongdian (Shangrila) County of Yunnan, P. R. China, were examined. Twenty compounds were isolated, including three new ones, 1β,10β‐epoxy‐6β‐(propionyloxy)furanoeremophilan‐9‐one ( 6 ), 1β,10β‐epoxy‐8α‐ethoxyeremophila‐6,11‐diene ( 14 ), and 11αH‐6β‐isobutyryloxy‐1β,10β,7β,8β‐diepoxyeremophilan‐12,8α‐olide ( 15 ). The chemical diversity was found to be limited, with cacalol ( 1 ) and 6‐(acyloxy)furanoeremophilan‐9‐ones ( 4 and/or 5 ) being major components in all the samples. The nuclear ribosomal RNA gene was also found to harbor little variation, although two distinct sequence types were found for the plastid atpB‐rbcL intergenic region.     

Antibacterial metal implant with a TiO2‐conferred photocatalytic bactericidal effect against Staphylococcus aureus

Photocatalysis with anatase Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) under ultraviolet A (UVA) has a well recognized bactericidal effect. There have been a few reports, however, on the effects of photocatalysis on bio‐implant‐related infections. The purpose of present study was to evaluate the photocatalytic bactericidal effects of anatase TiO₂ on Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) associated with surgical site infections. TiO₂ films were synthesized on commercially pure titanium substrates and SUS316 stainless steel using a plasma source ion implantation method followed by annealing. The chemical composition of the surface layers was determined using GXRD and XPS. The disks were seeded with cultured S. aureus and exposed to UVA illumination from black light. The bactericidal effect of the TiO₂ films was evaluated by counting the survived colonies statistically. A structural gradient anatase type TiO₂ layer formed on all substrates. The viability of the bacteria on the photocatalytic TiO₂ film coated on titanium was suppressed to 7.0% at 30 minutes and 5.5% at 45 minutes, whereas that on a similarly coated stainless steel was suppressed to 45.8% at 30 minute and 28.6% at 45 minutes (ANOVA: p < 0.05). Complete bacterial inactivation was achieved after 90 minutes on titanium and after 60 minutes on stainless steel. The photocatalytic bactericidal effect of TiO₂ is useful for sterilizing the contaminated surfaces of bioimplants. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.