Influence of the Solvent on the “Casting” Methodology for MWCNT‐Modified Glassy Carbon and Platinum Electrodes

The choice of electrode material and surface preparation method are usually dictated by the suitability of the electrode to observe an electrochemical parameter, such as heterogeneous electron transfer rate, surface coverage, or redox potential. Thus, the glassy carbon (GC) and platinum (Pt) electrodes were modified with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) by direct “casting” modification using nine different aliquots of solvents. After drying at room temperature, the modified electrode showed distinct redox peaks corresponding to ferrocyanide oxidation/reduction. Using chemometrics, the cyclic voltammograms with higher current intensity were obtained for those in which ethanol, water and acetone as dispersing agents were used for GCE and dimethylformamide, water and acetone for Pt electrode modification.     

Potential of prodendronic polyamines with modulated segmental charge density as novel coating for fast and efficient analysis of peptides and basic proteins by CE and CE‐MS

In this work, the suitability of a new polymer family has been investigated as capillary coatings for the analysis of peptides and basic proteins by CE. This polymer family has been designed to minimize or completely prevent protein–capillary wall interactions and to modify the EOF. These coating materials are linear polymeric chains bearing as side cationizable moiety a dentronic triamine derived from N,N,N’,N’‐tetraethyldiethylenetriamine (TEDETA), which is linked to the backbone through a spacer (unit labeled as TEDETAMA). Four different polymers have been prepared and evaluated: a homopolymer which comprised only of those cationizable repetitive units of TEDETAMA, and three copolymers that randomly incorporate TEDETAMA together with neutral hydrosoluble units of N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) at different molar percentages (25:75, 50:50 and 75:25). It has been demonstrated that the composition of the copolymers influences the EOF and therefore the separation of the investigated biopolymers. Among the novel polymers studied, poly‐(TEDETAMA‐co‐HPMA) 50:50 copolymer was successfully applied as coating material of the inner capillary surface in CE‐UV and CE‐MS, providing EOF reversing together with fast and efficient baseline separation of peptides and basic proteins. Finally, the feasibility of the polymer‐coated capillary was shown through the analysis of lysozyme in a cheese sample.     

Iminium salts of omega-dithiafulvenylpolyenals: an easy entry to the corresponding aldehydes and doubly proaromatic nonlinear optic-phores

A short, high-yielding route to omega-dithiafulvenylpolyenals (1) via the corresponding iminium salts (2) and starting from trimethyl-1,3-dithiolium tetrafluoroborate is reported. The Knoevenagel reactions of either 1 or 2 with isoxazolone-containing acceptors afford merocyanines 7 and 9, in a process that is often accompanied by a vinylene-shortening side reaction. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that compounds 7 and 9, featuring two proaromatic end groups, are strongly polarized and show good second-order nonlinear optical responses.     

Palladium-mediated C-N, C-C, and C-O functionalization of azolopyrimidines: a new total synthesis of variolin B

A new total synthesis of the alkaloid variolin B is achieved by a selective and sequential palladium-mediated functionalization of a trihalo-substituted pyrido[3′,2′:4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine. This intermediate is obtained by a new heterocyclization reaction between an appropriate bromomethyl azaindole and N-tosylmethyl dichloroformimide. The methodology may be effective for the synthesis of some analogs by substitution on the relatively unexplored C4 and C9 positions of the alkaloid.     

Immunosensor for Detection of the Textile Dye Disperse Orange 1 Based on Non‐conventional Competitive Assay

Textile dyes appear as an important class of compounds that has become a matter of public concern and a serious challenge for scientists and environmentalists due to their large‐scale production and extensive application. In this work, a non‐conventional competitive‐type amperometric immunosensor was successfully developed for detection of the textile dye Disperse Orange 1 (DO1). The DO1 was magnetically captured and separated from the sample solution using magnetic particles (MP) functionalized with the antibody anti‐DO1 and with HRP and gold electrodes were modified with the conjugate DO1‐BSA. Molecules of DO1 immobilized on the electrode surface and DO1 captured by MP compete for antibody binding sites. As a result, the amperometric signal decreases with increasing target DO1 concentration at the capture step, because this decreases, the attachment between the HRP coated MP and the electrode. This strategy allowed us to determine DO1 at the low detection limit of 0.87 ng mL^?1 with great specificity. Also, there were good recoveries for detection of the textile dye in river water samples without the need of sample pre‐treatment. The competitive amperometric immunosensor shows applicability for the determination of small molecules that cannot be determined by conventional competitive or sandwich immunosensors.     

CuII binding sites located at His-96 and His-111 of the human prion protein: thermodynamic and spectroscopic studies on model peptides

The prion protein (PrP) is a Cu(2+)-binding cell-surface glycoprotein. Using PrP peptide fragments, by means of potentiometric, spectroscopic and thermodynamic techniques, we have shown that Cu(2+) ions bind to the region comprising His-96, His-111 and the octarepeat domain within residues 60-91. Cu(2+) may bind in different modes, which strongly depend both on His position within the peptide sequence and on the adjacent residues. We have used a series of protected oligopeptides having His at the C- or the N-terminus, inducing different binding modes to amide nitrogens around the His residue, either towards the N- or C-terminus. His imidazole acts as an anchoring site for Cu(2+) and then binding to ionized amide nitrogens follows. When it is directed towards the C-terminus the formation of a less stable seven-membered chelate ring with a {N(im), N(-)} binding mode occurs. When coordination goes towards the N-terminus the thermodynamically more stable six-membered chelate ring is formed. NMR data suggest that both the coordination modes are possible for the model peptides; however, the thermodynamic measurements show that they only slightly differ in energy and the influence of the adjacent amino acid residues can address the coordination toward the C- or the N-terminus.     

Localized electropolymerization on oxidized boron-doped diamond electrodes modified with pyrrolyl units

This paper describes the functionalization of oxidized boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrodes with N-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)pyrrole (TMPP) and the influence of this layer on the electrochemical transfer kinetics as well as on the possibility of forming strongly adhesive polypyrrole films on the BDD interface through electropolymerization. Furthermore, localized polymer formation was achieved on the TMPP-modified BDD interface using the direct mode of a scanning electrochemical microscope (SECM) as well as an electrochemical scanning near-field optical microscope (E-SNOM). Depending on the method used polypyrrole dots with diameters in the range of 1-250 microm are electrogenerated.     

The adsorption of dyes used in the textile industry on mesoporous materials

An adsorbent material made with a silica lamellar mesoporous material treated with chitosan has been proved to be useful to adsorb both anionic and cationic dyes used in the textile industry. The two tested dyes Tectilon Blue (anionic) and Rhodamine B (cationic) have different adsorption kinetics reflecting a complex mechanism of the phenomenon. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity and interaction strength of Tectilon Blue is higher than those of Rhodamine B. Tectilon Blue molecules are situated with the molecular plane perpendicular to the adsorbent surface, whilst that of the Rhodamine B molecule is flat and parallel to the surface. The differences may be attributed to the different regions of the adsorbent surface on which the dyes are adsorbed because of their different electric charge.     

Determination of manganese and zinc in powdered chocolate samples by slurry sampling using sequential multi-element flame atomic absorption spectrometry

In the present work, a slurry sampling flame atomic absorption spectrometric method to determine directly manganese and zinc in powdered chocolate samples is proposed. The optimization step was performed using univariate methodology involving the following factors: nature and concentration of the acid solution, sonication time, and particle size. The established conditions led to the use of a sample mass of 150 mg, 2.0 mol L^− 1 nitric acid solution, sonication time of 15 min, and a slurry volume of 50 mL. This method allows the determination of manganese and zinc with detection limit of 52 and 61 ng g^− 1, respectively, and a precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.6% and 3.2% (both, n = 10) for contents of manganese and zinc of 52.4 and 100.0 μg g^− 1, respectively. The proposed method was applied for determination of manganese and zinc in five powdered chocolate samples. In these, the manganese content varied from 42.8 to 52.7 and from 88.6 to 102.4 μg g^− 1 of zinc. The analytical results were compared with the results obtained by analysis of these samples after digestion using open vessel and acid bomb digestion procedures and determination using FS-FAAS. The statistical comparison by t-test (95% confidence level) showed no significant difference between these results.     

Stereoselective titanium-mediated aldol reactions of (S)-2-tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy-3-pentanone

Titanium-mediated aldol reactions based on (S)-2-tert-butyldimethylsilyloxy-3-pentanone, a lactate-derived chiral ketone, provide the corresponding 2,4-syn-4,5-syn adducts in high yields and diastereomeric ratios with a wide array of achiral and chiral aldehydes. Furthermore, spectroscopic studies of intermediates involved in the process have permitted to propose a mechanism that accounts for the experimental results.