Measurement of absolute absorption cross sections for nitrous acid (HONO) in the near-infrared region by the continuous wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) technique coupled to laser photolysis

Absolute absorption cross sections for selected lines of the OH stretch overtone 2ν(1) of the cis-isomer of nitrous acid HONO have been measured in the range 6623.6-6645.6 cm(-1) using the continuous wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) technique. HONO has been generated by two different, complementary methods: in the first method, HONO has been produced by pulsed photolysis of H(2)O(2)/NO mixture at 248 nm, and in the second method HONO has been produced in a continuous manner by flowing humidified N(2) over 5.2 M HCl and 0.5 M NaNO(2) solutions. Laser photolysis synchronized with the cw-CRDS technique has been used to measure the absorption spectrum of HONO produced in the first method, and a simple cw-CRDS technique has been used in the second method. The first method, very time-consuming, allows for an absolute calibration of the absorption spectrum by comparison with the well-known HO(2) absorption cross section, while the second method is much faster and leads to a better signal-to-noise ratio. The strongest line in this wavelength range has been found at 6642.51 cm(-1) with σ = (5.8 ± 2.2) × 10(-21) cm(2).     

Facile and chemoselective rhodium-catalysed intramolecular hydroacylation of α,α-disubstituted 4-alkylidenecyclopropanals

Mild intramolecular hydroacylation of α,α-disubstituted 4-alkylidenecyclopropanals has been developed, avoiding decarbonylation and affording cycloheptenones in good yields. The reaction is chemoselective in favour of the alkylidenecyclopropane moiety when potential alkene or alkyne acceptors are tethered to the substrate.     

A 'Sleeping Trojan Horse' which transports metal ions into cells, localises in nucleoli, and has potential for bimodal fluorescence/PET imaging

A rhenium polypyridine-based molecular vessel is membrane impermeant when empty, but, upon loading with metal ions, the cationic form is taken up by MCF-7 cells, localising in nucleoli. The luminescence of the vessel and its copper binding ability suggest potential as a bimodal fluorescence/PET imaging agent.     

Water Vapor Does Not Catalyze the Reaction between Methanol and OH Radicals

Recent reports [Jara‐Toro et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017 , 56, 2166 and PCCP 2018 , 20, 27885] suggest that the rate coefficient of OH reactions with alcohols would increase by up to two times in going from dry to high humidity. This finding would have an impact on the budget of alcohols in the atmosphere and it may explain differences in measured and modeled methanol concentrations. The results were based on a relative technique carried out in a small Teflon bag, which might suffer from wall reactions. The effect was reinvestigated using a direct fluorescence probe of OH radicals, and no catalytic effect of H₂O could be found. Experiments in a Teflon bag were also carried out, but the results of Jara‐Toro et al. were not reproducible. Further theoretical calculations show that the water‐mediated reactions have negligible rates compared to the bare reaction and that even though water molecules can lower the barriers of reactions, they cannot make up for the entropy cost.     

Development of a Work-Flow for High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography Data Processing for Untargeted Metabolomics

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - Although the different practical steps of a high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) experiment are now all automated,...     

Modifying calf lung surfactant by hexadecanol

Monolayer properties such as phase behavior, collapse pressure, and surface viscosity are determined by monolayer composition. Learning how to control these properties through simple additives is important to understanding lung surfactant monolayers and to designing optimal replacement surfactants for treatment of disease. The properties of Infasurf, a replacement lung surfactant derived from calf lung lavage organic extract, can be modified in a controlled fashion by adding hexadecanol (HD). Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction shows that the HD preferentially interacts with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), the main phospholipid component of Infasurf, in the same way as in binary mixtures of DPPC and HD. HD intercalates between the DPPC chains, which leads to a tighter packing of the two-dimensional lattice and greater stability of the solid phase. This molecular reorganization triggers changes at the macroscopic scale, leading to a greatly increased solid-phase fraction at a given surface pressure and order of magnitude increases in the surface shear viscosity. However, the collapse pressure decreases, and, hence, the minimum surface tension of the film increases.     

Synthesis of 3-amino-5H-pyrrolo[2,3-e]-1,2,4-triazines by Sonogashira/copper(I)-catalyzed heteroannulation

A Sonogashira/copper(I)-catalyzed heteroannulation sequence was developed to convert 3,5-diamino-6-chloro-1,2,4-triazines to the corresponding 3-amino-5H-pyrrolo[2,3-e]-1,2,4-triazine derivatives in good yields.