Reduction of the pertechnetate anion with bidentate phosphine ligands

The reduction of ammonium pertechnetate with bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm), and with diphenyl-2-pyridyl phosphine (Ph(2)Ppy), has been investigated. The neutral Tc(II) complex, trans-TcCl(2)(dppm)(2) (1), has been isolated from the reaction of (NH(4))[TcO(4)] with excess dppm in refluxing EtOH/HCl. Chemical oxidation with ferricinium hexafluorophosphate results in formation of the cationic Tc(III) analogue, trans-[TcCl(2)(dppm)(2)](PF(6)) (2). The dppm ligands adopt the chelating bonding mode in both complexes, resulting in strained four member metallocycles. With excess PhPpy, the reduction of (NH(4))[TcO(4)] in refluxing EtOH/HCl yields a complex with one chelating Ph(2)Ppy ligand and one unidentate Ph(2)Ppy ligand, mer-TcCl(3)(Ph(2)Ppy-P,N)(Ph(2)Ppy-P) (3). The cationic Tc(III) complexes, trans-[TcCl(2)(Ph(2)P(O)py-N,O)(2)](PF(6)) (4) and trans-[TcCl(2)(dppmO-P,O)(2)](PF(6)) (5) (Ph(2)P(O)py = diphenyl-2-pyridyl phosphine monoxide and dppmO = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane monoxide), have been isolated as byproducts from the reactions of (NH(4))[TcO(4)] with the corresponding phosphine. The products have been characterized in the solid state and in solution via a combination of single-crystal X-ray crystallography and spectroscopic techniques. The solution state spectroscopic results are consistent with the retention of the bonding modes revealed in the crystal structures.     

Performance characteristics of suspended particulate reagent-iminodiacetate as a binding agent for diffusive gradients in thin films

The performance characteristics of an alternative binding agent, suspended particulate reagent-iminodiacetate (SPR-IDA), for use with DGT methodology were investigated. The parameters investigated during this study included gel hydration, blank levels, elution factor (f_e), capacity, the effects of pH on the binding of trace metals by DGT. The novel application of this resin for use as a quantitative standard for laser ablation ICP-MS was also evaluated. To further constrain the results for the SPR-IDA binding agent, parallel experiments were performed using resin gel containing Chelex 100, which has been widely reported in the literature. Hydration results showed that the SPR-IDA resin gel reached a stable dimension and weight within ∼30 min and was dimensionally stable for ≤6 months. The measured DGT blanks for the SPR-IDA resin were 0.0023, 0.15, 0.21, 0.0033 and 0.011 ng disc⁻¹ for Co, Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb, respectively. The elution factor differed for the two resin types with the Chelex 100 recoveries slightly lower than previous reports and the SPR-IDA resin showing on average ∼5-9% better recoveries than DGT containing Chelex 100. The measured capacity of DGT discs containing the SPR-IDA binding agent was 0.26 mg Cd, similar to the calculated value of 0.29 mg Cd, indicating the entire resin layer was available for metal uptake.Both resin types performed equally well when deployed in 1 mM NaNO₃ solutions with DGT measurements of ∼100% of direct solution measurements for Co, Ni and Cd. However, DGT measurements of Cu and Pb systematically decreased with increasing solution pH down to ∼50% of solution values at pH 8.0, due to artifacts resulting from colloid formation during the addition of the metals. This was remedied by adding the metals as dilute salt standards and addition of Mg(NO₃)₂ to eliminate adsorption to the container walls. In the latter experiments, DGT measured concentrations of Co, Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb were in agreement with solution concentrations. Deployment of DGT in solutions with increasing concentrations of trace metals yielded linear results, suggesting that quantitative analysis using simplified laser ablation techniques should be possible using this newly characterized SPR-IDA resin gel.     

Morphological changes in the cellulose and lignin components of biomass occur at different stages during steam pretreatment

Morphological changes to the different components of lignocellulosic biomass were observed as they occurred during steam pretreatment by placing a pressure reaction cell in a neutron beam and collecting time-resolved neutron scattering data. Changes to cellulose morphology occurred mainly in the heating phase, whereas changes in lignin morphology occurred mainly in the holding and cooling phases. During the heating stage, water is irreversibly expelled from cellulose microfibrils as the elementary fibrils coalesce. During the holding phase lignin aggregates begin to appear and they increase in size most noticeably during the cooling phase. This experiment demonstrates the unique information that in situ small angle neutron scattering studies of pretreatment can provide. This approach could be useful in optimizing the heating, holding and cooling stages of pretreatments to allow the exact size and nature of lignin aggregates to be controlled in order to enhance enzyme accessibility to cellulose and therefore the efficiency of biomass conversion.     

Electronic states of general mixed crystals

Up to now molecular-orbital calculations of the electronic states of linear mixed crystals have been concerned only with binary systems such as AB, AB₂, and A₂B₂. The purpose of the present treatment is to extend this work to crystals whose elementary cells contain any number of different atoms in any ordered sequence. The formulation of this general theory is based on the resolvent method. Although the approach enables the general properties of delocalized and localized states to be discussed, the more simple cases already solved in the literature can still be easily derived from the general equations. Furthermore, the classification of Tamm and Shockley states retains its significance, even when other kinds of states can occur and various transitions between the clear cut cases can exist. As in earlier investigations, the chemisorption states are related to surface states and have similar properties. The resolvent method is summarized in the Appendix and its connection with the partition technique is shown.     

Overlap effects on surface states

A tight-binding investigation is performed of the electronic structure of a semi-infinite monatomic chain, whose atomic orbitals are assumed to be non-orthogonal, so that the effects of overlap can be taken into account. In addition to markedly modifying the bulk band-edges, the presence of overlap also greatly influences the position and existence of the surface states. These latter effects are examined in detail.     

Nongenetic reprogramming of a fungal highly reducing polyketide synthase

The biosynthesis of the fungal metabolite tenellin from Beauveria bassiana CBS110.25 was investigated in the presence of the epigenetic modifiers 5-azacytidine and suberoyl bis-hydroxamic acid and under conditions where individual genes from the tenellin biosynthetic gene cluster were silenced. Numerous new compounds were synthesized, indicating that the normal predominant biosynthesis of tenellin is just one outcome out of a diverse array of possible products. The structures of the products reveal key clues about the programming selectivities of the tenellin polyketide synthase.     

Introduction

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology -