(Trifluoromethylselenyl)methylchalcogenyl as Emerging Fluorinated Groups: Synthesis under Photoredox Catalysis and Determination of the Lipophilicity

The synthesis of molecules bearing (trifluoromethylselenyl)methylchalcogenyl groups is described via an efficient two-step strategy based on a metal-free photoredox catalyzed decarboxylative trifluoromethylselenolation with good yields up to 88 %, which raised to 98 % in flow chemistry conditions. The flow methods allowed also to scale up the reaction. The mechanism of this key reaction was studied. The physicochemical characterization of these emerging groups was performed by determining their Hansch–Leo lipophilicity parameters with high values up to 2.24. This reaction was also extended to perfluoroalkylselenolation with yields up to 95 %. Finally, this method was successfully applied to the functionalization of relevant bioactive molecules such as tocopherol or estrone derivatives.     

Bipolar Electrochemiluminescence Imaging: A Way to Investigate the Passivation of Silicon Surfaces

This work depicts the original combination of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and bipolar electrochemistry (BPE) to map in real-time the oxidation of silicon in microchannels. We fabricated model silicon-PDMS microfluidic chips, optionally containing a restriction, and monitored the evolution of the surface reactivity using ECL. BPE was used to remotely promote ECL at the silicon surface inside microfluidic channels. The effects of the fluidic design, the applied potential and the resistance of the channel (controlled by the fluidic configuration) on the silicon polarization and oxide formation were investigated. A potential difference down to 6 V was sufficient to induce ECL, which is two orders of magnitude less than in classical BPE configurations. Increasing the resistance of the channel led to an increase in the current passing through the silicon and boosted the intensity of ECL signals. Finally, the possibility of achieving electrochemical reactions at predetermined locations on the microfluidic chip was investigated using a patterning of the silicon oxide surface by etched micrometric squares. This ECL imaging approach opens exciting perspectives for the precise understanding and implementation of electrochemical functionalization on passivating materials. In addition, it may help the development and the design of fully integrated microfluidic biochips paving the way for development of original bioanalytical applications.     

“Heteroglycals” As New Potential Glycosidase Inhibitors. Synthetic Approaches From D-Arabinose

Within the frame of an ongoing project on glycosidase inhibitors, we have been interested in the synthesis of “heteroglycals”, namely, glycal analogues with sulfur or nitrogen in the ring. Glycals² are well known for their applications in sugar chemistry in particular for glycosyl transfer.³ They are also known as glycosidase inhibitors through a slow chemical reaction with the enzyme. Recently exo-glycals emerged as a new class of glycals⁴ which showed interesting features as glycosidase inhibitors but also as precursors of glycomimetics such as C-glycosides.⁵ We have undertaken investigations on related heteroglycals: such compounds are of interest because they combine a planar geometry at the anomeric center and a possible charge site - both elements known to be important to mimic the transition state of the enzymatic glycoside hydrolysis process.⁶     

Thermal,spectral and biological characterisation of copper(II) complexes with isoniazid-based hydrazones

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - A series of complexes [Cu(L)(CH3COO)2]·nH2O (L: isonicotinic acid 2-(2-hydroxy-8-substituted-tricyclo[7.3.1.02.7]tridec-13-ylidene)-hydrazones)...     

A quantitative determination of the polymerization of benzoxazine thin coatings by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry

Phenol-paraphenylenediamine (P-pPDA) benzoxazines exhibit excellent barrier properties, adequate to protect aluminum alloys from corrosion, and constitute interesting candidates to replace chromate-containing coatings in the aeronautical industry. For the successful application of P-pPDA coatings, it is necessary to decrease the curing temperature to avoid the delamination of the coating while preserving the mechanical properties of the alloy, as well as the barrier properties of the coating. However, decreasing the curing temperature leads to less polymerized films, the extent of which requires a quantitative assessment. While the conversion rate of the polymerization reaction is commonly evaluated for bulk samples using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), a tool for its evaluation in thin films is missing. Therefore, a new approach was developed for that matter using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The relation between the SIMS data integrated from inside thin films and the DSC results obtained on bulk samples with the same curing cycle allowed to calibrate the SIMS data. With this preliminary calibration of the technique, the polymerization of P-pPDA coatings can be locally determined, at the surface and along the depth of the coating, using dual-beam depth profiling with large argon cluster beam sputtering.     

Are the Interactions between Recombinant Prion Proteins and Polymeric Surfaces Related to the Hydrophilic/Hydrophobic Balance?

New non‐fouling tubes are developed and their influence on the adhesion of neuroproteins is studied. Recombinant prion proteins are considered as a single component representative of hydrophobic proteins. Samples are stored for 24 h at 4 °C in tubes coated with two different coatings: poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) as a hydrophilic surface and a plasma‐fluorinated coating as a hydrophobic one. The protein adhesion is monitored by ELISA tests, XPS and confocal microscopy. It appears that the highest recovery of recombinant prion protein in the liquid phase is obtained with the hydrophilic surface while the hydrophobic character of the storage tube induces an important amount of biological loss. However, the recovery is not complete even for tubes coated with poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide).

     

Investigation of the luminescent properties of terbium-anthranilate complexes and application to the determination of anthranilic acid derivatives in aqueous solutions

The luminescent properties of terbium complexes with furosemide (FR), flufenamic (FF) acid, tolfenamic (TF) acid and mefenamic (MF) acid have been investigated in aqueous solutions. For all four compounds, complexation occurs when the carboxylic acid of the aminobenzoic group is dissociated and is greatly favoured in the presence of trioctylphosphine oxide as co-ligand and Triton X-100 as surfactant. Under optimum conditions, luminescence of the lanthanide ion is efficiently sensitised and the lifetime of the resonance level of terbium in the complex is ranging between 1 and 1.9 ms, against 0.4 ms for the aqua ion. The sensitivity of the method for the determination of anthranilic acid derivatives is improved by one to two orders of magnitude with respect to that achieved using native fluorescence or terbium-sensitised luminescence in methanol. The limits of detection are 2×10⁻¹⁰, 5×10⁻¹⁰ and 2×10⁻⁹ mol l⁻¹ for flufenamic acid, furosemide and tolfenamic acid, and mefenamic acid, respectively, with within-run RSD values of less than 1%. The method has been applied to the determination of flufenamic acid in spiked calf sera with and without sample pretreatment. Depending on the method and the analyte concentration, the recovery was ranging between 83 and 113% and the lowest concentration attainable in serum samples was close to 1×10⁻⁷ mol l⁻¹.     

Synthesis of sugar-based ethenyl ethers through a vinyl bis-sulfone methodology

The recently devised route to ethenyl ethers—i.e. 1,2-bis(phenylsulfonyl)ethylene (BPSE)-mediated conversion of alcohols into β-alkoxyvinyl sulfones followed by reductive desulfonylation—has been applied in the carbohydrate field to the synthesis of a number of vinyl-functionalised monosaccharides, a number of which had not been prepared via alternative routes.     

Elution of organic solutes from different polarity sorbents using subcritical water

The intermolecular interactions between organic solutes and sorbent matrices under subcritical water conditions have been investigated at a pressure of 50 bar and temperatures ranging from 50 to 250°C. Both polar and nonpolar organics (chlorophenols, amines, n-alkanes, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and five different sorbent matrices (glass beads, alumina, Florisil, silica-bonded C₁₈, and polymeric XAD-4 resins) were used. From the same matrix, the polar solutes always eluted at lower temperatures, while the moderately polar and nonpolar solutes only eluted at higher temperatures. Similar to matrix effects previously observed using supercritical carbon dioxide, the sorbent type greatly influenced the elution efficiency under subcritical water conditions. Lower temperatures are sufficient to elute a particular solute from glass beads, alumina, and Florisil, but higher temperatures (less polar water) are needed to elute the same solute from silica-bonded C₁₈. The highest temperatures were required to elute aromatic organics from XAD-4. These matrix effects demonstrate that, while low temperature water can break inert or dipole interactions between solutes and glass beads, alumina, and Florisil, higher temperature water is required to interrupt the van der Waals attractions between solutes and silica-bonded C₁₈, and even higher temperatures needed to overcome the π-electron interactions between aromatic solutes and XAD-4.