Microfluorescence analysis of nanostructuring inhomogeneity in optical fibers with embedded gallium oxide nanocrystals

A spectroscopic protocol is proposed to implement confocal microfluorescence imaging to the analysis of microinhomogeneity in the nanocrystallization of the core of fibers belonging to a new kind of broadband fiber amplifier based on glass with embedded nanocrystals. Nanocrystallization, crucial for achieving an adequate light emission efficiency of transition metal ions in these materials, has to be as homogeneous as possible in the fiber to assure optical amplification. This requirement calls for a sensitive method for monitoring nanostructuring in oxide glasses. Here we show that mapping microfluorescence excited at 633 nm by a He-Ne laser may give a useful tool in this regard, thanks to quasi-resonant excitation of coordination defects typical of germanosilicate materials, such as nonbridging oxygens and charged Ge-O-Ge sites, whose fluorescence are shown to undergo spectral modifications when nanocrystals form into the glass. The method has been positively checked on prototypes of optical fibers--preventively characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy--fabricated from preforms of Ni-doped Li?O-Na?O-Sb?O?-Ga?O?-GeO?-SiO? glass in silica cladding and subjected to heat treatment to activate gallium oxide nanocrystal growth. The method indeed enables not only the mapping of the crystallization degree but also the identification of drawing-induced defects in the fiber cladding.     

Structure‐Directing Agents for the Synthesis of TiO2‐Based Drug‐Delivery Systems

A series of titanium oxides was prepared by using a surfactant‐template method (STM) and used as a carrier for the sustained release of ibuprofen, which was chosen as a model drug. This STM provides an efficient route to TiO₂ matrices with both high surface area (when compared with those that were obtained by using traditional synthetic approaches) and well‐defined mesoporous textures. Some parameters of the synthetic procedure were varied: pH value, surfactant, and thermal treatment. The physicochemical nature of the surface carriers were investigated by means of N₂‐physisorption measurements and FTIR spectroscopy. The effect of the amount of drug on the release kinetics was also investigated. The drug delivery was evaluated in vitro in four different physiological solutions (that simulated the gastrointestinal tract) to analyze the behavior of the TiO₂‐based systems if they were to be formulated as oral DDSs. Our optimized approach is a good alternative to the classical methods that are used to prepare efficient TiO₂‐based drug‐delivery systems.     

2,2′:3′,2′′‐Terthiophene‐Based all‐Thiophene Dendrons and Dendrimers: Synthesis,Structural Characterization,and Properties

The synthesis of generational dendritic oligothiophenes (DOTs) has been successfully achieved by a divergent/convergent approach that involves halogenation, boronation, and palladium‐catalyzed Suzuki coupling reactions. The key point in the presented synthetic approach is the use of trimethylsilyl (TMS) protecting groups, which allow for the core‐lithiation and subsequent boronation of the dendrons and for the peripheral ipso‐substitution with iodine monochloride or N‐bromosuccimide. In addition, the TMS protecting groups can be completely removed by using tetrabutylammonium fluoride, thus yielding only‐thiophene‐based dendrons and dendrimers. Due to their highly branched structure, all these synthesized DOTs are soluble in organic solvents. Chemical structures were confirmed by NMR spectroscopic, mass spectrometric, and elemental analysis. Concentration‐dependent ¹H NMR spectroscopic investigations revealed that the higher generation compounds tend to aggregate in solution. Such an aggregation behavior was further confirmed by measuring with MALDI‐TOF MS. Both MALDI‐TOF MS and gel‐permeation chromatography (GPC) analyses confirmed the monodispersity of the DOTs. Furthermore, GPC results revealed that these DOT molecules adopt a condensed globular molecular shape. Their optical and electronic properties were also investigated. The results indicated that these DOTs comprise various conjugated α‐oligothiophenes with different chain lengths, which results in the higher generation compounds showing broad and featureless UV/Vis absorption spectra and ill‐defined redox waves.     

Rational design and synthesis of water-compatible molecularly imprinted polymers for selective solid phase extraction of amiodarone

Novel water-compatible molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) selective for amiodarone (AD) were designed via a new methodology which relies on screening library of non-imprinted polymers (NIPs). The NIP library consisted of eighteen cross-linked co-polymers synthesized from monomers commonly used in molecular imprinting. The binding capacity of each polymer in the library was analyzed in two different solvents. Binding in water was used to assess non-specific (hydrophobic) interactions and binding in an appropriate organic solvent was used to assess specific interactions. A good correlation was found between the screening tests and modeling of monomer–template interactions performed using computational approach. Additionally, analysis of template–monomer interactions was performed using UV–vis spectroscopy. As the result, 4-vinylpyridine (4-VP) was selected as the best monomer for developing MIP for AD. The 4-VP-based polymers demonstrated imprinting factor equal 3.9. The polymers performance in SPE was evaluated using AD and its structural analogues. The recovery of AD was as high as 96% when extracted from spiked phosphate buffer (pH 4.5) solution and 82.1% from spiked serum samples. The developed MIP shown as a material with specific binding to AD, comparing to its structural analogues, 1-(2-diethylaminoethoxy)-2,6-diiodo-4-nitrobenzene and lidocaine, which shown 9.9% and 25.4% of recovery from the buffer solution, correspondingly. We believe that the screening of NIP library could be proposed as an alternative to commonly used computational and combinatorial approaches.     

The role of cyclobutenes in gold(I)-catalysed skeletal rearrangement of 1,6-enynes

1,6-Enynes with electron-donating substituents at the alkyne undergo gold(I)-catalysed single cleavage skeletal rearrangement, whereas substrates with electron-withdrawing substituents evolve selectively to double cleavage rearrangement. Theoretical calculations provide a qualitative rationale for these effects, and suggest that bicyclo[3.2.0]hept-5-enes are involved as intermediates. We provide the first X-ray structural evidence for the formation of a product of this class in a cycloisomerisation of a 1,6-enyne.     

Synthesis and conformational studies of peptido-squaramide foldable modules: a new class of turn-mimetic compounds

The β-turn unit is one of the most important secondary structure elements in proteins. The access to new conformationally controlled foldable modules can afford compounds with interesting bioactivities. Here, we describe a new family of peptido-squaramide foldable modules based on the considerable potential of the squaramide unit as a hydrogen bond donor and acceptor as well as the low rotational barrier of the C-N bond. The conformational analysis by NMR of these modules in chloroform and acetonitrile solution shows that a disecondary squaramide with the 4-aminobutyric acid in one of its substituents can mimic the β-turn structure driven by the formation of an intramolecular hydrogen bonded ten-membered ring. This structure, although flexible, has been successfully combined with dipeptide chains to induce the formation of a hairpin-like structure driven by the formation of several cross-strand intramolecular hydrogen bonds.     

Almost orthogonal operators on the bitorus II

We prove that the operator ${Tf(x,y)=\int^\pi_{-\pi}\int_{|x^{\prime}|<|y^{\prime}|} \frac{e^{iN(x,y) x^{\prime}}}{x^{\prime}}\frac{e^{iN(x,y) y^{\prime}}}{y^{\prime}}f(x-x^{\prime}, y-y^{\prime}) dx^{\prime} dy^{\prime}}$ , with ${x,y \in[0,2\pi]}$ and where the cut off ${|x^{\prime}|<|y^{\prime}|}$ is performed in a smooth and dyadic way, is bounded from L ² to weak- ${L^{2-\epsilon}}$ , any ${\epsilon > 0 }$ , under the basic assumption that the real-valued measurable function N(x, y) is “mainly” a function of y and the additional assumption that N(x, y) is non-decreasing in x, for every y fixed. This is an extension to 2D of C. Fefferman’s proof of a.e. convergence of Fourier series of L ² functions.     

Immobilization of kojic acid in ZnAl-hydrotalcite like compounds

Kojic acid (KOJ) is a melanin synthesis inhibitor widely used as skin lightening agent in topical preparations. Unfortunately it is easily susceptible to photo-oxidation, phenomenon responsible for chemical and organoleptic modifications. The aim of this work was the intercalation of KOJ in hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTlc) in order to stabilize KOJ and to reduce its photolability. Hydrotalcite containing Zn and Al (ZnAl-HTlc) was used as host to obtain the final compound ZnAl-HTlc-KOJ. The intercalation was carried out, after many attempts, by ionic exchange mechanism by means of the strong base EtO^? in anhydrous ethanol/dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) mixture as solvent in order to generate KOJ^? anions. The final product was characterized by the X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and elemental analysis. The intercalated compound was formulated in a siliconic water free self-emulsifying ointment and the in vitro release profile was evaluated. All samples (intercalation compound and its formulation) were submitted also to spectrophotometric assays in order to evaluate the matrix protective effect towards ultraviolet rays.