Nucleation of isotactic polypropylene crystallization by gold nanoparticles

Nucleation of isotactic polypropylene (iPP) crystallization by gold (Au) nanoparticles was studied. Regardless of their size, 4.3, 8.8, 28.3, and 84.5 nm, all particles were able to nucleate spherulites when deposited on the iPP surface. However, when added and melt‐mixed with iPP, only the smallest particles affected significantly the iPP bulk crystallization. Au nanoparticles larger than 4.3 nm, at the concentration of 0.001 wt %, did not influence the crystallization of iPP. Contrary to this, 0.001 and 0.005 wt % of Au nanoparticles having the size of 4.3 nm increased crystallization temperature of the iPP by 7–8 °C and decreased markedly the sizes of polycrystalline aggregates. Aggregation of Au nanoparticles in the polymer matrix was evidenced by electron microscopy and contributed to their decreased effectiveness in the nucleation of iPP crystallization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 469–478, 2010     

A new method for the synthesis of mixed orthoesters from O-allyl acetals

Two new methods for the synthesis of orthoesters and compounds containing an orthoester moiety (dihydroisoxazoles) are presented. Mixed orthoesters of general formulas RC(OR¹)(OR²)₂ and RC(OR¹)(OR²)(OR³) were prepared via addition of ROH (R = Bu or m-methylphenyl) to O-allyl acetals (acrolein acetals: diethyl or cyclic, i.e., 2-vinyl-1,3-dioxanes or dioxolanes). The catalytic systems for these reactions were generated from [RuCl₂(PPh₃)₃] and Na₂CO₃; {[RuCl₂(COD)]_x} or {[OsCl₂(1,5-COD)]_x}, PPh₃, and Na₂CO₃. Compounds containing an orthoester moiety (dihydroisoxazoles) were prepared via tandem isomerization of O-allyl acetals (to O-vinyl acetals) catalyzed by ruthenium complexes followed by cycloaddition to in situ-generated 2,6-dichlorophenylnitrile oxide.     

Difluoromethylation of some C-H acids with chlorodifluoromethane under conditions of phase transfer catalysis (PTC)

Selected C-H acids react with difluorocarbene generated from chlorodifluoromethane with concentrated aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, and a catalyst, benzyltriethylammonium chloride (TEBAC) in benzene or THF affording C-difluoromethyl substituted derivatives. This process is restricted to C-H acids of pK_a ≅ 16.3-19.1. The observed facts are rationalized.     

Influence of the charge distribution on the stationary phases zeta potential

A set of seven home‐made silica based bonded phases with different functional groups was investigated. Their zeta potential data in methanol and acetonitrile as well as in methanol/water and acetonitrile/water solution were obtained by using a Zetasizer. The influence of polar functional groups on a zeta potential was investigated. The results show that the amines incorporated in the structure of chemically bonded phases of reversed‐phase materials are protonated during chromatographic analysis, resulting in changes of the zeta potential from negative to positive values. Acetonitrile causes more negative values and methanol provides positive (or less negative) values of the zeta potential.     

Adsorption of La,Eu and Lu on raw and modified red clay

Adsorption of La, Eu, and Lu on red clay was studied in an initial concentration range of 10^?4–10^?3 mol/dm³ and a pH range of 2–10. Among the different forms of red clay: T-clay (thermally modified), R-clay (raw, unmodified), Na-clay (sodium form), H-clay (acid form), and HDTMA-clay (surfactant-modified form), T-clay was found to be the most effective adsorbent of the lanthanides studied. The adsorption/desorption isotherms, i.e. log K _d versus log c _eq dependencies, had a linear character. Among the investigated lanthanides, Eu was most strongly bound by the clay surface and, therefore, parameters a (slopes of the lines log K _d = alog c _eq + b) of Eu were the highest compared to those for La and Lu. Desorption isotherms were located above adsorption isotherms, which resulted from chemiadsorption of the investigated lanthanides. Changes in lanthanide adsorption with pH were successfully modelled based on the molar fractions of Ln³⁺, LnOH²⁺, LnCO₃ ⁺, and Ln(CO₃) ₂ ^? species in the aqueous phase [Ln—lanthanide(III)].     

Capillary electrophoresis study of systemin peptides spreading in tomato plant

Systemin (Sys) is an 18‐aa plant peptide hormone involved in the regulation of plant's defensive response. Sys is considered as a fast‐spreading systemic wound signal. We developed a simple and rapid CE method to monitor the spreading of Sys peptides through tomato plant. A 1,2,3‐triazole‐linked AZT‐systemin conjugate was designed as a model to study the possibility of translocating small cargo molecules 3'‐Azido‐2',3'‐dideoxythymidine by systemin. The Sys peptides (Sys, N‐propiolyl Sys, and AZT‐systemin conjugate) were injected into the stem and leaves of mature tomato plant. Its transportation throughout the plant tissue was traced by CE. The peptides were clearly visible in the crude tomato exudates and an optimum separation was achieved in 25 mM phosphate “buffer” at pH 2.5 and a voltage of 20 kV using uncoated fused silica capillary. CE analysis showed that Sys peptides are well separated from tomato plant exudates ingredients and are stable in tomato stem and leaf exudates for up to 24 h. CE study revealed that the Sys peptides are effectively spreading throughout tomato stem and leaves and the peptides could be directly detected in the crude plant matrixes. The translocation was strongly inhibited by sodium azide. The results showed that the established CE method can be used to characterize plant peptides spreading under plant physiological conditions.     

Crystal structure and mesogenic behaviour of a new fluorene derivative: 9,9‐dimethyl‐2,7‐bis(4‐pentylphenyl)‐9H‐fluorene

The title compound, C₃₇H₄₂, is a new mesogenic compound containing the fluorene moiety. It exhibits enantiotropic nematic liquid crystalline behaviour with melting at 125 °C and isotropization at 175 °C. The crystallographically independent unit contains two molecules oriented face‐to‐edge with respect to each other. The two molecules have nearly the same conformation of the bis‐phenyl fluorene moiety. The molecular packing in the crystal phase is nematic‐like.     

Automatic scatter detection in fluorescence landscapes by means of spherical principal component analysis

In this paper, we introduce a new method, based on spherical principal component analysis (S‐PCA), for the identification of Rayleigh and Raman scatters in fluorescence excitation–emission data. These scatters should be found and eliminated as a prestep before fitting parallel factor analysis models to the data, in order to avoid model degeneracies. The work is inspired and based on a previous research, where scatter removal was automatic (based on a robust version of PCA called ROBPCA) and required no visual data inspection but appeared to be computationally intensive. To overcome this drawback, we implement the fast S‐PCA in the scatter identification routine. Moreover, an additional pattern interpolation step that complements the method, based on robust regression, will be applied. In this way, substantial time savings are gained, and the user's engagement is restricted to a minimum, which might be beneficial for certain applications. We conclude that the subsequent parallel factor analysis models fitted to excitation–emission data after scatter identification based on either ROBPCA or S‐PCA are comparable; however, the modified method based on S‐PCA clearly outperforms the original approach in relation to computational time. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Methylacrylate polymers with photochromic side chains containing heterocyclic sulfonamide substituted azobenzene

Methylacrylate monomers containing azobenzene groups with heterocyclic sulfonamide: sulfisomidyne (4-amino-N-[2,6-dimethylpyrimidyn-4-yl]benzenesulfonamide) and sulfamethoxazole (4-amino-N-[5-methylisoxazol-3-yl]benzenesulfonamide) substituents were synthesized. The monomers were used for preparation of homopolymers and copolymers with butyl 2-methylacrylate and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate. The materials obtained showed photochromic properties manifested by trans-cis isomerization of the side chain azobenzene fragments induced by illumination with unpolarized and polarized light. The decrease of the absorbance of the E(trans) form at ≈450 nm was observed and the materials tested were in form of thin films deposited onto glass.The isomerization of the polymers carried out during ellipsometric measurements showed the reversibility of the process in repeated illumination cycles with green laser light. The change of refractive index caused by illumination was in the range ≈0.005-0.008 as determined by ellipsometry.     

Green Extraction of Carotenoids from Fruit and Vegetable Byproducts: A Review

Carotenoids are characterized by a wide range of health-promoting properties. For example, they support the immune system and wound healing process and protect against UV radiation’s harmful effects. Therefore, they are used in the food industry and cosmetics, animal feed, and pharmaceuticals. The main sources of carotenoids are the edible and non-edible parts of fruit and vegetables. Therefore, the extraction of bioactive substances from the by-products of vegetable and fruit processing can greatly reduce food waste. This article describes the latest methods for the extraction of carotenoids from fruit and vegetable byproducts, such as solvent-free extraction—which avoids the costs and risks associated with the use of petrochemical solvents, reduces the impact on the external environment, and additionally increases the purity of the extract—or green extraction using ultrasound and microwaves, which enables a significant improvement in process efficiency and reduction in extraction time. Another method is supercritical extraction with CO₂, an ideal supercritical fluid that is non-toxic, inexpensive, readily available, and easily removable from the product, with a high penetration capacity.