Easily Scalable Shell-Structured Copper Catalyst with High Activity and Durability for Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation

Inducing strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) has been a useful way to control the structure of surface active sites. The SMSI often causes the encapsulation of metal particles with an oxide layer. Herein, an amorphous ceria shell was formed on Cu nanoparticles under a mild gas condition with high activity and durability for surface reaction. Cu−Ce solid solution promoted the transfer of surface oxygen species, which induced the ceria shell formation on Cu nanoparticles. This catalyst was used for CO₂ hydrogenation, selectively producing CO with high low-temperature activity and good durability for operation at high temperature. CO₂ activation and H₂ spillover could occur at low temperatures, enhancing the activity. The shell prevented the sintering, assuring durability. This catalyst was applied to a bench-scale reactor without loss in performance, resulting in high CO productivity in all temperature ranges.     

Highly Cooperative CO2 Adsorption via a Cation Crowding Mechanism on a Cesium-Exchanged Phillipsite Zeolite

An understanding of the CO₂ adsorption mechanisms on small-pore zeolites is of practical importance in the development of more efficient adsorbents for the separation of CO₂ from N₂ or CH₄. Here we report that the CO₂ isotherms at 25–75 °C on cesium-exchanged phillipsite zeolite with a Si/Al ratio of 2.5 (Cs-PHI-2.5) are characterized by a rectilinear step shape: limited uptake at low CO₂ pressure (P_CO2) is followed by highly cooperative uptake at a critical pressure, above which adsorption rapidly approaches capacity (2.0 mmol g⁻¹). Structural analysis reveals that this isotherm behavior is attributed to the high concentration and large size of Cs⁺ ions in dehydrated Cs-PHI-2.5. This results in Cs⁺ cation crowding and subsequent dispersal at a critical loading of CO₂, which allows the PHI framework to relax to its wide pore form and enables its pores to fill with CO₂ over a very narrow range of P_CO2. Such a highly cooperative phenomenon has not been observed for other zeolites.     

Self-assembly of metal(II) tetraaza macrocyclic complexes with cyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid-1-carboxylate ligand linked by hydrogen bond

The reaction of [M(L)]Cl₂ · 2H₂O (M = Ni²⁺ and Cu²⁺, L = 3,14-dimethyl-2,6,13,17-tetraazatricyclo[14,4,0^1.18,0^7.12]docosane) with 1,1-cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid (H₂-cbdc) generates 1D and 2D hydrogen-bonded infinite chains [Ni(L)(H-cbdc⁻)₂] (1) and [Cu(L)(H-cbdc⁻)₂] (2). (H-cbdc⁻ = cyclobutane-1-carboxylic acid-1-carboxylate). These complexes have been characterized by X-ray crystallography, spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. The crystal structure of 1 shows a distorted octahedral coordination geometry around the nickel(II) ion, with four secondary amines and two oxygen atoms of the H-cbdc⁻ ligand at the trans position. In 2, the coordination environment around the central copper(II) ion shows a Jahn–Teller distorted octahedron with four Cu–N bonds and two long Cu–O distances. The cyclic voltammogram of the complexes undergoes two one-electron waves corresponding to M^II/M^III and M^II/M^I processes. The electronic spectra and electrochemical behavior of the complexes are significantly affected by the nature of the axial H-cbdc⁻ ligand.     

Preparation of interpenetrating polymer network composed of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(acrylamide) hydrogels as a support of enzyme immobilization

Poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG)‐based interpenetrating polymeric network (IPN) hydrogels were prepared for the application of enzyme immobilization. Poly(acrylamide)(PAAm) was chosen as the other network of IPN hydrogel and different concentration of PAAm networks were incorporated inside the PEG hydrogel to improve the mechanical strength and provide functional groups that covalently bind the enzyme. Formation of IPN hydrogels was confirmed by observing the weight per cent gain of hydrogel after incorporation of PAAm network and by attenuated total reflectance/Fourier transform infrared (ATR/FTIR) analysis. Synthesis of IPN hydrogels with higher PAAm content produced more crosslinked hydrogels with lower water content (WC), smaller M_c and mesh size, which resulted in enhanced mechanical properties compared to the PEG hydrogel. The IPN hydrogels exhibited tensile strength between 0.2 and 1.2 MPa while retaining high levels of hydration (70–81% water). For enzyme immobilization, glucose oxidase (GOX) was immobilized to PEG and IPN hydrogel beads. Enzyme activity studies revealed that although all the hydrogels initially had similar enzymatic activity, enzyme‐immobilizing PEG hydrogels lost most of the enzymatic activity within 2 days due to enzyme leaching while IPN hydrogels maintained a maximum 80% of the initial enzymatic activity over a week due to the covalent linkage between the enzyme and amine groups of PAAm. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Density functional theory calculations of the lowest energy quintet and triplet states of model hemes: role of functional, basis set, and zero-point energy corrections

We investigated the effect of several computational variables, including the choice of the basis set, application of symmetry constraints, and zero-point energy (ZPE) corrections, on the structural parameters and predicted ground electronic state of model 5-coordinate hemes (iron(II) porphines axially coordinated by a single imidazole or 2-methylimidazole). We studied the performance of B3LYP and B3PW91 with eight Pople-style basis sets (up to 6-311+G*) and B97-1, OLYP, and TPSS functionals with 6-31G and 6-31G* basis sets. Only hybrid functionals B3LYP, B3PW91, and B97-1 reproduced the quintet ground state of the model hemes. With a given functional, the choice of the basis set caused up to 2.7 kcal/mol variation of the quintet-triplet electronic energy gap (DeltaEel), in several cases, resulting in the inversion of the sign of DeltaEel. Single-point energy calculations with triple-zeta basis sets of the Pople (up to 6-311G++(2d,2p)), Ahlrichs (TZVP and TZVPP), and Dunning (cc-pVTZ) families showed the same trend. The zero-point energy of the quintet state was approximately 1 kcal/mol lower than that of the triplet, and accounting for ZPE corrections was crucial for establishing the ground state if the electronic energy of the triplet state was approximately 1 kcal/mol less than that of the quintet. Within a given model chemistry, effects of symmetry constraints and of a "tense" structure of the iron porphine fragment coordinated to 2-methylimidazole on DeltaEel were limited to 0.3 kcal/mol. For both model hemes the best agreement with crystallographic structural data was achieved with small 6-31G and 6-31G* basis sets. Deviation of the computed frequency of the Fe-Im stretching mode from the experimental value with the basis set decreased in the order: nonaugmented basis sets, basis sets with polarization functions, and basis sets with polarization and diffuse functions. Contraction of Pople-style basis sets (double-zeta or triple-zeta) affected the results insignificantly for iron(II) porphyrin coordinated with imidazole. Poor performance of a "locally dense" basis set with a large number of basis functions on the Fe center was observed in calculation of quintet-triplet gaps. Our results lead to a series of suggestions for density functional theory calculations of quintet-triplet energy gaps in ferrohemes with a single axial imidazole; these suggestions are potentially applicable for other transition-metal complexes.     

Co-localization and interaction of human organic anion transporter 4 with caveolin-1 in primary cultured human placental trophoblasts

The human organic anion transporter 4 (hOAT4) has been identified as the fourth isoform of OAT family. hOAT4 contributes to move several negatively charged organic compounds between cells and their extracellular milieu. The functional characteristics and regulatory mechanisms of hOAT4 remain to be elucidated. It is well known that caveolin plays a role in modulating proteins having some biological functions. To address this issue, we investigated the co-localization and interaction between hOAT4 and caveolin-1. hOAT4 and caveolin-1 (mRNA and protein expression) were observed in cultured human placental trophoblasts isolated from placenta. The confocal microscopy of immuno-cytochemistry using primary cultured human trophoblasts showed hOAT4 and caveolin-1 were co-localized at the plasma membrane of the cell. This finding was confirmed by Western blot analysis using isolated caveolae-enriched membrane fractions and immune-precipitates from the trophoblasts. When synthesized cRNA of hOAT4 along with scrambled- or antisense-oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) of Xenopus caveolin-1 were co-injected to Xenopus oocytes, the [3H]estrone sulfate uptake was significantly decreased by the co-injection of antisense ODN but not by scrambled ODN. These findings suggest that hOAT4 and caveolin-1 share a cellular expression in the plasma membrane and caveolin-1 up-regulates the organic anionic compound uptake by hOAT4 under the normal physiological condition.     

A MELAS syndrome family harboring two mutations in mitochondrial genome

Mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous mitochondrial disorder with variable clinical symptoms. Here, from the sequencing of the entire mitochondrial genome, we report a Korean MELAS family harboring two homoplasmic missense mutations, which were reported 9957T>C (Phe251Leu) transition mutation in the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 (COX3) gene and a novel 13849A>C (Asn505His) transversion mutation in the NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) gene. Neither of these mutations was found in 205 normal controls. Both mutations were identified from the proband and his mother, but not his father. The patients showed cataract symptom in addition to MELAS phenotype. We believe that the 9957T>C mutation is pathogenic, however, the 13849A>C mutation is of unclear significance. It is likely that the 13849A>C mutation might function as the secondary mutation which increase the expressivity of overlapping phenotypes of MELAS and cataract. This study also demonstrates the importance of full sequencing of mtDNA for the molecular genetic understanding of mitochondrial disorders.     

Nanoparticle assisted magnetic resonance imaging of the early reversible stages of amyloid beta self-assembly

Co@Pt-Au nanoparticles, which have enhanced magnetism and high stability in aqueous media, are utilized in conjunction with MRI to monitor the structural evolution of Abeta assemblies, especially Abeta protofibrils in the early reversible stages.     

Limsup results and LIL for partial sum processes of a Gaussian random field

Let {ξ _j ; j ∈ ℤ₊ ^d be a centered stationary Gaussian random field, where ℤ₊ ^d is the d-dimensional lattice of all points in d-dimensional Euclidean space ℝ^d, having nonnegative integer coordinates. For each j = (j ₁ , ..., jd) in ℤ₊ ^d , we denote |j| = j ₁ ... j _d and for m, n ∈ ℤ₊ ^d , define S(m, n] = Σ _m<j≤n ζ _j , σ²(|n−m|) = ES ² (m, n], S _n = S(0, n] and S ₀ = 0. Assume that σ(|n|) can be extended to a continuous function σ(t) of t > 0, which is nondecreasing and regularly varying with exponent α at b ≥ 0 for some 0 < α < 1. Under some additional conditions, we study limsup results for increments of partial sum processes and prove as well the law of the iterated logarithm for such partial sum processes. Research supported by NSERC Canada grants at Carleton University, Ottawa