Ultra high performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of phenolic constituents in honey from various floral sources using multiwalled carbon nanotubes as extraction sorbents

An ultra high performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry method has been developed for the simultaneous separation, identification and determination of 22 phenolic constituents in honey from various floral sources from Yemen. Solid‐phase extraction was used for extraction of the target phenolic constituents from honey samples, while multiwalled carbon nanotubes were used as solid‐phase adsorbent. The chromatographic separation of all phenolic constituents was performed on a BEH C₁₈ column using a linear gradient elution with a binary mobile phase mixture of aqueous 0.1% formic acid and methanol. The quantitation was carried out in selected ion reaction monitoring acquisition mode. The total amount of phenolic acids, flavonoids and other phenols in each analyzed honey was found in the range of 338–3312, 122–5482 and 2.4–1342 μg/100 g of honey, respectively. 4‐Hydroxybenzoic acid was found to be the major phenolic acid. The main detected flavonoid was chrysin, while cinnamic acid was found to be the major other phenol compound. The regeneration of solid phase adsorbent to be reused and recovery results confirm that the proposed method could be potentially used for the routine analysis of phenolic constituents in honey extract.     

pH responsive surfaces with nanoscale topography

We report the preparation of nanostructured adaptive polymer surfaces by diffusion of an amphihilic block copolymer toward the interface. The surface segregation of a diblock copolymer, polystyrene‐block‐poly(acrylic acid) (PS‐b‐PAA), occurred when blended with high molecular weight polystyrene employed as a matrix. On annealing, the polymer surfaces changed both the chemical composition and the hydrophilicity depending on the environment and pH, respectively. By exposure to either water vapor or air, the surface wettability varied between hydrophilic and hydrophobic. In addition, surface enrichment on diblock copolymer by water vapor annealing led to self‐assembly occurring at the interface. Hence, nanostructured domains can be observed by AFM in liquid media. Moreover, the PAA segments placed at the interface respond to pH and can switch from an extended hydrophilic state at basic pH values to a collapsed hydrophobic state in acidic media. Accordingly, the surface morphology changed from swelled micelles to nanometer size holes. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2982–2990, 2010     

Poly[(2,2′,5′,2″-tetramethoxy-p-terphenyl-5,5″-ylene)propylene]: Synthesis and physical properties of a novel amorphous regularly segmented conjugated polymer

A new regularly segmented conjugated polymer with methoxy-substituted p-terphenylene units tethered by their meta positions along the polymer main chain was synthesised using the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction. The small size of the connector and lack of long lateral chains lead to a high density of rigid electrooptically active moieties in the structure. However, this molecular architecture produces a very soluble and amorphous polymer with relatively high T_g. The optical properties of samples with different degrees of polymerisation were investigated using UV-visible absorption, steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence emission spectroscopies. Their absorption and emission properties are rather insensible to Mn after reaching a modest DP, to the aggregation state, either solution or neat film, and to annealing. The contorted polymer chain forms a very stable morphology and substantially hinders interactions between chromophores, thus diminishing the formation of aggregated species that are commonly observed in other electrooptically active polymers.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly[2,5-bis(triethoxy)-1,4-phenylene vinylene]

The synthesis of a highly soluble, 2,5-disubstituted poly(p-phenylene vinylene) with pendant side chains containing ether groups was accomplished by a dehydrochlorination route. Specific interactions of the oxygen-containing side chains with the solvent are presumably responsible for the high solubility of the polymer, especially in protogenic solvents. The polymer microstructure was characterized by ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR. The polymer showed solvatochromic properties when dissolved in a variety of solvents. The relatively high molecular weight (M_n = 17,000) permitted the fabrication of free-standing films. The electrical conductivity of iodine-doped films was approximately 2 × 10^–2 S cm^–1. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Dynamic mechanical properties of epoxy‐phenolic mixtures

The dynamic‐mechanical properties of different mixtures formed by an epoxy resin (DGEBA type) and a phenolic resin (resole type) cured by trietylenetetramine and/or p‐toluensulphonic acid at different concentrations have been studied by means of dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA). All samples were cured by pressing at 90 °C during 6 h. The mechanical studies were performed between ?100 to 300 °C at a heating rate of 2 °C/min. This study was also carried out for the epoxy‐TETA and phenolic‐p‐toluensulphonic acid systems. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 1548–1555, 2005