Bioluminescent reporter bacteria detect contaminants in soil samples

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology - Reporter strains of bacteria were tested using soil samples from several sites near a leaking fuel oil storage facility. The reporter bacteria utilized the...     

Ruthenium(II) complexes of monodonor ligands: efficient reagents for asymmetric ketone hydrogenation

[Chemical reaction: See text] A series of BINOL-derived ligands have been prepared and incorporated into ruthenium(II) complexes containing a diamine ligand. The complexes have proven to be excellent catalysts for the asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones, giving reduction products with enantiomeric excesses of up to 99%.     

Polymerization in nonuniform latex particles: Distribution of free radicals

Previous kinetic studies in emulsion polymerization have almost always involved an assumption of uniform distribution of free radicals in the latex particle. Such an assumption is not likely to reflect reality in many systems that employ water-soluble initiators because the hydrophilic end-group of the oligomeric free radical will preferentially stay in the surface layer of the particle. This constrained end-group location would result in nonuniform distribution of free radicals in the polymerizing latex particles. A Monte Carlo simulation of the growth of a single polymer chain within the latex particle supports this hypothesis. Such a nonuniform distribution of free radicals in the latex particle is expected to have an influence on reaction kinetics and product properties. The mechanism for transport of free radicals out of polymerizing latex particles is reexamined based on the proposed concept, and a modified expression for the desorption rate constant is presented.     

An improved microwave plasma torch for atomic spectrometry

The analytical performance of a microwave plasma torch was improved through mechanical alterations. Several problems reported in earlier designs were addressed: the ignition and stabilization of a helium plasma in the MPT was difficult; high powers were required to both ignite and operate the plasma; otherwise, the plasma would erratically change from an annular to a filament type discharge. In the new torch, the helium discharge was stabilized by replacing the copper central tube with one made of quartz. In addition, air entrainment was alleviated through use of a sheathing gas. This modification simplified the background mass spectrum and raised the effective ionization temperature of the discharge. A detailed schematic diagram of the new microwave plasma torch is presented.     

Cyclization of a cysteine conjugate of N-(3,5-Dichlorophenyl)succinimide

N-(3,5-Dichlorophenyl)-2-cysteinylsuccinimide methyl ester hydrochloride ( 5 ) was prepared from N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)maleimide ( 3 ) and cysteinyl methyl ester hydrochloride. Attempted neutralization of the cysteine conjugate salt with triethylamine resulted in spontaneous cyclization of 5 to form the more stable 2-(N-3,5-dichlorophenylcarbamoylmethyl)-5-carbomethoxy-1,4-thiazine- 3-one ( 6 ). Similar results might be expected in vivo should these metabolites of succinimides be formed.     

Thermochemical excess properties of multicomponent systems: Representation and estimation from binary mixing data

A general equation for the estimation of thermodynamic excess properties of multicomponent systems from observed excess properties of the various binary combinations of the components has been developed, based on a simple model of the multicomponent system. This estimation takes the form $$\Delta \bar Z_{12...N}^{ex} = \sum\limits_{i = 1}^N {\sum\limits_{j > i}^N {(X_i + X_j )(f_i + f_j )(\Delta \bar Z_{ij}^{ex} )^* } } $$ in which \((\Delta \bar Z_{ij}^{ex} )^* \) is the molar excess property (enthalpy, entropy, volume, free energy, etc.), of the binary system with components at the same molar ratio as in the multicomponent system, and f_i, f_j are weighted mole fractions using weighting factors based on the excess properties of the binary systems. The important features of this equation are: it is applicable to a broad range of thermodynamic properties, its application to both integral and differential mixing properties is independent of the manner in which the binary mixing data is represented (Redlich-Kister equation, Wilson equation, etc.), and it provides reasonably accurate predictions ranging from quite good for simple systems of nonspecific interactions to only fair for associated solutions. This equation is recommended as a point-of-departure for mathematical representation of experimental data for multicomponent systems.     

Effects of Poly(ethylene glycol) Doping on the Behavior of Pyrene, Rhodamine 6G, and Acrylodan-Labeled Bovine Serum Albumin Sequestered within Tetramethylorthosilane-Derived Sol-Gel-Processed Composites

We investigate the effects of controlled poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) doping on the behavior of pyrene, rhodamine 6G (R6G), and acrylodan-labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA-Ac) sequestered within tetramethylorthosilicate (TMOS)-derived sol-gel-processed materials. To probe the dipolarity of the local environment within the composite we performed static fluorescence measurements on pyrene as the composites aged. We found that small levels of PEG loading effected significant enhancements in the local dipolarity surrounding the average pyrene molecule. Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements were used to follow the rotational reorientation dynamics of R6G as the composites aged. As the PEG loading increased, the R6G reorientational mobility increased. Nitrogen adsorption techniques were used to quantify the effects of PEG doping level on the surface area and final xerogel pore features. A large reduction in surface area was observed with PEG doping, but no detectable change in pore size was noted. The effects of PEG doping on a biomolecule were probed by following the time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy decay of BSA-Ac. These results showed that PEG doping resulted in increased biomolecule dynamics relative to that found for a neat, undoped TMOS-derived composites. Together these results show that PEG doping can be used to tune the sol-gel-processed composite dipolarity, alter the mobility of dopants sequestered within the composite, control analyte acessibility to the sensing chemistry, and modulate the internal dynamics within a biodopant.     

Azines possessing strong push-pull donors/acceptors

Azines (R(2)C[double bond, length as m-dash]N-N[double bond, length as m-dash]CR(2)) are 2,3-diaza analogues of 1,3-butadiene. In this report we show that strong polarisation of the azine imparts structural features consistent with delocalization within the azine fragment; NLO properties for the azines are also reported.     

Hydration of CO adsorbed on Pt(100) at cryogenic temperatures in UHV environments

Adsorption of small amounts of D(2)O (ca. 0.01 L exposure) on CO(sat)/Pt(100) surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum at 105 K was found to split the asymmetric peak at 2100 cm(-1) in the infrared reflection absorption spectra attributed to the stretching of CO adsorbed on atop sites into two clearly defined features: an intense component, which shifted toward lower energies due to surface hydration of adsorbed CO (originally at 2100 cm(-1), peak a), and a smaller peak centered at 2094 cm(-1) (peak b), which remained fixed in position even after closing the D(2)O dosing valve. The energies of peaks a and b, as determined by statistical analyses, correlated very well with those reported in the literature for CO adsorbed at high coverages on Pt(100) originally in the (5 x 20) or (hex) reconstruction, and on the unreconstructed Pt(100)-(1 x 1), respectively, at 90 K. On these bases, the asymmetry of the peak observed for CO(sat)/Pt(100) (no D(2)O dosing) is ascribed to the presence of CO linearly adsorbed on these two different sites on the surface, for which the rate of hydration is larger for the (5 x 20) compared to the (1 x 1) phases.     

Chemistry of the phenoxathiins and isosterically related heterocycles. XXXI. Synthesis of the 1,3-diazaphenoxathiin ring system and the relationship of the 13C-NMR chemical shift of the C-10a resonances to the molecular dihedral angle determined by X-Ray diffraction: A further investigation

Synthesis of the 1,3-diazaphenoxathiin ring system and the confirmation of its structure by ¹³C-nmr spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography are reported. Implications of the ¹³C-nmr chemical shift of the C-10a resonance and its relationship to the molecular dihedral angle are presented. The molecule crystallizes in the Pbca space group and was found to have a dihedral angle of 165.5(9)°, the structure refining to a final R-factor of T = 0.0427.