Synthesis and characterization of an iron(III) complex of glycine derivative of bis(phenol)amine ligand in relevance to catechol dioxygenase active site

A glycine derivative of bis(phenol)amine ligand (HL^Gly) was synthesized and characterized by ¹H NMR and IR spectroscopies. The iron(III) complex (L^GlyFe) of this ligand was synthesized and characterized by IR, UV-Vis, X-ray and magnetic susceptibility studies. X-ray analysis reveals that in L^GlyFe the iron(III) center has a distorted trigonal bipyramidal coordination sphere and is surrounded by an amine nitrogen, a carboxylate and two phenolate oxygen atoms. The mentioned carboxylate group acts as μ-bridging ligand for iron centers of neighbor complexes. The variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility indicates that L^GlyFe is the paramagnetic high spin iron(III) complex. It has been shown that electrochemical oxidation of this complex is ligand-centered due to the oxidation of phenolate to the phenoxyl radicals. The L^GlyFe complex also undergoes an electrochemical metal-centered reduction of ferric to ferrous ion. The oxygenation of 3,5-di-tert-butyl-catechol, with L^GlyFe in the presence of dioxygen was investigated.     

Competitive transport of seven metal cations through bulk liquid membrane using 5,12-di(phenoxymethyl)-1,4-dioxa-7, 10-dithiacyclododecane-2,3-dione as carrier

The competitive metal ion transport of copper(II), cobalt(II), zinc(II), cadmium(II), silver(I), chromium(III) and lead(II) with a S-O donor compound was examined. Competitive transport experiments involving the metal cations from an aqueous source phase through an organic membrane into an aqueous receiving phase have been carried out using 5,12-di(phenoxymethyl)-1,4-dioxa-7,10-dithiacyclododecane-2,3-dione as the ionophore present in the organic phase. Fluxes and selectivities for competitive metal cations transport across bulk liquid membranes have been determined in a variety of chlorinated hydrocarbon and aromatic hydrocarbon solvents. The membrane solvents include: dichloromethane (DCM), chloroform (CHCl₃), 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCE), and nitrobenzene (NB) and also in chloroform-dichloromethane (CHCl₃-DCM) and chloroform-nitrobenzene (CHCl₃-NB) binary mixtures. Although the selectivity for silver(I) cation in all of these organic solvents is fundamentally similar, but the most transport rate for Ag(I) was obtained in dichloromethane. The sequence of transport rate for silver ion in organic solvents was: DCM > CHCl₃ > 1,2-DCE > NB. A linear relationship was observed between the transport rate of silver ion and the composition of CHCl₃-DCM, but a non-linear behavior was observed in the case of CHCl₃-NB binary solution. The influence of the stearic, palmetic and oleic acids as surfactant in the membrane phase on the transport of the metal cations was also investigated.     

Ipsilateral masking between acoustic and electric stimulations

Residual acoustic hearing can be preserved in the same ear following cochlear implantation with minimally traumatic surgical techniques and short-electrode arrays. The combined electric-acoustic stimulation significantly improves cochlear implant performance, particularly speech recognition in noise. The present study measures simultaneous masking by electric pulses on acoustic pure tones, or vice versa, to investigate electric-acoustic interactions and their underlying psychophysical mechanisms. Six subjects, with acoustic hearing preserved at low frequencies in their implanted ear, participated in the study. One subject had a fully inserted 24 mm Nucleus Freedom array and five subjects had Iowa/Nucleus hybrid implants that were only 10 mm in length. Electric masking data of the long-electrode subject showed that stimulation from the most apical electrodes produced threshold elevations over 10 dB for 500, 625, and 750 Hz probe tones, but no elevation for 125 and 250 Hz tones. On the contrary, electric stimulation did not produce any electric masking in the short-electrode subjects. In the acoustic masking experiment, 125-750 Hz pure tones were used to acoustically mask electric stimulation. The acoustic masking results showed that, independent of pure tone frequency, both long- and short-electrode subjects showed threshold elevations at apical and basal electrodes. The present results can be interpreted in terms of underlying physiological mechanisms related to either place-dependent peripheral masking or place-independent central masking.     

Long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides operating at telecommunication wavelengths

We report on the realization of long-range dielectric-loaded surface plasmon polariton waveguides (LR-DLSPPWs) consisting of straight and bent subwavelength dielectric ridges deposited on thin and narrow metal stripes supported by a dielectric buffer layer covering a low-index substrate. Using imaging with a near-field optical microscope and end-fire coupling with a tapered fiber connected to a tunable laser at telecommunication wavelengths (1425-1545?nm), we demonstrate low-loss (propagation length ～500?μm) and well-confined (mode width ～1?μm) LR-DLSPPW mode guiding and determine the propagation and bend loss.     

Influence of anodization parameters on the morphology of TiO2 nanotube arrays

TiO₂ nanotube arrays can be fabricated by electrochemical anodization in organic and inorganic electrolytes. Morphology of these nanotube arrays changes when anodization parameters such as applied voltage, type of electrolyte, time and temperature are varied. Nanotube arrays fabricated by anodization of commercial titanium in electrolytes containing NH₄F solution and either sulfuric or phosphoric acid were studied at room temperature; time of anodization was kept constant. Applied voltage, fluoride ion concentration, and acid concentrations were varied and their influences on TiO₂ nanotubes were investigated. The current density of anodizing was recorded by computer controlled digital multimeter. The surface morphology (top-view) of nanotube arrays were observed by SEM. The nanotube arrays in this study have inner diameters in range of 40-80 nm.     

TM scattering by a perfect electromagnetic conducting strip

Analytic solution to the problem of scattering by an infinitely long perfect electromagnetic conducting (PEMC) strip is obtained using the method of separation of variables. The scattering widths can be enhanced/reduced by choosing appropriate values of PEMC admittance.     

1-Methylimidazole-catalyzed reaction between tosylmethyl isocyanide and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates:An efficient synthesis of functionalized pyrroles

An efficient 1-methylimidazole-catalyzed synthesis of dialkyl 2-[(4-methylphenyl)sulfonyl]-1H-pyrrole-3,4-dicarboxylates is described.The reactive 1:1 zwitterionic intermediate formed by the addition of 1-methylimidazole to dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates is trapped by tosylmethyl isocyanide(TOSMIC) to afford the title compounds in excellent yields.     

Ionic strength effects on silicic acid (H4SiO4) sorption and oligomerization on an iron oxide surface: an interesting interplay between electrostatic and chemical forces

The effect of ionic strength on reactions at aqueous interfaces can provide insights into the nature of the chemistry involved. The adsorption of H(4)SiO(4) on iron oxides at low surface silicate concentration (Γ(Si)) forms monomeric silicate complexes with Fe-O-Si linkages, but as Γ(Si) increases silicate oligomers with Si-O-Si linkages become increasingly prevalent. In this paper, the effect of ionic strength (I) on both Γ(Si) and the extent of silicate oligomerization on the ferrihydrite surface is determined at pH 4, 7, and 10, where the surface is, respectively, positive, nearly neutral, and negatively charged. At pH 4, an increase in ionic strength causes Γ(Si) to decrease at a given H(4)SiO(4) solution concentration, while the proportion of oligomers on the surface at a given Γ(Si) increases. At pH 10, the opposite is observed; Γ(Si) increases as I increases, while the proportion of surface oligomers at a given Γ(Si) decreases. Ionic strength has only a small effect on the surface chemistry of H(4)SiO(4) at pH 7, but at low Γ(Si) this effect is in the direction observed at pH 4 while at high Γ(Si) the effect is in the direction observed at pH 10. The pH where the surface has zero charge decreases from ≈8 to 6 as Γ(Si) increases so that the surface potential (Ψ) is positive at pH 4 for all Γ(Si) and at pH 7 with low Γ(Si). Likewise, Ψ < 0 at pH 10 for all Γ(Si) and at pH 7 with high Γ(Si). The diffuse layer model is used to unravel the complex and subtle interactions between surface potential (Ψ) and chemical parameters that influence interfacial silicate chemistry. This analysis reveals that the decrease in the absolute value of Ψ as I increases causes Γ(Si) to decrease or increase where Ψ is, respectively, positive or negative. Therefore, at a given Γ(Si), the solution H(4)SiO(4) concentration changes with I, and because oligomerization has a higher H(4)SiO(4) stoichiometry coefficient than monomer adsorption, this results in the observed dependence of the extent of silicate oligomerization on I.     

Study on the Fermi surface and the spin-dependent momentum space density of ferromagnetic Gd by positron annihilation experiments

The Fermi surface (FS) and spin-dependent momentum space density distribution of ferromagnetic Gd was studied via longitudinally polarised positrons. The measurements were performed using a 2D angular correlation of the annihilation radiation experiments with the reversal magnetic field direction parallel and anti-parallel to the polarisation direction of the positron. It was found that the minority-spin states were concentrated in the basal plane and majority-spin states were concentrated around the A, L and H points. The analysis confirmed that the main contributions to the FS of Gd were influenced by the mixing of both the 5d–6s and the 4f–5d hybrid bands. The general layout of this FS was observed as two hole-like surfaces running along the [ΓA] axis and one electron-like surface running along the [MK] direction. In general, the experimental results showed good agreement with earlier investigations.