Synthesis and properties of poly(carbonate‐urethane) consisting of alternating carbonate and urethane moieties

Poly(carbonate‐urethane) consisting of alternating carbonate and urethane moieties (poly(HC‐MDI)) was prepared by polyaddition of 4,4′‐diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) and a monocarbonate diol bis(3‐hydroxypropyl)carbonate (HC), prepared by hydrolysis of a six‐membered spiroorthocarbonate 1,5,7,11‐tetraoxa‐spiro[5.5]undecane. The polyaddition proceeds without concomitant side reactions including carbonate exchange reaction and affords the desired poly(carbonate‐urethane). The hydrolysis and thermal behaviors of poly(HC‐MDI) were compared with those of the analogous polyurethane carrying no carbonate structure (poly(ND‐MDI)) prepared from MDI and 1,9‐nonanediol (ND). Although the glass transition behaviors are almost identical, poly(HC‐MDI) is less crystalline than poly(ND‐MDI). Poly(HC‐MDI) is more susceptible to hydrolysis than poly(ND‐MDI) probably due to the higher polarity and the lower crystallinity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2802–2808, 2006     

Electrochemical Synthesis of Thienoacene Derivatives: Transition‐Metal‐Free Dehydrogenative C−S Coupling Promoted by a Halogen Mediator

The first electrochemical dehydrogenative C?S bond formation leading to thienoacene derivatives is described. Several thienoacene derivatives were synthesized by dehydrogenative C?H/S?H coupling. The addition of ⁿBu₄NBr, which catalytically promoted the reaction as a halogen mediator, was essential.     

Biosynthesis of the N–N‐Bond‐Containing Compound l‐Alanosine

The formation of a N?N bond is a unique biochemical transformation, and nature employs diverse biosynthetic strategies to activate nitrogen for bond formation. Among molecules that contain a N?N bond, biosynthetic routes to diazeniumdiolates remain enigmatic. We here report the biosynthetic pathway for the diazeniumdiolate‐containing amino acid l ‐alanosine. Our work reveals that the two nitrogen atoms in the diazeniumdiolate of l ‐alanosine arise from glutamic acid and aspartic acid, and we clarify the early steps of the biosynthetic pathway by using both in vitro and in vivo approaches. Our work demonstrates a peptidyl‐carrier‐protein‐based mechanism for activation of the precursor l ‐diaminopropionate, and we also show that nitric oxide can participate in non‐enzymatic diazeniumdiolate formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the gene alnA, which encodes a fusion protein with an N‐terminal cupin domain and a C‐terminal AraC‐like DNA‐binding domain, is required for alanosine biosynthesis.     

Design of Fe-MOF-bpdc deposited with cobalt oxide (CoOx) nanoparticles for enhanced visible-light-promoted water oxidation reaction

Research on Chemical Intermediates - This work spotlights the facile method to deposit cobalt oxide (CoOx) nanoparticles as a cocatalyst on Fe-MOF-bpdc to enhance its photocatalytic activity for...     

Regioselective cycloaddition of La2@I(h)-C80 with tetracyanoethylene oxide: formation of an endohedral dimetallofullerene adduct featuring enhanced electron-accepting character

We describe the regioselective cycloaddition of La(2)@I(h)-C(80) with tetracyanoethylene oxide (TCNEO), which enabled the formation of the corresponding adduct having a tetracyanotetrahydrofuran moiety. X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that the cycloaddition took place as a [5,6] addition. Along with dynamic swing motion of the metal atoms, the results of this electrochemical study demonstrate that TCNEO addition enhanced the electron-accepting character of La(2)@I(h)-C(80) and that the first reduction potential of the adduct reached -0.21 V versus the ferrocene/ferrocenium couple, which is the lowest value reported for endohedral metallofullerenes and their derivatives to date.     

Confined water inside single-walled carbon nanotubes: global phase diagram and effect of finite length

Studies on confined water are important not only from the viewpoint of scientific interest but also for the development of new nanoscale devices. In this work, we aimed to clarify the properties of confined water in the cylindrical pores of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that had diameters in the range of 1.46 to 2.40 nm. A combination of x-ray diffraction (XRD), nuclear magnetic resonance, and electrical resistance measurements revealed that water inside SWCNTs with diameters between 1.68 and 2.40 nm undergoes a wet-dry type transition with the lowering of temperature; below the transition temperature T(wd), water was ejected from the SWCNTs. T(wd) increased with increasing SWCNT diameter D. For the SWCNTs with D = 1.68, 2.00, 2.18, and 2.40 nm, T(wd) obtained by the XRD measurements were 218, 225, 236, and 237 K, respectively. We performed a systematic study on finite length SWCNT systems using classical molecular dynamics calculations to clarify the effect of open ends of the SWCNTs and water content on the water structure. It was found that ice structures that were formed at low temperatures were strongly affected by the bore diameter, a = D - σ(OC), where σ(OC) is gap distance between the SWCNT and oxygen atom in water, and the number of water molecules in the system. In small pores (a < 1.02 nm), tubule ices or the so-called ice nanotubes (ice NTs) were formed irrespective of the water content. On the other hand, in larger pores (a > 1.10 nm) with small water content, filled water clusters were formed leaving some empty space in the SWCNT pore, which grew to fill the pore with increasing water content. For pores with sizes in between these two regimes (1.02 < a < 1.10 nm), tubule ice also appeared with small water content and grew with increasing water content. However, once the tubule ice filled the entire SWCNT pore, further increase in the water content resulted in encapsulation of the additional water molecules inside the tubule ice. Corresponding XRD measurements on SWCNTs with a mean diameter of 1.46 nm strongly suggested the presence of such a filled structure.     

Physicochemical mechanism for the enhanced ability of lipid membrane penetration of polyarginine

Arginine-rich, cell-penetrating peptides (e.g., Tat-peptide, penetratin, and polyarginine) are used to carry therapeutic molecules such as oligonucleotides, DNA, peptides, and proteins across cell membranes. Two types of processes are being considered to cross the cell membranes: one is an endocytic pathway, and another is an energy-independent, nonendocytic pathway. However, the latter is still not known in detail. Here, we studied the effects of the chain length of polyarginine on its interaction with an anionic phospholipid large unilamellar vesicle (LUV) or a giant vesicle using poly-l-arginine composed of 69 (PLA69), 293 (PLA293), or 554 (PLA554) arginine residues, together with octaarginine (R8). ζ-potential measurements confirmed that polyarginine binds to LUV via electrostatic interactions. Circular dichroism analysis demonstrated that the transition from the random coil to the α-helix structure upon binding to LUV occurred for PLA293 and PLA554, whereas no structural change was observed for PLA69 and R8. Fluorescence studies using membrane probes revealed that the binding of polyarginine to LUV affects the hydration and packing of the membrane interface region, in which the degree of membrane insertion is greater for the longer polyarginine. Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements demonstrated that although the binding affinity (i.e., the Gibbs free energy of binding) per arginine residue is similar among all polyarginines the contribution of enthalpy to the energetics of binding of polyarginine increases with increasing polymer chain length. In addition, confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that all polyarginines penetrate across giant vesicle membranes, and the order of the amount of membrane penetration is R8 ≈ PLA69 < PLA293 ≈ PLA554. These results suggest that the formation of α-helical structure upon lipid binding drives the insertion of polyarginine into the membrane interior, which appears to enhance the membrane penetration of polyarginine.