Palladium(II)-catalyzed sequential hydroxylation-carboxylation of biphenyl using formic acid as a carbonyl source

[reaction: see text] A simultaneous hydroxylation-carboxylation of biphenyl occurred to give 4'-hydroxy-4-biphenylcarboxylic acid, which has wide potential application as a polyester monomer.     

Liquid scintillation measurement of40K for the education on radioactivity

Liquid scintillation counting of⁴⁰K in ordinary potassium propionate is a highly suitable experimental task in the general education on radioactivity. The counting efficiency is about 90%, depending little on the measurement conditions. Potassium propionate is of suitable properties and can be easily obtained commercially or by conversion from other compounds. The result of counting, about 1,700 cpm/g, is highly impressive to many students, indicating the existence of⁴⁰K radioactivity unexpectedly high in the normal nature, and can be used for the exercise of calculating our internal radiation exposure.     

Determination of rare earth elements in hot spring water and crater lake water samples by neutron activation analysis incorporating coprecipitation process using aluminium as a collector

Hot spring water and crater lake water samples were analyzed for their rare earth elements: (REE's) by neutron activation method, which, in the irradiation, sample preparation, incorporated a coprecipitation process in which aluminium was used as a collector. Ten REE's, La, Ce, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Tm, Yb and Lu, were consequently detected and determined at the ppb level with satisfactory precision. It was shown that the aluminium coprecipitation is effective in enhancing concentrations of the REE's and reducing the amounts of interfering nuclides before neutron irradiation.     

Study of the relationship between electrophoretic mobility of the diabetic red blood cell and hemoglobin A1c by using a mini-cell electrophoresis apparatus.

A mini-cell electrophoresis system using capillary tubing (50 microm inner diameter, length ca. 10 mm and volume ca. 20 nL) was applied to measure the electrophoretic mobility of red blood cells of 89 patients with diabetes on single cell level. A significant negative correlation was observed between hemoglobin A1c and the average electrophoretic mobility, with a correlation coefficient of 0.793. By statistically processing the electrophoretic mobility of each single red blood cell, it became clear that the reduction of the average value of electrophoretic mobility was caused by the reduction of the relative frequency of the red blood cell with high mobility. The cause of the average reduction was not the shift of electrophoretic mobility of all red blood cells to the lower mobility.     

Kinetics of befunolol reductase from rabbit liver

The kinetic mechanism for the reduction of befunolol catalyzed by befunolol reductase from rabbit liver was investigated. From the initial velocity analysis, product inhibition and coenzyme binding studies, the reduction of befunolol was found to proceed through an ordered Bi Bi mechanism, in which beta-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, reduced form (NADPH) binds to the enzyme firstly and NADP+ leaves lastly. NADPH bound to the free enzyme at a molar ratio of 1:1. Furthermore, the result of dead-end inhibition by Cibacron blue F3GA, a nucleotide analogue which binds to many enzymes, was consistent with the ordered Bi Bi mechanism for the enzyme.     

Developmental changes of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase expression in Sarcophaga peregrina

To elucidate the physiological role of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), we studied the levels of PARP mRNA and protein during the developmental stages of Sarcophaga peregrina. PARP mRNA expression changed remarkably throughout the developmental stages. The level of PARP mRNA (the molecular ratio of PARP mRNA to the total RNA) was highest in unfertilized eggs and that of PARP protein (the molecular ratio of PARP protein to the total protein of the crude extract) was high in unfertilized and fertilized eggs and in 1st instar larvae. During the embryogenesis period, the levels of PARP mRNA and protein gradually decreased. The levels of PARP mRNA during larval and pupal periods became less than about 5% of that in unfertilized eggs. After the emergence of adult flies, the levels of PARP mRNA and protein increased both in female and male flies. PARP activity normalized with the total amount of protein in the crude extract changed in parallel to the level of PARP protein throughout the developmental stages. The biological significance of the drastic change of mRNA and protein levels of PARP still remains to be clarified.     

Phase behavior of binary mixtures composed of ethylene carbonate and various organic solvents

Phase behaviors of the binary mixtures composed of ethylene carbonate (EC) and aliphatic alcohols, ω-phenyl alcohols, and alkylbenzenes were investigated. In addition, heat of solution of EC into these organic solvents was measured. The EC/methanol and EC/ethanol systems gave homogeneous solution at the temperature above their liquidus lines, while the mixtures of EC and alcohols with longer alkyl chain showed a miscibility gap in a liquid phase and provided the monotectic-type phase diagram. The liquid–liquid phase separation region expanded with the increase in the alkyl chain length. A similar phase behavior was also observed for the mixtures of EC and alkylbenzenes. On the other hand, the EC mixtures with ω-phenyl alcohols showed no miscibility gap in a liquid phase at least up to 4-phenylbutan-1-ol which has C4 alkyl chain intervening between phenyl and hydroxyl groups. This result demonstrates that both of the hydroxyl and phenyl groups act to facilitate the mixing of aliphatic compounds with EC. The phase behavior of these EC mixtures was analyzed applying the modified regular solution model in which the pair interaction energy was regarded as free energy. The model calculation with the use of heat of solution of EC at infinite dilution as the pair interaction enthalpy reproduced well both of the experimentally obtained liquidus line and mutual solubility curve as well as monotectic point.     

Broadband dielectric relaxation study on a diluted solution of a ferroelectric liquid crystal by time domain reflectometry

In this work, complex permittivity measurements on a diluted solution of the ferroelectric liquid crystal, 4-[(S,S)-2,3-epoxyhexyloxy]-phenyl 4-(decyloxy)-benzoate, which shows ferroelectric smectic C phase (S*_C), have been performed. Using time domain reflectometry, at frequencies between 10 MHz and 10 GHz, in the temperature range from 50°C down to 10°C for every 10°C, at 5, 10 and 30 wt.% in benzene we observe two independent relaxation processes around 150 MHz and 2 GHz. It is shown that the high frequency process is due to the internal molecular reorientations while the low frequency one is due to molecular orientation around the long molecular axis. It is concluded that the reorientation around the long axis is hindered and leads to a resultant macroscopic polarization.     

Spectrophotometric determination of Blue Procion HEGN in effluents of textile industry exploiting the dye aggregation effect and flow injection analysis.

A new spectrophotometric method involving flow injection analysis and textile dye aggregation effect is proposed. The method is based on the aggregation effect of Blue Procion HEGN at pH 3, which relocates its maximum absorption wavelength from 620 to 776 nm, avoiding the interference of other blue textile dyes. For this task, a simple and robust flow injection system was designed, which became a very stable analytical method. When the system was applied to Blue Procion determination in effluent of textile industry, precise results were observed (RSD < 2% within 1.0 and 5.0 mg l(-1) HEGN). The analytical frequency was 80 measurements per hour; the analytical curve was linear from 1.0 to 5.0 mg l(-1) HEGN; the detection limit considering three times the standard deviation of the blank solution (n = 10) was estimated as 0.03 mg l(-1) HEGN; and recoveries between 95% and 105% were found. The system consumes 20 mg of sodium citrate and 125 microl of the sample per determination. No baseline drift was observed during extended (5 h) operation periods.     

Charged particle activation analysis of boron and carbon on the surface of silicon wafer

Boron and carbon on the surface of silicon wafers in ordinary atmospheres were measured by activation with the¹⁰B(d,n)¹¹C and¹²Cd(d,n)¹³N reaction, respectively. Two sample plates in intimate contact were bombarded by deuterons, and the¹¹C or¹³N formed at the inside surfaces were measured after chemical separation. From 1.2·10¹³ to 8.4·10¹³ atoms/cm² of boron and from 2.4·10¹⁴ to 6.1·10¹⁵ atoms/cm² of carbon were found ,and the sensitivity was extended down to 5·10¹² and 3·10¹² atoms/cm² for boron and carbon, respectively.