Two New Cyclopeptides from Arenaria oreophila (Caryophyllaceae)

Two new cyclopeptides, named arenariphilin A ( 1 ) and arenariphilin B ( 2 ), were isolated from the whole plants of Arenaria oreophila. Their structures were determined as cyclo‐(Thr‐Gly) ( 1 ) and cyclo‐(Ser₁‐Gly ‐Ser₂‐Ile ‐Phe₁‐Phe₂) ( 2 ) on the basis of spectral data, especially by 2D‐NMR.     

Methylation of Chitosan with Iodomethane: Effect of Reaction Conditions on Chemoselectivity and Degree of Substitution

N,N,N‐trimethylchitosan (TMC) was prepared by reacting purified chitosan with iodomethane, in the presence of sodium hydroxide, water and sodium iodide, at room temperature. The reaction medium was N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone. Different samples of TMC were obtained by adding to the reaction medium a fixed volume (5.5 mL) of aqueous NaOH solutions at different concentrations (15, 20, 30 and 40 wt.‐%) and carrying out the reactions for 9 or 24 h. The features observed in the ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra of these chitosan derivatives, in respect of the chemical shift, number and relative intensity of the signals, depended strongly on the excess of NaOH and H₃CI added to the reaction medium, but when the lowest excess was employed, the characteristics of the derivative were not affected by the reaction time to the same extent. The average degree of quaternization of these N‐methylated derivatives of chitosan ranged from 10.5% to 44.8%, according to the reaction conditions. Increasing the excess of NaOH, in reactions carried out for 9 h, resulted in TMC samples with progressively higher content of trimethylated sites however, the reaction yields were correspondingly lower and O‐alkylation was favored in these cases.

¹H NMR spectrum of sample [A_X]^24h dissolved in D₂O (C_p = 10 g/L).     

4,4′‐Bipyridyl N,N′‐dioxide–3‐hydroxy‐2‐naphthoic acid (1/2)

4,4′‐Bipyridyl N,N′‐dioxide crystallizes with 3‐hydr­oxy‐2‐naphthoic acid to give a centrosymmetric three‐component adduct, C₁₀H₈N₂O₂·2C₁₁H₈O₃, which is engineered into a two‐dimensional layer structure by two kinds of π–π inter­actions. Weak C—H⋯O inter­actions further link the two‐dimensional structure into a three‐dimensional structure.     

A Novel Method for Quantification of Circulating DNA in Serum by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis

In this paper, we first presented a novel method for quantification of circulating DNA in human serum based on capillary zone electrophoresis with laser-induced fluorescence detection (CZE-LIF). The serum was digested by proteinase to release free DNA, and then CZE-LIF system was used for the quantification of total circulating DNA. This method was successfully used to quantify the circulating DNA levels in sera from healthy individuals and certain cancer patients.We found the significantly elevated circulating DNA levels in certain prostate cancer patients. Our results demonstrated that CZE-LIF system has good linearity, excellent sensitivity (0.5 ng/mL DNA),satisfactory reproducibility (RSDs in one day and between days were both less than 5%) and reliability, and is well suitable to the quantification of the circulating DNA in human serum or plasma.     

Theoretical study of the unimolecular decomposition mechanisms of energetic TNAD and TNAZ explosives

Calculation methods based on hybrid Density Functional Theory (DFT) with the basis sets of the B3LYP/6‐31+G(d)//B3LYP/4‐31G(d) method and the differential overlap (INDO) program were used to derive reasonable decomposition mechanisms of 1,4,5,8‐tetranitro‐1,4,5,8‐tetraazadecalin (TNAD) and 1,3,3‐trinitroazetidine (TNAZ) explosives. All possible decomposition species and transition states, including intermediates and products, were identified and their corresponding enthalpy of formation and Gibbs free energy of formation were obtained using polyparametric modification equations. INDO bond energy calculation results reveal the weakest bonding site for reference and determine where cleavage can occur easily. This work is concerned mainly with eliminating HONO (cis or trans form). The activation energy for trans‐form HONO elimination is lower than that of cis‐form HONO elimination in the initial steps of both TNAD and TNAZ decomposition, being 18.5 kJ/mol and 33.3 kJ/mol, respectively. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Synthesis,Characterization and Catalysis of Ce‐MCM‐41

The cerium‐containing MCM‐41 (Ce‐MCM‐41) has been synthesized by direct hydrothermal method. The low‐angle XRD patterns revealed the typical five major peaks of MCM‐41 type hexagonal structures. The interplanar spacing d₁₀₀ = 38.4 Å was obtained that can be indexed on a hexagonal unit cell parameter with a_o = 44.3 Å which was larger than that of pure siliceous MCM‐41 (Si‐MCM‐41). Transmission electron micrograph shows the regular hexagonal array of uniform channel characteristics of MCM‐41. The BET surface area of Ce‐MCM‐41 was 840 m²/g, which is much reduced as compared to that of Si‐MCM‐41, with the pore size of 26.9 Å and mesopore volume of 0.78 cm³/g were measured by nitrogen adsorption‐desorption isotherm at 77 K. Along with the results, the synthesized Ce‐MCM‐41 exhibited a well‐ordered MCM‐41‐type mesoporous structure with the incorporation of cerium. Using Ce‐MCM‐41 as a support, the Rh (0.5 wt%) catalyst exhibited very high activity for the NO/CO reactions.     

Surface-modified CdSe quantum dots as luminescent probes for cyanide determination

Luminescent surface-modified CdSe semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), with nanoparticle (NP) size distribution in the order of 2-7 nm, have been synthesized for optical determination of cyanide ions. The nanoparticles have been functionalised with tert-butyl-N-(2-mercaptoethyl)-carbamate (BMC) groups and exhibit a strong fluorescent emission at about 580 nm with rather long fluorescence lifetimes (several hundred nanoseconds) in aerated methanolic solution. The observed luminescence emitted by the synthesized nanocrystals was tremendously increased by photo-activation under sunlight exposure. The functionalised QDs turned out to exhibit excellent long-term stability when stored in the dark (no significant changes in QDs luminescence emission intensity was observed even after two months from synthesis). The functionalisation of the NPs with carbamate ligand allowed a highly sensitive determination of free cyanide via analyte-induced changes in the photoluminescence (fluorescence quenching of intensity at 580 nm and lifetime changes) of the modified quantum dots (excited at 400 nm). A detection limit of 1.1 × 10⁻⁷ M (2.9 μg l⁻¹) of cyanide ions was obtained, while the interfering effect of other inorganic anions (including NO₃⁻, Cl⁻ or SCN⁻) was negligible even at 200-fold level concentrations in excess of cyanide.