Liquid-liquid equilibria of (cyclohexane + acetonitrile + methylcyclohexane + toluene) and of {(acetonitrile + methylcyclohexane) + benzene or + toluene or + cyclohexane or + chlorobenzene} at 298.15 K

Tie-line results at 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure are reported for (cyclohexane + acetonitrile + methylcyclohexane + toluene) and for {(acetonitrile + methylcyclohexane) + benzene or + toluene or + cyclohexane or + chlorobenzene). The extended UNIQUAC and UNIQUAC equations are used to correlate binary vapour-liquid equilibria and mutual solubilities for 10 mixtures constituting the ternary mixtures and to predict the ternary and quaternary liquid-liquid equilibria by use of only binary parameters.     

Ligand binding properties of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene: unusual O2 binding selectivity against CO binding

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen storage hemoprotein, was successfully reconstituted with the iron porphycene having two propionates, 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatoiron. The physicochemical properties and ligand bindings of the reconstituted myoglobin were investigated. The ferric reconstituted myoglobin shows the remarkable stability against acid denaturation and only a low-spin characteristic in its EPR spectrum. The Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox potential (-190 mV vs NHE) determined by the spectroelectrochemical measurements was much lower than that of the wild-type. These results can be attributed to the strong coordination of His93 to the porphycene iron, which is induced by the nature of the porphycene ring symmetry. The O2 affinity of the ferrous reconstituted myoglobin is 2600-fold higher than that of the wild-type, mainly due to the decrease in the O2 dissociation rate, whereas the CO affinity is not so significantly enhanced. As a result, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin exceeds its CO affinity (M' = K(CO)/K(O2) < 1). The ligand binding studies on H64A mutants support the fact that the slow O2 dissociation of the reconstituted myoglobin is primarily caused by the stabilization of the Fe-O2 sigma-bonding. The IR spectra for the carbon monoxide (CO) complex of the reconstituted myoglobin suggest several structural and/or electrostatic conformations of the Fe-C-O bond, but this is not directly correlated with the CO dissociation rate. The high O2 affinity and the unique characteristics of the myoglobin with the iron porphycene indicate that reconstitution with a synthesized heme is a useful method not only to understand the physiological function of myoglobin but also to create a tailor-made function on the protein.     

Further evidence of the vibronic coupling of pyrazine as revealed by preresonance raman effect

The excitation wavelength dependences of the intensities of the Raman lines of pyrazine have been measured. The intensity enhancement of the non-totally symmetric Raman line at 925 cm^?1 provided firm evidence of the vibronic coupling between the lowest ¹B_3u(n,π^*) and second lowest ¹B_2u(π,π^*) states. The excitation wavelength dependences of other non-totally symmetric Raman lines suggest also the various vibronic coupling schemes.     

Selectivity of stationary phases in reversed-phase liquid chromatography based on the dispersion interactions

Selectivity of 15 stationary phases was examined, either commercially available or synthesized in-house. The highest selectivity factors were observed for solute molecules having different polarizability on the 3-(pentabromobenzyloxy)propyl phase (PBB), followed by the 2-(1-pyrenyl)ethyl phase (PYE). Selectivity of fluoroalkane 4,4-di(trifluoromethyl)-5,5,6,6,7,7,7-heptafluoroheptyl (F13C9) phase is lowest among all phases for all compounds except for fluorinated ones. Aliphatic octyl (C8) and octadecyl (C18) phases demonstrated considerable selectivity, especially for alkyl compounds. While PBB showed much greater preference for compounds with high polarizability containing heavy atoms than C18 phase, F13C9 phase showed the exactly opposite tendency. These three stationary phases can offer widely different selectivity that can be utilized when one stationary phase fails to provide separation for certain mixtures. The retention and selectivity of solutes in reversed-phase liquid chromatography is related to the mobile phase and the stationary phase effects. The mobile phase effect, related to the hydrophobic cavity formation around non-polar solutes, is assumed to have a dominant effect on retention upon aliphatic stationary phases such as C8, C18. In a common mobile phase significant stationary phase effect can be attributed to dispersion interaction. Highly dispersive stationary phases such as PBB and PYE retain solutes to a significant extent by (attractive) dispersion interaction with the stationary phase ligands, especially for highly dispersive solutes containing aromatic functionality and/or heavy atoms. The contribution of dispersion interaction is shown to be much less on C18 or C8 phases and was even disadvantageous on F13C9 phase. Structural properties of stationary phases are analyzed and confirmed by means of quantitative structure-chromatographic retention (QSRR) study.     

PICOSECOND FLUORESCENCE STUDIES OF P700-ENRICHED PARTICLES OF SPINACH CHLOROPLASTS

Dynamic properties of the picosecond fluorescence of highly enriched reaction-center particles of photosystem I (8 - 10 chlorophylls/P700) prepared from spinach have been investigated. The number (N) of photons used to excite chlorophyll molecules per reaction center was controlled between 0.06 and 80. The 1/e lifetime was ca. 25 ps for N 1. which is much shorter than previously measured lifetimes of photosystem I particles. The initial fluorescence intensity saturated at higher excitation intensities (N ≲ 1). This was interpreted in terms of interaction and annihilation among excited chlorophyll molecules which occur almost entirely within the duration of a laser flash. The spectrum-resolved fluorescence decay was faster at 690 than at 680 nm. This implies that two kinds of antenna chlorophylls, apart from and in close proximity to P700, have different lifetimes. Upon heat treatment a component with a much longer fluorescence decay time was observed. The growth of this component upon heat treatment at increasing temperatures showed a correlation with a decrease in the amount of P700 that could be photooxidized.     

Mechanism of Macroscopic Motion of Oleate Helical Assemblies: Cooperative Deprotonation of Carboxyl Groups Triggered by Photoisomerization of Azobenzene Derivatives

Macroscopic and spatially ordered motions of self‐assemblies composed of oleic acid and a small amount of an azobenzene derivative, induced by azobenzene photoisomerization, was previously reported. However, the mechanism of the generation of submillimeter‐scale motions by the nanosized structural transition of azobenzene was not clarified. Herein, an underlying mechanism of the motions is proposed in which deprotonation of carboxyl groups in cooperation with azobenzene photoisomerization causes a morphological transition of the self‐assembly, which in turn results in macroscopic forceful dynamics. The photoinduced deprotonation was investigated by potentiometric pH titration and FTIR spectroscopy. The concept of hierarchical molecular interaction generating macroscale function is expected to promote the next stage of supramolecular chemistry.     

Fluorogenic probes for aldol reactions: tuning of fluorescence using π-conjugation systems

Fluorogenic aldehydes or probes for monitoring of the progress of aldol reactions have been developed. Fluorescence of benzaldehydes conjugated with aryl groups via a double or triple bond and of their aldol products was evaluated in aqueous solutions. Based on the fluorescence, fluorogenic aldol reaction substrates and retro-aldol reaction substrates were identified. Use of the probe system with optimal fluorescence properties for aldol reactions was demonstrated in assays with purified protein catalysts and with overproduced crude protein catalysts in cell lysates.     

Development of Plasma Window for gas charge stripper at RIKEN RIBF

A differential pumping system with a Plasma Window (PW) has been developed for an application to a window-less He gas charge stripper. A PW with Southern Methodist University design was newly fabricated and tested off-line for evaluation of differential pumping efficiency. Switching gases for plasma seed from Ar to He was tested. It was found that the PW reduced the pressure at the first differential pumping section to 1/13 for Ar and to 1/17 for He, comparing with differential pumping without PW. At the second pumping section, the pressures were drastically reduced to 1/160 and to 1/4,520 for Ar and He, respectively. These pressure reduction factors indicate that one differentially pumped stage could be removed from a conventional differential pumping system.     

One-dimensional beam ordering of protons in a storage ring

The ordering of protons has been observed at a new storage ring, S-LSR, at Kyoto University. Abrupt jumps in the momentum spread and the Schottky noise power were observed for protons for the first time at a particle number of approximately 2000, upon applying electron cooling with electron currents of 25, 50, and 100 mA. The transition temperature was 0.17 and 1 meV in the longitudinal and transverse directions, respectively. The transverse temperature of the proton beam was much below that of electrons at the transition, which played an essential role in the ordering of protons.     

Synthesis of optically inactive cellulose via cationic ring-opening polymerization

Cellulose, which comprises D-glucose and L-glucose (D,L-cellulose), was synthesized from D-glucose (1D) and L-glucose (1L) via cationic ring-opening polymerization. Specifically, the ring-opening copolymerization of 3-O-benzyl-2,6-di-O-pivaloyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (2D) and 3-O-benzyl-2,6-di-O-pivaloyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (2L), synthesized from compounds 1D and 1L, respectively, in a 1:1 ratio, afforded 3-O-benzyl-2,6-di-O-β-D,L-glucopyranan (3DL) with a degree of polymerization (DPn) of 28.5 (Mw/Mn?=?1.90) in quantitative yield. The deprotection of compound 3DL and subsequent acetylation proceeded smoothly to afford acetylated compound 4DL with a DPn of 18.6 (Mw/Mn?=?2.08). The specific rotation of acetylated compound 4DL was?+?0.01°, suggesting that acetylated compound 4DL was optically inactive cellulose triacetate. Furthermore, before acetylation, compound 4DL was an optically inactive cellulose comprising an almost racemic mixture of D-glucose and L-glucose. Compound 4DL was an amorphous polymer. This is the first reported synthesis of optically inactive D,L-cellulose.