Diperiodatoargentate(III) Oxidation of D-Galactose in Absence and Presence of Anionic and Cationic Surfactants

Diperiodatoargentate(III) (DPA) was used as an oxidizing titrant in the spectrophotometric degradation of D-galactose for the first time. The kinetics is based on the reduction of silver(III) to silver(I) by D-galactose at specified experimental conditions. Effects of added [H⁺] and [periodate] have also been investigated. The premicellar environment of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodiumdodecyl sulphate (SDS) strongly inhibits the reaction rate. The observed rate constant is strongly affected by [CTAB] and [SDS] changes for [surfactant] <cmc. Surfactant concentration range above the cmc does not influence the reaction rate. The monoperiodatoargentate(III) ions act as an active oxidant in comparison to that of DPA. A suitable mechanism involving a two-electron transfer from D-galactose to the silver(III) species has been proposed and hence a corresponding rate equation has been derived.     

Effect of miscibility and interaction on the properties of polymethylmethacrylate/aramid nanoblends

The generation of supramolecularly organized structures from intermolecular interaction motivated us to fabricate new miscible nanoblends of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and aramid. The polyamide, prepared through the condensation of 1,5‐diaminonaphthalene and 1,4‐phenylenediamine with isopthaloyl chloride, was incorporated into PMMA matrix to produce completely miscible nanostructured blends via physical interlocking. The influence of polymer–polymer interaction on the macroscopic properties of blends were studied using mechanical testing, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and scanning electron microscopy. Ample adhesion between the blend components revealed higher tensile strength in the range 51–58 MPa. The physical interaction of PMMA with varying aramid content altered blend morphology significantly, i.e. from ellipsoidal to circular realms having well‐defined boundaries and knitted nanofibril network. Blends with 10–70 wt% aramid, thus, possessed exclusive patterns owing to nanolevel compatibility between two phases. Differential scanning calorimetry results also designated exclusively miscible blends with glass transition between 67–81°C, lower than that of pristine polymers. Ten percent gravimetric loss temperature (T₁₀) increased from 465°C to 531°C with increasing aramid content from 10 to 70 wt%. Novel nanoblends holding spherical/cylindrical supramolecular arrangement, easy processing, and thermal and mechanical integrity can be potentially favorable in many industrial applications. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis, characterization and hypoglycemic activity of Zn(II), Cd(II) and Hg(II) complexes with glibenclamide

A series of group 12 elements for Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II) complexes of glibenclamide were synthesized and characterized using various spectroscopic techniques and magnetic moments. The complexes exhibited significant activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria species. Zn(II) complex showed remarkable hypoglycemic activity whereas Cd(II) and Hg(II) complexes exhibited antibacterial activity.     

Electrical fingerprinting, 3D profiling and detection of tumor cells with solid-state micropores

Solid-state micropores can provide direct information of ex vivo or in vitro cell populations. Micropores are used to detect and discriminate cancer cells based on the translocation behavior through micropores. The approach provides rapid detection of cell types based on their size and mechano-physical properties like elasticity, viscosity and stiffness. Use of a single micropore device enables detection of tumor cells from whole blood efficiently, at 70% CTC detection efficiency. The CTCs show characteristic electrical signals which easily distinguish these from other cell types. The approach provides a gentle and inexpensive instrument that can be used for specific blood analysis in a lab-on-a-chip setting. The device does not require any preprocessing of the blood sample, particles/beads attachment, surface functionalization or fluorescent tags and provides quantitative and objective detection of cancer cells.     

Revision of AMBER Torsional Parameters for RNA Improves Free Energy Predictions for Tetramer Duplexes with GC and iGiC Base Pairs

All-atom force fields are important for predicting thermodynamic, structural, and dynamic properties of RNA. In this paper, results are reported for thermodynamic integration calculations of free energy differences of duplex formation when CG pairs in the RNA duplexes r(CCGG)(2), r(GGCC)(2), r(GCGC)(2), and r(CGCG)(2) are replaced by isocytidine-isoguanosine (iCiG) pairs. Agreement with experiment was improved when ε/ζ, α/γ, β, and χ torsional parameters in the AMBER99 force field were revised on the basis of quantum mechanical calculations. The revised force field, AMBER99TOR, brings free energy difference predictions to within 1.3, 1.4, 2.3, and 2.6 kcal/mol at 300 K, respectively, compared to experimental results for the thermodynamic cycles of CCGG → iCiCiGiG, GGCC → iGiGiCiC, GCGC → iGiCiGiC, and CGCG → iCiGiCiG. In contrast, unmodified AMBER99 predictions for GGCC → iGiGiCiC and GCGC → iGiCiGiC differ from experiment by 11.7 and 12.6 kcal/mol, respectively. In order to test the dynamic stability of the above duplexes with AMBER99TOR, four individual 50 ns molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in explicit solvent were run. All except r(CCGG)(2) retained A-form conformation for ≥82% of the time. This is consistent with NMR spectra of r(iGiGiCiC)(2), which reveal an A-form conformation. In MD simulations, r(CCGG)(2) retained A-form conformation 52% of the time, suggesting that its terminal base pairs may fray. The results indicate that revised backbone parameters improve predictions of RNA properties and that comparisons to measured sequence dependent thermodynamics provide useful benchmarks for testing force fields and computational methods.     

Effects of anionic and cationic micelles on the oxidation of d-dextrose by diperiodatoargentate(III)

The oxidative behavior of d-dextrose toward diperiodatoargentate(III) (DPA) has been studied in the absence and presence of anionic and cationic micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), respectively. The kinetics is based on the reduction of silver(III) to silver(I) by d-dextrose under pseudo-first-order conditions. The monoperiodatoargentate(III) ions act as active oxidants in comparison to that of DPA. The reactions are first- and fractional-order dependence with respect to [DPA] and [d-dextrose], respectively. The reaction rates decrease with [H⁺] and [periodate]. The premicellar environment of SDS and CTAB strongly inhibits the reaction rate. Inhibition is due to favorable thermodynamic/electrostatic binding between the Ag(III) complex and CTAB monomer aggregates. A suitable mechanism involving a one-electron transfer (rate-determining step) from d-dextrose to the silver(III) species has been proposed. Activation parameters have been evaluated and discussed.     

Investigating the structure–property relationship of aromatic–aliphatic polyamide/layered silicate hybrid films

Surface treated montmorillonite was used to prepare nanocomposites with aromatic–aliphatic polyamide by solution intercalation technique. The polyamide chains were produced through polycondensation of 4-aminophenyl sulfone with sebacoyl chloride in dimethyl acetamide. Compatibility between the polymer and organoclay was achieved through carbonyl chloride end-capped amide chains prepared by adding extra sebacoyl chloride near the end of polymerization reaction. The nanocomposites morphology and clay dispersion were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Delaminated and intercalated morphologies were observed for different loading of organoclay. Tensile strength and modulus improved for nanocomposites with optimum organoclay content (10-wt.%). Thermal stability and glass transition temperature of nanocomposites increased relative to pristine polyamide with augmenting organoclay content. Water uptake of these materials decreased as compared to the neat polyamide indicating reduced permeability.