DEPMPO: an efficient tool for the coupled ESR-spin trapping of alkylperoxyl radicals in water

Peroxidation is an important process both in chemistry and biology, and peroxyl radicals play a crucial role in various pathological situations involving lipid and protein peroxidation. A few secondary and tertiary peroxyl radicals can be detected directly by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR). However, primary and secondary alkylperoxyl radicals have extremely short lifetimes and their direct observation is impossible in biological samples. DMPO has been used to trap alkylperoxyl radicals generated in biological systems and the characterization of DMPO-alkylperoxyl spin adducts has been claimed by different authors. However, it was then clearly shown that all the assignments made previously to DMPO-OOR adducts were actually due to DMPO-OR adducts. We have investigated the potential of DEPMPO to characterize the formation of alkylperoxyl radicals in biological milieu. Various DEPMPO-OOR (R = Me, primary or secondary alkyl group) spin adducts were unambiguously characterized and the formation of DEPMPO-OOCH(3) was clearly established during the reaction of tert-butylhydroperoxide with chloroperoxidase and cytochrome c.     

Characterization of Simultaneous Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena for Water Vapour Condensation on a Solid Surface in an Abiotic Environment—Application to Bioprocesses

The phenomenon of heat and mass transfer by condensation of water vapour from humid air involves several key concepts in aerobic bioreactors. The high performance of bioreactors results from optimised interactions between biological processes and multiphase heat and mass transfer. Indeed in various processes such as submerged fermenters and solid-state fermenters, gas/liquid transfer need to be well controlled, as it is involved at the microorganism interface and for the control of the global process. For the theoretical prediction of such phenomena, mathematical models require heat and mass transfer coefficients. To date, very few data have been validated concerning mass transfer coefficients from humid air inflows relevant to those bioprocesses. Our study focussed on the condensation process of water vapour and developed an experimental set-up and protocol to study the velocity profiles and the mass flux on a small size horizontal flat plate in controlled environmental conditions. A closed circuit wind tunnel facility was used to control the temperature, hygrometry and hydrodynamics of the flow. The temperature of the active surface was controlled and kept isothermal below the dew point to induce condensation, by the use of thermoelectricity. The experiments were performed at ambient temperature for a relative humidity between 35?C65% and for a velocity of 1.0?ms^?1. The obtained data are analysed and compared to available theoretical calculations on condensation mass flux.     

Heteronuclear selective refocusing 2D NMR experiments for the spectral analysis of enantiomers in chiral oriented solvents

We report the use of carbon-proton heteronuclear selective refocusing 2D NMR experiments dedicated to the spectral analysis of enantiomers dissolved in weakly ordering chiral liquid crystalline solvents. The method permits the extraction of carbon-proton residual dipolar couplings for each enantiomer from a complex or unresolved proton-coupled 13C spectral patterns. Illustrative examples are analysed and discussed. It is shown that an accurate determination of enantiomeric excess is possible.     

Biopolymer immobilization during the crystalline growth of layered double hydroxide

Alginic acid, a biopolymer produced by brown seaweed, is incorporated between the sheets of a layered double hydroxide (LDH) via direct coprecipitation. The growth of the inorganic crystalline seeds over the polymer gives rise to a lamellar structure. The obtained nanocomposite presents a basal spacing in agreement with the ideal picture of the polymer lying perpendicularly to the inorganic sheets. A study using FTIR and ¹³C CP-MAS spectroscopies suggests that the interaction between the organic guest and the inorganic framework is weak. However, the polymer has a stabilizing effect in temperature, since ZnO is observed at 350°C, whereas it appears at 200°C for the chloride LDH pristine material.     

Multiple component isolation in preparative multidimensional gas chromatography with characterisation by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The preparative scale isolation of multiple components from an essential oil matrix is described using multidimensional gas chromatography (prep-MDGC) which allows their further characterisation by mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Menthol, linalyl acetate, carvone and geraniol were isolated individually, and were also collected in various combinations. It was demonstrated to be possible to collect multiple selected components from numerous repeat injections of the sample, to permit increased mass recovery from an external cryotrap collection device. Peak retention times remained reproducible (<0.3 s) over the repeated injections and switching events. This methodology may be utilised to confirm peak identity or to produce unique mixed-component reference standards, for instance to allow their identification in other samples using GC/MS, or identify them in comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC × GC) analysis.     

N-H and alpha(C-H) bond dissociation enthalpies of aliphatic amines

Bond dissociation enthalpies (BDEs) of a large series of aliphatic amines (21) were measured by means of photoacoustic calorimetry. Despite the different structures studied in the primary, secondary, and tertiary amine series, the alpha(C-H) BDEs were found to be very similar for unconstrained amines with values very close to 91 kcal/mol. alphaC- and N-alkylation or introduction of an hydroxy group only slightly affect the BDEs, a fact in perfect agreement with calculations performed at different CBS levels. This demonstrates the predominance of the two-orbital-three-electron interaction involving the N and alphaC(*) orbitals. On the other hand, the N-H BDE decreases when going from primary to secondary amines. This result is interpreted in term of a hyperconjugation in sigmaC-C bonds, which leads to a stabilization of the aminyl radical. For cyclized amines, the BDEs depend on the relative geometry of the singly occupied alphaC(*) orbital with respect to that of the N atom, disfavoring the two-orbital-three-electron interaction. However, such structures can exhibit through-bond interaction. For a crowded structure such as triisopropylamine, for which the alphaC(*) orbital is not coplanar with the nitrogen one, the relaxation of a strain energy allows the BDE to be comparable to flexible structures.     

H2-broadening coefficients in the ν2 and ν4 bands of PH3

H₂-broadening coefficients are measured for 41 transitions of PH₃ in the QR branch of the ν₂ band and the PP, RP, and PQ branches of the ν₄ band, using a tunable diode-laser spectrometer. The recorded lines with J values ranging from 2 to 16 and K from 0 to 11 are located between 995 and . The collisional widths are determined by fitting each spectral line with a Voigt profile, a Rautian profile, and a speed-dependent Rautian profile. The latter model provides larger broadening coefficients than the Voigt model. These coefficients γ₀(J,K) are found to decrease slightly on the whole as J increases and they decrease significantly for K values approaching or equal to J(J?4). The H₂-broadenings are also calculated on the basis of a semiclassical model of interacting linear molecules, using an atom-atom Lennard-Jones potential in addition to the weak electrostatic contributions. The theoretical results are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data and reproduce the J and K dependencies of the broadenings, but the decrease observed for the QR(J,K) transitions with K=J is notably overestimated.