A design of nanosized PEGylated-latex mixed polymer solution for microchip electrophoresis

We report here advanced microchip electrophoresis using a nanoparticle doped polymer solution that enables greater separation of DNA. The proposed system is simple and effective without any new apparatus or complicated procedures. Various amounts and sizes (80 nm, 110 nm, and 193 nm) of polymer nanoparticle solutions (PEGylated-latex) were mixed with a conventional polymer solution for microchip electrophoresis. When a 0.49 wt% hydroxyl propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) buffer solution was mixed with a 2.25 wt% 80 nm-PEGylated-latex a higher separation efficiency and a higher mobility of a wider molecular range of dsDNA (10 bp to 2 kbp) was achieved under low viscosity conditions (<5.5 cP) than in conventional 0.7% HPMC. The separation performance was dependent on the particle size and concentration. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the larger PEGylated-latex (193 nm) was not as high as the smaller one (80 to 110 nm). The observed separation improvement by polymer solution with latex-nanoparticles seems to derive from the balance between wider polymer mesh size and the structural obstacles of particles in the buffer.     

Electronic band structure of titania semiconductor nanosheets revealed by electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies

Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical studies were conducted on self-assembled multilayer films of titania nanosheets on a conductive ITO substrate. Cyclic voltammogram (CV) curves indicated that the titania nanosheet electrode underwent insertion/extraction of Li(+) ions into/from the nanosheet galleries, associated with reduction/oxidation of Ti(4+)/Ti(3+). These processes accompanied reversible changes in UV-vis absorption of the titania nanosheet electrodes. Applying a negative bias of -1.3 V (vs Ag/Ag(+)) and lower brought about absorption reduction where the wavelength is shorter than 323 nm, and vice versa, indicating a flat-band potential of (approximately) -1.3 V and a band gap energy of 3.84 eV. Photocurrents were generated from the titania nanosheet electrodes under a positive bias. The onset potential for photocurrent generation from the titania nanosheet electrodes was around -1.27 V, and the band gap energy estimated from the photocurrent action spectra was 3.82 eV, in excellent agreement with the values obtained from the spectroelectrochemical data. The lack of difference in the band gap energies for titania nanosheet electrodes with different numbers of layers suggests that a nanosheet is electronically isolated in multilayer assemblies without affecting the electronic state of neighboring nanosheets. Similar measurements on the anatase-type TiO(2) electrode revealed that the lower edge of the conduction band for the titania nanosheet is approximately 0.1 V higher than that for anatase, while the upper edge of the valence band is 0.5 V lower.     

A supramolecular oscillator composed of carbon nanocluster C(120) and a rhodium(III) porphyrin cyclic dimer

A rhodium(III) porphyrin cyclic dimer (1) included carbon nanocluster C120 (2) to form a pi-electronic supramolecular complex (1 superset2), in which 2 oscillated back and forth within its cavity. Spectroscopic titration of 1 with 2 and line shape analysis on variable-temperature 1H NMR spectral profiles of 1 superset2 and reference inclusion complexes in toluene-d8, chlorobenzene-d5, and dichlorobenzene-d4 indicated that the association constant (Kassoc) of 1 superset2 and oscillation activity of included 2 are both larger as the affinity of the solvent toward fullerenes is smaller. The DeltaS values for the oscillation were all positive, indicating that the oscillation of 2 involves desolvation of a protruding C60 moiety of included 2 from the host cavity.     

Configurationally defined sexi- and octinaphthalene derivatives: synthesis and optical properties

The copper mediated oxidative coupling of optically active quaternaphthalenes having a 2-hydroxynaphthyl moiety gave configurationally defined optically active octinaphthalenes. The absolute configuration was determined by comparison with products of [6+2] coupling. The CD spectra of bi-, ter-, quater-, sexi- and octinaphthalenes suggested that the absolute configuration of the chiral axis could be deduced from the intensity of their Cotton effects.     

Predictions of molecular geometries and electronic spectra of complex unsaturated molecules from MC-LCAO-MO method with particular reference to triplet-triplet transitions of naphthalene

An MC-LCAO-MO approach which has been proposed for open-shell systems of unsaturated hydrocarbons having degenerate MO's is applied to naphthalene, calculating its molecular geometry and electronic spectrum. The results are compared with those obtained by the usual semi-empirical SCF-CI method and with experiment. As for benzene, anthracene, phenanthrene and triphenylene, the bond lengths and the -electron energies in their ground states are calculated in the same manner. Most of the calculated bond lengths are in fairly good agreement with experiment. The total -electron energies of the ground states obtained by the MC-LCAO-MO and SCF-CI methods agree within about 0.01 eV when CI is included and within about 0.1 eV when CI is not invoked. It is found that the electronic spectrum of naphthalene obtained by the present method is in good agreement with that derived from the SCF-CI method and also explains most part of experiments. A detailed discussion is given on the calculated triplet-triplet absorption spectrum and its intensity distribution of naphthalene.     

Stereoselective construction of a beta-isopropenyl alcohol moiety at the C(2) and (3) of kallolide A and pinnatin a using a [2,3] Wittig rearrangement of cyclic furfuryl ethers

A stereocontrolled synthesis of anti- and syn-beta-isopropenyl alcohol moieties at the C(2)-C(3) positions of kallolide A and pinnatin A was accomplished employing the [2,3] Wittig rearrangement of (E)-and (Z)-cyclic furfuryl ethers 8. Enantioselective Wittig rearrangement of (E)- and (Z)-furfuryl ethers 8 using butyllithium and a chiral bis(oxazoline) was also examined to provide (2R,3R)-homoallylic alcohol anti-9 in up to 61% ee and (2R,3S)-syn-9 in up to 93% ee, respectively.     

Photocurrent generation from semiconducting manganese oxide nanosheets in response to visible light

Unilamellar nanosheet crystallites of manganese oxide generated the anodic photocurrent under visible light irradiation (lambda < 500 nm), while the nanosheets themselves were stable as revealed by in-plane XRD and UV-visible absorption spectra. The band gap energy was estimated to be 2.23 eV on the basis of the photocurrent action spectrum. The molecular thickness of approximately 0.5 nm may facilitate the charge separation of excited electrons and holes, which is generally very difficult for strongly localized d-d transitions. The monolayer film of MnO2 nanosheets exhibited the incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiency of 0.16% in response to the monochromatic light irradiation (lambda = 400 nm), which is comparable to those for sensitization of monolayer dyes adsorbed on a flat single-crystal surface. The efficiency declined with increasing the layer number of MnO2 nanosheets, although the optical absorption was enhanced. The recombination of the excited electron-hole pairs may become dominant when the carriers need to migrate a longer distance than 1 layer through multilayered nanosheets.     

Mizoroki-Heck type reaction of organoboron reagents with alkenes and alkynes. A Pd(II)-catalyzed pathway with Cu(OAc)2 as an oxidant

[reaction: see text]. In contrast to the Pd(0)-catalyzed mechanism by Uemura, Mizoroki-Heck type reaction of boronic acids is found to proceed under a Pd(II)-mediated pathway using a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)2 in the presence of Cu(OAc)2 as an oxidant. Treatment of a variety of alkenes with boronic acids, boronates, and sodium tetraphenylborate furnishes beta-arylated and alkenylated products in good to excellent yields. The reactions with norbornene, norbornadiene, and diphenylacetylene are also performed to give 1:2 or 2:1 coupling products.