Oxygen-Binding Profile of the Iron Porphyrin Complex Embedded in Polymerized Liposome: Effect of the Polymerized Liposome on the Stability and the Oxygen-Binding Ability of the Iron Porphyrin Complex

5,10,15,20-Tetra(α,α,α,α, -o-(2′, 2′-dimethyl-20′-(2′ α-trimethylammonioethyl)phosphonatoxyeicosanamido)phenyl)porphinatoiron(II) (lipidheme) complex embedded in polymerized liposome was prepared by polymerizing l-(9-(p-vinylbenzoyl)nonanoyl)-2-O-octadecyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine in the presence of lipid-heme under ultraviolet irradiation. The polymerization proceeded rapidly, and the reduction of the hemin to the heme occurred spontaneously during the polymerization. The lipid-heme complex embedded in the polymerized liposome bound molecular oxygen reversibly under physiological conditions (pH 7, 37°C) and was chemically, physically, and mechanically stable during storage for a long period and even in a high-speed flow system. The oxygen-binding affinity was not affected by the type of medium due to the effect of the rigid polymerized liposome.     

Ion Tunneling in Polymeric Solid Electrolytes for Batery and Electrochromic Display in the Dry State

Polymeric solid electrolytes which show bi-or single-ionic tunneling were prepared, and their unique ion conduction was applied for the design of some devices. Poly [(oligooxyethylene) methacrylatel] /MX hybrids and poly [(oligooxyethylene) methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid alkali metal salts] were prepared as typical models of those tunneling systems. These showed ionic conductivities above 10^?5 and 10^?7 S/cm at room temperature, respectively. An all-solid-state electrochromic display and a dry battery were prepared with these polymeric solid electrolytes. The all-solid-state electrochromic display showed excellent coloring and bleaching response by 1–3 V. The all-solid-state battery showed V _oc = 3.1 V stability for over 2 weeks. Their characteristics as well as their mechanism are also reported.     

Isolation of Biphenyl and Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Degrading Bacteria and Their Degradation Pathway

Four strains of biphenyl-degrading bacteria were isolated from a sewage and identified from the Rhodococcus genus (SK-1, SK-3, and SK-4) and Aquamicrobium genus (SK-2) by 16S rRNA sequence. Among these strains, strain SK-2 was most suitable for biphenyl degradation. When 0.65, 1.3, 2.6, or 3.9 mM of biphenyl was used, the biphenyl was completely degraded within 24 and 96 h of culture, respectively. However, in the case of 6.5 and 9.75 mM of biphenyl, the biphenyl degradation yields were about 80 % and 46.7 % after 120 h of culture, respectively. The isolated strains could degrade a broad spectrum of aromatic compounds including high-chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in the presence of biphenyl. In addition, strain SK-2 could utilize PCB congeners containing one to six chlorine substituents such as 2,2′,4,4′,5,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl. The PCB utilization rate by the strain SK-2 was increased compared to that of other PCB congener-utilizing bacteria. The four isolates metabolized 4-chlorobiphenyl to 4-chlorobenzoic acid and 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-(4′-chlorophenyl)-hexa-2,4-dienoic acid. These results suggest the isolated strains might be good candidates for the bioremediation of PCB-contaminated soil, especially high-saline soils.     

Cross‐Coupling of Organolithium with Ethers or Aryl Ammonium Salts by C−O or C−N Bond Cleavage

Various aryl‐, alkenyl‐, and/or alkyllithium species reacted smoothly with aryl and/or benzyl ethers with cleavage of the inert C?O bond to afford cross‐coupled products, catalyzed by commercially available [Ni(cod)₂] (cod=1,5‐cyclooctadiene) catalysts with N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands. Furthermore, the coupling reaction between the aryllithium compounds and aryl ammonium salts proceeded under mild conditions with C?N bond cleavage in the presence of a [Pd(PPh₃)₂Cl₂] catalyst. These methods enable selective sequential functionalizations of arenes having both C?N and C?O bonds in one pot.     

Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectra of Potassium Dosed Higher Fullerenes

Abstract

Ultraviolet photoelectron spectra of potassium dosed higher fullerenes are measured with a synchrotron radiation light source. Potassium dosing to higher fullerenes brings a new structure between the spectral onset of pristine fullerenes and the Fermi level. As the spectral edge of the new structure does not cross the Fermi level, potassium dosed higher fullerenes are not metallic but semiconductive. When the potassium is excessively dosed to the fullerenes, the lower binding energy structures above 5 eV become faint. In contrast to this phenomenon, four distinct structures appear between 5 and 14 eV.     

Power of isotopic fine structure for unambiguous determination of metabolite elemental compositions: In silico evaluation and metabolomic application

In mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics studies, reference-free identification of metabolites is still a challenging issue. Previously, we demonstrated that the elemental composition (EC) of metabolites could be unambiguously determined using isotopic fine structure, observed by ultrahigh resolution MS, which provided the relative isotopic abundance (RIA) of ¹³C, ¹⁵N, ¹⁸O, and ³⁴S. Herein, we evaluated the efficacy of the RIA for determining ECs based on the MS peaks of 20,258 known metabolites. The metabolites were simulated with a ≤25% error in the isotopic peak area to investigate how the error size effect affected the rate of unambiguous determination of the ECs. The simulation indicated that, in combination with reported constraint rules, the RIA led to unambiguous determination of the ECs for more than 90% of the tested metabolites. It was noteworthy that, in positive ion mode, the process could distinguish alkali metal-adduct ions ([M + Na]⁺ and [M + K]⁺). However, a significant degradation of the EC determination performance was observed when the method was applied to real metabolomic data (mouse liver extracts analyzed by infusion ESI), because of the influence of noise and bias on the RIA. To achieve ideal performance, as indicated in the simulation, we developed an additional method to compensate for bias on the measured ion intensities. The method improved the performance of the calculation, permitting determination of ECs for 72% of the observed peaks. The proposed method is considered a useful starting point for high-throughput identification of metabolites in metabolomic research.     

Radical polymerization of trifluoromethyl‐substituted methyl methacrylates and their application for use in pressure‐sensitive paint

Three CF₃‐substituted methyl methacrylates (MMAs), 2,2,2‐trifluoroethyl methacrylate (TFEMA), 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoroisopropyl methacrylate (HFIPMA) and nonafluoro‐tert‐butyl methacrylate (NFTBMA), were polymerized by conventional radical polymerization to give oxygen‐permeable polymers for application in pressure‐sensitive paint (PSP). The radical copolymerizations of styrene with TFEMA, HFIPMA, or NFTBMA were carried out to examine the effect of CF₃ groups on the polymerizability. The e values increased in the order of MMA (0.40) < TFEMA (0.76) < HFIPMA (1.19) < NFTBMA (1.31). The homopolymers of TFEMA, HFIPMA and NFTBMA (PTFEMA, PHFIPMA, and PNFTBM, respectively) were examined as polymers for use in PSP using 5,10,15,20‐tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphinato platinum(II) (PtTFPP). The PSP consisting of PNFTBMA and PtTFPP exerted very high pressure sensitivity and very low temperature sensitivity. In the absence of oxygen, the temperature sensitivity decreased in the order of PTFEMA > PHFIPMA > PNFTBMA = PMMA, which corresponds to the order of glass transition temperatures (T_g). However, the activation energies of the overall process of the luminescence quenching by oxygen were found to be 16.8 (PMMA), 13.0 (PTFEMA), 6.8 (PHFIPMA), and 4.3 kJ mol^?1 (PNFTBMA). Therefore, the low temperature sensitivity of PNFTBMA was attributed to its high degree of substitution with CF₃ groups and to its relatively high T_g value. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 963–972     

Polymerization-induced self-assembly of amino-acid-based nano-objects by reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer dispersion polymerization

A series of amino-acid-based amphiphilic diblock copolymer nano-objects having different morphologies were developed by reversible addition–fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of styrene (St) in methanol. This was mediated by six different hydrophilic poly(N-acryloyl amino acid) macro-chain transfer agents (CTAs), including three carboxylic-acid-containing ones, poly(N-acryloyl-l -proline) (PAProOH), poly(N-acryloyl-4-trans-hydroxy-l -proline) (PAHypOH), and poly(N-acryloyl-l -threonine) (PAThrOH) prepared by RAFT polymerization, and their methyl ester forms, PAProOMe, PAHypOMe, and PAThrOMe. The effects of polymerization conditions on RAFT dispersion polymerization of St using a dithiocarbamate-terminated PAProOH was investigated. A systematic study of the effects of monomer conversion and concentration afforded the formation of various morphologies (i.e., spheres, worms, and vesicles). The effects of hydrogen-bonding and ionic interactions of the macro-CTAs on the assembled structures of the nano-objects were evaluated using six different macro-CTAs. Transforming the products from methanol to water via dialysis produced amino-acid-based block copolymer nano-objects, exhibiting pH-responsive morphological change, in aqueous solution.