Adsorption Isotherm of Water Vapor and Its Large Hysteresis on Highly Ordered Mesoporous Silica

The first and second adsorption–desorption isotherms of water vapor on a new mesoporous material derived from kanemite have been measured. The isotherms show unusual type V isotherms and large hysteresis. The type V isotherms, which have never been observed for the other adsorbates, suggest that the mesoporous material has a hydrophobic surface, although the hydrophobicity decreased after treatment with water vapor because of rehydration of the surface. The significantly large hysteresis could be explained by the difference in contact angle between adsorption and desorption.     

Effects of Temperature and Mobile Phase Condition on Chiral Recognition of Poly(l-phenylalanine) Chiral Stationary Phase

Characteristics of the chiral stationary phase with poly(l-phenylalanine) peptide selector, which was in ??-helical state, was reported. Since environmental factors affect peptide conformation, the changes in enantioselectivity were examined depending on column temperature and mobile phase conditions (ionic strength, pH, mobile phase composition). Column temperature and pH drastically affected the enantioselectivity. Based on these changes, the relation between chiral recognition and secondary structure of the peptide selector was discussed. The column stability during sequential analysis under different separation conditions was also evaluated.     

Alternating copolymer of thiophene andN‐(phenylethynyl)pyrrole. New π‐conjugated alternating five‐membered ring copolymer and its packing structure

An alternating copolymer, Copoly‐1 , of thiophene and N‐(phenylethynyl)pyrrole was prepared by palladium‐catalyzed polycondensation. Powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that Copoly‐1 formed a stacked packing structure with doubly‐running polymer main chains. Optical data support the molecular and packing structures of Copoly‐1 . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2219–2224, 2005     

Design of New Reaction Fields for Spherical Polypyrrole Particle Synthesis

Summary: Polypyrrole conducting polymers have been investigated widely for various applications because of their thermal and environmental stability and good electrical conductivity. Using chemical oxidative polymerization for the synthesis of polypyrrole particles, the reaction rate is very fast. In this study, we designed two new reaction fields for the synthesis of spherical polypyrrole nanoparticles. In the first system, oxidative polymerization of monomer droplets infused in a water/oil (W/O) emulsion reaction field was investigated. The second system employed dispersed monomer in an aqueous solution with a low concentration of oxidant in which polymerization was augmented by ultrasonic irradiation. Effective control of the reaction rate was important for enabling the synthesis of fine spherical polypyrrole particles.     

Prospects of Sol-Gel Process for Spectral Hole-Burning Glasses

Persistent spectral hole burning was studied in Eu³⁺ ions-doped Al₂O₃-SiO₂ glass prepared by a sol-gel method. The gel synthesized by the hydrolysis of Si- and Al-alkoxides and EuCl₃·6H₂O was heated in air and hydrogen gas atmospheres. For the glass heated in air to contain OH bonds, the hole was formed by the photoinduced rearrangement of the OH bonds surrounding the Eu³⁺ ions, and was thermally refilled and erased above 200 K. On the other hand, the glass heated in hydrogen gas showed the hole spectrum above 200 K. It was found that the hole depth was independent of the temperature and was 7% of the total intensity at room temperature. The proposed mechanism was the electron transfer between the Eu³⁺ ions and the defect centers formed in glass matrix.     

Hydrogen Gas Sensing of High Electrical Conducting-P2O5-SiO2 Glasses Prepared by Sol-Gel Process

High proton-conducting P₂O₅-SiO₂ glass was applied to the electrolyte of the hydrogen concentration cell for hydrogen gas sensing. 5P₂O₅·95SiO₂ glass was prepared using the sol-gel method and its electrical conductivity and electromotive force were measured at 50°C as a function of both the ambient humidity and hydrogen gas concentration. The electrical conductivities increased with increasing humidity and reached 10^–2 S/cm at 90% relative humidity. The electromotive force of the hydrogen concentration cell, where the glass was used as a membrane, showed good Nernstian response to hydrogen pressure in the high relative humidity region.     

Application of Hot Press Sintering to Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 Gels Containing Quantum Dots for Lowering of Densification Temperature

Na₂O-B₂O₃-SiO₂ (NBS) gels containing a large amount of CdS quantum-dots (10 wt%) were densified using the hot press (HP) sintering method. By HP treatment, full-densification temperature could be lowered by about 40°C than that of the normal non-pressing (NP) heat treatment. Exciton absorption of CdS quantum-dots in HP-sample showed a large blue shift compared with that in the NP sample, and the size-distribution of CdS dots remained very sharp, with a mean particle diameter d = 3.66 nm and a standard deviation of = 0.72. HP pressure had a large effect on the reduction of sintering temperature and time, resulting in the suppression of the aggregation and growth of CdS quantum-dots in NBS glasses.     

Synthetic studies on glycosphingolipids from protostomia phyla: synthesis of a glycosphingolipid analogue from the parasite Spirometra erinacei

Novel neutral glycosphingolipids isolated from the plerocercoids of a tapeworm, Spirometra erinacei, may be expected to be involved in host-parasite interactions. We have synthesized this glycosphingolipid analogue containing 2-branched fatty alkyl residue in place of ceramide. Glycosylation of nonreducing-end trisaccharide derivative 15 with the reducing-end disaccharide derivative 17 in the presence of trimethylsilyl triflate (TMSOTf) gave the desired oligosaccharide derivative in good yield. The fully per-O-acylated 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethyl glycoside 19 was converted to glycosylimidate 20, which was condensed with 2-(tetradecyl)hexadecanol and subsequently deacylated to give the target glycosphingolipid analogue 22.     

Accurate mass measurement of low molecular weight compounds by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

We report the application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for the accurate measurement of mass of low molecular weight compounds (smaller than 1500 Da), a linear peptide, two types of cyclic depsipeptides, a polyhydroxy-macrocyclic lactone, and two prenylated flavonoids, with delayed extraction in the reflector mode. The performance of the MALDI-TOF instrument was less than those of fast atom bombardment and Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry instruments and insufficient to give acceptable accuracy for literature reporting. Nevertheless, when combined with NMR spectrometry and/or amino acid analysis to give information on the numbers of carbon atoms and index of hydrogen deficiency, MALDI was useful for determination of the elemental composition of the low molecular weight compounds available in small quantities.