Analysis of trifluoroacetic acid and other short-chain perfluorinated acids (C2-C4) in precipitation by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry: comparison to patterns of long-chain perfluorinated acids (C5-C18)

This paper provides analytical chemical information on selected new molecular entities (NMEs) which are drugs that have recently been approved by the FDA. These are the antiretroviral drugs, atazanavir, indinavir and emtricitabine, the antibacterial gemifloxacin, rosuvastatine which is a cholesterol-lowing drug, the anti-cancer drug gefitinib and aprepitant for neurological disorders. Electrospray ionisation-quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry (ESI-MSⁿ) was employed to generate tandem mass spectrometric (MS²) data of the drugs studied and structural assignments of product ions were supported by quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QToF-MS/MS). These fragmentation studies were then utilised in the development and validation of a specific and sensitive liquid chromatographic method (LC–ESI-MS²) to identify and determine these drugs at therapeutic concentration levels in serum after a single protein precipitation procedure with acetonitrile. In addition, this method was compared to the application of gas liquid chromatography-flame ionisation detection (GLC-FID) and differential pulse polarography (DPP) for the analysis of these NMEs in serum.     

Calculations of Isoelectronic Series of He Using Noninteger n‐Slater Type Orbitals in Single and Double Zeta Approximations

Using integer and noninteger n-Slater type orbitals in single- and double-zeta approximations, the Hartree-Fock-Roothaan calculations were performed for the ground states of first ten cationic members of the isoelectronic series of He atom. All the noninteger parameters and orbital exponents were fully optimized. In the case of noninteger n-Slater type orbitals in double zeta basis sets, the results of calculations obtained are more close to the numerical Hatree-Fock values and the average deviations of our ground state energies do not exceed 2×10^－6 hartrees of their numerical results.     

Solid Phase Extraction – Voltammetric Coupled Detection of Caffeine in Acetonitrile

Caffeine (CAF) in aqueous solutions was extracted into acetonitrile (MeCN) using solid phase extraction (SPE). The voltammetric detection of CAF in MeCN was performed in a microcentrifuge tube after SPE in order to minimise the required amount of MeCN and reagents used during the analysis. The voltammetric determination of CAF from a range of beverages extracted into MeCN was in good agreement with the results obtained from HPLC measurements on the same samples. The SPE‐coupled voltammetric method gave more accurate results than those obtained via the direct voltammetric detection of CAF in real beverage samples.     

A circular ferrofluid driven microchip for rapid polymerase chain reaction

In the past few years, much attention has been paid to the development of miniaturized polymerase chain reaction (PCR) devices. After a continuous flow (CF) PCR chip was introduced, several CFPCR systems employing various pumping mechanisms were reported. However, the use of pumps increases cost and imposes a high requirement on microchip bonding integrity due to the application of high pressure. Other significant limitations of CFPCR devices include the large footprint of the microchip and the fixed cycle number which is dictated by the channel layout. In this paper, we present a novel circular close-loop ferrofluid driven microchip for rapid PCR. A small ferrofluid plug, containing sub-domain magnetic particles in a liquid carrier, is driven by an external magnet along the circular microchannel, which in turn propels the PCR mixture through three temperature zones. Amplification of a 500 bp lambda DNA fragment has been demonstrated on the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) PCR microchip fabricated by CO(2) laser ablation and bonded by a low pressure, high temperature technique. Successful PCR was achieved in less than 4 min. Effects of cycle number and cycle time on PCR products were investigated. Using a magnet as the actuator eliminates the need for expensive pumps and provides advantages of low cost, small power consumption, low requirement on bonding strength and flexible number of PCR cycles. Furthermore, the microchip has a much simpler design and smaller footprint compared to the rectangular serpentine CFPCR devices. To demonstrate its application in forensics, a 16-loci short tandem repeat (STR) sample was successfully amplified using the PCR microchip.     

A theoretical investigation of P-hydroxyphenacyl caged phototrigger compounds: how water induces the photodeprotection and subsequent rearrangement reactions

Complete active-space self-consistent field (CASSCF) calculations with a (14,11) active space and density functional theory calculations followed by Car-Parrinello molecular dynamic simulations are reported for the p-hydroxyphenacyl acetate, diethyl phosphate, and diphenyl phosphate phototrigger compounds. These calculations considered the explicit hydrogen bonding of water molecules to the phototrigger compound and help reveal the role of water in promoting the photodeprotection and subsequent rearrangement reactions for the p-hydroxyphenacyl caged phototrigger compounds experimentally observed in the presence of appreciable amounts of water but not observed in neat nonproton solvents like acetonitrile. The 267 nm excitation of the phototrigger compounds leads to an instantaneous population of the S3(1pipi*) state Franck-Condon region, which is followed by an internal conversion deactivation route to the S1(1npi*) state via a 1pipi*/1npi* vibronic coupling. The shorter lifetime of the S1(1npi*) state (approximately 1 ps) starting from the FC geometry is terminated by a fast intersystem crossing at a 3pipi*/3npi* intersection with a structure of mixed pipi*/npi* excitation in the triplet state. The deprotection reaction is triggered by a proton (or hydrogen atom) transfer assisted by water bridges and emanates from this pipi*/npi* triplet state intersection. With the departure of the leaving group, the reaction evolves into a water-mediated post-deprotection phase where the spin inversion of pQM (X, 3A) leads to a spiroketone in the ground state by a cyclization process that is followed by an attack of water to produce a 1,1'-di-hydroxyl-spiroketone. Finally, the H atom of the hydroxyl in 1,1'-di-hydroxyl-spiroketon transfers back to the p-O atom aided by water molecules to generate the p-hydroxyphenyl-acetic acid final rearrangement product.     

Cell adhesion properties on photochemically functionalized diamond

The biocompatibility of diamond was investigated with a view toward correlating surface chemistry and topography with cellular adhesion and growth. The adhesion properties of normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF) cells on microcrystalline and ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) surfaces were measured using atomic force microscopy. Cell adhesion forces increased by several times on the hydrogenated diamond surfaces after UV irradiation of the surfaces in air or after functionalization with undecylenic acid. A direct correlation between initial cell adhesion forces and the subsequent cell growth was observed. Cell adhesion forces were observed to be strongest on UV-treated UNCD, and cell growth experiments showed that UNCD was intrinsically more biocompatible than microcrystalline diamond surfaces. The surface carboxylic acid groups on the functionalized diamond surface provide tethering sites for laminin to support the growth of neuron cells. Finally, using capillary injection, a surface gradient of polyethylene glycol could be assembled on top of the diamond surface for the construction of a cell gradient.     

GaAs(100)解理面的能带弯曲

在真空中解理后,用XPS测得了GaAs样品（110）断面能带弯曲的动态过程．两组重掺杂n型和p型GaAs样品的费米能级分别向禁带中间的方向移动了0.4eV和0．3eV.实验测得重掺杂n型和p型GaAs样品费米能级之差为1．3eV,它们的禁带宽度理论值为1．42eV,这说明结果是合理的．根据实验结果,对引起GaAs表面能带弯曲的可能原因进行了分析讨论．排除了本征表面态、真空中残留气体和X射线辐射等原因,认为解理过程在表面产生的缺陷和解理后表面晶格弛豫过程中产生的缺陷可能是导致能带弯曲的主要原因．     

Remarkable synergistic effect in cobalt-iron nitride/alloy nanosheets for robust electrochemical water splitting

Design and synthesis of noble-metal-free bifunctional catalysts for efficient and robust electrochemical water splitting are of significant importance in developing clean and renewable energy sources for sustainable energy consumption.Herein,a simple three-step strategy is reported to construct cobalt-iron nitride/alloy nanosheets on nickel foam(CoFe-NA/NF)as a bifunctional catalyst for both hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER).The electrocatalyst with optimized composition(CoFe-NA2/NF)can achieve ultralow overpotentials of 73 mV and 250 mV for HER and OER,respectively,at a current density of 10 mA cm^-2 in 1 M KOH.Notably,the electrolyzer based on this electrocatalyst is able to boost the overall water splitting with a cell voltage of 1.564 V to deliver 10 mA cm^-2 for at least 50 h without obvious performance decay.Furthermore,our experiment and theoretical calculation demonstrate that the combination of cobalt-iron nitride and alloy can have low hydrogen adsorption energy and facilitate water dissociation during HER.In addition,the surface reconstruction introduces metal oxyhydroxides to optimize the OER process.Our work may pave a new pathway to design bifunctional catalysts for overall water splitting.     

Surface functionalization of polymer latex particles. II. Catalytic oxidation of poly(methylstyrene) latexes in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide

Surface-functionalized cationic poly(methylstyrene) (PMS) latex particles containing aldehyde and carboxylic acid groups were successfully achieved via an emulsion polymerization of 3(4)-methylstyrene in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, followed by an in-situ oxidation catalyzed by copper chloride and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH). Factors such as the type of metal catalyst, oxidant, and their concentration strongly affected the rate of oxidation. Step addition of t-BuOOH resulted in both a higher degree of oxidation and a more uniform distribution of particle size of the functionalized PMS as compared to the batch addition method. The effect of organic solvent was found to be insignificant, and the oxidation could still proceed in its absence. The particle sizes increased significantly during the oxidation but could be controlled by using crosslinked PMS latexes. Finally, the versatility of this oxidation process was demonstrated by oxidation of the polymer with a solid loading as high as 28%. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 35 : 3585–3593, 1997     

Bio‐orthogonal AIE Dots Based on Polyyne‐Bridged Red‐emissive AIEgen for Tumor Metabolic Labeling and Targeted Imaging

In this work, we aim to develop cancer cell‐targeting AIE dots based on a polyyne‐bridged red‐emissive AIEgen, 2TPE‐4E, through the combination of metabolic engineering and bio‐orthogonal reactions. Azide groups on a tumor were efficiently produced by intravenous injection of Ac4ManNAz and glycol‐metabolic engineering. These bio‐orthogonal azide groups could facilitate the specific targeting of DBCO‐AIE dots to the tumor cells undergoing metal‐free click reaction in vivo. The efficiency of this targeting strategy could be further improved with the development of new bio‐orthogonal chemical groups with higher reactivity and a large amount of AIEgens could be delivered to the tumor for diagnosis.