Purification of astilbin and isoastilbin in the extract of smilax glabra rhizome by high-speed counter-current chromatography

Purification of astilbin from the rhizome extract of Smilax glabra was conducted using a high-speed counter-current chromatograph equipped with a 700 mL column. In a single operation, 1.5 g of crude sample was separated to yield 105 mg of component astilbin and 48 mg of isoastilbin while the upper phase of the two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane-n-butanol-water (1:1:2, v/v/v) was used for stationary phase. The chemical structures of the two flavonoid glycosides were confirmed by electrospray ionization ion trap multiple mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance experiments.     

Rapid separation and laser-induced fluorescence detection of mutated DNA by capillary electrophoresis in a self-coating, low-viscosity polymer matrix

The detection of point and other simple mutations in DNA is important for cancer research and diagnosis and other biological studies. Capillary electrophoresis has been successfully used for separating DNA fragments. However, a low-viscosity polymer sieving buffer for DNA separation with on-line coating has never been reported. In this paper, a new method using capillary electrophoresis with on-line coating and laser-induced fluorescence detection (CE-LIF) for screening for point or simple DNA mutations has been demonstrated. The method uses an on-line dynamic coating technique that increases capillary lifetime and analysis reproducibility, and employs a low-viscosity polymer solution, which allows the user to rinse the capillary rapidly and refill with polymer solution easily. Experiments proved that the additives in the separation buffer for on-line capillary coating do not affect the separation efficiency of the running buffer, and do not interfere with the formation of hydrogen-bonded network between boric acid, mannitol and hydroxypropylmethylcellulose polymers. The stability of the dynamically coated capillary was quantitatively studied; the capillary lifetime was increased 6- to 7-fold compared with that of permanently coated CE columns. Standard DNA fragments containing mutations, with sizes of 209, 219, and 338 bps, were successfully separated and detected with this system, after the mutated DNA fragments were cleaved by CEL-I endonuclease. The technique is very sensitive for the size-separation of low-range, middle-range, and high-range DNA fragments. Results were compared with the HPLC methods developed by Transgenomic, Inc. and were in good agreement. The method should be applicable to mutation detection for all relevant biological and clinical studies. The factors influencing separations and the stability of dynamic capillary coatings are also discussed in the paper.     

Hydrogenation of nitrobenzenes catalyzed by platinum nanoparticle core-polyaryl ether trisacetic acid ammonium chloride dendrimer shell nanocomposite

Platinum nanoparticle core-polyaryl ether trisacetic acid ammonium chloride dendrimer shell nanocomposites (Pt@G_n-NACl) were prepared and used as catalysts for hydrogenation of nitrobenzenes to anilines with molecular hydrogen under mild conditions. The as-prepared nanoparticles have mean particle size from 2.0 to 5.5 nm, depending on the molar ratio of the metal and the dendrimer. The Pt nanoparticles demonstrate near-monodisperse when the molar ratio of Pt and G₃-NACl is below 30. The interaction among three carboxyl groups terminated at the dendron and the metallic core keeps the Pt nanoparticles from agglomerating. The colloidal solution of Pt nanoparticles stabilized by the dendrimer, in which the molar ratio of Pt/G₃-NACl was less than 60, is stable without precipitation for several weeks. The dendrons attach to the metal core radially, and a substantial fraction of the surface of the metal nanoparticle is unpassivated and available for catalytic reactions. Turnover frequencies for the hydrogenation of nitrobenzenes to anilines change from 353 to 49 h⁻¹ depending on the dendrimer generation and substrates. The dendrimer catalysts are stable during the catalytic hydrogenation process and can be recovered by centrifugation and reused. The results suggest the effectiveness of polyaryl ether trisacetic acid ammonium chloride dendrimer as a stabilizer for the preparation of Pt nanoparticle catalysts.     

Decoupling the effects of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties at the neuron–nanofibre interface

Peptide-based nanofibres are a versatile class of tunable materials with applications in optoelectronics, sensing and tissue engineering. However, the understanding of the nanofibre surface at the molecular level is limited. Here, a series of homologous dilysine–diphenylalnine tetrapeptides were synthesised and shown to self-assemble into water-soluble nanofibres. Despite the peptide nanofibres displaying similar morphologies, as evaluated through atomic force microscopy and neutron scattering, significant differences were observed in their ability to support sensitive primary neurons. Contact angle and labelling experiments revealed that differential presentation of lysine moieties at the fibre surface did not affect neuronal viability; however the mobility of phenylalanine residues at the nanofibre surface, elucidated through solid- and gel-state NMR studies and confirmed through tethered bilayer lipid membrane experiments, was found to be the determining factor in governing the suitability of a given peptide as a scaffold for primary neurons. This work offers new insights into characterising and controlling the nanofibre surface at the molecular level.

The mobility of hydrophobic moieties at a peptide nanofibre surface determines its suitability as a scaffold for sensitive primary cells.     

Synthesis, structure, and fluorescence of the novel cadmium(II)-trimesate coordination polymers with different coordination architectures

Three novel complexes, Cd3tma2*13H2O (1), Cd3tma2*dabco*2H2O (2), and Cd3Htma3*8H2O (3) (tma = trimesate), of cadmium(II)-trimesate coordination polymers are obtained from hydrothermal reaction. 1 (C18H32O25Cd3) crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c space group [a = 18.985(2) A, b = 7.3872(6) A, c = 20.432(2) A, = 97.1660(10), and Z = 4]. 2 (C24H22N2O14Cd3) crystallizes in the monoclinic P2(1)/c space group [a = 10.1323(2) A, b = 19.5669(5) A, c = 13.15880(10) A, = 108.9810(10), and Z = 4]. 3 (C27H28O26Cd3) belongs to the trigonal P31c space group [a = 15.7547(3) A, b = 15.7547(3) A, c = 7.93160(10) A, and Z = 2]. The Cd(II) centers in the three complexes are bridged by tma ligands in the coordination fashion of unidentate, bridging unidentate, bidentate, chelating bis-bidentate, chelating/bridging bis-bidentate, or chelating/bridging bidentate to form the T-shaped molecular bilayer motif for 1, chicken-wire-like motif for 2, and honeycomb-like porous structure for 3, respectively, in which the T-shaped molecular bilayer motif and chicken-wire-like motif are further interlinked in interdigitating or alternating fashion to construct the different coordination architectures. These three complexes exhibit strong fluorescent emission bands at 355 nm (lambda(ex) = 220 nm) for 1, 437 nm (lambda(ex) = 365 nm) for 2, and 353 nm (lambda(ex) = 218 nm) for 3 in the solid state at room temperature.     

Flow Injection Chemiluminescence for the Determination of Estriol via a Noncompetitive Enzyme Immunoassay

A novel approach to the detection of estriol using a flow injection system coupled to enhanced chemiluminescent immunoassay was developed based on noncompetitive immunoassay formats. A conjugated estriol-ovalbumin immobilized immunoaffinity column was inserted into the flow system to trap the unbound horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled antibody after an off-line incubation of estriol and HRP-labeled anti-estriol antibody. The trapped enzyme conjugate was detected by the injection of chemiluminescent substrates to produce enhanced chemiluminescence. The linear range for the determination of estriol is 10.0 to 400 ng · mL⁻¹ with a correlation coefficient of 0.996 and a detection limit of 5.0 ng · mL⁻¹. The total time for sampling and chemiluminescent detection of one sample is 400 seconds after 30 min of pre-incubation. The results for pregnancy serum samples obtained by this method are in good agreement with those obtained using ELISA.     

Solvent Effects on the Structure-Activity Relationship of Pharmacological Active 3-Substituted-5,5-Diphenylhydantoins

Absorption spectra of eight 3-substituted-5,5-diphenylhydantoins have been recorded in fourteen solvents in the range 200–400 nm. The effect of solvent dipolarity/polarizability and solvent/solute hydrogen bonding interactions are analyzed by means of the linear solvation energy relationship (LSER) concept proposed by Kamlet and Taft. The lipophilic activity of the investigated hydantoins was estimated by the calculation of log ₁₀ P values with the Advanced Chemistry Development Software. The calculated values of log ₁₀ P were correlated with the ratio of the contributions of specific solvent interactions, and, by employing the linear dependence thus obtained, the pharmacological activity of the studied hydantoin derivatives is discussed.     

An unusual chain cadmium(II) coordination polymer: catena‐poly[[(2,2′‐bipyridyl‐κ2N,N′)cadmium(II)]‐di‐μ‐chlorido‐[(2,2′‐bipyridyl‐κ2N,N′)cadmium(II)]‐di‐μ‐thiocyanato‐κ2N:S;κ2S:N]

The title complex, [CdCl(NCS)(C₁₀H₈N₂)]_n, represents an unusual Cd^II coordination polymer constructed by two types of anionic bridges and 2,2′‐bipyridyl (bipy) terminal ligands. These two types of bridges are arranged around inversion centers. The distorted octahedral coordination of the Cd^II center is provided by two chloride ions, one N‐ and one S‐donor atom from two thiocyanate ions, and a pair of N atoms from the chelating bipy ligand. Interestingly, adjacent Cd^II ions are interconnected alternately by paired chloride [Cd...Cd = 3.916 (1) Å] and thiocyanate bridges [Cd...Cd = 5.936 (1) Å] to generate an infinite one‐dimensional coordination chain. Furthermore, weak interchain C—H...S interactions between the bipy components and thiocyanate ions lead to the formation of a layered supramolecular structure.     

Unprecedented cage-carbon to cage-boron NMe(3) transfer in a monocarbon Molybdenacarborane

The reagent Li(2)[7-NMe(3)-nido-7-CB(10)H(10)] reacts with [Mo(CO)(3)(NCMe)(3)] in THF-NCMe (THF = tetrahydrofuran) to give a molybdenacarborane intermediate which, upon oxidation by CH(2)[double bond]CHCH(2)Br or I(2) and then addition of [N(PPh(3))(2)]Cl, gives the salts [N(PPh(3))(2)][2,2,2-(CO)(3)-2-X-3-NMe(3)-closo-2,1-MoCB(10)H(10)] (X = Br (1) or I (2)). During the reaction, the cage-bound NMe(3) substituent is transferred from the cage-carbon atom to an adjacent cage-boron atom, a feature established spectroscopically in 1 and 2, and by X-ray diffraction studies on several of their derivatives. When [Rh(NCMe)(3)(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))][BF(4)](2) is used as the oxidizing agent, the trimetallic compound [2,2,2-(CO)(3)-7-mu-H-2,7,11-[Rh(2)(mu-CO)(eta(5)-C(5)Me(5))(2)]-closo-2,1-MoCB(10)H(9)] (10) is formed, the NMe(3) group being lost. Reaction of 1 in CH(2)Cl(2) with Tl[PF(6)] in the presence of donor ligands L affords neutral zwitterionic compounds [2,2,2-(CO)(3)-2-L-3-NMe(3)-closo-2,1-MoCB(10)H(10)] for L = PPh(3) (4) or CNBu(t) (5), and [2-Bu(t)C[triple bond]CH-2,2-(CO)(2)-3-NMe(3)-closo-2,1-MoCB(10)H(10)] (6) when L = Bu(t)C[triple bond]CH. When 1 is treated with CNBu(t) and X(2), the metal center is oxidized, and in the products obtained, [2,2,2,2-(CNBu(t))(4)-2-Br-3-X-closo-2,1-MoCB(10)H(10)] (X = Br (7), I (8)), the B-NMe(3) bond is replaced by B-X. In contrast, treatment of 2 with I(2) and cyclo-1,4-S(2)(CH(2))(4) in CH(2)Cl(2) results in oxidative substitution of the cluster and retention of the NMe(3) group, giving [2,2,2-(CO)(3)-2-I-3-NMe(3)-6-[cyclo-1,4-S(2)(CH(2))(4)]-closo-2,1-MoCB(10)H(9)] (9). The unique structural features of the new compounds were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies upon 6, 7, 9 and 10.     

Preparation of multihollow P(St-MAA) particles by sequence soap-free/soap emulsion polymerization and followed by stepwise alkali/acid posttreatment

The effects of ionic emulsifier, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfate (SDBS), on the formation of the multihollow structures in sub-micron sized polymer particles produced by alkali/acid posttreatment were investigated. The original latex particles with narrow size distribution were synthesized by a new sequence emulsifier-free/emulsifier emulsion copolymerization of styrene (St) and methacrylic acid (MAA). Results indicated that the pore size decreased and the pore number increased with the increase of SDBS amount, and the morphology of the posttreated latex particles was also significantly influenced by the introducing time of SDBS in the preparation of the original latex particles, and a suitable introducing time was 3 h of polymerization.