Behavior of polysaccharide assemblies in field-flow fractionation and size-exclusion chromatography

Asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation (AsFlFFF) and high-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) are techniques for separating and characterizing macromolecules; until now the latter is more utilized for analyzing polysaccharides. The demand for characterizing complex, high-molar-mass polysaccharides has raised interest in the use of AsFlFFF in analyzing polymeric carbohydrates in addition to HPSEC. In this paper, we compare the behavior of arabinoxylan aggregates present in aqueous solution in AsFlFFF and HPSEC and their effect on the obtained molecular characteristics (molar mass averages and size). Although the amount of aggregates in aqueous arabinoxylan solutions may be low, their role needs to be understood to avoid erroneous interpretations of AsFlFFF and HPSEC data. When these two separation systems were compared, AsFlFFF seemed to possess more separation power for the differentiation of aggregates from individual chains than HPSEC. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the characterization of xylans with AsFlFFF.     

Crystal Engineering Studies of the Complexes of Ethyl Resorcinarene with Aromatic Nitrogen Heterocycles

Five X-ray structures of complexes of ethyl resorcinarene with aromatic nitrogen heterocycles (imidazole, 1,2,4-triazole, pyridine, pyrazine, 2-pyridylmethanol and quinoline) show that ethyl resorcinarene spontaneously forms molecular inclusion complexes with five- and six-membered aromatic nitrogen heterocycles via π ?π and CH ?π interactions. However, with 10-membered quinoline, no molecular inclusion complex is formed. Instead, quinoline manifests crystal lattice inclusion.     

Calixcrowns: synthesis and properties

The synthesis and properties of calix[n]crowns (n = 4–8), calix[n]biscrowns and their related compounds, resorcinarene crowns, have been discussed and reviewed. These macrocycles exhibit remarkable ionophoric properties toward alkali and alkaline earth metal cations, as well as, to tertiary amines. The selectivity and efficiency of calixcrowns in binding cations have been attributed to their structural features, which include substituent effects and size of the crown ether moiety and, conformation of the parent calixarene.     

Resorcinarene bis-crown silver complexes and their application as antibacterial Langmuir-Blodgett films

Silver complexes of a cation binding supramolecular host, resorcinarene bis-crown (CNBC5) with propyl, nonyl, decyl and undecyl alkyl chains were investigated by NMR titration, picrate extraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Binding studies showed that both 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 (host-Ag(+)) complexes are present in solution with only a slight effect of the lower rim alkyl chain length on the binding constants (log K 4.0-4.2 for 1 : 2 complexes). Solid state complexes of the resorcinarene bis-crowns bearing either C(3) or C(11) chains were obtained. Single crystal X-ray analyses showed that both derivatives bind silver ions by metal-arene and Ag···O coordination from the crown ether bridges and from the solvent, and pack in layered or bilayered fashion. Furthermore, the amphiphilic nature of C11BC5 was demonstrated using the Langmuir balance technique. Langmuir-Blodgett films of the amphiphilic C11BC5-Ag complex were transferred onto a substrate and shown to possess antibacterial activity against E. coli.     

Resorcinarene Bis‐Thiacrowns: Prospective Host Molecules for Silver Encapsulation

Mixed‐donor atom tetramethoxy resorcinarene bis‐thiacrown hosts, in which the crown unit contains both hard oxygen and soft sulfur donor atoms, were synthesized for soft metal cation binding. The binding properties were investigated both in solution and in the solid state by NMR spectroscopy and X‐ray crystallography. It was found that the resorcinarene bis‐thiacrowns were able to complex silver cations with remarkable affinity forming readily 1:2 host–guest complexes in solution. The solid state structures also revealed that the bis‐thiacrowns form silver complexes in an unanticipated endo‐ and exo‐cavity fashion within the same host molecule. Both the solution and solid state studies indicated the sulfur atoms to be the major contributing donor atoms in forming the binding interactions with silver cations.     

Pyrogallarenes as alkali metal receptors: the role of cation-pi interactions in complexation

Crystallization studies of C-methyl pyrogallarene with potassium, rubidium and caesium bromides or chlorides resulted in a hydrogen bonded molecular cage in which the alkali metal cations are eta6 coordinated to aromatic rings via strong cation-pi interactions.