Spectroelectrochemical identity of Prussian blue films in various electrolytes: comparison of time-derivative voltabsorptometric responses with conventional cyclic voltammetry

Using Prussian blue (PB) electrodeposited on gold-covered foil as a model system, we have demonstrated the usefulness of the time-derivative measurements of absorbance versus potential (linear potential-scan voltabsorptometry) for spectroelectrochemical characterization of thin electrochromic films. The time-derivative signals were monitored for PB at 680 and 420 nm in potassium, sodium and lithium electrolytes. Information obtained from cyclic voltabsorptometry is equivalent or complementary to that from conventional cyclic voltammetry. In the case of PB films investigated in lithium electrolyte, the voltabsorptometric time-derivative peaks are better defined than the respective voltammetric peaks. The combination of voltabsorptometry with voltammetry enables molar absorptivity and/or film loading to be determined. Also, concentration changes of differently colored mixed-valence redox centers can be monitored as a function of applied potential. Received: 16 January 1997 / Accepted: 11 March 1997     

Thermally Rearranged Polymer Membranes Containing Tröger's Base Units Have Exceptional Performance for Air Separations

The influence of segmental chain motion on the gas separation performance of thermally rearranged (TR) polymer membranes is established for TR polybenzoxazoles featuring Tröger's base (TB) monomer subunits as exceptionally rigid sites of contortion along the polymer backbone. These polymers are accessed from solution‐processable ortho‐acetate functionalized polyimides, which are readily synthesized as high‐molecular‐weight polymers for membrane casting. We find that thermal rearrangement leads to a small increase in d‐spacing between polymer chains and a dramatic pore‐network reconfiguration that increases both membrane permeability and O₂/N₂ selectivity, putting its performance above the 2015 upper bound.     

Determination of enterostatin in human cerebrospinal fluid by capillary electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence detection

A capillary electrophoresis (CE) method with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection is described for quantification of enterostatin (Val-Pro-Asp-Pro-Arg), a pentapeptide involved in appetite regulation and insulin secretion. Enterostatin and two other pentapeptides belonging to the enterostatin family (i.e. Ala-Pro-Gly-Pro-Arg and Val-Pro-Gly-Pro-Arg) were well separated from each other. The peptides were fluorescently tagged with naphthalene-2,3- dicarboxaldehyde (NDA) and separated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) in the presence of methanol as an organic modifier. Coupled with LIF detection, the method had a detection limit of 4.8 x 10(-6) M for enterostatin. The relative standard deviation was to be 4.0% from five determinations of enterostatin at 37.2 microM in a human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample. Twenty-three human CSF samples were analyzed. The level of enterostatin ranged from 24 microM to 51 microM with a mean (+/- SEM) value of 41.7 +/- 2.0 microM.     

Generation of azines by the reaction of a nucleophilic carbene with diazoalkanes: a synthetic and crystallographic study

Reactions of the nucleophilic carbene 1,3-dimesityl-imidazol-2-ylidene (1) with diazofluorene, diphenyldiazomethane, and azidotrimethylsilane were examined. Specifically, carbene 1 reacts with diazofluorene and diphenyldiazomethane to give addition products (azines: 3 and 4, respectively). Compounds 3 and 4 were further characterized in the solid-state by single-crystal X-ray crystallographic studies. [3 (a = 9.7936(6) A, b = 10.0529(7) A, c = 16.251(1) A, alpha = 75.765(1) degrees, beta = 79.711(1) degrees, gamma = 64.321(1) degrees, Z = 2, space group P1); 4 (a = 11.681(3) A, b = 11.861(4) A, c = 21.186(3) A, alpha = 90 degrees, beta = 97.05(2) degrees, gamma = 90 degrees, Z = 4, space group P2(1)/n)]. The structural parameters of 3 and 4 are discussed with reference to previously characterized symmetrical and unsymmetrical azines. Structural data suggest that charge separation is possible in 3.     

Ammonia chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry in structural determination of alkaloids. II. Tetraponerines from pseudomyrmecine ants

Chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry (CI-MS/MS) of alkaloids with ammonia reagent gas and collision-activated dissociation as well as EI-MS/MS were applied to the tetraponerine alkaloids in extracts from six pseudomyrmecine ants of the genus Tetraponera. The MS/MS techniques along with gas chromatography Fourier transform infrared (GC/FTIR) spectra allowed identification in two extracts of seven of the eight known tetraponerines. The EI-MS/MS fragmentations proved diagnostic for the ring system and the CI-MS/MS patterns for the C-8 or C-9 substitution, while the Bohlmann bands in FTIR spectra were diagnostic for the C-8 or C-9 configurations. An Indian ant (T. allaborans) had T-2, T-4 and T-8, while a Chinese ant (T. binghami) had T-5, T-6, T-7 and T-8. Four other ants, T. rufonigra (India), T. penzigi (Africa), T. clypeata (Africa) and T. sp. cf. emeryi (Africa), had no tetraponerines.     

Synthesis and structure of hexakis (p-hydroxyphenyloxy)benzene: A versatile analogue of the hydrogen-bonded hexameric unit of β-hydroquinone

The title hexaphenol (1), a direct analogue of the -hydroquinone hexameric unit, has been prepared by six-fold demethylation of hexakis (p-methoxyphenyloxy)benzene (2) with BBr₃. Host1 forms a trigonal adduct, space groupR3,a=22.088(3),c=12.232(3) Å, containing 6 molecules of pyridine per host molecule: a detailed X-ray study of this inclusion compound reveals a true clathrate structure, the closed cages of which accommodate a small, non-stoichiometric amount of water.     

Prospect for characterizing interacting soft colloidal structures using spin-echo small angle neutron scattering

Spin-echo small angle neutron scattering (SESANS) provides a new experimental tool for structural investigation. Due to the action of spin-echo encoding, SESANS measures a spatial correlation function in real space, as opposed to the structure factor S(Q), I(Q), in momentum (Q) space measured by conventional small angle neutron scattering. To establish the usefulness of SESANS in structural characterization, particularly for interacting colloidal suspensions, we have previously conducted a theoretical study of the SESANS correlation functions for model systems consisting of particles with uniform density profiles [X. Li, C.-Y. Shew, Y. Liu, R. Pynn, E. Liu, K. W. Herwig, G. S. Smith, J. L. Robertson, and W.-R. Chen J. Chem. Phys. 132, 174509 (2010)]. Within the same framework, we explore in the present paper the prospect of using SESANS to investigate the structural characteristics of colloidal systems consisting of particles with nonuniform intraparticle mass distribution. As an example, a Gaussian model of interacting soft colloids is used to investigate the manifestation of structural softness in a SESANS measurement. The exploration shows a characteristically different SESANS correlation function for interacting soft colloids, in comparison to that of a uniform hard sphere system. The difference arises from the Abel transform imbedded in the mathematical formalism bridging the SESANS spectra and the spatial autocorrelation function.     

Close-packed monolayers of charged Janus-type nanoparticles at the air-water interface

Two DNA-block copolymers, poly(caprolactone)-DNA and poly(methyl metacrylate)-DNA, were synthesized by conjugation of a short single strand of DNA (12 or 22 mer) to a single reactive group at one end of the synthetic polymer. These polymers self-assemble in water, without the need of any cosolvent, forming micelle-like aggregates that were imaged by TEM. The solution behavior of the bioconjugated polymers was investigated by surface tension measurements. In the direction of dilution, the surface tension was measured using a down-scaled Wilhelmy plate method. To proceed in the reverse direction (concentration), we measured the surface tension of a sessile drop during its evaporation. This latter method was firstly validated using ionic and non-ionic surfactants, including polymeric surfactants. It was then applied to investigate the unimer to micelles transition of the DNA-block copolymers. In all cases, a reversible transition was observed demonstrating the existence of a critical micellar concentration, close to 0.01 mmol L⁻¹ for all the conjugates. The CMC was only slightly influenced by the length of the hydrophilic DNA block.