Synthetic strategies to epoxydiynes and a key synthon of the neocarzinostatin chromophore

We present herein our recent efforts towards the synthesis of epoxydiynes which represent an unusual structural feature of the neocarzinostatin chromophore. A number of different routes to these epoxydiynes have been explored with varying success. Ultimately a concise and convergent approach was developed, which involved the addition of an allenyl zinc bromide to propargylic ketones/aldehydes followed by epoxide formation. This new protocol enabled us to synthesise a fully elaborated epoxydiyne which will find application for our studies towards the total synthesis of the NCS chromophore.     

Hydrogen bonding affects the persistency of alkyl peroxy radicals

The effect of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-phenylpropan-2-ol (HFPP) on the persistency of sec-alkyl peroxy radicals has been investigated. The formation of a hydrogen-bonding complex between HFPP and the radical resulted in a large increase in the lifetime of the radical. This variation was accompanied by a decrease in the g-value. An enthalpy change of -3.4 kcal mol-1 was estimated for the formation of the hydrogen-bonded complex.     

Dielectrophoresis for the manipulation of nanobioparticles

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a nondestructive electrokinetic mechanism with great potential for the manipulation of bioparticles. DEP is the movement of particles induced by polarization effects in nonuniform electric fields. Since the 1960s, this technique has been successfully used for the manipulation of microbioparticles, such as microorganisms. Moreover, due to the advances in microfabrication techniques, that allowed progressively smaller microstructures to be constructed, DEP can now be used for the manipulation of nanobioparticles. The first research studies on the DEP of nanobioparticles started in the 1990s. Since then, many research groups have carried out outstanding work with DEP of nanobioparticles such as macromolecules, virus, and spores. However, the need of a critical report that integrates these findings is evident. The aim of the present review is to depict the state-of-the-art on the use of DEP for the separation of nanobioparticles and the potential trends of novel applications of this technique. This review compiles and analyzes the significant findings obtained by many researchers. This publication is intended to provide the reader with state-of-the-art information on many research studies focused on DEP to handle nanobioparticles.     

Chemically enhanced liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry determination of glutamic acid in the diffusion medium of retinal cells

A rapid, reproducible and highly sensitive method, based on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, was developed for the determination of the excitatory amino acid glutamic acid released in the diffusion medium of control, ischemic and mutant cells from retinas. Signal intensity of glutamic acid was enhanced by dansyl chloride derivatization giving rise to a detection limit in the order of pmol/mL. Further, in HPLC-ESI-MS detection an MS-friendly dansyl group to glutamic acid enhanced both ionization efficiency in the ESI source and collision-activated dissociation in the collision cell. The sample processing procedure included liquid-liquid extraction, derivatization with dansyl chloride and a final cation-exchange extraction to generate clean extracts for LC/MS/MS analysis. This approach has been validated as sensitive, linear (20-300 ng/mL), accurate and precise for the differential quantification of glutamic acid in the diffusion medium of retina cells. This is the first report of using chemical derivatization to enhance MS/MS detection of the glutamic acid released in the diffusion medium of wild-type and mutant retina cells, under ischemic conditions.     

Factoring ideals in Prüfer domains

We show that in certain Prüfer domains, each nonzero ideal I can be factored as , where I^v is the divisorial closure of I and is a product of maximal ideals. This is always possible when the Prüfer domain is h-local, and in this case such factorizations have certain uniqueness properties. This leads to new characterizations of the h-local property in Prüfer domains. We also explore consequences of these factorizations and give illustrative examples.     

Theoretical elastic moduli for disordered packings of interconnected spheres

A theoretical model has been developed which provides analytical expressions for the elastic moduli of disordered isotropic ensembles of spheres interconnected by physical bonds. Young's and shear moduli have been derived assuming an ideal random isotropic network and the radial distribution function for disordered packings of spheres. The interparticle interactions are accounted for in terms of surface forces for the two distinct cases of perfectly rigid spheres and spheres deformable at contact. A theoretical expression is also derived in a similar way for the bulk or compressibility modulus. In this case, an atomistic approach has been followed based on the analogy with noble gas solids and colloidal crystals. Also in this case, disordered spatial distribution of the spheres is described statistically. For the case of colloidal aggregates, a total two-body mean-field interaction potential is used which includes the Born repulsion energy. This latter contribution plays an essential role in determining the compression behavior of systems of particles aggregated in the primary minimum of the potential well and, therefore, must not be neglected. Both the expression of the Young's modulus and that of the compressibility modulus derived in this work are found to be consistent with two distinct sets of experimental data which recently appeared in the literature.