Palladium-catalyzed nitromethylation of aryl halides: an orthogonal formylation equivalent

An efficient cross-coupling reaction of aryl halides and nitromethane was developed with the use of parallel microscale experimentation. The arylnitromethane products are precursors for numerous useful synthetic products. An efficient method for their direct conversion to the corresponding oximes and aldehydes in a one-pot operation has been discovered. The process exploits inexpensive nitromethane as a carbonyl equivalent, providing a mild and convenient formylation method that is compatible with many functional groups.     

Mechanical and Biological Performances of New Scaffolds Made of Collagen Hydrogels and Fibroin Microfibers for Vascular Tissue Engineering

A microstructured composite material made of collagen hydrogel (matrix) and silk fibroin microfibers (randomly oriented reinforcing fibers) is investigated in order to conjugate the mechanical resistance of fibroin with the suitable biological performance of collagen to design new scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering. Results show that fibroin microfibers and collagen fibrils have suitable interfacial adhesion, and the scaffold exhibits improved mechanical properties if compared with a pure collagen hydrogel. Furthermore, the overall biological performance is improved.

     

De novo chiral amino alcohols in catalyzing asymmetric additions to aryl aldehydes

[reaction: see text] A de novo structural class of chiral amino alcohol catalysts has been identified through a synergistic effort combining novel architectures from [4 + 3] cycloadditions and quantum mechanical interaction field predictions that closely match subsequent experimental measurements.     

Synthesis and characterization of fluorescently labeled core cross‐linked star polymers

A series of fluorescently labeled core cross‐linked star (CCS) polymers were synthesized via the “arm‐first” approach, employing atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) to control the resulting architecture. The initiator p‐toluenesulfonyl chloride (TsCl) was used to synthesize “living” poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) macroinitiator, which was subsequently cross‐linked to generate the CCS polymers. Divinylbenzene (DVB) was used as the cross‐linker and 7‐[4‐(trifluoromethyl)coumarin] methacrylamide ( F₁ , λ_ex = 343 nm) was added as a fluorescent labeling monomer. A range of PMMA/DVB/ F₁ based CCS polymers were synthesized with the core domain made selectively fluorescent by using varying amounts of monomer F₁ . The core functionalized stars were characterized using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) equipped with multi‐angle laser light scattering (MALLS), refractive index (RI), and UV–visible detectors. The fluorescence quantum yield (Φ_F) and the amount of fluorescent monomer incorporated into the core were quantified by UV–visible and fluorescence spectrophotometry. It was recognized that the overall molecular weights of the stars produced, along with their core molecular weight, decreased as the mol % of monomer F₁ was increased relative to cross‐linker. Visual confirmation of F₁ incorporation was obtained by fluorescence microscopy of thin polymer films cast on glass substrates. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2422–2432, 2008     

Study of composites based on polypropylene and calcium carbonate by experimental design

Calcium carbonate is without doubt the most widely used mineral filler. There are good reasons for this popularity, namely the combination of numerous deposits of that material and its suitability for a wide range of applications. In this paper results of rheological analysis based on melt index values of polypropylene composites (PP composites), prepared with different grades of calcium carbonate are reported. The study showed that the experimental design can be used as an important tool to evaluate the effect of CaCO₃ grade and its content in polypropylene (PP). It was observed that the addition of calcium carbonate of different particle sizes and contents provoked a significant change in the rheological behavior of the composites analysed.     

Intersection Graphs and the Clique Operator

 Let P be a class of finite families of finite sets that satisfy a property P. We call ΩP the class of intersection graphs of families in P and CliqueP the class of graphs whose family of cliques is in P. We prove that a graph G is in ΩP if and only if there is a family of complete sets of G which covers all edges of G and whose dual family is in P. This result generalizes that of Gavril for circular-arc graphs and conduces those of Fulkerson-Gross, Gavril and Monma-Wei for interval graphs, chordal graphs, UV, DV and RDV graphs. Moreover, it leads to the characterization of Helly-graphs and dually chordal graphs as classes of intersection graphs. We prove that if P is closed under reductions, then CliqueP=Ω(P ^*∩H) (P ^*= Class of dual families of families in P). We find sufficient conditions for the Clique Operator, K, to map ΩP into ΩP ^*. These results generalize several known results for particular classes of intersection graphs. Furthermore, they lead to the Roberts-Spencer characterization for the image of K and the Bandelt-Prisner result on K-fixed classes. Received: August 18, 1997 Final version received: March 30, 1999     

Thermal behavior of coffee oil (Robusta and Arabica species)

Coffee seeds are a source for obtaining oil which is used in the candy, soluble coffee, and cosmetics industries. The main purpose of this study was the investigation of the lipid profile and thermal behavior of the roasted and in nature coffee oil of Arabica and Robusta species, using thermogravimetry, differential thermal analysis, derivative thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and modulated DSC. Details concerning the thermal decomposition as well as data of the kinetic parameters have been described here. The kinetic studies were evaluated from several heating rates with a sample mass of 10 mg in open crucible under nitrogen atmospheres. The obtained data were evaluated with the isoconversional kinetic method, where the values of activation energy (E _a/kJ mol^?1) were evaluated in function of the conversion degree (α). In addition, this oil was evaluated by modulated DSC from 25 to ?60 °C, where the transition phase behavior was verified.     

Evaluation of different PAMAM dendrimers as molecular vehicle of 1,2,4-triazine N-oxide derivative with potential antitumor activity

The interaction between a 1,2,4-triazine N-oxide derivative, that holds potential antitumor activity under hypoxic conditions, and diverse polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers were investigated with the purpose of select the most appropriate macromolecule to act as potential molecular carrier of this active compound. The results shows that dendrimers with amine terminal groups (PAMAM-AT G = 3) and dendrimers with carboxylate terminal groups (PAMAM-CT G2.5 and G4.5) produces triazine derivative hydrolysis, even in buffered medium, and are not suitable as carriers. In contrast, dendrimers with neutral end groups (PAMAM-OHT) shows stable association with the active compound, making this dendrimer a possible medium for triazine carriage.