Methane partial oxidation to formaldehyde with oxygen over SiO2-supported molybdenum oxide catalysts

The formation rate of formaldehyde increases with increasing surface area of SiO₂ support, but the selectivity does not. From the characterization of catalysts using XRD, SEM and Raman spectroscopy, highly dispersed molybdenum oxide was considered to be much more active for the formation of formaldehyde than crystallite forms of MoO₃.     

Palladium-catalyzed denitrogenation reaction of 1,2,3-benzotriazin-4(3H)-ones incorporating isocyanides

1,2,3-Benzotriazin-4(3H)-ones and 1,2,3,4-benzothiatriazine 1,1(2H)-dioxide reacted with isocyanides in the presence of a palladium catalyst to give 3-(imino)isoindolin-1-ones and 3-(imino)thiaisoindoline 1,1-dioxides, respectively, in high yield. An intermediate azapalladacycle was generated through denitrogenation of the triazine moiety, and an isocyanide was incorporated therein.     

Heterogeneous critical nucleation on a completely wettable substrate

Heterogeneous nucleation of a new bulk phase on a flat substrate can be associated with the surface phase transition called wetting transition. When this bulk heterogeneous nucleation occurs on a completely wettable flat substrate with a zero contact angle, the classical nucleation theory predicts that the free-energy barrier of nucleation vanishes. In fact, there always exists a critical nucleus and a free-energy barrier as the first-order prewetting transition will occur even when the contact angle is zero. Furthermore, the critical nucleus changes its character from the critical nucleus of surface phase transition below bulk coexistence (undersaturation) to the critical nucleus of bulk heterogeneous nucleation above the coexistence (oversaturation) when it crosses the coexistence. Recently, Sear [J. Chem. Phys. 129, 164510 (2008)] has shown, by a direct numerical calculation of nucleation rate, that the nucleus does not notice this change when it crosses the coexistence. In our work, the morphology and the work of formation of critical nucleus on a completely wettable substrate are re-examined across the coexistence using the interface-displacement model. Indeed, the morphology and the work of formation changes continuously at the coexistence. Our results support the prediction of Sear and will rekindle the interest on heterogeneous nucleation on a completely wettable substrate.     

A simple method for simultaneous determination of basic dyes encountered in food preparations by reversed-phase HPLC

The present method utilizes a simple pretreatment step, cleanup on polyamide SPE cartridges, and HPLC resolution on reversed-phase C18 for the detection of the three basic nonpermitted dyes encountered in food matrixes. Polyamide cartridges were chosen because both acidic and basic dyes can be cleaned up due to their amphoteric nature. Analysis was performed on a reversed-phase C18 micro-Bondapak column using the isocratic mixture of acetonitrile-sodium acetate with a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min and a programmable lambda(max) specific visible detection to monitor colors, achieving higher sensitivity and expanded scope to test multicolor blends. All the colors showed linearity with the regression coefficient, from 0.9983 to 0.9995. The LOD and LOQ ranged between 0.107 and 0.754 mg/L and 0.371 and 2.27 mg/L or mg/kg, respectively. The intraday and interday precision gave good RSDs, and percentage recoveries in different food matrixes ranged from 75 to 96.5%. The study demonstrates that the use of a combination of a simple SPE cleanup and HPLC resolution with UV-Vis end point detection was successful in screening the presence of these three basic nonpermitted dyes individually or in blend, in a variety of food matrixes.     

Insoluble polystyrene-bound quaternary onium salt catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates by the reaction of oxiranes with carbon dioxide

The addition reaction of oxiranes ( 26a—e ) with carbon dioxide (CO₂) was performed using insoluble polystyrene beads containing pendant quaternary ammonium or phosphonium salts as catalysts under atmospheric pressure. The reaction of 26a—e with CO₂ proceeded smoothly catalyzed by 1–2 mol % of the polymer-supported quaternary onium salts to give the corresponding cyclic carbonates ( 27a—e ) in high yields at 80–90°C. In this reaction system, the catalytic activity of the polymer-supported quaternary onium salts was strongly affected by the following factors: degree of ring substitution (DRS) of the onium salt residues to the polymer, degree of crosslinking (DC) of the polystyrene beads, chain length of the alkylene spacer between the polymer back-bone and the onium salt, hydrophobicity of the alkyl group on the onium salts, and kind of onium salts. That is, the polymer-supported quaternary phosphonium salts with low DRS and DC and with long alkylene spacer chain were found to have higher catalytic activity than low molecualr weight quaternary onium salts. The above polymer-supported catalysts can easily be separated at the end of a reaction by filtration and can be reused for at least seven runs. It was also found that the rate of reaction was proportional to the products of catalyst concentration and oxirane concentration. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

New analytical method for the study of the metabolism of gentiopicroside in rats after oral administration by LC–TOF‐MS following picolinoyl derivatization

The metabolism of gentiopicroside (GPS) in vivo was studied for the first time by LC–MS following picolinoyl derivatization. Incubation of erythrocentaurin, one of the main in vitro metabolites of GPS by intestinal bacteria, with liver microsome indicated that GPS might be metabolized to a final metabolite 3,4‐dihydro‐5‐(hydroxymethyl)isochroman‐1‐one (HMIO) in vivo. After hydrolysis with sulfatase, HMIO was successfully detected in rat plasma after oral administration of GPS by LC–MS following picolinoyl derivatization. 4‐Methoxyphenyl methanol was used as an internal standard to quantify HMIO in rat plasma. A metabolic pathway of GPS in rats is proposed. The monoterpene compound GPS was found to be metabolized to dihydroisocoumarin, which may be responsible for the pharmacological effect of GPS.     

Synthesis, photophysical properties and sugar-dependent in vitro photocytotoxicity of pyrrolidine-fused chlorins bearing S-glycosides

Eight S-glycosylated 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(tetrafluorophenyl)porphyrins (1a′, 1b′, 1a and 1b (a: S-glucosylated, b: S-galactosylated)) and their 1,3-dipolar cycloadducts, i.e. chlorins 2a′, 2b′, 2a and 2b were prepared by nucleophilic substitution of the pentafluorophenyl groups with S-glycoside. These photosensitizers were characterized by ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopies and elemental analysis. The photocytotoxicity of the S-glycosylated photosensitizers and the parent porphyrin (1) and chlorin (2) was examined in HeLa cells. Photosensitizers 1, 2, 1a′, 1b′, 2a′ and 2b′ showed no significant photocytotoxicity at the concentration of 0.5 μM, while the deprotected photosensitizers 1a, 1b, 2a and 2b were photocytotoxic. The strong inhibition by sodium azide of the photocytotoxicity of these photosensitizers suggested that ¹O₂ is the main mediator. The S-glucosylated photosensitizers 1a and 2a showed higher photocytotoxicity than S-galactosylated 1b and 2b, respectively. The cellular uptake of 1a and 2a increased up to 24 h, while that of 1b and 2b was saturated by 12 h.