Crystal structure of calcium adipate monohydrate

The crystal structure of calcium adipate monohydrate, Ca(C₆H₈O₄)·H₂O, has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction study. The crystals are triclinic witha=5.8990(3),b=6.7985(5),c=10.8212(6)Å,=78.999(5),=81.831(5), and =82.971(5)°, space group P¯1,Z=2,V=419.65(8)ų,d _m=1.59,d _c=1.600 Mg m^–3. The structure was refined by full-matrix least-squares techniques toR=0.040,R _w=0.058 for 1283 reflections withI3(I). Ca is coordinated to seven oxygen atoms and the coordination polyhedron is best described as pentagonal bipyramid. The coordinations of the two carboxylate groups in adipate ion are quite different. One carboxylate group binds three different Ca ions forming a four-membered chelate ring with one Ca ion and unidentate bridge bonds to two other Ca ions. The other carboxylate group links to two Ca ions through unidentate bonds. The structure is highly polymeric, but with a layertype structure parallel to (001) with the hydrocarbon chains sandwiched between the polar regions consisting of Ca, carboxylate and water molecules.Certain commercial materials and equipment are identified in this paper to specify the experimental procedure. In no instance does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or the ADA Health Foundation or that the material or equipment identified is necessarily the best available for the purpose.     

Investigating the topochemical polymerization of aniline derivatives in Pb(II) borate scaffolds

Three different aniline derivatives, namely m- and p-aminobenzoic acids and m-amino benzenesulfonic acid, were sequestered in between layers of a borate-based coordination polymer, based on lead(II) tetrakis(imidazolyl)borate. The aniline derivatives pre-organized in the interlayer spacing of the coordination polymer, and the reactivity of these pre-organized anionic monomers in the crystalline state was studied. We found that thermally activated reactivity under ambient atmospheric oxygen promotes what appears to be polymerization, and that the most reactive species is m-aminobenzenesulfonic acid monomer due to its increased mobility within the layers of the polymer.     

Gelation of covalently edge-modified laponites in aqueous media. 1. rheology and nuclear magnetic resonance

We describe the covalent modification of the edges of laponite with organic groups and the influence of this modification on gelation behavior. We compare three materials: an unmodified laponite, a laponite edge modified with a trimethyl moiety (MLap), and an octyldimethyl moiety (OLap). Gelation is investigated using rheology and NMR T1 relaxation measurements and nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY). MLap and OLap show qualitatively different gelation. Gelation of MLap is very similar to laponite: MLap gels over the same time scale as laponite and has about the same solid modulus, and the MLap gel is almost as transparent as laponite. In contrast, OLap gels rapidly relative to laponite and forms a weak, turbid gel. We believe that gelation in laponite and MLap results from the formation of a network of well-dispersed platelets (or a few platelets), while in OLap, gelation results from a network of stacks of several platelets. NMR relaxation measurements indicate that gelation does not affect the average relaxation of water protons. However, T1 increases marginally for the protons in the organic moieties in MLap and decreases for protons in the organic moieties in OLap. Relaxation measurements, analyses of line width, and NOESY taken together suggest that, in OLap, gelation is a consequence of association of the organic moieties on the laponite edges, and that this association strengthens with time. Thus, the time-dependent changes in NMR suggest a structural origin for the time-dependent changes in the rheological behavior.     

Mechanistic Investigations of Surface Modification of Carbon Black and Silica by Plasma Polymerisation

Carbon black is widely used as an active filler in the rubber industry to improve the physical properties of rubber. The surface energy of carbon black is high compared to that of various elastomers like styrene–butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR) and ethylene–propylene–diene rubber (EPDM). The work aims at reducing the surface energy of carbon black by modifying its surface for application especially in rubber blends. The present paper looks into the possibility of using plasma polymerisation of acetylene as a surface modification technique for carbon black in comparison with silica. Thermogravimetric analysis, wetting behaviour with various liquids of known surface tension and time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) were used to characterise the carbon black before and after surface modification. The study shows that surface modification of carbon black by plasma polymerisation is difficult in comparison with silica, unless treated for long duration. The mechanistic aspects of the surface modification and the importance of active sites on the carbon black surface for effective modification are discussed in the paper.     

Effector Regulated Catalytic Cyclization of Alkynoic Acids Using Pt2L4 Cages

Metabolic pathways are highly regulated by effector molecules that influences the rate of enzymatic reactions. Inspired by the catalytic regulation found in living cells, we report a Pt₂L₄ cage of which the activity can be controlled by effectors that bind inside the cage. The cage shows catalytic activity in the lactonization of alkynoic acids, with the reaction rates dependent on the effector guest bound in the cage. Some effector guests enhance the rate of the lactonization by up to 19-fold, whereas one decreases it by 5-fold. When mixtures of specific substrates are used, both starting materials and products act as guests for the Pt₂L₄ cage, enhancing its catalytic activity for one substrate while reducing its activity for the other. The reported regulatory behavior obtained by the addition of effector molecules paves the way to the development of more complex, metabolic-like catalyst systems.     

Computational study of pharmacophores: beta-sultams

The strain and resonance energies in beta-sultam derivatives have been calculated by using a high-level ab initio method (G3/B3LYP) in order to resolve the question of the principal driving force affecting solvolysis of these new antibiotics. We found that only the combined effect of stabilizing (via amide or sulfonamide resonance interactions) and destabilizing (ring strain) influences can account for the observed rates of solvolysis in beta-lactams and beta-sultams.     

The completion of locally refined simplicial partitions created by bisection

Recently, in [Found. Comput. Math., 7(2) (2007), 245-269], we proved that an adaptive finite element method based on newest vertex bisection in two space dimensions for solving elliptic equations, which is essentially the method from [SINUM, 38 (2000), 466-488] by Morin, Nochetto, and Siebert, converges with the optimal rate.The number of triangles in the output partition of such a method is generally larger than the number of triangles that in all intermediate partitions have been marked for bisection, because additional bisections are needed to retain conforming meshes.A key ingredient to our proof was a result from [Numer. Math., 97(2004), 219-268] by Binev, Dahmen and DeVore saying that for some absolute constant , where is the number of triangles from the initial partition that have never been bisected. In this paper, we extend this result to bisection algorithms of -simplices, with that generalizing the result concerning optimality of the adaptive finite element method to general space dimensions.

     

Ruthenium porphyrin functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube arrays--a step toward light harvesting antenna and multibit information storage

Ruthenium porphyrin functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube arrays have been prepared using coordination of the axial position of the metal ion onto 4-aminopyridine preassembled single-walled carbon nanotubes directly anchored to a silicon(100) surface (SWCNTs-Si). The formation of these ruthenium porphyrin functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube array electrodes (RuTPP-SWCNTs-Si) has been monitored using infrared spectroscopy (IR), differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), atomic force microscopy (AFM), laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (LDI-TOF-MS), UV-vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry. Electrochemical results show two successive one-electron reversible redox waves. The surface concentration of the ruthenium porphyrin molecules is 3.44 x 10 (-8) mol cm (-2). Optical results indicate that the immobilization of ruthenium porphyrin enhances the light absorption of SWCNTs-Si surfaces in the visible light region. Moreover mixed assembly of ferrocene/porphyrin onto carbon nanotube arrays has been achieved by altering the ratio of two redox-active species in the deposition solution. These results suggest the ruthenium porphyrin modified electrodes are excellent candidates for molecular memory devices and light harvesting antennae.     

Nanoparticle MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry without fragmentation: Au25(SCH2CH2Ph)18 and mixed monolayer Au25(SCH2CH2Ph)(18-x)(L)(x)

Intact molecular ions of the organothiolate-protected nanoparticle Au25(SCH2CH2Ph)18, including their isotopic resolution, can be observed at 7391 Da as 1- and 1+ ions in negative and positive mode, respectively, by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry when using a tactic of threshold laser pulse intensities and trans-2-[3-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-2-methyl-2-propenylidene]malononitrile (DCTB) as matrix. Previous MALDI-TOF studies of Au nanoparticles using other matrices have encountered extensive fragmentation of nanoparticle as well as thiolate ligands. Absence of fragmentation enables precise determination of the distribution of mixed monolayer compositions on nanoparticles prepared by ligand exchange reactions and by synthesis using thiol mixtures. Reaction conditions producing mixed monolayers containing only one or a small number of usefully functional ligands can be readily identified. At increased laser pulse intensity, the first fragmentation step(s) for the Au25(SCH 2CH2Ph)18 nanoparticle results in losses of AuL units and, in particular, loss of Au4(SCH2CH2Ph)4.