New Acyclic β-Functionnalized (E) Allyl Alcohols and their Bromomethyldimethylsilyl Ethers as Cyclopentanoids Precursors

The syntheses of new acyclic (E) allyl alcohols β-functionnalized by various radical trapping functions and their corresponding bromomethyl-dimethylsilyl ethers are reported.     

Optimal Control for the Degenerate Elliptic Logistic Equation

We consider the optimal control of harvesting the diffusive degenerate elliptic logistic equation. Under certain assumptions, we prove the existence and uniqueness of an optimal control. Moreover, the optimality system and a characterization of the optimal control are also derived. The sub-supersolution method, the singular eigenvalue problem and differentiability with respect to the positive cone are the techniques used to obtain our results.     

Structure de la rubranine chalcone isolee du bois de rose Aniba rosaeodora ducke—II : Syntheses d'analogues cannabinoides derivant de la phloroacetophenone

Desbenzylidenrubranin is the major product of the base-catalyzed condensation of phloroacetophenone with citral. A monochromene, a bichromene and a bicyclobutane are also formed. Their structures have been established and the acid-catalized and photochemical transformations of the monochromene investigated. Aldol-condensation of desbenzylidenrubranin with benzaldehyde gave rubranin. Fine structural features of rubranin and of the flavanoids obtained with acidic reagents, have been proved. Biogenetic speculations on the origin of optically inactive rubranin indicate it to be an artefact from condensation between pinocembrin and citral catalized by the pseudo-alkaloid anibin always present in Rosewood during extraction.     

A very efficient synthesis of a mannosyl orthoester [2]rotaxane and mannosidic [2]rotaxanes

The direct preparation of mannosyl[2]rotaxane derivatives by O-glycosylation from tetra-O-acetyl-alpha-D-mannosyltrichloroacetimidate and a tert-butylanilinium alcohol in the presence of dibenzo-24-crown-8 is described. The method appears to be very efficient and allows for the preparation of either orthoester or mannosyl rotaxane derivatives, depending on reaction conditions.     

Epoxy/POSS organic-inorganic hybrids: ATR-FTIR and DSC studies

Organic-inorganic hybrid nanocomposites were prepared by reaction of an octaepoxy-silsesquioxane, OECh, with an epoxy-amine system. OECh was used to partially replace the thermosetting resin, diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A, DGEBA, in its reaction with an aromatic diamine, 4,4′-(1,3-phenylenediisopropylidene) bisaniline, BSA. The OECh was characterized by different techniques. The curing kinetics of ternary systems formed by DGEBA, OECh and BSA, was followed by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, ATR-FTIR. All the mixtures were prepared with a stoichiometric ratio between epoxy and amine groups. The degree of reaction of glycidyl epoxy ring along the curing cycle selected was obtained from the infrared spectra. A peak-height method based on the ratio of the height of the characteristic to reference absorbance peak was used. The curing kinetic of different blends was obtained by differential scanning calorimetry, DSC. Three different methods, the differential of Kissinger, the integral of Flynn-Wall-Ozawa and the phenomenological model of Kamal, were used in order to obtain the kinetic parameters of the cure reaction. It is observed that the presence of POSS accelerates the rate of opening of glycidyl epoxy rings from DGEBA. The behaviour of the mixture during the curing process can be explained with an autocatalytical model, corrected with the contribution of the diffusion of the molecules during the course of the reaction.     

Specific adsorption of cytochrome C on cardiolipin-glycerophospholipid monolayers and bilayers

In this study, we examined the adsorption of cytochrome c (cyt c) on monolayers and liposomes formed from (i) pure 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC), 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (POPE), or cardiolipin (CL) and on (ii) the more thermodynamically stable binary mixtures of POPE/CL (0.8:0.2 mol/mol) and POPC/CL (0.6:0.4 mol/mol). Constant surface pressure experiments showed that the maximum and minimum interactions occurred in the pure CL (anionic phospholipid) and the pure POPE (zwitterion) monolayers, respectively. Observation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) of the images of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films extracted at 30 mN m-1 suggests that the different interactions of cyt c with POPE/CL and the POPC/CL monolayers could be due to lateral phase separation occurring in the POPE/CL mixture. The competition between 8-anilino-1-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) and cyt c for the same binding sites in liposomes that have identical nominal compositions with respect to those of the monolayers was used to obtain binding parameters. In agreement with the monolayer experiments, the most binding was observed in POPE/CL liposomes. All of our observations strongly support the existence of selective adsorption of cyt c on CL, which is modulated differently by different neutral phospholipids (POPE and POPC).     

Glass-fiber reinforced poly(acrylate)-based sorptive materials for the enrichment of organic micropollutants from aqueous samples

A novel and simple approach to sorptive materials for the extraction of organic compounds from environmental samples is presented. It entails the use of glass fiber fabric strips coated with a customized poly(acrylate) (PA) formulation as extraction medium. Analytes were enriched by means of shaking of the PA strip in the sample and then subsequently thermally desorbed and analyzed by GC-MS. The performance of the sorptive materials was evaluated by the enrichment of compounds with different polarities (phenols, hexachlorobenzene and hexachlorocyclohexanes) from water samples. Parameters that affect the extraction process such as pH, ionic strength of the solvent, mixing mechanism, extraction time and desorption conditions were investigated. The extraction abilities of the PA extraction medium were compared with that of commercially available poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) Twisters. The results revealed that the new material shows higher affinity for phenolic compounds presumably due to the presence of polar groups. The partition coefficients for the PA strips estimated in this work were up to 15 times higher than for the PDMS Twister, resulting in higher recoveries and lower detection limits. The method was applied for the quantification of the aforementioned compounds in contaminated surface water samples from Bitterfeld (Germany). Using both PA strips and PDMS Twisters, good agreement of the extraction data was achieved.