Nondestructive real-time radioisotope imaging system for visualizing 14C-labeled chemicals supplied as CO2 in plants using Arabidopsis thaliana

We have developed a real-time radioisotope imaging system (RRIS) that can nondestructively trace ¹⁴C-labeled chemicals in plants. In an experiment, after feeding ¹⁴CO₂ to a plant, the plant was fixed inside a box where lighting was regulated, and beta rays emitted from the ¹⁴C in the plant were intermittently imaged using the developed system. As a first step, using a series of standard sources of ¹⁴C, the data depth and detection limits of the ¹⁴C images captured by the RRIS were evaluated for various integral times. As a result, the linearity between the ¹⁴C activity and signal intensity was determined for the range 10³. Next, the linearity was validated using plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) organs, resulting that the linearity was shown in the case of young leaf, but was not maintained in the thick organs, such as a flower, mature leaf, siliques, and stem. Considering the good correlation between the intensity by RRIS and the PSL value by an imaging plate (IP) as well as the relative low energy of beta rays emitted from ¹⁴C, the thickness of the organs would easily affect the quantitativity of the RRIS as well as an IP. Our findings prove that sequential images of ¹⁴C in a living plant sample in a regulated light and air environment can be nondestructively analyzed using the developed system, whose quantitativity is similar to that of an IP.     

Total synthesis and structural elucidation of khafrefungin.

Total synthesis and structural elucidation of khafrefungin, a novel antifungal agent isolated from the fermentation culture MF6020, have been achieved. Unlike other inhibitors that inhibit the corresponding enzyme in fungi and mammals to the same extent, khafrefungin does not impair sphingolipid synthesis of mammals. The basic strategy for the structural elucidation is to prepare all stereoisomers of the structurally simplified khafrefungin mimics 1 and 2 that were designed for the elucidation of C10,11,12 and C2',3',4' relative stereochemistry, respectively. The comparison of their spectra with those of natural khafrefungin would result in the identification of eight possible stereoisomers, and the analytical details of these eight stereoisomers have led to the complete stereochemical assignment. On the basis of the structural elucidation, the total synthesis of khafrefungin has been accomplished by using tin(II)-catalyzed asymmetric aldol reactions as key steps.     

Temperature dependence of oxygen reduction activity at Pt-Fe, Pt-Co, and Pt-Ni alloy electrodes

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and H(2)O(2) formation at Pt(54)Fe(46), Pt(68)Co(32), and Pt(63)Ni(37) electrodes in 0.1 M HClO(4) solution at 20 to 90 degrees C were investigated by using a channel flow double electrode method. In the temperature range of 20-50 degrees C, the apparent rate constants k(app) for ORR at these electrodes were found to be 2.4-4.0 times larger than that at a pure Pt electrode, whereas their apparent activation energies of 41 kJ mol(-1) at -0.525 V vs E degrees (0.760 V vs RHE at 30 degrees C) were comparable to that at the Pt electrode. H(2)O(2) yield was ca. 1.0% at Pt(54)Fe(46) and ca. 0.16% at Pt(68)Co(32) and Pt(63)Ni(37) between 0.3 and 1.0 V vs RHE. The k(app) values at the alloy electrodes decreased with elevating temperature above 60 degrees C, and settled to almost the same values at the Pt electrode. The H(2)O(2) production was not detected at the alloy electrodes once heated at the high temperature in the solution, probably due to the thickening of the Pt skin-layer by a considerable dissolution of nonprecious metal components (Fe, Co, Ni) from the alloys.     

Isolation and structural determination of a mutagenic substance in creatine pyrolysate

The pyrolysis product of creatine showed potent mutagenic activity to Salmonella typhimurium TA98 with metabolic activation by S9 mix. One of the mutagenic substances in creatine pyrolysate was isolated and named Cre-P-1. Its structure was determined by X-ray crystallography to be 4-amino-1,6-dimethyl-2-methylamino-1H,6H-pyrrolo[3,4-f]benzimidazole- 5,7-dione. Cre-P-1 is the first registered mutagenic heterocyclic amine containing oxygen atoms in the molecule, that has been isolated from pyrolysis products.     

A new approach toward light-harvesting reverse micelles from donor-acceptor miscible blends

In the present paper, we report a new approach toward light-harvesting reverse micellar systems from molecular blends of anthracene and perylene building blocks. The self-assembly initiated by protonation of the molecular blends gave rise to the mixed reverse micelles, in which intermolecular energy transfer from the anthracene to the perylene chromophores was observed. The atomic force microscope (AFM) studies on the reverse micelles prepared from the donor and acceptor blends at a range of the feed ratios showed a number of nanoscale-sized spherical objects homogeneously dispersed on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrate. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) values of the reversed micelles at the donor:acceptor ratios of 100:0, 50:50, and 0:100 were estimated to be 7, 3, and 10 μM by fluorescence batch titrations, respectively, indicating that the cmc values should be almost equivalent regardless of the constitution of each chromophoric component. Attempt to generate the mixed reverse micelles through pairwise mixing of the donor- and acceptor-based reverse micelles resulted in spectral behaviors identical with those obtained by the self-assembly employing the donor-acceptor blends. This suggests that these two reverse micelles undergo thermodynamic exchange of the surfactant molecules to afford the mixed reverse micelles when mixing the two discrete reverse micellar systems.     

Cyano-bridged Mn(III)-M(III) single-chain magnets with M(III)=Co(III), Fe(III), Mn(III), and Cr(III)

A series of isostructural cyano-bridged Mn(III)(h.s.)-M(III)(l.s.) alternating chains, [Mn(III)(5-TMAMsalen)M(III)(CN)(6)]?4H(2)O (5-TMAMsalen(2-)=N,N'-ethylenebis(5-trimethylammoniomethylsalicylideneiminate), Mn(III)(h.s.)=high-spin Mn(III), M(III)(l.s.)=low-spin Co(III), Mn-Co; Fe(III), Mn-Fe; Mn(III), Mn-Mn; Cr(III), Mn-Cr) was synthesized by assembling [Mn(III)(5-TMAMsalen)](3+) and [M(III)(CN)(6)](3-). The chains present in the four compounds, which crystallize in the monoclinic space group C2/c, are composed of an [-Mn(III)-NC-M(III)-CN-] repeating motif, for which the -NC-M(III)-CN- motif is provided by the [M(III)(CN)(6)](3-) moiety adopting a trans bridging mode between [Mn(III)(5-TMAMsalen)](3+) cations. The Mn(III) and M(III) ions occupy special crystallographic positions: a C(2) axis and an inversion center, respectively, forming a highly symmetrical chain with only one kind of cyano bridge. The Jahn-Teller axis of the Mn(III)(h.s.) ion is perpendicular to the N(2)O(2) plane formed by the 5-TMAMsalen tetradentate ligand. These Jahn-Teller axes are all perfectly aligned along the unique chain direction without a bending angle, although the chains are corrugated with an Mn-N(axis) -C angle of about 144°. In the crystal structures, the chains are well separated with the nearest inter-chain M???M distance being relatively large at 9?? due to steric hindrance of the bulky trimethylammoniomethyl groups of the 5-TMAMsalen ligand. The magnetic properties of these compounds have been thoroughly studied. Mn-Fe and Mn-Mn display intra-chain ferromagnetic interactions, whereas Mn-Cr is characterized by an antiferromagnetic exchange that induces a ferrimagnetic spin arrangement along the chain. Detailed analyses of both static and dynamic magnetic properties have demonstrated without ambiguity the single-chain magnet (SCM) behavior of these three systems, whereas Mn-Co is merely paramagnetic with S(Mn)=2 and D/k(B)=-5.3?K (D being a zero-field splitting parameter). At low temperatures, the Mn-M compounds with M=Fe, Mn, and Cr display remarkably large M versus H hysteresis loops for applied magnetic fields along the easy magnetic direction that corresponds to the chain direction. The temperature dependence of the associated relaxation time for this series of compounds systematically exhibits a crossover between two Arrhenius laws corresponding to infinite-chain and finite-chain regimes for the SCM behavior. These isostructural hetero-spin SCMs offer a unique series of alternating [-Mn-NC-M-CN-] chains, enabling physicists to test theoretical SCM models between the Ising and Heisenberg limits.     

Morphosynthesis of poly[4‐(1,4‐phenylene)oxyphthalimide] and copolymers prepared by reaction‐induced crystallization during polymerization

Morphosynthesis of poly[4‐(1,4‐phenylene)oxyphthalimide] (POPI) and poly[4‐(1,4‐phenylene)oxyphthalimide‐co‐4‐phthalimide] (POPI‐PPI) was examined by using the crystallization during the polymerization. The POPI fibrillar crystals were obtained as precipitates with the formation of spherical aggregates of plate‐like crystals. Some of the POPI fibrillar crystals were longer than 15 μm. They possessed high crystallinity and the molecules aligned perpendicular to the long direction of the fibers. On the other hand, one‐dimensional structures of POPI‐PPI such as ribbon, cone, rod, and fiber were obtained as precipitates by the copolymerization. The copolymer molecules might align along the long direction of the cone‐like crystals. The morphology of these poly(ether‐imide)s could be controlled by not only the polymerization condition but also with the aid of copolymerization. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012