Simple synthesis of tetra-n-butylphosphonium benzimidazolate/benzimidazole mixture as a thermally stable proton conductor

A mixture of tetra-n-butylphosphonium benzimidazolate and benzimidazole is readily prepared as a proton conductive liquid having thermal stability up to 300 °C.     

Tautomers of extended reduced pyrazinacenes: a density-functional-theory based study

We present a structural and electronic inspection of reduced pyrazinacenes within the DFT framework. Our analysis provides a clear indication that compounds in which reduced pyrazine rings are well separated from each other are rather stable. Conversely, if the reduced pyrazine rings approach each other or cluster together, the compounds become increasingly unstable. The tautomers analyzed are likely to possess properties suitable for application as proton transport materials due to protic isomerism processes. On the basis of our findings, we propose that protic transport should occur through a concerted proton transfer without involving intramolecular aggregation of the dihydropyrazine groups. Furthermore, the electronic structure analysis shows that this class of compounds can be classified as small bandgap semiconducting materials, possessing even metallic character depending on the tautomeric structure, and with potential nanotechnological applications in molecular electronics and fuel cells.     

Ferroelectric mobile water

In molecular dynamics simulations single-domain ferroelectric water is produced under ordinary ambient conditions utilizing carbon nanotubes open to a water reservoir. This ferroelectric water diffuses while keeping its proton-ordered network intact. The mobile/immobile water transitions and the step-wise changes in net polarization of water are observed to occur spontaneously. The immobile water becomes mobile by transforming into the single-domain ferroelectric water. Our general notion of relating a more highly ordered structure with a lower temperature has so far restricted researchers' attention to very low temperatures when experimenting on proton-ordered phases of water. The present study improves our general understanding of water, considering that the term 'ferroelectric water' has so far practically stood for 'ferroelectric ice,' and that single-domain ferroelectric water has not been reported even for the ice nanotubes.     

Design and synthesis of amidine-type peptide bond isosteres: application of nitrile oxide derivatives as active ester equivalents in peptide and peptidomimetics synthesis

Amidine-type peptide bond isosteres were designed based on the substitution of the peptide bond carbonyl (C=O) group with an imino (C=NH) group. The positively-charged property of the isosteric part resembles a reduced amide-type peptidomimetic. The peptidyl amidine units were synthesized by the reduction of a key amidoxime (N-hydroxyamidine) precursor, which was prepared from nitrile oxide components as an aminoacyl or peptidyl equivalent. This nitrile oxide-mediated C-N bond formation was also used for peptide macrocyclization, in which the amidoxime group was converted to peptide bonds under mild acidic conditions. Syntheses of the cyclic RGD peptide and a peptidomimetic using both approaches, and their inhibitory activity against integrin-mediated cell attachment, are presented.     

Tyrosinase inhibitory constituents from the bark of Peltophorum dasyrachis (yellow batai)

Tyrosinase inhibitory activity-guided fractionation of the bark of Peltophorum dasyrachis (yellow batai) led to the isolation of the six active compounds which were characterised as six flavonoids: apigenin (1), (+)-2,3-trans-dihydrokaempferol (2), (+)-2,3-trans-dihydrokaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (3), (+)-4',7-dimethoxy-2,3-trans-dihydroquercetin (4), (+)-2,3-trans-dihydroquercetin (5) and (-)-2,3-trans-dihydroquercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside (6). All compounds were isolated for the first time from the bark of P. dasyrachis. Moreover, all compounds were evaluated for tyrosinase activities towards L-DOPA as the substrate. We observed that compounds 2 and 5 showed potent inhibitory effects (IC?? values were 126?±?3.2 and 210?±?5.8?μM, respectively). In general, for flavonoids the 3',4'-dihydroxy group's substituent is a more potent inhibitor than the 4'-hydroxy group substituent, i.e. quercetin?>?kaempferol. Interestingly, our result in the oxidation of L-DOPA showed that the 4'-hydroxy group substituent (compound 2) is a more potent inhibitor than the 3',4'-dihydroxy group substituent (compound 5). This result showed a new relationship between tyrosinase inhibitory activities and flavonoids. The kinetic analyses by Lineweaver-Burk plots showed that both the compounds 2 and 5 behaved as competitive inhibitors of L-DOPA oxidation.     

New solanocapsine-type tomato glycoside from ripe fruit of Solanum lycopersicum

A new solanocapsine-type tomato glycoside, a novel and interesting natural steroidal glycoside, was isolated from a mini tomato, Solanum lycopersicum L. The chemical structure of the new minor glycoside, esculeoside B-5 (3), was determined to be (5S,22R,23S,24R,25S)-22,26-epimino-16β,23-epoxy-3β,23,24-trihydroxycholestane 3-O-β-lycotetraoside.     

Duplex model for homogenized elastic-viscoplastic behavior of plate-fin structures at high temperatures

In this study, a duplex model is developed as a constitutive model for the homogenized elastic-viscoplastic behavior of a class of plate-fin structures operating at high temperatures. This model consists of plate and fin layers, which are individually ruled by different macro-constitutive models. An anisotropic, compressible power-law equation that was derived in a recent study by the present authors is used to describe the homogenized viscoplastic behavior of the fin layer. On the other hand, an isotropic, incompressible power-law equation is used as the macro-constitutive equation of the plate layer. The duplex model developed is applied to an ultra-fine plate-fin structure made of Hastelloy X. It is shown that the duplex model is more successful under multiaxial loading than the corresponding simplex model in which plates and fins are non-separately homogenized.     

Chromatographic characterization of hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography stationary phases: hydrophilicity, charge effects, structural selectivity, and separation efficiency

Fourteen commercially available particle-packed columns and a monolithic column for hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) were characterized in terms of the degree of hydrophilicity, the selectivity for hydrophilic-hydrophobic substituents, the selectivity for the regio and configurational differences in hydrophilic substituents, the selectivity for molecular shapes, the evaluation of electrostatic interactions, and the evaluation of the acidic-basic nature of the stationary phases using nucleoside derivatives, phenyl glucoside derivatives, xanthine derivatives, sodium p-toluenesulfonate, and trimethylphenylammonium chloride as a set of samples. Principal component analysis based on the data of retention factors could separate three clusters of the HILIC phases. The column efficiency and the peak asymmetry factors were also discussed. These data on the selectivity for partial structural differences were summarized as radar-shaped diagrams. This method of column characterization is helpful to classify HILIC stationary phases on the basis of their chromatographic properties, and to choose better columns for targets to be separated. Judging from the retention factor for uridine, these HILIC columns could be separated into two groups: strongly retentive and weakly retentive stationary phases. Among the strongly retentive stationary phases, zwitterionic and amide functionalities were found to be the most selective on the basis of partial structural differences. The hydroxyethyl-type stationary phase showed the highest retention factor, but with low separation efficiency. Weakly retentive stationary phases generally showed lower selectivity for partial structural differences.     

Spontaneous formation of dye-functionalized gold nanoparticles using reverse micellar systems

Detailed exploratory and mechanistic investigations on spontaneous formation of dye-functionalized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) using dye-based reverse micellar systems are described in this publication. The accumulated results from spectroscopic and microscopic investigations demonstrated that water molecules confined within nanoscopic enclosure of the self-assembled reverse micelles played critical role in the redox processes of aurate ions to produce GNPs, which are assumed to have approximately constant size distributions. The resulting dye-functionalized GNPs were found to offer their absorption and fluorescence emission tunability by changing the medium polarity as well as to exhibit excellent film-forming properties to give optically homogeneous polystyrene thin films. These key findings in addition to broad applicability of the self-assembling process with a variety of dye analogues have led to a conclusion that the protocol presented here serves as a versatile synthetic method to provide a potential convenience for future development of new organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials.     

Bis(methylthio)tetracenes: synthesis, crystal-packing structures, and OFET properties

5,12-Bis(methylthio)tetracene (2) and 5,11-bis(methylthio)tetracene (3) were synthesized. DFT calculations indicate that the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of 2 and 3 are lowered by 0.13-0.24 eV and their HOMO-LUMO energy gaps are reduced by 0.1 eV relative to those of tetracene. X-ray crystallographic data revealed that 2 is arranged as a result of a 1-D slipped-cofacial π-stacking with S-S and S-π interactions, similar to the packing arrangement of 6,13-bis(methylthio)pentacene (1), whereas 3 exhibits a herringbone packing arrangement without S-S interactions. The OFET devices fabricated using spin-coated films of soluble 1 and 2, with a bottom-contact device configuration, exhibited hole mobilities as high as 1.3 × 10(-2) and 4.0 × 10(-2) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) with current on/off ratios of over 10(5) and 10(4), respectively.