Temperature drop turbidity. IV. Polystyrene

The molecular weight distribution of fractionated and unfractionated polystyrene samples has been determined by temperature drop turbidimetry, in which polymer is precipitated from dilute solutions in cyclohexanol by progressively cooling from 388 to 310 K. Estimates of the molecular weight averages and the polydispersities, obtained by calibration of the temperature of initial onset of precipitation, T_i, and the weight-average molecular weight were low, but could be substantially improved by correcting for concentration changes during precipitation. An empirical procedure correlating the breadth of turbidity-temperature curves to the logarithm of the polydispersity, as measured by gel permeation chromatography, appeared to be a simpler method of characterizing the polymer samples and as accurate as the computational methods above.     

Methodological approach to development of enzymatic technologies for semisynthetic betalactam antibiotic production

The algorithm for the research and design of optimized processes for synthesis of semisynthetic betalactam antibiotics with the use of peptidases with mechanism of action based on the acylenzyme interm ediate formation as a catalyst was formulated. The applicability of the proposed approach to the development of the processes for enzymatic synthesis of cefoxitin and cefazolin, semisynthetic cephalosporins, as an example, was demonstrated.     

Impact of Heteroatom Substitution on Dual-State Emissive Rigidified 2-(2’-hydroxyphenyl)benzazole Dyes: Towards Ultra-Bright ESIPT Fluorophores**

2-(2’-Hydroxyphenyl)benzazole (HBX) fluorophores are well-known excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) emitters largely studied for their synthetic versatility, photostability, strong solid-state fluorescence and ability to engineer dual emission, thus paving the way to applications as white emitters, ratiometric sensors, and cryptographic dyes. However, they are heavily quenched in solution, due to efficient non-radiative pathways taking place as a consequence of the proton transfer in the excited-state. In this contribution, the nature of the heteroring constitutive of these rigidified HBX dyes was modified and we demonstrate that this simple structural modification triggers major optical changes in terms of emission color, dual emission engineering, and importantly, fluorescent quantum yield. Investigation of the photophysical properties in solution and in the solid state of a series of ethynyl-TIPS extended HBX fluorophores, along with ab initio calculations demonstrate the very promising abilities of these dyes to act as bright dual-state emitters, in both solution (even in protic environments) and solid state.     

An Alternate [2×2] Grid Constructed Around TiO4N2 Units

The formation of a tetranuclear self-assembled species constructed around a TiO₄N₂ motif is reported. This aggregate is generated from Ti(OⁱPr)₄, 2,2’-bipyrimidine (bpym) and a bis-biphenol strand (L²H₄) where two 2,2’-biphenol units are connected with a biphenyl spacer. The solid-state structure of the [Ti₄(L²)₄(bpym)₄] architecture reveals the formation of an unprecedented chiral alternate [2×2] grid. In addition to the structural characterization of the [Ti₄(L²)₄(bpym)₄] architecture, geometry optimisation on various possible isomeric tetrameric assemblies ([2×2] grid, alternate [2×2] grid, circular helicate or cyclic hemihelicate) is performed using DFT calculations. These results confirm the higher stability of the alternate [2×2] grid over the other possible tetranuclear isomers and allow examining the replacement of the bpym ligands by two novel diimine chelates within the tetranuclear assembly (2,2’-bipyridine=bipy and 2,2’-bipyrazine=bipyraz). From this initial theoretical investigation, the competition between these three nitrogen ligands in the course of the self-assembly process is next evaluated. Overall, this investigation shows that the exclusive formation of the alternate [2×2] grid is driven by CH⋅⋅⋅N interactions.     

Hydrogen Bonding and Vaporization Thermodynamics in Hexafluoroisopropanol-Acetone and -Methanol Mixtures. A Joined Cluster Analysis and Molecular Dynamic Study

Binary mixtures of hexafluoroisopropanol with either methanol or acetone are analyzed via classical molecular dynamics simulations and quantum cluster equilibrium calculations. In particular, their populations and thermodynamic properties are investigated with the binary quantum cluster equilibrium method, using our in-house code Peacemaker 2.8, upgraded with temperature-dependent parameters. A novel approach, where the final density from classical molecular dynamics, has been used to generate the necessary reference isobars. The hydrogen bond network in both type of mixtures at molar fraction of hexafluoroisopropanol of 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8 respectively is investigated via the molecular dynamics trajectories and the cluster results. In particular, the populations show that mixed clusters are preferred in both systems even at 0.2 molar fractions of hexafluoroisopropanol. Enthalpies and entropies of vaporization are calculated for the neat and mixed systems and found to be in good agreement with experimental values.     

A one pot multi-component CuAAC “click” approach to bidentate and tridentate pyridyl-1,2,3-triazole ligands: Synthesis,X-ray structures and copper(II) and silver(I) complexes

A one pot, multi-component CuAAC reaction has been developed for the generation of alkyl, benzyl or aryl substituted bi and tridentate pyridyl-1,2,3-triazole ligands from their corresponding halides, sodium azide and alkynes in excellent yields. The ligands have been fully characterized by elemental analysis, HR-ESMS, IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR and in the ferrocenyl substituted cases the structures were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Additionally, we have examined the coordination chemistry of these ligands and found that a variety of geometrically diverse Cu(II) and Ag(I) complexes, including interesting tri and tetrasilver complexes, can be formed.     

A technique for sequential leaching of coal and fly ash resulting in good recovery of trace elements

Coal and fly ash contain many elements. These elements exist in different forms which may change throughout the coal combustion process. There are several processes, including X-ray techniques and leaching techniques by which studies have attempted to assess the form of a particular element in a sample. This work focuses on determining the leachability of selected elements sequentially leached in four extraction solutions: water, 1 M ammonium acetate, 3 M hydrochloric acid and 50% hydrofluoric acid. The emphasis is on evaluating the steps involved in the leaching process with the mass recovery for each element being the basis for evaluation. The total amount of each element that will leach out under the given extraction condition is presented as a fraction of the total present in the material. The materials evaluated were NIST coal and fly ash standards. The elements measured in this study include aluminum, barium, beryllium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, potassium, sodium, strontium, vanadium and zinc.     

Dynamic octopus amphiphiles as powerful activators of DNA transporters: differential fragrance sensing and beyond

We report the design, synthesis and evaluation of dynamic "octopus" amphiphiles with emphasis on their efficiency as activators in synthetic membrane-based sensing systems. Previously, we found that the in situ treatment of charged hydrazides with hydrophobic aldehydes or ketones gives amphiphilic counterion activators of polyion transporters in lipid bilayers, and that their efficiency increases with the number of their hydrophobic tails. Herein, we expand this series to amphiphiles with one cationic head (guanidinium or ammonium) and four exchangeable hydrophobic tails. These results, with the highest number of tails reported to date, confirm that dynamic octopus amphiphiles provide access to maximal activity and selectivity. Odorants, such as muscone, carvone, or anisaldehyde are used to outline their usefulness in differential sensing systems that operate based on counterion-activated DNA transporters in fluorogenic vesicles. The enhanced ability of octopus amphiphiles to enable the discrimination of enantiomers as well as that of otherwise intractable ortho, meta, and para isomers and short cyclo-/alkyl tails is demonstrated. These findings identify dynamic octopus amphiphiles as being promising for application to differential sensing, "fragrant" cellular uptake, and slow release.     

Optimization of N‐methyl‐N‐[tert‐butyldimethylsilyl]trifluoroacetamide as a derivatization agent for determining isotopic enrichment of glycerol in very‐low density lipoproteins

Stable isotope kinetic studies play an important role in the study of very‐low density lipoprotein (VLDL) metabolism, including basic and clinical research. Today, [1,1,2,3,3‐²H₅]glycerol is the most cost‐effective alternative to measure glycerol and triglyceride kinetics. Recycling of glycerol from glycolysis and gluconeogenesis may lead to incompletely labelled tracer molecules. Many existing methods for the measurement of glycerol isotopic enrichment involve the production of glycerol derivatives that result in fragmentation of the glycerol molecule after ionization. It would be favourable to measure the intact tracer molecule since incompletely labelled tracer molecules may be measured as fully labelled. The number of methods available to measure the intact tracer in biological samples is limited. The aim of this project was to develop a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) method for glycerol enrichment that measures the intact glycerol backbone and is suitable for electron ionization (EI), which is widely available. A previously published method for N‐methyl‐N‐[tert‐butyldimethylsilyl]trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) derivatization was significantly improved; we produced a stable derivative and increased recovery 27‐fold in standards. We used the optimized MTBSTFA method in VLDL‐triglyceride and found that further modification was required to take matrix effects into account. We now have a robust method to measure glycerol isotopic enrichment by GC/EI‐MS that can be used to rule out the known problem of tracer recycling in studies of VLDL kinetics. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.