Efficient resolution of racemic N-benzyl beta3-amino acids by iterative liquid-liquid extraction with a chiral (salen)cobalt(III) complex as enantioselective selector

The efficient (up to 93% ee) resolution of racemic N-benzyl beta(3)-amino acids has been achieved by an iterative (two cycle) liquid-liquid extraction process using a lipophilic chiral (salen)cobalt(III) complex [Co(III)(1)(OAc)]. As a result of the resolution by extraction, one enantiomer of the N-benzyl beta(3)-amino acid predominated in the aqueous phase, while the other enantiomer was driven into the organic phase by complexation to cobalt. The complexed amino acid was then quantitatively released into an aqueous phase, by a reductive (Co(III)--> Co(II)) counter-extraction using l-ascorbic acid. The reductive cleavage allowed for the recovery of the cobalt(II) selector in up to 90% yield (easily re-oxidable to Co(III) with air/AcOH).     

Photolysis of methylcobalamin: identification of the relevant excited states involved in Co-C bond scission

The relevant excited states involved in the photolysis of methylcobalamin (MeCbl) have been examined by means of time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT). The low-lying singlet and triplet excited states have been calculated along the Co-C bond at the TD-DFT/BP86/6-31g(d) level of theory in order to investigate the dissociation process of MeCbl. These calculations have shown that the photodissociation is mediated by the repulsive 3(sigmaCo-C --> sigma*Co-C) triplet state. The key metastable photoproduct involved in Co-C bond photolysis was identified as an S1 state having predominantly dCo --> pi*corrin metal-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) character.     

Preparation and spectroelectrochemical characterization of composite films of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) with 4-(pyrrole-1-yl) benzoic acid

The possibility of incorporation of 4-(pyrrole-1-yl) benzoic acid, PyBA, during electrodeposition of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), PEDOT, is demonstrated here. The resulting novel composite material has been fabricated as moderately thin (ca 200–300 nm thick) PEDOT/PyBA film on electrode surface. As evidenced from scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), morphology of the composite film is dense and granular, and it is composed of larger granules in comparison to the PyBA-free PEDOT film. It is apparent from infrared reflectance absorption spectroscopy and spectroelectrochemical measurements that the PEDOT/PyBA composite film cannot be viewed as simple mixtures of PEDOT and PyBA components. Some specific (chemical) interactions between PEDOT and PyBA can be expected. The conducting polymer serves as a robust, positively charged conductive polmer matrix for anionic (carboxylate-group derivatized) partially polymerized PyBA structures. Upon incorporation of PyBA, the overall stability of PEDOT film (resistance to dissolution during prolonged voltammetric potential cycling) has been improved. The fact, that the composite PEDOT/PyBA film is capable of preconcentrating (under open circuit conditions) both cations (Cu²⁺) or anions implies the presence of both free (available for binding) carboxylate groups and positively charged PEDOT sites. The presence of PyBA in PEDOT seems to facilitate charge propagation in the composite film. “Contribution to the International Workshop on Electrochemistry of Electroactive Materials (WEEM-2006), Repino, Russia, 24–29 June 2006”.     

The structure of spaces of quasianalytic functions of Roumieu type

It is shown that spaces of quasianalytic ultradifferentiable functions of Roumieu type ℰ_{w}(Ω), on an open convex set , satisfy some new (Ω) -type linear topological invariants. Some consequences for the splitting of short exact sequences of these spaces as well as for the structure of the spaces are derived. In particular, Fréchet quotients of ℰ_{w}(Ω) have property (), while dual Fréchet quotients have property () of Vogt. The work of P. Domański was supported by Committee of Scientific Research (KBN), Poland, grant P03A 022 25.     

Poly(3-alkylthiophenes): new sorption materials for solid phase microextraction of drugs isolated from human plasma

A novel sorbent in solid phase microextraction (SPME) method based on poly(3-alkylthiophenes) was used in the isolation of linezolid from human plasma samples following liquid chromatography determination. The effect of extraction time on the sorption capacity of the SPME process was studied and pointed at 10 min both for adsorption and desorption. Poly(3-methylthiophene) and poly(3-nonylthiophene) were applied for the extraction of linezolid from water solutions. In plasma samples, four coatings including polythiophene and poly(3-penthylthiophene) were investigated. With these measurements, correlation coefficients were calculated in the range from 0.9820 to 0.9995, and the relative standard deviations were below 15%. That allowed claiming that the synthesized and described materials can be successfully applied in the analysis of linezolid also from other matrices such as urine or blood.     

Improvement of tribological properties of co-acting elements by oil pockets creation on sliding surfaces

Sliding experiments were carried out using a block-on-ring friction machine. The tribosystem consists of the stationary block (counter-specimen) pressed at the required load P against the ring (specimen) rotating at the defined speed. The sliding was unidirectional. The block was a part of a bearing sleeve hardened EN-GJS 400-15 cast iron with a hardness value of 50 HRC. The ring samples, 35 mm in diameter, were made from hardened 42CrMo4 steel of hardness 32 HRC. Some variants of specimen surfaces were created by burnishing technique. Two kinds of experiments were done. Seizure tests were conducted at increasing pressure for sliding speeds in the range: 0.27–0.55 m/s. Wear resistance test was carried out under artificially increased dustiness conditions, too. It was found that surface texturing improved seizure resistance for the smallest sliding speed (0.27 m/s) comparing to untextured ground samples. The wear of steel rings with spherical dimples was smaller than of those having dimples of long drop shape for the pit-area ratio range of 7.5–20%.     

First-principles study of fluoroform adsorption on a hexagonal ice (0001) surface: weak hydrogen bonds-strong structural effects

For isolated fluoroform (F(3)CH) molecules adsorbed on a hexagonal ice (0001) surface the properties of blue- and red-shifting hydrogen bonds were studied using static density functional theory (DFT) calculations and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CP-MD) simulations. A systematic search by starting from many initial configurations was performed to determine the lowest-energy structures of F(3)CH on the ice surface, and for the optimized geometries the vibrational frequencies were calculated. The local minima structures are analyzed in terms of their coordination to the surface, with special focus on identifying blue-shifting hydrogen bonds via their spectroscopic signature of an increased frequency of the C-H fundamental stretching vibration. Subsequently, by CP-MD simulations the stability of the lowest-energy configurations at finite temperatures was verified and possible transformation pathways connecting the local minima structures were explored.     

Injection molded nanofluidic chips: fabrication method and functional tests using single-molecule DNA experiments

We demonstrate that fabrication of well-defined nanofluidic systems can be greatly simplified by injection molding of thermoplastic polymers. Chips featuring nanochannel arrays, microchannels and integrated interconnects are produced in a single processing step by injection molding. The resulting open channel structures are subsequently sealed by facile plasma-enhanced thermal bonding of a polymer film. This fast, inexpensive and industry-compatible method thus provides a single-use all-polymer platform for nanofluidic lab-on-a-chip applications. Its applicability for nanofluidics is demonstrated by DNA stretching experiments performed on individual double-stranded DNA molecules confined in the injection molded nanochannels. The obtained results are consistent with measurements performed in costly state-of-the-art silica nanochannels, for both straight and tapered channel geometries.     

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition-decarboxylation reactions of an azomethine ylide with isatoic anhydrides: formation of novel benzodiazepinones

A nonstabilized azomethine ylide reacts with a wide range of substituted isatoic anhydrides to afford novel 1,3-benzodiazepin-5-one derivatives, which are generally isolated in high yield. The transformations involve 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of the ylide with the anhydrides to give transient, and in a representative case spectroscopically observable, oxazolidine intermediates that undergo ring-opening-decarboxylation-ring-closing reaction cascades to yield the 1,3-benzodiazepin-5-one products.     

Oxygen adsorption on Pt/Ru(0001) layers

Chemical properties of epitaxially grown bimetallic layers may deviate substantially from the behavior of their constituents. Strain in conjunction with electronic effects due to the nearby interface represent the dominant contribution to this modification. One of the simplest surface processes to characterize reactivity of these substrates is the dissociative adsorption of an incoming homo-nuclear diatomic molecule. In this study, the adsorption of O(2) on various epitaxially grown Pt films on Ru(0001) has been investigated using infrared absorption spectroscopy and thermal desorption spectroscopy. Pt/Ru(0001) has been chosen as a model system to analyze the individual influences of lateral strain and of the residual substrate interaction on the energetics of a dissociative adsorption system. It is found that adsorption and dissociative sticking depends dramatically on Pt film thickness. Even though oxygen adsorption proceeds in a straightforward manner on Pt(111) and Ru(0001), molecular chemisorption of oxygen on Pt/Ru(0001) is entirely suppressed for the Pt/Ru(0001) monolayer. For two Pt layers chemisorbed molecular oxygen on Pt terraces is produced, albeit at a very slow rate; however, no (thermally induced) dissociation occurs. Only for Pt layer thicknesses N(Pt) ≥ 3 sticking gradually speeds up and annealing leads to dissociation of O(2), thereby approaching the behavior for oxygen adsorption on genuine Pt(111). For Pt monolayer films a novel state of chemisorbed O(2), most likely located at step edges of Pt monolayer islands is identified. This state is readily populated which precludes an activation barrier towards adsorption, in contrast to adsorption on terrace sites of the Pt/Ru(0001) monolayer.