Contributions to the basic problems of complexometry-XXI: determination of nickel in the presence of cobalt

A new method for the determination of nickel in the presence of cobalt, based on the masking of the cobalt with potassium cyanide and hydrogen peroxide, is proposed. The yellow, or orange-yellow, complex of cobalt(III) is formed, from which cobalt is not displaced upon the addition of silver nitrate. Tetracyanonickelate, however, reacts quantitatively with silver nitrate, and the displaced nickel can be determined directly with EDTA, using Murexide as indicator. Up to 30 mg of cobalt can be tolerated in the solution.     

Synthesis of enantiomerically pure (purin-6-yl)phenylalanines and their nucleosides, a novel type of purine-amino acid conjugates

[Chemical reaction: See text] Enantiomerically or diastereomerically pure 4-(purin-6-yl)phenylalanines, a novel type of stable amino acid-purine conjugates, were synthesized by palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of protected 4-boronophenylalanines or 4-(trimethylstanyl)phenylalanines with diverse 6-halopurines (9-benzyl-6-halopurines and 9-(tetrahydropyran-2-yl)-6-halopurines as well as acyl- and silyl-protected 6-halopurine ribonucleosides and 2-deoxyribonucleosides). Free purine bases and nucleosides bearing (S)- or (R)-phenylalanine in position 6 were obtained after complete deprotection of the products of cross-coupling reactions. Reactivity trends for both of these cross-coupling and deprotection protocols have been compared in terms of practicability, efficiency, and stereoselectivity.     

Advanced statistical evaluation of the complex formation constants from electrophoretic data II: Diastereomeric ion-pairs of (R,S)-N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)leucine and tert-butylcarbamoylquinine

Intermolecular association and ion-pair formation, respectively, between a cationic chiral selector, viz. o-9-(tert-butylcarbamoyl) quinine (CQN), and the both enantiomers of anionic N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)leucine, (R)-DNB-Leu and (S)-DNB-Leu, were investigated by affinity capillary electrophoresis (ACE). Thus, binding constants of the both diastereomeric ion-pairs, (R) and (S)-DNB-Leu/CQN associates, were determined by different experimental setups and correction of nonlinear effects. A reciprocal setup was employed for the high-affinity (S)-enantiomer, and the experimental mobility data obtained for CQN at variable (S)-DNB-Leu concentrations in the background electrolyte were linearized and evaluated by advanced statistical model. A binding constant of K_S=125.1 l mol⁻¹ was afforded. The constant for the (R)-enantiomer, which is outside the range suitable for direct affinity CE, was obtained from indirect affinity CE utilizing the separation of the DNB-Leu racemate at a single appropriate CQN concentration in the BGE (resolution method) taking advantage of the known constant for the (S)-enantiomer yielding a binding constant of K_R=2.51 l mol⁻¹. Thereby, the so-called “constant time method” was adopted for the required precise measurement of the effective mobilities of the both enantiomers. A combined approach of reciprocal affinity CE with racemic DNB-Leu as additive and the resolution method confirmed the results. The resulting constants evidence excellent enantioselectivity of the tert-butylcarbamoyl derivative of the cinchona alkaloid quinine as chiral selector for N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl) derivatives of amino acids.     

Biocompatible hydrogels based on chitosan,cellulose/starch,PVA and PEDOT:PSS with high flexibility and high mechanical strength

Fabricating mechanically strong hydrogels that can withstand the conditions in internal tissues is a challenging task. We have designed hydrogels based on multicomponent systems by combining chitosan, starch/cellulose, PVA, and PEDOT:PSS via one-pot synthesis. The starch-based hydrogels were homogeneous, while the cellulose-based hydrogels showed the presence of cellulose micro- and nanofibers. The cellulose-based hydrogels demonstrated a swelling ratio between 121 and 156%, while the starch-based hydrogels showed higher values, from 234 to 280%. Tensile tests indicated that the presence of starch in the hydrogels provided high flexibility (strain at break?>?300%), while combination with cellulose led to the formation of stiffer hydrogels (elastic moduli 3.9–6.6 MPa). The ultimate tensile strength for both types of hydrogels was similar (2.8–3.9 MPa). The adhesion and growth of human osteoblast-like SAOS-2 cells was higher on hydrogels with cellulose than on hydrogels with starch, and was higher on hydrogels with PEDOT:PSS than on hydrogels without this polymer. The metabolic activity of cells cultivated for 3 days in the hydrogel infusions indicated that no acutely toxic compounds were released. This is promising for further possible applications of these hydrogels in tissue engineering or in wound dressings.

Graphical abstract

     

Application of a contactless conductometric detector for the simultaneous determination of small anions and cations by capillary electrophoresis with dual-opposite end injection

A contactless conductometric detection (CCD) system for capillary electrophoresis (CE) with a flexible detection cell was applied for the simultaneous determination of small anions and/or cations in rain, surface and drainage water samples. The applied frequency, the amplitude of the input signal, the electrolyte conductivity and electrode distance were found to be the most significant factors affecting the detection sensitivity. 2-(N-Morpholino)ethanesulfonic acid/histidine-based (MES/His) electrolytes were used for direct conductivity detection of anions and cations, while ammonium acetate was selected for indirect conductivity determination of alkylammonium salts. For the simultaneous separation procedure, involving dual-opposite end injection, an electrolyte consisting of 20 mM MES/His, 1.5 mM 18-crown-6 and 20 microM cetyltrimethylammonium bromide provided baseline separation of 13 anions and cations in less than 6 min. The detection limits achieved were 7-30 micrograms/l for direct conductometric detection of various common inorganic cations and anions, excluding F- (62 micrograms/l) and H2PO4- (250 micrograms/l), and 35-178 micrograms/l for indirect conductometric detection of alkyl ammonium cations. The developed electrophoretic method with conductometric detection was compared to ion chromatography.     

Epoxide networks as model networks

Summary The equilibrium mechanical behaviour of weak diepoxide-monoepoxide-diamine networks, prepared with an excess of diamine and measured in the rubbery state, was compared with theoretical predictions obtained by using the theory of branching processes. The experimental equilibrium moduli fit well the shape of theoretical curves over a broad range of crosslinking density regardless of whether the contribution by trapped entanglements is considered or not. The data fit equally well the theoretical dependence for the front factor A = 1 without entanglement contribution and forA = (f _e - 2)/f _e , (f _e is the average effective functionality of a junction) with an entanglement contribution based on the contact probability between any two units within elastically active network chains (Langley).Dedicated to Prof. Dr.G. Rehage on the occasion of his 60th birthday.With 5 figures     

Functionalized mesoporous silica films as a matrix for anchoring electrochemically active guests

Mesoporous silica thin films were shown to be an appropriate matrix for immobilization of discrete electroactive moieties, yielding uniform transparent thin film electrodes with defined texture and enhanced electrochemical activity. The mesoporous silica films prepared on conducting FTO-coated glass substrate were postsynthetically functionalized. Alkoxysilanes were used as precursors for subsequent grafting via ionic or covalent bonds of representative electroactive species, such as polyoxometalate PMo12O(40)3-, hexacyanoferrate(III), and ferrocene. The electrochemically active concentration within the silica-based composite electrodes achieves 90, 260, and 60 micromol cm(-3) for polyoxometalate, hexacyanoferrate(III), and ferrocene, respectively. The amount of molecules involved in the charge-transfer sequence is proportional to the film thickness and comparable to the total amount of embedded guests. Thus, eventually the whole bulk volume of the modified silica films is electrochemically accessible. Immobilization in the chemically modified silica matrix alters the redox potential of the electroactive molecules. Electron exchange between the adjacent redox centers (electron hopping) is proposed as a possible charge propagation pathway through the insulating silica matrix, which is supported by the fact that the high charge uptake is observed also for the hybrid electrodes with the covalently anchored redox guests.     

Artificial neural network modification of simulation-based fitting: application to a protein-lipid system

Simulation-based fitting has been applied to data analysis and parameter determination of complex experimental systems in many areas of chemistry and biophysics. However, this method is limited because of the time costs of the calculations. In this paper it is proposed to approximate and substitute a simulation model by an artificial neural network during the fitting procedure. Such a substitution significantly speeds up the parameter determination. This approach is tested on a model of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) within a system of site-directed fluorescence labeled M13 major coat protein mutants incorporated into a lipid bilayer. It is demonstrated that in our case the application of a trained artificial neural network for the substitution of the simulation model results in a significant gain in computing time by a factor of 5 x 10(4). Moreover, an artificial neural network produces a smooth approximation of the noisy results of a stochastic simulation.     

Theoretical and experimental consideration of the reactions between VxOy+ and ethylene

We present joint theoretical and experimental results which provide evidence for the selectivity of V(x)O(y)(+) clusters in reactions toward ethylene due to the charge and different oxidation states of vanadium for different cluster sizes. Density functional calculations were performed on the reactions between V(x)O(y)(+) and ethylene, allowing us to identify the structure-reactivity relationship and to corroborate the experimental results obtained by Castleman and co-workers (Zemski, K. A.; Justes, D. R.; Castleman, A. W., Jr. J. Phys. Chem. A 2001, 105, 10237). The lowest-energy structures for the V(2)O(2)(-)(6)(+) and V(4)O(8)(-)(10)(+) clusters and the V(2)O(3)(-)(6)(+)-C(2)H(4) and V(4)O(10)(+)-C(2)H(4) complexes, as well as the energetics for reactions between ethylene and V(2)O(4)(-)(6)(+) and V(4)O(10)(+) are presented here. The oxygen transfer reaction pathway was determined to be the most energetically favorable one available to V(2)O(5)(+) and V(4)O(10)(+) via a radical-cation mechanism.The association and replacement reaction pathways were found to be the optimal channels for V(2)O(4)(+) and V(2)O(6)(+), respectively. These results are in agreement with the experimental results reported previously. Experiments were also conducted for the reactions between V(2)O(5)(+) and ethylene to include an energetic analysis at increasing pressures. It was found that the addition of energy depleted the production of V(2)O(4)(+), confirming that a more involved reaction rather than a collisional process is responsible for the observed phenomenon. In this contribution we show that investigation of reactions involving gas-phase cationic vanadium oxide clusters with small hydrocarbons is suitable for the identification of reactive centers responsible for selectivity in heterogeneous catalysis.     

Determination of radiation yields of ionogenic products of two-phase water-tributylphosphate and water-di-(2-ethylhexyl)-phosphoric acid systems by capillary isotachophoresis

It was found that the main ionogenic radiolytical degradation products of tributylphosphate were monobutylphosphate dibutylphosphate, phosphoric acid, formic, acetic, propionic and butyric acids as the result of gamma-irradiation of two-phase water-tributylphosphate system. In the case of irradiation of two-phase water-di(2-ethylhexyl)-phosphoric acid system, the main radiolytic degradation products are 2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid and phosphoric acid. All products were determined using isotachophoresis. According two-phase theory the total and partial radiation yields of products were calculated from the results.Dedicated to 65th birthday of prof. L. T. Bugaenko