Surface Raman characterization of cinchonidine-modified polycrystalline platinum in ethanol: effects of temperature and comparison with 10,11-dihydrocinchonidine

The adsorption of the chiral modifier cinchonidine on platinum in ethanol as a function of temperature has been studied with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The temperature range chosen was from 30 to 70 °C, within which both the activity and selectivity of cinchonidine-modified Pt catalysts have been shown to change dramatically. Platinum surfaces were modified with 260 μM cinchonidine in ethanol, and examined both in pure ethanol and in the modifying solution itself. Adsorbed cinchonidine under pure ethanol was found to partially desorb as the temperature was raised, accompanied by an increase in the average tilt of the quinoline group with respect to the surface. In contrast, the presence of solution-phase cinchonidine resulted in an increase in the cinchonidine surface coverage and average tilt as temperature was raised. In a previous study [J. Mol. Catal. A 212 (2004) 277] we showed that hydrogen causes a dramatic enhancement in the SERS response of adsorbed cinchonidine. This was attributed to a conversion of cinchonidine to 10,11-dihydrocinchonidine on the Pt surface and a more flat orientation of the quinoline group. In both pure ethanol and in 260 μM cinchonidine, the presence of hydrogen causes a significant decrease in the alkaloid SERS bands at temperatures above 40 °C. In addition, the average tilt of the quinoline group increases significantly at these elevated temperatures. The temperature-dependence of 10,11-dihydrocinchonidine adsorption was also investigated, and is almost identical to that observed for cinchonidine in the presence of hydrogen. This lends further support to the conclusion that cinchonidine is being hydrogenated on the Pt surface in the presence of hydrogen. The significant changes observed on the cinchonidine-modified Pt surface above 40 °C correlate well with reported decreases in enantioselectivity and turn-over frequency at similar temperatures during ethyl pyruvate hydrogenation.     

Carbon paste-based electrochemical detectors for microchip capillary electrophoresis/electrochemistry

The first reported use of a carbon paste electrochemical detector for microchip capillary electrophoresis (CE) is described. Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based microchip CE devices were constructed by reversibly sealing a PDMS layer containing separation and injection channels to a separate PDMS layer that contained carbon paste working electrodes. End-channel amperometric detection with a single electrode was used to detect amino acids derivatized with naphthalene dicarboxaldehyde. Two electrodes were placed in series for dual electrode detection. This approach was demonstrated for the detection of copper(II) peptide complexes. A major advantage of carbon paste is that catalysts can be easily incorporated into the electrode. Carbon paste that was chemically modified with cobalt phthalocyanine was used for the detection of thiols following a CE separation. These devices illustrate the potential for an easily constructed microchip CE system with a carbon-based detector that exhibits adjustable selectivity.     

THE U.V. PHOTOCHEMISTRY OF CYTIDYLIC ACID

Abstract The ultraviolet (u.v.) irradiation of the 3' isomer of cytidylic acid (Cp) produces the hydrate (Cp*) with water added across the 5–6 double bond. The yield of this photo-product has been measured by, (a) separating the photoproduct by electrophoresis and (b) by observing the loss in absorbance. When corrections are made for reversal of the hydrate during the experiment, both methods gave the same result. Cross sections and quantum yields for the production of the hydrate were measured over the wavelength range 220 to 290 nm and over a pH range from 1 to 10. The quantum yield is markedly dependent on pH being higher by a factor of 6 to 10 for the neutral form. We have also demonstrated the existence of a very short lived photoproduct (half life 8–9 min) in both Cp3' and Cp5': The nature of this short lived product is not known.     

Selective sorption of uranium from aqueous solution by graphene oxide-modified materials

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - The effect of competing ions on the sorption behaviour of uranium onto carboxyl-functionalised graphene oxide (COOH-GO) were studied in batch...     

Assignment of coherence features in NMR q-space plots to particular diffusion modes in erythrocyte suspensions.

NMR q-space plots derived from water diffusing inside and around erythrocytes in a suspension display reproducible and characteristic coherence features. The aim of the present work was to determine which water population gives rise to the respective features. The central experimental strategy was to use choline and choline phosphate which are virtually membrane impermeant on the time scale of the experiment; the former was incorporated into erythrocytes by a lysis-resealing method and the latter was simply added to the suspensions. Dimethyl sulfoxide, which readily but more slowly exchanges across the cell membranes than water, also yielded q-space plots which were similar to those of water, but the differences were able to be accounted for on the basis of its slower transmembrane exchange rate. Random walk simulations using a Monte Carlo procedure, together with a model of an array of biconcave discocytes, helped verify the interpretations of the assignment of the features of the plots to molecules diffusing in the two regions. In addition, the simulations revealed how the presence or absence of transmembrane exchange affects the form of q-space plots.     

Anti-periodic solutions for evolution equations associated with maximal monotone mappings

In this work, we study the anti-periodic problem for a nonlinear evolution inclusion where the nonlinear part is an odd maximal monotone mapping and the forcing term is an anti-periodic mapping. Several existence results are obtained under suitable conditions. An example is presented to illustrate the results.     

Photocaged pendent thiol polymer brush surfaces for postpolymerization modifications via thiol‐click chemistry

In this work, a postpolymerization surface modification approach is reported that provides pendent thiol functionality along the polymer brush backbone using the photolabile protection chemistry of both o‐nitrobenzyl and p‐methoxyphenacyl thioethers. Poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) brushes were synthesized via surface‐initiated atom transfer radical polymerization, after which the pHEMA hydroxyl groups were esterified with 3‐(2‐nitrobenzylthio)propanoic acid or 3‐(2‐(4‐methoxyphenyl)‐2‐oxoethylthio)propanoic acid to provide the photolabile protected pendent thiols. Addressing the protecting groups with light not only affords spatial control of reactive thiol functionality but enables a plethora of thiol‐mediated transformations with isocyanates and maleimides providing a modular route to create functional polymer surfaces. This concept was extended to block copolymer brush architectures enabling the modification of the chemical functionality of both the inner and outer blocks of the block copolymer surface. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2013