Water-Soluble Polymers and Their Polymer-Metal Ion-Complexes as Antibacterial Agents

Summary: Natural and synthetic polymers with heteroatom, such as oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur or phosphorous, potentially can efficiently remove metal ions from aqueous solutions. The ability of synthetic polymers derived from imino diacetic acid, acrylamido glycolic copolymer, and the natural polymer alginic acid to remove metal ions from dilute solution in conjunction with ultrafiltration membranes was studied. The maximum retention capacity was determined and its polymer-metal ion-complexes were studied as possible antibacterial agents.     

Water-Soluble Polyelectrolytes with Ability to Remove Arsenic

Arsenic species can be removed from aqueous solutions using the liquid-phase polymer-based retention, LPR, technique. The LPR technique removes ionic species by functional groups of water-soluble polyelectrolytes (WSP) and then using a ultrafiltration membrane that does not let them pass through the membrane, thus separating them from the solution. The ability of WSP with groups (R)₄N⁺X⁻ to remove arsenate ions using LPR was studied. The interaction and arsenate anion retention capacity depended on: pH, the quaternary ammonium group's counter ion, and the ratio polymer: As(V), using different concentrations of As(V). Water-soluble polychelates were also used for one-step retention of As(III) in solution. The complex of poly(acrylic acid)-Sn, 10 and 20 wt-% of metal gave a high retention of As(III) species at pH 8, although the molar ratio polychelate: As(III) was 400:1. The enrichment method was used to determine the maximum retention capacity (C) for arsenate anions in aqueous solutions at pH 8. In similar conditions, the values of C were 142 mg g⁻¹ for P(ClAETA) and 75 mg g⁻¹ for P(SAETA). The combined treatment of arsenic aqueous solutions by electrocatalytic oxidation (EO) to convert the species of As(III) to As(V) with the LPR technique quantitatively removed arsenic.     

Covering and radius-covering arrays: Constructions and classification

The minimum number of rows in covering arrays (equivalently, surjective codes) and radius-covering arrays (equivalently, surjective codes with a radius) has been determined precisely only in special cases. In this paper, explicit constructions for numerous best known covering arrays (upper bounds) are found by a combination of combinatorial and computational methods. For radius-covering arrays, explicit constructions from covering codes are developed. Lower bounds are improved upon using connections to orthogonal arrays, partition matrices, and covering codes, and in specific cases by computation. Consequently for some parameter sets the minimum size of a covering array is determined precisely. For some of these, a complete classification of all inequivalent covering arrays is determined, again using computational techniques. Existence tables for up to 10 columns, up to 8 symbols, and all possible strengths are presented to report the best current lower and upper bounds, and classifications of inequivalent arrays.     

On Groups with Finitely Many Conradian Orderings

We study the space of left-orderings on groups with (only) finitely many Conradian orderings. We show that, within this class of groups, having an isolated left-ordering is equivalent to having finitely many left-orderings.     

Interplay between the magnetic field and the dipolar interaction on a magnetic nanoparticle system: A Monte Carlo study

We have studied the influence of the applied magnetic field on the blocking temperature (T_B) of a fine magnetic particle system. By means of a Monte Carlo technique we have simulated zero field cooling (ZFC) curves under different applied fields, obtaining the respective T_B as a function of H. We have focused our study on the limit H → H_K (where H_K is the anisotropy field), since the results found in the literature usually lack a detailed study of this range. The simulations were done at different sample concentration of the nanoparticles, with the purpose of observing how the magnetic dipolar interaction affects the field dependence of T_B. The classical expression predicts T_B to disappear for H ? H_K, independently of the dipolar interaction strength. Our simulations show that at strong interacting conditions T_B exists even for fields H > H_K.     

Glassy Carbon Electrodes Modified with Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes Dispersed in Polylysine

We report the analytical performance of glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) modified with a dispersion of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in polylysine (Plys) (GCE/MWCNT‐Plys). The resulting electrodes show an excellent electrocatalytic activity towards different bioanalytes like ascorbic acid, uric acid and hydrogen peroxide, with important decrease in their oxidation overvoltages. The dispersion of 1.0 mg/mL MWCNT in 1.0 mg/mL polylysine is highly stable, since after 2 weeks the sensitivity for hydrogen peroxide at GCE modified with this dispersion remained in a 90% of the original value. The MWCNT‐Plys layer immobilized on glassy carbon electrodes has been also used as a platform to build supramolecular architectures by self‐assembling of polyelectrolytes based on the polycationic nature of the polylysine used to disperse the nanotubes. The self‐assembling of glucose oxidase has allowed us to obtain a supramolecular multistructure for glucose biosensing. The influence of glucose oxidase concentration and adsorption time as well as the effect of using polylysine or MWCNT‐Plys as polycationic layers for further adsorption of GOx is also evaluated.     

Synthesis, structural characterization, and ligand replacement reactions of gem-dithiolato-bridged rhodium and iridium complexes

The reaction of gem-dithiol compounds R 2C(SH) 2 (R = Bn (benzyl), (i) Pr; R 2 = -(CH 2) 4-) with dinuclear rhodium or iridium complexes containing basic ligands such as [M(mu-OH)(cod)] 2 and [M(mu-OMe)(cod)] 2, or the mononuclear [M(acac)(cod)] (M = Rh, Ir, cod = 1,5-cyclooctadiene) in the presence of a external base, afforded the dinuclear complexes [M 2(mu-S 2CR 2)(cod) 2] ( 1- 4). The monodeprotonation of 1,1-dimercaptocyclopentane gave the mononuclear complex [Rh(HS 2Cptn)(cod)] ( 5) that is a precursor for the dinuclear compound [Rh 2(mu-S 2Cptn)(cod) 2] ( 6). Carbonylation of the diolefin compounds gave the complexes [Rh 2(mu-S 2CR 2)(CO) 4] ( 7- 9), which reacted with P-donor ligands to stereoselectively produce the trans isomer of the disubstituted complexes [Rh 2(mu-S 2CR 2)(CO) 2(PR' 3) 2] (R' = Ph, Cy (cyclohexyl)) ( 10- 13) and [Rh 2(mu-S 2CBn 2)(CO) 2{P(OR') 3} 2] (R' = Me, Ph) ( 14- 15). The substitution process in [Rh 2(mu-S 2CBn 2)(CO) 4] ( 7) by P(OMe) 3 has been studied by spectroscopic means and the full series of substituted complexes [Rh 2(mu-S 2CBn 2)(CO) 4- n {P(OR) 3} n ] ( n = 1, 4) has been identified in solution. The cis complex [Rh 2(mu-S 2CBn 2)(CO) 2(mu-dppb)] ( 16) was obtained by reaction of 7 with the diphosphine dppb (1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane). The molecular structures of the diolefinic dinuclear complexes [Rh 2(mu-S 2CR 2)(cod) 2] (R = Bn ( 1), (i) Pr ( 2); R 2 = -(CH 2) 4- ( 6)) and that of the cis complex 16 have been studied by X-ray diffraction.     

Synthesis of novel tetrahydroindeno[1,2-b]pyrrolidines via Ugi multicomponent and palladium-catalyzed aerobic oxidative cyclization

Novel tetrahydroindeno[1,2-b]pyrrolidines were conveniently prepared in moderate to good yields via a sequential Ugi multicomponent reaction or Staudinger/aza-Wittig/Ugi combination, followed by the palladium-catalyzed aerobic oxidative cyclization of the resulting Ugi adducts.     

Carbon nanotubes for electrochemical biosensing

The aim of this review is to summarize the most relevant contributions in the development of electrochemical (bio)sensors based on carbon nanotubes in the last years.Since the first application of carbon nanotubes in the preparation of an electrochemical sensor, an increasing number of publications involving carbon nanotubes-based sensors have been reported, demonstrating that the particular structure of carbon nanotubes and their unique properties make them a very attractive material for the design of electrochemical biosensors.The advantages of carbon nanotubes to promote different electron transfer reactions, in special those related to biomolecules; the different strategies for constructing carbon nanotubes-based electrochemical sensors, their analytical performance and future prospects are discussed in this article.     

New biosensing platforms based on the layer-by-layer self-assembling of polyelectrolytes on Nafion/carbon nanotubes-coated glassy carbon electrodes

We are proposing for the first time the use of a Nafion/multi-walled carbon nanotubes dispersion deposited on glassy carbon electrodes (GCE) as a new platform for developing enzymatic biosensors based on the self-assembling of a chitosan derivative and different oxidases. The electrodes are obtained by deposition of a layer of Nafion/multi-wall carbon nanotubes dispersion on glassy carbon electrodes, followed by the adsorption of a chitosan derivative as polycation and glucose oxidase, l-aminoacid oxidase or polyphenol oxidase, as polyanions and biorecognition elements. The optimum configuration for glucose biosensors has allowed a highly sensitive (sensitivity = (0.28 ± 0.02) μA mM⁻¹, r = 0.997), fast (4 s in reaching the maximum response), and highly selective (0% interference of ascorbic acid and uric acid at maximum physiological levels) glucose quantification at 0.700 V with detection and quantification limits of 0.035 and 0.107 mM, respectively. The repetitivity for 10 measurements was 5.5%, while the reproducibility was 8.4% for eight electrodes. The potentiality of the new platform was clearly demonstrated by using the carbon nanotubes/Nafion layer as a platform for the self-assembling of l-aminoacid oxidase and polyphenol oxidase. Therefore, the platform we are proposing here, that combines the advantages of nanostructured materials with those of the layer-by-layer self-assembling of polyelectrolytes, opens the doors to new and exciting possibilities for the development of enzymatic and affinity biosensors using different transdution modes.