Continuous flow in open microfluidics using controlled evaporation

This paper presents a method for programming the flow rate of liquids inside open microfluidic networks (MFNs). A MFN comprises a number of independent flow paths, each of which starts with an open filling port, has a sealed microchannel in which assays can be performed, and an open capillary pump (CP). The MFN is placed over Peltier elements and its flow paths initially fill owing to capillary forces when liquids are added to the filling ports. A cooling Peltier element underneath the filling ports dynamically prevents evaporation in all filling ports using the ambient temperature and relative humidity as inputs. Another Peltier element underneath the CPs heats the pumps thereby inducing evaporation in the CPs and setting the flow rate in the microchannels. This method achieves flow rates in the microchannels ranging from approximately 1.2 nL s(-1) to approximately 30 pL s(-1), and is able to keep 90% of a 0.6 microL solution placed in an open filling port for 60 min. This simple and efficient method should be applicable to numerous assays or chemical reactions that require small and precise flow of liquids and reagents inside microfluidics.     

PGSE diffusion, 1H-19F HOESY and NMR studies on several [Rh(1,5-COD)(Biphemp)]X complexes: detecting positional anion effects

Three new salts of Rh(I), [Rh(1,5-COD)(Biphemp)]X, Biphemp = (6,6'-dimethylbiphenyl-2,2'-diyl)bis(diphenylphosphine), X = BF4-, 2a, PF6-, 2b, and CF3SO3-, 2c, were prepared and studied using PGSE diffusion, 1H-19F HOESY and inverse 103Rh (amongst other) NMR methods. Although the immediate coordination sphere of the cation does not sense the change in the anion, the PGSE diffusion and 1H-19F HOESY data suggest that, in addition to some ion pairing, each of the anions in 2 demonstrates selectivity in its approach towards the cation.     

Bestimmung des hei?wasserl?slichen Borgehalts in B?den mit der induktionsgekoppelten Plasma-Atom-Emissionsspektrometrie

Summary The purpose of this study is to find out whether the previously applied procedures for determining hot water soluble boron trace contents in soils using dianthrimide or azomethin-H can be substituted by ICP-AES. Research was made into chemical and spectral interferences which can arise in all three methods. The 249.678 nm boron emission line is not affected by the sample matrix indicated. The boron content from more than 60 extracts was determined using the three methods mentioned and the results were compared by means of regression calculations. It was found that ICP-AES and the dianthrimide procedure do not differ significantly, whereas the azomethin-H technique leads to somewhat higher values. The accuracy of the results achieved by means of ICP-AES was confirmed by a collaborative study. In order to determine the concentration of boron in soils in the range of 0–2 mg/kg the ICP-AES can be applied following the hot water extraction without further pretreatment of samples. This method is superior in particular when additional elements are to be considered in the soil.     

Säurekatalysierte Dienon-Phenol-Umlagerungen von 6-Propargyl-6-methyl-cyclohexa-2,4-dien-1-onen; ladungskontrollierte,aromatische [1s, 2s]- und [3s, 4s]-sigmatropische Reaktionen

The acid catalysed dienone-phenol rearrangement of methyl substituted o-propargyl-cyclohexadienones (scheme 3) was investigated. The rearrangements were carried out in acetic anhydride containing about 1⁰/₀₀ sulfuric acid. Under these conditions acetoxy benzenium ions are formed as intermediates. These then undergo charge-controlled [3s, 4s]- and [1s, 2s]-sigmatropic rearrangements. Thus, the [3s, 4s]-process leads to the formation of the corresponding allenyl-phenol acetates ( 19 , 21 , 23 , 25 , 28 , 30 ) whereas the [1s, 2s]-process yields propargyl-phenol acetates ( 20 , 22 , 24 , 26 , 29 ), respectively (cf. scheme 4).     

Umwandlung von 6-Methylen-tricyclo[3.2.1.02,7]oct-3-en-8-onen in Polymethyltropyliumsalze

When dissolved in trifluoroacetic or fluorosulfonic acid, 6-methylene-tricyclo[3.2.1.0^2,7]oct-3-ene-8-one derivatives of type 2 (;scheme 1); give polymethyltropylium salts in moderate to good yields by CO-extrusion. These tropylium salts can be isolated pure as hexachloroplatinates. Thus the tricyclic compound 6 gives 1,2,4-trimethyltropylium trifluoroacetate 19 in trifluoroacetic acid (;scheme 3);. This salt in CDCl₃ is in equilibrium with its covalent cycloheptatriene (;tropilidene); form 20 , the ratio of the two forms being 1.5–2.1/1. The tropylium salt 19 is reduced by lithium aluminium hydride to a mixture of 1,2,4-trimethylcycloheptatrienes, isomeric with respect to the double bonds, which on hydride abstraction with trityl-tetrafluoroborate gives again the 1,2,4-trimethyltropylium salt 19 (;scheme 3);. From the trimethyl-substituted tricyclic compounds 7 and 8 , in trifluoroacetic acid, are obtained respectively the 1,2,4,6- and 1,2,3,4-tetramethyltropylium ions (; 22 and 24 ); (;schemes 4 and 5);. In this way the 1,2,3,5,6-pentamethyl-tropylium ion (; 26 ); was obtained from 9 (;scheme 6);. With the higher substituted tropylium trifluoroacetates in CDCl₃ the equilibrium tropylium trifluoroacetate ? trifluoroacetoxycycloheptatrienes lies well to the left. The hexamethylated tricyclic compound 10 gives a small quantity of heptamethyltropylium trifluoroacetate (; 27 ); and as the main product the C(;3);-protonated species 28 (;scheme 7);, which when treated with aqueous sodium hydrogencarbonate yielded unchanged educt 10 . - The heptamethyltropylium ion (; 27 ); was, apart from polymeric species, the only product from the treatment of starting material 10 with fluorosulfonic acid (;50%);; its salts have as yet not been isolated in their pure form, however. The mechanism for the rearrangement of the tricyclic compounds of type 2 into tropylium salts is presented for compound 6 in scheme 8: The first step is the protonation at C(;9);. Ring opening of the cyclopropane of the tertiary carbenium ion 29 gives the allylic ion 30 , which then yields the aromatic tropylium salt 19 by carbon monoxide extrusion in a linear cheletropic reaction. The smooth conversion with strong acids of the easily accessible tricyclic compounds of type 2 to the corresponding polymethylated tropylium salts, presents a new and useful method for the synthesis of the latter compounds.     

Gas Phase Catalysis by Metal Nanoparticles in Nanoporous Alumina Membranes

Nanoporous alumina membranes, loaded with palladium and ruthenium nanoparticles of various size, were used for gas phase hydrogenation of 1, 3‐butadiene and for oxidation of carbon monoxide, respectively. Those membranes contain 10⁹ ‐ 10¹¹ pores per cm², all running perpendicular to the surface. Membrane discs of 20 mm in diameter and only 60 μm thick, incorporated in a reactor in which the reactants can be pumped in a closed circuit through the pores, turned out to very actively catalyze hydrogenation of butadiene (Pd) and oxidation of CO (Ru). The activity of the Pd catalysts depends characteristically on the particles size, the gas flow, and of the educts ratio. As could be expected, larger particles are less active than smaller ones, whereas increasing gas flows in case of hydrogenation accelerates the reactions. Excessive hydrogen reduces selectivity with respect to the various butenes, but favours formation of butane.     

A comprehensive two-dimensional map of cytosolic proteins of Bacillus subtilis

Proteomics relying on two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis of proteins followed by spot identification with mass spectrometry is an excellent experimental tool for physiological studies opening a new perspective for understanding overall cell physiology. This is the intriguing outcome of a method introduced by Klose and O'Farrell independently 25 years ago. Physiological proteomics requires a 2-D reference map on which most of the main proteins were identified. In this paper, we present such a reference map with more than 300 entries for Bacillus subtilis proteins with an isoelectric point (pI) between 4 and 7. The most abundant proteins of exponentially growing cells were compiled and shown to perform mainly housekeeping functions in glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCC), amino acid biosynthesis and translation as well as protein quality control. Furthermore, putative post-translational modifications were shown at a large scale, with 47 proteins in total forming more than one spot. In a few selected cases evidence for phosphorylation of these proteins is presented. The proteome analysis in the standard pI range was complemented by either stretching the most crowded regions in a narrow pH gradient 4.5-5.5, or by adding other fractions of the total B. subtilis proteome such as alkaline proteins as well as extracellular proteins. A big challenge for future studies is to provide an experimental protocol covering the fraction of intrinsic membrane proteins that almost totally escaped detection by the experimental procedure used in this study.     

Phononen fn Polymeren unter Berücksichtigung von Strukturdefekten

Zusammenfassung In den Schwingungsspektren teilkristalliner Polymerer findet man Banden, die von Falten, Kinken und anderen Konformationsdefekten herrühren, die also von der physikalischen Struktur abhängen und daher in engem Zusammenhang mit Herstellungsparametern und technologischen Eigenschaften stehen. Eine Zuordnung dieser Banden ist als Hilfsmittel zur StrukturAufklärung wünschenswert. Die klassische Normalkoordinaten-Analyse ist für diese Zwecke unbrauchbar, da nicht die regelmäßig wiederkehrenden Strukturelemente, vielmehr die Strukturdefekte maßgeblich sind. Abgesehen von Modellrechnungen an kleinen Molekülen oder Kontinuumstheorien gibt es zur Zeit nur zwei praktisch erprobte Verfahren auf molekularer Basis: Eine vonZerbi und Mitarbeitern entwickelte rein numerische Methode und eine vom Verfasser und Mitarbeitern entwickelte semianalytische Methode.Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt eine erste Gesamtdarstellung der semianalytischen Methode für beliebige Polymere von atomistischen Grundlagen bis zum Defekt-Zusatzspektrum, wobei einige für praktische Rechnungen wichtige theoretische Beziehungen erstmalig hier veröffentlicht werden. Nach einer Diskussion der Vorteile des semianalytischen Verfahrens wird ein überblick über bisherige Anwendungen dieser Methode auf Polyäthylen (Skelettmodell und Schalenmodell) gegeben.

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Summary In the vibrational spectra of semicrystalline polymers there are extra peaks due to folds, kinks and other conformational defects. They depend on the physical structure in close connection to the parameters of the fabrication process as well as to technological properties. An assignment of these peaks is desirable for structure elucidation. The classical normal coordinate analysis cannot be used because of the irregularity of the defects. Aside from model calculations at small molecules and continuum theories there are essentially two practically working molecular methods: A purely numerical method, developed byZerbi and coworkers, and a semianalytical method, developed by the author and coworkers.This paper is a review of the semianalytical method for arbitrary polymers, starting from atomistic considerations and ending with the defect induced density of states. It contains some hitherto unpublished theoretical relations of importance for practical calculations. The advantages of the semianalytical method are discussed. Recent applications on polyethylene (skeletal model and shell model) are reviewed.

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Mit 2 Abbildungen und 1 Tabelle     

Säurekatalysierte Umlagerungen von 1,5-Dimethyl-6-methyliden-tricyclo[3.2.1.02,7]oct-3-en-8endo-olen

Acid Catalysed Rearrangement of 1,5-Dimethyl-6-methyliden-tricyclo[3.2.1.0^2,7]oct-3-en-8endo-ols The tricyclic alcohols 2,3,4 and 6 (Scheme 1) are synthesized by the reaction of the tricyclic ketone 1 with sodiumborohydrid or metalloorganic reagents. Their configuration at C(8) is determined by NMR. in the presence of Eu(fod)₃. The exo-attack of 1 by the nucleophil forming the endo-alcohol is favored, the π-electrons of C(3) = C(4) hindering the endo-attack. On treatment with sulfuric acid in dioxane/water at 25° the tertiary alcohols yield aryl-substituted ketones. 3 gives in 78.5% yield a mixture of the 3-(dimethylphenyl)-2-butanones 12 and 13 , in addition to 16.5% of (2,3,4-trimethylphenyl)-2-propanon ( 14 ) (Scheme 2). The alcohols 4 and 6 yield mixtures of the 2-(dimethylphenyl)-3-pentanones 19 and 20 (72%), and 2-(dimethylphenyl)-propiophenones 21 and 22 (68%), respectively (Scheme 2). In the case of the secondary alcohol 2 mainly products derived from hydration at the C(6), C(9) double bond are formed, namely the mixture of diols 23 and 24 (21%), and the mixture of the isomeric 2-(dimethylphenyl)propanals 25, 26 and 27 (3%) (Scheme 3). - The structures of 12–14, 19/20, 21/22, 23/24 and 25/26/27 were established by spectroscopic data. In the case of 12 and 13 the degradation of their mixture to the known 1-(dimethylphenyl)ethanols 17/18 confirmed the assignment. - The most probable mechanism for the rearrangement of 3 is shown in Schemes 4 and 5. The reaction proceeds from 3 through a, b and g to 12 and 13; 14 is formed via e, f and i . In the case of 4 and 6 only the reaction analogue to 3 → a → b → g ?12/13 takes place. The isomeric aldehyds 25–27 formed from 2 could have the structures s, t , and v . The former two could be generated in a similar way as 12/13 from 3 , the latter one as shown in Scheme 8.     

Application of ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis to the chiral separation of alpha-hydroxy acids and beta-blockers

The application of the principle of ligand-exchange capillary electrophoresis to two substance classes is described. As chiral selector N-(2-hydroxyoctyl)-L-4-hydroxyproline-copper(II) complex was used. This principle was applied to the chiral separation of alpha-hydroxy acids and drugs containing amino alcohol structure such as beta-blockers. The enantioselectivity was found to be strongly dependent on pH corresponding to the optimal conditions for complex formation for each structure class.