On-line speciation and determination of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in drinking and waste water samples by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography coupled with atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple, rapid, and selective on-line method for the speciation and determination of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in aqueous solutions by ion-pairing HPLC coupled with flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) is described. The composition of the mobile phase has been optimized for better separation. The effects of column temperature, volume of injection loop, fuel flow rate of FAAS, and nebulizer suction rate of FAAS have also been investigated. Separation is accomplished in almost 2.5 min on a 25 cm length C18 column at 40 degrees C. The selectivity of the method has been established by investigating the effect of interfering elements on chromium determination. The detection limit (3sigma) achieved by the method was calculated as 3.7 ng/mL for Cr(III) and 2.0 ng/mL for Cr(VI). The proposed method has been validated by analyzing certified reference material (BCR 544) and successfully applied to the analysis of drinking water and wastewater samples with a relative error below 6%.     

Fabrication of ultrahydrophobic poly(lauryl acrylate) brushes on silicon wafer via surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

In this report, ultrahydrophobic poly(lauryl acrylate) [poly(LA)] brushes were synthesized by surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) of lauryl acrylate (LA) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 90 °C. The formation of ultrahydrophobic poly(LA) films, whose thickness can be turned by changing polymerization time, is evidenced by using the combination of ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), grazing angle attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (GATR-FTIR), atomic force microscopy (AFM), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and water contact angle measurements. The SI-ATRP can be conducted in a well-controlled manner, as revealed by the linear kinetic plot, linear evolution of number-average molecular weights () versus monomer conversions, and the relatively narrow PDI (<1.28) of the grafted poly(LA) chains. The calculation of grafting parameters from experimental measurements indicated the synthesis of densely grafted poly(LA) films and allowed us to predict a “brushlike” conformation for the chains in good solvent. The poly(LA) brushes exhibited high water contact angle of 163.3 ± 2.8°.     

Minimally adhesive polymer surfaces prepared from star oligosiloxanes and star oligofluorosiloxanes

The effects of the surface energy, storage modulus (G′), and glass‐transition temperature (T_g) on the biofouling behavior of siloxane and fluorosiloxane polymer surfaces (films) were studied. Irregular Si? H‐terminated tetrabranched star oligosiloxanes and star oligofluorosiloxanes were prepared by the acid‐catalyzed equilibration of octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane or 1,3,5‐trimethyl‐1,3,5‐tris(3′,3′,3′‐trifluoropropyl)cyclotrisiloxane with tetrakis(dimethylsiloxy)silane, respectively. Terminal epoxy groups were introduced via Pt‐catalyzed hydrosilylation with allyl glycidyl ether to yield compounds that were subsequently crosslinked with α,ω‐bis(3‐aminopropyl)poly(dimethylsiloxane). The resulting films were characterized by goniometry, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. The foul‐release behavior was studied by the measurement of how strongly sporelings (young plants) of the green seaweed Ulva adhered. The corrosion protection of aluminum was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Fluorosiloxane films displayed higher G′ and T_g values, decreased contact angles (with water), and more effectively released Ulva sporelings in comparison with siloxane films. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2551–2566, 2006     

“Polymeromics”: Mass spectrometry based strategies in polymer science toward complete sequencing approaches: A review

Mass spectrometry (MS) is the most versatile and comprehensive method in “OMICS” sciences (i.e. in proteomics, genomics, metabolomics and lipidomics). The applications of MS and tandem MS (MS/MS or MSⁿ) provide sequence information of the full complement of biological samples in order to understand the importance of the sequences on their precise and specific functions. Nowadays, the control of polymer sequences and their accurate characterization is one of the significant challenges of current polymer science. Therefore, a similar approach can be very beneficial for characterizing and understanding the complex structures of synthetic macromolecules. MS-based strategies allow a relatively precise examination of polymeric structures (e.g. their molar mass distributions, monomer units, side chain substituents, end-group functionalities, and copolymer compositions). Moreover, tandem MS offer accurate structural information from intricate macromolecular structures; however, it produces vast amount of data to interpret. In “OMICS” sciences, the software application to interpret the obtained data has developed satisfyingly (e.g. in proteomics), because it is not possible to handle the amount of data acquired via (tandem) MS studies on the biological samples manually. It can be expected that special software tools will improve the interpretation of (tandem) MS output from the investigations of synthetic polymers as well. Eventually, the MS/MS field will also open up for polymer scientists who are not MS-specialists. In this review, we dissect the overall framework of the MS and MS/MS analysis of synthetic polymers into its key components. We discuss the fundamentals of polymer analyses as well as recent advances in the areas of tandem mass spectrometry, software developments, and the overall future perspectives on the way to polymer sequencing, one of the last Holy Grail in polymer science.     

Near‐IR‐Triggered,Remote‐Controlled Release of Metal Ions: A Novel Strategy for Caged Ions

A ligand incorporating a dithioethenyl moiety is cleaved into fragments which have a lower metal‐ion affinity upon irradiation with low‐energy red/near‐IR light. The cleavage is a result of singlet oxygen generation which occurs on excitation of the photosensitizer modules. The method has many tunable factors that could make it a satisfactory caging strategy for metal ions.     

Novel Multicolor Schiff Base Polymers Prepared via Oxidative Polycondensation

A series of diimine Schiff bases and their polymers were synthesized via the oxidative polycondensation reaction. The structures of the compounds were confirmed by ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, FT-IR and UV–vis spectral measurements. Electrochemical and optical band gap values of synthesized compounds were determined by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and UV–vis measurements, respectively. Fluorescence measurements of the compounds were conducted in various solvents. The effects of solution concentration on the fluorescence spectra were investigated and quantum yield was calculated for the polymer of 5-(diethylamino)-2-(biphenylmethylene) hydrazonomethylphenol (PDEAHP). According to fluorescence measurements, the quantum yield of PDEAHP was found as 16 % in DMF solution. Thermal characteristics of polymers were studied by TG-DTA and DSC analyses.     

Synthesis of 3‐Aryl‐2‐benzoylbenzofuran Derivatives using Manganese(III) Acetate–Mediated Addition of Dimedon to Chalcone Derivatives

3‐Aryl‐2‐benzoylbenzofurans were synthesized by the reaction of α‐carboradical produced from dimedon by oxidizing with manganese(III) acetate in acetic acid and the chalcone derivatives.     

Synthesis of Terpenoid-Like Bischalcones from α- and β-Ionones and Their Biological Activities

Ionone-based terpenoid-like bischalcones (3a–h and 4a–h) were synthesized from the reaction of α- and/or β-ionones with aldehyde derivatives in excellent yields. The antibacterial activities of synthesized compounds were screened against human pathogenic micro-organisms by employing the disk-diffusion technique.     

Effects of Lipid-Based Encapsulation on the Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability of Phenolic Compounds

Phenolic compounds (quercetin, rutin, cyanidin, tangeretin, hesperetin, curcumin, resveratrol, etc.) are known to have health-promoting effects and they are accepted as one of the main proposed nutraceutical group. However, their application is limited owing to the problems related with their stability and water solubility as well as their low bioaccessibility and bioavailability. These limitations can be overcome by encapsulating phenolic compounds by physical, physicochemical and chemical encapsulation techniques. This review focuses on the effects of encapsulation, especially lipid-based techniques (emulsion/nanoemulsion, solid lipid nanoparticles, liposomes/nanoliposomes, etc.), on the digestibility characteristics of phenolic compounds in terms of bioaccessibility and bioavailability.     

A note on the Lagrange polynomials in several variables

Recently, Chan, Chyan and Srivastava [W.-C.C. Chan, C.-J. Chyan, H.M. Srivastava, The Lagrange polynomials in several variables, Integral Transform. Spec. Funct. 12 (2001) 139-148] introduced and systematically investigated the Lagrange polynomials in several variables. In the present paper, we derive various families of multilinear and multilateral generating functions for the Chan-Chyan-Srivastava multivariable polynomials.