Structure and redox properties of electropolymerized film obtained from iron meso‐tetrakis(3‐thienyl)porphyrin

Oxidative polymerization of bromoiron(III) meso‐tetrakis(3‐thienyl)porphyrin gave a novel polymeric porphyrin complex randomly crosslinked at the 2,5‐positions of the peripheral thienyl groups. The electrical semiconductivity of ca. 10^?5 S/cm after I₂ doping indicated that the polymer had a π‐conjugated structure with a moderate delocalization of π electrons over the thienylporphyrin units. PM3 calculations for free‐base models revealed that HOCO (the highest occupied crystal orbital) band width was reduced by introduction of the porphyrin moieties into the thienylene backbone and yet low HOCO‐LUCO (the lowest unoccupied crystal orbital) gap was maintained, which accounted for the relatively low electrical conductivity of the porphyrin polymer. The modified electrode prepared by electropolymerization was redox‐active due to the presence of iron(II/III) couple and the semiconductivity of the film, which served as a novel non‐enzymatic electrochemical sensor for superoxide anion radical based on the facile electrocatalytic oxidation of the superoxide. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chemiluminescence high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate.

A sensitive chemiluminescence high-performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed for the determination of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate as their unsaturated disaccharide-dansylhydrazine derivatives involving an effective sample clean-up system. The dansylhydrazones of the unsaturated disaccharides derived from the hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate by chondroitinase ABC and/or chondroitinase ACII, were separated by reversed-phase chromatography using a mixture of 0.1 M sodium acetate buffer (pH 6.0) and 80% acetonitrile on a column (250 mm x 4.0 mm I.D.) packed with amide-80 silica beads (5 microns diameter). For post-column elution in the chemiluminescence system, 1 mM bis[2-(3,6,9-trioxadecanyloxycarbonyl)-4-nitrophenyl]oxalate and 3mM hydrogen peroxide in acetonitrile were used. The detection limit of each glycosaminoglycan was 100 fmol. The method was applicable to the determination of the levels of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulphate and dermatan sulphate in rat peritoneal mast cells.     

Doyle-Kirmse reaction of allylic sulfides with diazoalkane-free (2-furyl)carbenoid transfer

[reaction: see text] In the presence of rhodium catalyst, (2-furyl)carbenoids generated from conjugated ene-yne-carbonyl compounds 1 efficiently undergo carbene transfer reactions with allylic sulfides followed by [2,3]sigmatropic rearrangement of sulfur ylides to give furan-containing sulfides in good yields. When diallyl sulfide is employed, heteroatom-containing polycyclic compounds are obtained by sequential intramolecular Diels-Alder cyclization reaction with a constructed furan ring as an enophile.     

Alterations of hairless mouse skin exposed to chronic UV irradiation and its prevention by hydrocortisone

Ultraviolet-induced alterations of skin were investigated in a murine animal model. Groups of hairless mice were exposed to UV (black light, lambda max 352 nm; UV distribution: 300-310 nm, 0.9%; 310-320 nm, 2.0%; 320-420 nm, 97.1%) for 20 weeks at a dose of 16.3 J/cm2 five times weekly on weekdays. At the end of 20 weeks irradiation, the dorsal skins were biochemically and histologically examined. Ultraviolet caused remarkable increases in amounts of hyaluronan, chondroitin sulfates and dermatan sulfates in skin (microgram/cm2). Interestingly, a significant change in a collagen content (hydroxyproline, microgram/g of dry powder) caused by UV irradiation was not observed, whereas the amount of collagen (hydroxyproline, microgram/cm2) increased remarkably. Histologically, no distinguishable thickening was observed in both upper dermis and lower dermis, but thickening of the epidermis was observed. Furthermore, the histological study indicated that UV irradiation caused a disappearance of crowds of adipocytes, alternative appearance of numerous fibroblasts and accumulation of collagen bundles and hyaluronan in lower dermis. Hydrocortisone, an anti-inflammatory agent, prevented both the fibrosis of lower dermis and the accumulation of the extracellular matrix components. Based on these results, it seems reasonable that UV penetrates into the lower dermis and causes fibrosis there, resulting from the inflammatory responses.     

Application of a multi-turn time-of-flight mass spectrometer, MULTUM II, to organic compounds ionized by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization

The circuit shape of the ion path, or the multi-turn, provides a solution for achieving unrestricted mass resolution from time-of-flight mass analyzers. The potential of a multi-turn type mass spectrometer, the MULTUM II, with a 1.308 m circuit controlled by four toroidal electric sector fields in biological applications was examined. With matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization, the ion flight of 18 cycles gave a mass resolution of 10,000 for MH+ of protophorphyrin IX. This resolution was correlated with the flight length, and a resolution of 61,000 was achieved for MH+ of angiotensin I after 75 cycles or a 98.75 m total flight. The results demonstrate that the multi-turn mass spectrometer allows not only high resolution but also very high separation of the ions of molecular species from organic compounds.     

Electrochemical sensor for superoxide anion radical using polymeric iron porphyrin complexes containing axial 1‐methylimidazole ligand as cytochrome c mimics

A needle‐type electrochemical sensor for the facile detection of superoxide anion radical (O) was devised using an electrodeposited film of a polymeric porphyrin complex attached to a carbon microelectrode which was placed in a stainless steel 18G needle tube as an auxiliary electrode. The sensing element was prepared by means of electropolymerization of bromoiron(III) meso‐ tetra(3‐thienyl)porphyrin in the presence of 1‐methylimidazole in CH₂Cl₂ containing 100 mM tetrabutylammonium perchlorate (TBAP) as a supporting electrolyte, which gave a smooth film of the corresponding polymer. The film was electrochemically active to give a redox response near −0.05 V versus Ag/AgCl due to the iron(II/III) couple. The microsensor was applied to detect O produced by xanthine oxidation catalyzed by xanthine oxidase. The amperometric response for O was monitored at an electrode potential of 0.5 V versus the auxiliary electrode in a 10 mM phosphate buffer. The microsensor displayed a high catalytic activity for the oxidation of O and showed a linear relationship between the current and the O concentration. Axial coordination of an imidazole ligand to the iron porphyrin center enhanced selectivity for O by impeding the undesired coordination of H₂O₂ that resulted from the dismutation of O. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photochemical reactions of aromatic compounds XLV: controlling factors for reactivities and mechanisms in photoelectron transfer reactions of some selected diarylcyclobutanes with electron acceptors

We have attempted to explore mechanistic aspects of the photosensitized ring-cleavage reactions of cis-1,2-diphenylcyclobutane (1), cis-transoid-cis-cyclobutal[1,2-a:4,3-a′] diindene (2) and r-1,c-2-dimethyl-t-3,t-4-di(4-methoxyphenyl)cyclobutane (3) by electron acceptors (A) in acetonitrile. The experimental results demonstrate that the ring cleavage of 1 and 2 occurs as a consequence of the rapid geminate recombination of ion-radical pairs occurring at a rate of well over 10⁹ s⁻¹ without ionic dissociation. In the case of 3, however, the photoreactions proceed by way of a chain-reaction mechanism involving the free cation radical of 3 which undergoes ring cleavage at much less than 10⁷ s⁻¹. The rapid ring cleavage of 1⁺ and 2⁺ is attributed to significant perturbations of the cyclobutane ring by the population of positive charge on the orbital array of the two π-electron systems and the cyclobutane-ring σ framework because of strong through-bond couplings. It is presumed that the cyclobutane ring of 3⁺ is much less distorted since the positive charge is mostly localized on the aryl group. The rapid geminate recombination of the A⁻⁻−1⁺ and A⁻⁻−2⁺ pairs is discussed in terms of a very efficient transition from the “distorted” and “ring-opened” minima of the A⁻⁻−D⁺ surface to the A–D surface. In the case of 3, this mechanism cannot be expected to operate in the geminate recombination.     

Oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic alcohols catalyzed by chiral ferrocenyloxazolinylphosphine-ruthenium complexes

Oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic secondary alcohols by using acetone as a hydrogen acceptor in the presence of a catalytic amount of [RuCl(2)(PPh(3))(ferrocenyloxazolinylphosphine)] (2) proceeds effectively to recover the corresponding alcohols in high yields with an excellent enantioselectivity. When 1-indanol is employed as a racemic alcohol, the oxidation proceeds quite smoothly even in the presence of 0.0025 mol % of the catalyst 2 to give an optically active 1-indanol in good yield with high enantioselectivity (up to 94% ee), where turnover frequency (TOF) exceeds 80,000 h(-1). From a practical viewpoint, the kinetic resolution is investigated in a large scale, optically pure (S)-1-indanol (75 g, 56% yield, >99% ee) being obtained from racemic 1-indanol (134 g) by employing this kinetic resolution method twice.     

Spectrophotometric determination of antimony with vanillylfluorone in the presence of poly(vinyl alcohol)

Antimony in the range up to 2.5 mug/ml in the final solution is determined spectrophotometrically with vanillylfluorone in the presence of poly(vinyl alcohol) in acidic media. The method is compared with that using o-hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein (Qnph). It is simple, rapid and sensitive, without need for heating or solvent extraction, and the apparent molar absorptivity () is 5.0 x 10(4) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1) at 545 nm; for the Qnph method is 2.8 x 10(4) 1.mole(-1).cm(-1) at 520 nm. Tests with an artificial wastewater gave 99-103% recovery.     

Resonance Raman spectra of the TCNE radical anion dimer in ethanol

Inter-and intra-radical vibrational Raman lines are observed for the TCNE radical anion dimer. Counter-ion independence of the spectrum shows that the dimer forms practically no association with counter ions in ethanol. The intra-radical lines are assigned to the out-of-phase combination modes of the monomer vibrations.