Small-angle neutron and dynamic light scattering study of gelatin coacervates

The state of intermolecular aggregates and that of folded gelatin molecules could be characterized by dynamic laser light and small-angle neutron scattering experiments, which implied spontaneous segregation of particle sizes preceding coacervation, which is a liquid-liquid phase transition phenomenon. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) data analysis revealed two particle sizes until precipitation was reached. The smaller particles having a diameter of ～50 nm (stable nanoparticles prepared by coacervation method) were detected in the supernatant, whereas the inter-molecular aggregates having a diameter of ～400 nm gave rise to coacervation. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments revealed that typical mesh size of the networks exist in polymer dense phase (coacervates) [1]. Analysis of the SANS structure factor showed the presence of two length scales associated with this system that were identified as the correlation length or mesh size, ξ = 10.6 Å of the network and the other is the size of inhomogeneities = 21.4 Å. Observations were discussed based on the results obtained from SANS experiments performed in 5% (w/v) gelatin solution at 60°C (ξ = 50 Å, ζ = 113 Å) and 5% (w/v) gel at 28°C (ξ = 47 Å, ζ = 115 Å) in aqueous phase [2] indicating smaller length scales in coacervate as compared to sol and gel.     

Anomalous temperature dependence of resistance observed for high TC Y-Ba-Cu-O thin films

Anomalies in the resistance versus temperature plots of some Y-Ba-Cu-O sputtered thin films have been observed. Compositional variations over some portion of the film are found responsible for the appearance of the anomalies. The need for exercising caution in the interpretation of such anomalies is emphasized.     

Bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo imaging: isostructural Re and 99mTc complexes for correlating fluorescence and radioimaging studies

A bifunctional ligand that is capable of forming Re and 99mTc complexes as complementary fluorescent and radioactive probes was developed. The tridentate bis(quinoline) amine ligand, which is referred to as the SAACQ system, was prepared in a single step from Fmoc protected lysine in high yield. Reaction of the SAACQ ligand with [Re(CO)3Br3]2- resulted in the formation of the SAACQ-(Re(CO)3)+complex which exhibits favorable fluorescence properties including a long lifetime and a large Stoke's shift. Because the SAACQ ligand is derived from an amino acid, it can readily be linked to or incorporated within peptides as a means of targeting the probe to specific receptors. To demonstrate this feature, the SAACQ ligand and the SAACQ-Re complex were incorporated into fMLFG, a peptide that binds to the formyl peptide receptor (FPR). Uptake of the fMLF[(SAACQ-Re(CO)3)+]G conjugate into human leukocytes in vitro was visualized by fluorescence microscopy, and the observed distribution of the peptide was similar to that of a well-established fluorescent FPR probe. The corresponding Tc complex, fMLF[(SAACQ-99mTc(CO)3)+]G, was prepared in excellent yield from [99mTc(CO)3(OH2)3]+, which affords the opportunity to correlate the results of the microscopy experiments with in vivo radioimaging studies because the probes are isostructural.     

CsPb3Bi3Te8 and CsPb4Bi3Te9: low-dimensional compounds and the homologous series CsPbmBi3Te5 + m

Two new thermoelectric materials of quaternary bismuth telluride CsPb3Bi3Te8 and CsPb4Bi3Te9 are reported, which are members of a homologous series featuring anionic slabs [PbmBi3Te5 + m]- (m = 1-4) of monotonically increasing thickness.     

Fine tuning of folded conformation by change of substituents: H NMR and crystallographic evidence for folded conformation due to arene interactions in pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine core based ‘propylene linker’ compounds

Proton NMR and X-ray crystallographic analysis of two newly synthesized ‘trimethylene linker,’ (Leonard linker) compounds 1,3-bis(4-ethoxy-6-methylsulfanyl-lH-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-1-yl)propane (4c) and 1,3-bis(4-isopropoxy-6-methylsulfanyl-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-1-yl)propane (4d) show intramolecularly stacked conformations both in solution and solid state. Robustness of the unusual U-motif formed due to intramolecular stacking in earlier related compounds (1, n=3 and 3, n=3) is not only confirmed but additional fine tuning is also achieved in new compounds (4) formed by replacement of remote 4-alkylsulfanyl group in 1a by 4-alkoxy substituents.     

Tetrad effects in mixed ligand lanthanide chelates. Part I: Lanthanide, EDTA/NTA, IMDA ternary systems

The occurrence of tetrad effects has been studied for the variations in formation constants (logK _MAL ^MA ) of the mixed ligand complexes of the type [Ln(III).A.L.] (where Ln(III)=La(III), Ce(III), Pr(III), Nd(III), Sm(III), Eu(III), Gd(III), Tb(III) or Dy(III); A=EDTA or NTA; L=IMDA), with the number of 4f electrons of the tervalent lanthanides. A differential plot method has been suggested for locating the (minor) breaks at the 4f ³–4f ⁴ and 4f ¹⁰–4f ¹¹ stages in the Ln(III) series.     

Metal complexes of tetrapodal ligands: synthesis, spectroscopic and thermal studies, and X-ray crystal structure studies of Na(I), Ca(II), Sr(II), and Ba(II) complexes of tetrapodal ligands N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl)ethylenediamine and N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine

Twelve complexes 1-12 of general category [M(ligand)(anion)(x)(water)(y)], where ligand = N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-hydroxypropyl/ethyl)ethylenediamine (HPEN/HEEN), anion = anions of picric acid (PIC), 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid (DNB), 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), and o-nitrobenzoic acid (ONB), M = Ca(2+), Sr(2+), Ba(2+), or Na(+), x = 1 and 2, and y = 0-4, were synthesized. All of these complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, (1)H and (13)C NMR, and thermal studies. X-ray crystal studies of these complexes 1-12, [Ca(HPEN)(H(2)O)(2)](PIC)(2).H(2)O (1), [Ca(HEEN)(PIC)](PIC) (2), Ba(HPEN)(PIC)(2) (3), [Na(HPEN)(PIC)](2) (4), Ca(HPEN)(H(2)O)(2)](DNB)(2).H(2)O (5),Ca(HEEN)(H(2)O)](DNB)(2).H(2)O (6), [Sr(HPEN)(H(2)O)(3)](DNB)(2) (7), [Ba(HPEN)(H(2)O)(2)](DNB)(2).H(2)O](2) (8), [[Ba(HEEN)(H(2)O)(2)](ONB)(2)](2) (9), [[Sr(HPEN)(H(2)O)(2)](DNP)(2)](2) (10), [[Ba(HPEN)(H(2)O)(2)](DNP)(2)](2) (11), and [Ca(HEEN)(DNP)](DNP) (H(2)O) (12), have been carried out at room temperature. Factors which influence the stability and the type of complex formed have been recognized as H-bonding interactions, presence/absence of solvent, nature of the anion, and nature of the cation. Both the ligands coordinate the metal ion through all the six available donor atoms. The complexes 1 and 5-11 have water molecules in the coordination sphere, and their crystal structures show that water is playing a dual character. It coordinates to the metal ion on one hand and strongly hydrogen bonds to the anion on the other. These strong hydrogen bonds stabilize the anion and decrease the cation-anion interactions by many times to an extent that the anions are completely excluded out of the coordination sphere and produce totally charge-separated complexes. In the absence of water molecules as in 2 and 3 the number of hydrogen bonds is reduced considerably. In both the complexes the anions case interact more strongly with the metal ion to give rise to a partially charge-separated 2 or tightly ion-paired 3 complex. High charge density Ca(2+) forms only monomeric complexes. It has more affinity toward stronger nucleophiles such as DNP and PIC with which it gives partially charge-separated eight-coordinated complexes. But with relatively weaker nucleophile like DNB, water replaces the anion and produces a seven coordinated totally charge-separated complex. Sr(2+) with lesser charge/radius ratio forms only charge-separated monomeric as well as dimeric complexes. Higher coordination number of Sr(2+) is achieved with coordinated water molecules which may be bridging or nonbridging in nature. All charge-separated complexes of the largest Ba(2+) are dimeric with bridging water molecules. Only one monomeric ion-paired complex was obtained with Ba(PIC)(2). Na(+) forms a unique dinuclear cryptand-like complex with HPEN behaving as a heptadentate chelating-cum-bridging ligand.     

Sodium chloride and ethanol induced sphere to rod transition of triblock copolymer micelles

Dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and viscosity studies have been carried out to examine the influence of NaCl and ethanol on the structure of triblock copolymer [(EO)20(PO)70(EO)20] (EO = ethylene oxide; PO = propylene oxide) micelles in aqueous medium. The studies show that while the pure triblock copolymer solutions do not show any significant growth of the micelles on approaching the cloud point, the presence of a small amount of ethanol (5-10%) induces a sphere to rod shape transition of micelles at high temperatures. Interestingly, this ethanol induced sphere to rod transition of micelles can be brought down to room temperature (25 degrees C) with the addition of NaCl. It is also found that NaCl alone cannot induce such sphere to rod transitions and excess ethanol suppresses them by increasing their transition temperature.     

C(sp)H?O and C(sp)H?O hydrogen bonds in acyclic- and cyclic-organotellurium carboxylates

The reactions between R₂TeI₂ (R₂=(CH₃)₂, C₄H₈, C₅H₁₀) and AgOCOR′ (R′=C₆H₅, 4-NO₂C₆H₄, CHCHC₆H₅) (molar ratio 1:2) yield diorganotellurium dicarboxylates: (CH₃)₂Te(OCOC₆H₅)₂ (1), C₅H₁₀ Te(OCOC₆H₅)₂ (2), C₄H₈Te(OCO4-NO₂C₆H₄)₂ (3) and C₄H₈Te(OCOCHCHC₆H₅)₂ (4). They are characterized by IR, (¹H, ¹³C, ¹²⁵Te) solution NMR; (¹³C, ¹²⁵Te) solid state NMR spectroscopy. The X-ray structures of 1-4 (the immediate environment about tellurium is that of distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry with a stereochemically active electron lone pair) are described in the context of their ability to generate intermolecular CH?O hydrogen bonds, which lead to the formation of supramolecular assemblies.     

Structural and magnetic properties of nano nickel-zinc ferrite synthesized by reverse micelle technique

Nanocrystalline nickel-zinc ferrites (Ni_0.58Zn_0.42Fe₂O₄) at different pH values (less than 9.6, 9.6, 10.96, and 11.40) for the alkali-precipitating reaction were synthesized by reverse micelle technique. X-ray diffraction reveals a well-defined nickel-zinc ferrite crystal phase at pH=9.6. Increase in pH value obstructs pure-phase formation and results in partial formation of α-Fe₂O₃. The magnetic behaviour of the samples was studied by superconducting quantum interference device. All the samples show superparamagnetic behaviour at room temperature (300 K) and negligible hysteresis at low temperature (5 K). The low value of saturation magnetization is explained on the basis of spin canting. The high-field irreversibility and shifting of the hysteresis loop detected in single-phase sample has been assigned to a spin-disordered phase, which has a spin-freezing temperature of approximately 42 K and other two samples have an antiferromagnetic phase (α-Fe₂O₃) coupled to the ferromagnetic phase.