Thin‐Film Infrared Spectroscopy of Acetonitrile

Acetonitrile and [D₃]acetonitrile in the vicinal region of a planar AgX fiber contain linear dipole–dipole linked oligomers as shown by 1) comparison of infrared band intensity ratios in the gaseous and condensed phases and 2) remarkable plots of absorbance (C? N stretch) versus time during evaporation from an AgX planar fiber element. The plots (CH₃CN 2252 cm^?1, CD₃CN 2262 cm^?1) reveal the presence of octamers, hexamers, tetramers, and dimers along with some heptamer, trimer, and monomer structures. A novel isotope effect arises from the somewhat smaller size of the CD₃CN resulting in an increase in the CN band intensity. The organized oligomers may be termed pseudocrystals and are the main components responsible for absorption intensity in the infrared spectrum of acetonitrile, on the AgX planar fiber or in an IR cell.     

Green method for ultrasensitive determination of Hg in natural waters by electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry following sono-induced cold vapor generation and ‘in-atomizer trapping’

Sono-induced cold vapor generation (SI-CVG) has been used for the first time in combination with a graphite furnace atomizer for determination of Hg in natural waters by electrothermal-atomic absorption spectrometry after in situ trapping onto a noble metal-pretreated platform (Pd, Pt or Rh) inserted into a graphite tube. The system allows ‘in-atomizer trapping’ of Hg without the use of conventional reduction reactions based on sodium borohydride or tin chloride in acid medium for cold vapor generation. The sono-induced reaction is accomplished by applying ultrasound irradiation to the sample solution containing Hg(II) in the presence of an organic compound such as formic acid. As this organic acid is partly degraded upon ultrasound irradiation to yield CO, CO₂, H₂ and H₂O, the amount of lab wastes is minimized and a green methodology is achieved.     

Deazapurine solid-phase synthesis: construction of 3-substituted pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine-6-carboxylates on cross-linked polystyrene bearing a cysteamine linker

The first solid-phase methodology for the preparation of pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidines is presented. Merrifield resin bearing a cysteamine "traceless" linker was treated with 4-oxo-N-(PhF)proline benzyl ester (10; PhF = 9-(9-phenylfluorenyl)) to provide resin-bound aminopyrrole 20, which was treated with ethyl, phenyl, 4-phenoxyphenyl, and 2,4-dimethoxyphenyl isocyanates to furnish resin-bound ureidopyrroles 21a-d. Resin-bound pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidines 22a-d were then obtained by acylation of 21 using trichloroacetyl chloride in dioxane followed by treatment with Cs2CO3 in DMF. Cleavage of pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidines 22a-d from the resin was achieved in two steps, by oxidation of the sulfur to the sulfone followed by beta-elimination in the presence of t-BuONa. Four pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidines, 24a-d, with different alkyl and aryl substituents at the N3 pyrimidine nitrogen, were thus obtained in overall yields of 42-50% and purities of 90-100%.     

Role of vibrationally excited NO in promoting electron emission when colliding with a metal surface: a nonadiabatic dynamic model

A nonadiabatic quantum dynamic model has been developed to study the process of electron emission from a low-work-function metal surface. The process is initiated by scattering a highly vibrationally excited NO molecule from a surface composed of a Cs layer covering a Ru crystal. The model addresses the increasing quantum yield of the electron emission as a function of the molecular vibrational excitation and incident kinetic energy. The reaction mechanism is identified as a long-range harpooning electron transfer to a molecular ion which is then accelerated toward the surface. Upon impact, the molecular ion emits its excess electron.     

Alkyl Ammonium Ion Selectivity of Hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arene Triamide Derivative having the Intramolecular Hydrogen-Bonding Group

The lower rim functionalized hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arene triamide 4 with cone-conformation was synthesized from triol 1 by a stepwise reaction. The different extractability for alkali metal ions, transition metal ions, and alkyl ammonium ions from water into dichloromethane is discussed. Due to the strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the neighboring NH and CO groups in triamide 4, its affinity to metal cations was weakened. Triamide 4 shows a single selectivity to n-BuNH₃⁺. The anion complexation of triamide 4 was also studied by ¹H NMR titration experiments. Triamide 4 binds halides through the intermolecular hydrogen bonding among the NH hydrogens of amide in a 1:1 fashion in CDCl₃. The association constants calculated from these changes in chemical shifts of the amide protons are K_a = 223 M⁻¹ for Cl⁻ and K_a = 71.7 M⁻¹ for Br⁻. Triamide 4 shows a preference for Cl⁻ complexation than Br⁻ complexation.     

Ferromagnetism in colloidal Mn2+ -doped ZnO nanocrystals

High-temperature hydrolysis of Zn(II) and Mn(II) alkoxides in a high boiling point solvent in the presence of surfactants was used to prepare surfactant-coated Zn(1-x)Mn(x)O nanocrystals with average size of 5.5 nm and x = 0.04 +/- 0.03. The magnetic properties of the nanocrystals were measured both for isolated particles diluted in a hydrocarbon matrix and for a nanocrystal powder. Nanocrystals of manganese oxide and ZnO coated with manganese oxide were prepared for comparison to the Zn(1-x)Mn(x)O nanocrystals. We find that the manganese ions primarily substitute zinc ions in the hexagonal ZnO lattice, and part of them are ferromagnetically coupled up to room temperature even in isolated noninteracting nanocrystals. The rest of the ions are magnetically disordered or uncoupled. Surprisingly, these small Zn(1-x)Mn(x)O nanocrystals poses relatively large low-temperature magnetic coercivity and relatively high blocking temperature in the isolated form, which indicate large magnetic anisotropy. In the nanocrystal powder the coercive field decreased significantly. This study highlights the advantages of working with noninteracting single domain particles of these intriguing materials.     

Lanthanide SMMs Based on Belt Macrocycles: Recent Advances and General Trends

Enhancement of axial magnetic anisotropy is the central objective to push forward the performance of Single-Molecule Magnet (SMM) complexes. In the case of mononuclear lanthanide complexes, the chemical environment around the paramagnetic ion must be tuned to place strongly interacting ligands along either the axial positions or the equatorial plane, depending on the oblate or prolate preference of the selected lanthanide. One classical strategy to achieve a precise chemical environment for a metal centre is using highly structured, chelating ligands. A natural approach for axial-equatorial control is the employment of macrocycles acting in a belt conformation, providing the equatorial coordination environment, and leaving room for axial ligands. In this review, we present a survey of SMMs based on the macrocycle belt motif. Literature systems are divided in three families (crown ether, Schiff-base and metallacrown) and their general properties in terms of structural stability and SMM performance are briefly discussed.     

Specific Recognition of β-Galactofuranose-Containing Glycans of Synthetic Neoglycoproteins by Sera of Chronic Chagas Disease Patients

Chagas disease (CD) can be accurately diagnosed by detecting Trypanosoma cruzi in patients’ blood using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, parasite-derived biomarkers are of great interest for the serological diagnosis and early evaluation of chemotherapeutic efficacy when PCR may fail, owing to a blood parasite load below the method’s limit of detection. Previously, we focused on the detection of specific anti-α-galactopyranosyl (α-Gal) antibodies in chronic CD (CCD) patients elicited by α-Gal glycotopes copiously expressed on insect-derived and mammal-dwelling infective parasite stages. Nevertheless, these stages also abundantly express cell surface glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored glycoproteins and glycoinositolphospholipids (GIPLs) bearing nonreducing terminal β-galactofuranosyl (β-Galf) residues, which are equally foreign to humans and, therefore, highly immunogenic. Here we report that CCD patients’ sera react specifically with synthetic β-Galf-containing glycans. We took a reversed immunoglycomics approach that entailed: (a) Synthesis of T. cruzi GIPL-derived Galfβ1,3Manpα-(CH₂)₃SH (glycan G29_SH) and Galfβ1,3Manpα1,2-[Galfβ1,3]Manpα-(CH₂)₃SH (glycan G32_SH); and (b) preparation of neoglycoproteins NGP29b and NGP32b, and their evaluation in a chemiluminescent immunoassay. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis revealed that NGP32b can distinguish CCD sera from sera of healthy individuals with 85.3% sensitivity and 100% specificity. This suggests that Galfβ1,3Manpα1,2-[Galfβ1,3]Manpα is an immunodominant glycotope and that NGP32b could potentially be used as a novel CCD biomarker.     

On-line Method for Montelukast Determination in Bile Salt Medium with Multivariate Optimization and Fluorescent Detection

Journal of Analytical Chemistry - The present development involved a flow injection strategy using a mini-column of multiwalled carbon nanotubes and fluorescent detection (λex of 283 nm,...