A study on the interaction of cationized chitosan with cellulose surfaces

This investigation describes the interaction of trimethyl chitosans (TMCs) with surfaces of cellulose thin films. The irreversible deposition/adsorption of TMCs with different degrees of cationization was studied with regards to the salt concentration and pH. As substrates, cellulose thin films were prepared by spin coating from trimethylsilyl cellulose and subsequent regeneration to pure cellulose. The pH-dependent zeta potential of cellulose thin films and the charge of TMCs were determined by streaming potential and potentiometric charge titration methods. A quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring was further used as a nanogram sensitive balance to detect the amount of deposited TMCs and the swelling of the bound layers. The morphology of the coatings was additionally characterized by atomic force microscopy and related to the adsorption results. A lower degree of cationization leads to higher amounts of deposited TMCs at all salt concentrations. Higher amounts of salt increase the deposition of TMCs. Protonation of primary amino groups results in the immobilization of less material at lower pH values. The results from this work can further be extended to the modification of regenerated cellulosic materials to obtain surfaces, with amino- and trimethylammonium moieties.     

Study of incidence of DiPAMP ligand modification on the rhodium(I)-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of α-acetamidostyrene

A series of P-stereogenic enantiopure 1,2-bis[(aryl)(phenyl)phosphino]ethane ligands was prepared through an extensive systematic incorporation of various substituents onto the P-o-anisyl rings of Knowles’ DiPAMP (DiPAMP = 1,2-bis[(o-anisyl)(phenyl)phosphino]ethane). The study of incidence of such modification on the Rh(I)-catalyzed hydrogenation of α-acetamidostyrene is reported revealing that substitution on position 3 is detrimental, while it is beneficial on position 5. Namely, a 2.5-fold increased catalyst activity coupled with a higher enantioselectivity (90% ee) was attained with the P-(2-MeO-3-naphthyl)-substituted ligand under mild conditions (1 bar H₂, rt in MeOH).     

Fluorinated alcohol directed formation of dispiro-1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes by hydrogen peroxide under acid conditions

The oxidative system MTO/30%H₂O₂/HBF₄/fluorous alcohol is promising for the selective synthesis of biologically important antimalarial dispiro-1,2,4,5-tetraoxanes by direct acid-catalysed cyclisation of various 4-substituted cyclohexanones (1, R=Me, Et, tBu, Ph, COOEt, CF₃). The role of the substitutent at the 4-position was important in the selectivity of formation of tetraoxane (2, TO) with respect to hexaoxonane (3, HO). By the use of fluorinated alcohols and under the right reaction conditions, tetraoxanes 2 were selectively formed and synthesised in 46-86% isolated yield from 4-substituted cyclohexanones 1.     

Chemical reactivity as a tool to study carcinogenicity: reaction between chloroethylene oxide and guanine

Chloroethylene oxide, an ultimate carcinogen of vinyl chloride, reacts with DNA giving rise to 7-(2-oxyethyl)guanine adduct in a nearly quantitative yield. This reaction represents an initial step of carcinogenesis associated with vinyl chloride. From experimental data for this reaction we calculated the second-order rate constant of 0.049 s(-1) M(-1), which corresponds to the activation free energy of 19.5 kcal/mol. We also performed a series of medium high ab initio and density functional theory simulations. Effects of hydration were considered in the framework of the Langevine dipoles solvation model and the solvent reaction field method of Tomasi and co-workers. In silico calculated activation free energies are in a good agreement with the experimental value. This fact presents strong evidence in favor of the validity of the proposed reaction mechanism and points to the applicability of quantum-chemical methods to studies of other reactions associated with carcinogenesis. Insignificant stereoselectivity of the studied reaction was also predicted.     

The mean angular distance among objects and its relationships with Kohonen artificial neural networks

This job refers to classification of multidimensional objects and Kohonen artificial neural networks. A new concept is introduced, called the mean angular distance among objects (MADO). Its value can be calculated as the cosine of the mean centered vectors between objects. It can be expressed in matrix form for any number of objects. The MADO allows us to interpret the final organization of the objects in a Kohonen map. Simulated examples demonstrate the relationship between MADO and Kohonen maps and show a way to take advantage of the information present in both of them. Finally, a real analytical chemistry case is analyzed as an application on a big data set of an air quality monitoring campaign. It is possible to discover in it a subgroup of objects with different characteristics than those of the general trend. This subgroup is linked to the existence of an unidentified SO(2) source that, a priori, has not been taken into account.     

Hierarchical clustering of carbon-13 nulear magnetic resonance spectra

The problems of preprocessing of ¹³C-n.m.r. spectra for hierarchical clustering are discussed. Encoding of the spectra in nonequidistant intervals is proposed. To establish the optimal intervals, a Simplex method with variable-sized movements is used. The optimized parameter is the amount of information contained in the first two coordinates of the transforms, obtained by the application of principal component analysis to the ¹³C-n.m.r. spectra. The spectra encoded in optimized intervals are used for automated structure elucidation, based on a hierarchical organization of a collection of more than 2000 assigned¹³C-n.m.r. spectra. The hierarchical trees needed for the library search and prediction of some structural features were generated by a 3-distances clustering method. The retrieval and predictive abilities of the system are discussed.     

Direct iodination of indanone and tetralone derivatives by elemental iodine activated by Selectfluor™ F-TEDA-BF4

Derivatives of indan-1-one and 3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one bearing hydroxy or methoxy substituent on the aromatic ring were efficiently iodinated regioselectively at the α carbonyl position using elemental iodine activated by 1-chloromethyl-4-fluoro-1,4-diazoniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane bis(tetrafluoroborate) (Selectfluor™ F-TEDA-BF₄) in methanol.     

Fractionation of potentially toxic elements in urban soils from five European cities by means of a harmonised sequential extraction procedure

The revised (four-step) BCR sequential extraction procedure has been applied to fractionate the chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc contents in urban soil samples from public-access areas in five European cities. A preliminary inter-laboratory comparison was conducted and showed that data obtained by different laboratories participating in the study were sufficiently harmonious for comparisons to be made between cities and land types (e.g. parks, roadside, riverbanks, etc.). Analyte recoveries by sequential extraction, with respect to direct aqua regia digestion, were generally acceptable (100 ± 15%). Iron, nickel and, at most sites, chromium were found mainly in association with the residual phase of the soil matrix. Copper was present in the reducible, oxidisable and residual fractions, whilst zinc was found in all four sequential extracts. Manganese was strongly associated with reducible material as, in some cities, was lead. This is of concern because high lead concentrations were present in some soils (>500 mg kg⁻¹) and the potential exists for remobilisation under reducing conditions. As would be expected, extractable metal contents were generally highest in older, more heavily industrialised cities. Copper, lead and zinc showed marked (and often correlated) variations in concentrations between sites within the same city whereas manganese and, especially, iron, did not. No overall relationships were, however, found between analyte concentrations and land use, nor between analyte partitioning and land use.     

Reductive ring cleavage of 1-alkyl-4-benzoylamino-5-phenyl-3-pyrazolidinones with raney-nickel alloy. Synthesis of N-benzoyl-3-alkylamino-3-phenylalanine amides from rel-(4R,5R)-4-benzoylamino-5-phenyl-3-pyrazolidinone

rel-(4R,5R)-4-Benzoylamino-5-phenyl-3-pyrazolidinone ( 1 ) was alkylated at position 1 with carbonyl compounds 2a-g . The corresponding rel-(4R,5R)-4-benzoylamino-5-phenyl-3-pyrazolidinone-1-azomethine imines 3a-g , were treated with sodium borohydride to give rel-(4R,5R)-1-alkyl-4-benzoylamino-5-phenyl-3-pyrazolidinones 4a-g . Reduction of pyrazolidinones 4a-g with Raney-nickel alloy in methanolic potassium hydroxide furnished rel-(4R,5R)-N-benzoyl-3-alkylamino-3-phenylalanine amides 5a-f .