Effects of organic solvents on the scission energy of rodlike micelles

The linear viscoelastic response of erucyl bis(hydroxyethyl) methylammonium chloride with added KCl has been studied as a function of temperature and nonpolar solvent addition. The plateau modulus is independent of temperature from 25 to 40 degrees C, in contrast to previous studies with salicylate counterions that showed a plateau modulus increasing with temperature over this range. The average micelle length, L, predicted by the model of Cates, depends experimentally on Escis/kBT, where Escis is the scission energy of the chain and kBT is the Boltzmann constant times the absolute temperature. With ethanol addition, the calculated average contour length, L, decreases by a factor of 4 as ethanol concentration varies from 0 to 1.3 M. This corresponds to an apparent energy for scission, Escis, decrease from 81 +/- 8 to 74 +/- 7 kJ/mol. On the other hand, only 80 mM of hexane is required to cause a decrease in Escis to the same level, and for hexane addition levels above 70 mM a disruption in the plateau modulus indicates the disruption of the rodlike structure. The correspondence between the effect of temperature and the effect of solvent addition allows the development of "solvent/temperature" superposition rules to predict the rheology of these viscoelastic fluids at elevated temperatures.     

Analysis of LSD in human body fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography, fluorescence spectroscopy and radioimmunoassay

A scheme of analysis is described in which the particular advantages of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), fluorescence spectroscopy and radioimmunoassay (RIA) are exploited to the greatest effect. RIA affords a rapid and sensitive preliminary screening method, while the subsequent HPLC analysis using fluorimetric detection yields quantitative chromatographic evidence together with characteristic fluorescence spectra. Fractionation of samples by HPLC followed by RIA of the fractions gives further confirmation of the presence of LSD and its metabolites. The combined methodology has been applied to the analysis of LSD in body fluids for forensic and clinical purposes. Levels down to 0.5 ng of LSD per ml can be detected using the minimum of sample.     

The use of chlorophenol red for the selective determination of chlorine dioxide in drinking water

In recent years, the use of chlorine dioxide as an alternative disinfectant for drinking water has become increasingly attractive. As a result, an accurate method for the determination of mg l(-1) concentrations of chlorine dioxide is needed. Improvements to chlorophenol red (CPR) spectrophotometry result in a selective method for ClO(2) with few interferences. CPR selectively reacts with 0.1-1.9 mg l(-1) ClO(2) at pH 7, yielding a linear response (0.9994) with a limit of detection of 0.12 mg l(-1) ClO(2). Several species, ClO(2)(-), ClO(3)(-), NH(2)Cl, and free available chlorine (FAC), were studied as potential interferents using this method. There was found to be less than 2% interference due to 1.38 mg l(-1) ClO(2)(-), 9.87 mg l(-1) ClO(3)(-1), and 5.31 mg l(-1) NH(2)Cl. The interference from up to 1.19 mg l(-1) FAC was 3.7% and could be further reduced by the addition of oxalic acid, sodium cyclamate or thioacetamide.     

Reactions of pentafluorosulfanyl isocyanate with NR3 and PR3 compounds; Preparation and characterization of novel compounds SF2NC(O)NHC(O)OCH3 and 1,4-SF5NHC(O)OC6H4OH

The reaction of Pentafluorosulfanyl Isocyanate, SF₅NCO, with tertiary amines has led to 1:1 adducts which have been shown to be zwitterionic in nature by infrared and NMR spectroscopy.

These adducts are far less thermally stable than the analogous fluorosulfonyl derivatives recently reported by Appel and Montenarch¹. The reaction of SF₅NCO with triphenyl- phosphine gave some evidence for the zwitterionic derivative, but the product could not be isolated even when SF₅NCO was used in excess. Recently we have also isolated

from the reaction of SFE₂NC(O)NCO with methanol, and

from the reaction of SF₅NCO with hydroquinone. Both of these novel compounds were unexpected.The physical properties of

, SF₂NC(O)NHC(O)OCH₃, and 1,4-SF₅NHC(O)OC₆H₄OH, prepared during this study, will be discussed in detail.     

Metal — organic interactions in sea water: an ecosystem experiment

A model plankton ecosystem was used to study the interactions of trace metals and organic compounds over a 10-day period during a phytoplankton bloom. Six bags of 1200–1 capacity were filled with coastal sea water. Three bags were spiked with copper (78, 157 and 314 nM) and one with copper (4.57 μM) plus nitrilotriacetic acid (10 μM). Samples were analysed for total dissolved copper, zinc, iron, nickel and manganese. The copper complexing capacity, determined by a method based on competition with Chelex-100 resin, was found to be essentially the same (35 nM) in all bags and independent of time. Organically bound complexes of copper (18% of the total), zinc (7%), nickel (4%) and iron (2%) were isolated by adsorption on Sep-Pak cartridges. The metal—organic complexes, were analysed on a liquid chromatograph interfaced to a multichannel atomic fluorescence detector. Organic complexes of zinc, iron and nickel were formed even in the presence of a large excess of copper. The organic and metal—organic compounds isolated by Sep-Pak cartridges became more polar as the bloom progressed.     

Anticancer gold(iii)-bisphosphine complex alters the mitochondrial electron transport chain to induce in vivo tumor inhibition

Expanding the chemical diversity of metal complexes provides a robust platform to generate functional bioactive reagents. To access an excellent repository of metal-based compounds for probe/drug discovery, we capitalized on the rich chemistry of gold to create organometallic gold(iii) compounds by ligand tuning. We obtained novel organogold(iii) compounds bearing a 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene ligand, providing structural diversity with optimal physiological stability. Biological evaluation of the lead compound AuPhos-89 demonstrates mitochondrial complex I-mediated alteration of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) to drive respiration and diminish cellular energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mechanism-of-action efforts, RNA-Seq, quantitative proteomics, and NCI-60 screening reveal a highly potent anticancer agent that modulates mitochondrial ETC. AuPhos-89 inhibits the tumor growth of metastatic triple negative breast cancer and represents a new strategy to study the modulation of mitochondrial respiration for the treatment of aggressive cancer and other disease states where mitochondria play a pivotal role in the pathobiology.

Expanding the chemical diversity of metal complexes provides a robust platform to generate functional bioactive reagents.     

The effect of the ordered phase CuAu on the accuracy of emission analysis of gold alloys

The accuracy of emission determinations of gold, silver and copper in ordered Au/Ag/Cu alloys is compared with similar determinations when these alloys are disordered. The relative slope factors, K_Cu and K_Ag, depend on the concentration of copper present. The accuracy obtained in the analysis of the disordered alloys cannot be achieved for the ordered ones unless the standards used closely match the samples in composition. The ordered phase responsible for the effect is CuAu.     

Preparation and characterization of 4-dimethylaminopyridine-stabilized palladium nanoparticles

4-Dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP)-stabilized palladium nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 3.4 +/- 0.5 nm are prepared from the aqueous phase reduction of Na2PdCl4 using NaBH4 in the presence of DMAP. TEM and UV-vis spectroscopy characterization of the nanoparticle dispersion shows no obvious change in the nanoparticles several months after preparation. 1H NMR spectroscopy of the nanoparticles shows that the nanoparticle dispersion also contains a boron/DMAP complex and two palladium/DMAP complexes. One of the palladium complexes crystallizes out of the dispersion and is identified as Pd(DMAP)4(OH)2 by X-ray crystallography. Following extensive analysis, it is believed that the palladium/DMAP complexes are formed following the oxidation of the palladium nanoparticles. The prepared nanoparticle dispersion promotes selective hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange on the carbon atoms alpha to the endocyclic nitrogen atom on the DMAP-stabilizing ligands through reaction with D2O. This activity is attributed to the presence of the nanoparticles rather than to the presence of the oxidized palladium/DMAP complexes.     

Packing structures of single-stranded DNA and double-stranded DNA thiolates on Au(111): a molecular simulation study

The packing structures of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) thiolates on implicit gold surfaces were studied in explicit aqueous solutions of 1M NaCl using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations were based on individual DNA chains placed in hexagonal simulation boxes of different sizes, representing various packing densities. The total potential energy per DNA chain was compared. The optimal packing structures were determined based on the minimal potential energy within the limits of the conditions that were evaluated in this study. The optimal packing density of ssDNA was found to be 0.19 DNA chains/nm(2), which is consistent with that determined experimentally. Furthermore, the optimal packing density of dsDNA was shown to be approximately 58% of the packing density for ssDNA, indicating that the packing of ssDNA should be approximately 58% of its optimal packing in order to achieve the best hybridization.     

Decompositions of finitely generated nilpotent groups of class 2

In this paper we prove that rational indecomposability is a genus property for finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent groups of class 2. We use this result to determine the genus of finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent groups of class 2 which decompose as a direct product of rationally indecomposable groups. Received: 3 November 2005