Methoxy-substituted TQEN family of fluorescent zinc sensors

Two methoxy-substituted TQEN (N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(2-quinolylmethyl)ethylenediamine) derivatives, T(MQ)EN (N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(6-methoxy-2-quinolylmethyl)ethylenediamine) and T(TMQ)EN (N,N,N',N'-tetrakis(5,6,7-trimethoxy-2-quinolylmethyl)ethylenediamine), have been prepared, and their fluorescence properties with respect to Zn2+ coordination were investigated. Introduction of a methoxy substituent at 6-position of the quinoline ring enhances the fluorescence intensity by 10-fold, and the three methoxy substituents in the 5,6,7-positions afford significant enhancement of the long-wavelength component of the fluorescence of zinc complex. The substituents did not alter the binding affinity of these compounds toward zinc ion significantly. T(MQ)EN was proved to be effective in detection of zinc ion in cells by fluorescent microscopy.     

Effect of ion-exchange nanofiber fabrics on water splitting in bipolar membrane

In the present study, the effect of ion-exchange fiber fabric made by electrospray deposition (ESD) on water splitting in a composite bipolar membrane (CBM) was investigated. Cation- and anion-exchange fiber (CEF and AEF) fabrics, which were composed of very thin fibers, were prepared by ESD and postdeposition chemical modification and then used as the intermediate layer of a CBM. The current-voltage characteristics under reverse bias conditions showed that the AEF fabrics enhanced water splitting. The water dissociation is accelerated by the AEF fabric, which contains both tertiary pyridyl groups and quaternary pyridinium groups and has a high specific surface area. On the other hand, the CEF fabric, which contains sulfonic acid groups and has an insufficient specific surface area, reduced water splitting. These results indicate that fiber fabric with catalytic activity and a high surface area obtained by ESD can improve the performance of a CBM.     

The “Borrowing Hydrogen Strategy” by Supported Ruthenium Hydroxide Catalysts: Synthetic Scope of Symmetrically and Unsymmetrically Substituted Amines

The N‐alkylation of ammonia (or its surrogates, such as urea, NH₄HCO₃, and (NH₄)₂CO₃) and amines with alcohols, including primary and secondary alcohols, was efficiently promoted under anaerobic conditions by the easily prepared and inexpensive supported ruthenium hydroxide catalyst Ru(OH)_x/TiO₂. Various types of symmetrically and unsymmetrically substituted “tertiary” amines could be synthesized by the N‐alkylation of ammonia (or its surrogates) and amines with “primary” alcohols. On the other hand, the N‐alkylation of ammonia surrogates (i.e., urea and NH₄HCO₃) with “secondary” alcohols selectively produced the corresponding symmetrically substituted “secondary” amines, even in the presence of excess amounts of alcohols, which is likely due to the steric hindrance of the secondary alcohols and/or secondary amines produced. Under aerobic conditions, nitriles could be synthesized directly from alcohols and ammonia surrogates. The observed catalysis for the present N‐alkylation reactions was intrinsically heterogeneous, and the retrieved catalyst could be reused without any significant loss of catalytic performance. The present catalytic transformation would proceed through consecutive N‐alkylation reactions, in which alcohols act as alkylating reagents. On the basis of deuterium‐labeling experiments, the formation of the ruthenium dihydride species is suggested during the N‐alkylation reactions.     

Stereoselective coupling reaction of dimethylzinc and alkyne toward nickelacycles

Ni catalyst promotes the three-component coupling reaction of vinyloxacyclopropane, alkyne, and dimethylzinc to provide 2,5-heptadienyl alcohol in high yields. Vinylcyclopropane also participates in a similar three-component coupling reaction to afford dimethyl (α-heptadienyl)malonate with excellent E-stereoselectivity.     

A new NMR approach for structure determination of thermally unstable biflavanones and application to phytochemicals from Garcinia buchananii

Previous activity‐guided phytochemical studies on Garcinia buchananii stem bark, which is traditionally used in Africa to treat various gastrointestinal and metabolic illnesses, revealed xanthones, polyisoprenylated benzophenones, flavanone‐C‐glycosides, biflavonoids, and/or biflavanones as bioactive key molecules. Unequivocal structure elucidation of biflavonoids and biflavanones by means of NMR spectroscopy is often complicated by the hindered rotation of the monomers around the C‐C axis (atropisomerism), resulting in a high spectral complexity. In order to facilitate an unrestricted rotation, NMR spectra are usually recorded at elevated temperatures, commonly over 80 °C, which effects in a single set of resonance signals. However, under these conditions, one of the target compounds of this investigation, (2R,3S,2″R,3″R)‐manniflavanone ( 1 ), undergoes degradation. Therefore, we demonstrated in the present study that the 1,1‐ADEQUATE could be successfully used as a powerful alternative approach to confirm the C‐C connectivities in 1 , avoiding detrimental conditions. However, a moderate increase in temperature up to 50 °C was sufficient to deliver sharp signals in the proton NMR experiment of (2R,3S,2″R,3″R)‐isomanniflavanone ( 2 ) and (2″R,3″R)‐preussianone ( 3 ). In addition, two new compounds could be isolated, namely (2R,3S,2″R,3″R)‐GB‐2 7″‐O‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside ( 4 ) and (2R,3S,2″R,3″R)‐manniflavanone‐7″‐O‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside ( 5 ), and whose structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry methods. The absolute configurations were determined by a combination of NMR and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopy. The aforementioned compounds exhibited high anti‐oxidative capacity in the H₂O₂ scavenging, hydrophilic Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (H‐TEAC) and hydrophilic oxygen radical absorbance capacity (H‐ORAC) assays. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A High Vacuum Fracture Facility for Molecular Interactions

This paper describes the development of a high vacuum fracture rig for delaminating functionalized silicon surfaces. The main focus here is on examining molecular interactions by functionalizing the silicon surfaces with carboxyl and diamine terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). However, many other interactions can be considered. The crack front location and normal crack opening displacements (NCOD) are measured by infrared crack opening interferometry (IR-COI). This allows the normal traction-separation relation of the interactions to be determined. Some mixed-mode fracture experiments were conducted on silicon/carboxyl/diamine/silicon sandwich specimens in ambient and high vacuum. Interesting differences in behavior were noted.     

Emulsion and dispersion polymerization of styrene in the presence of PEO macromonomers with p-vinylphenylalkyl end groups

Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) macromonomers with α-p-vinylphenylalkyl (propyl, pentyl, and hexyl) and ω-hydroxy end groups were applied to emulsion and dispersion polymerization of styrene as reactive emulsifiers and dispersants in water and in methanol-water mixture (9:1 v/v), respectively. Nearly monodisperse microspheres of submicron to micron size were obtained. Particle size in the emulsion system was one or half order of magnitude smaller than that in the dispersion system, while in both systems the size decreased approximately according to minus one half power of the macromonomer concentration in weight. The particle size was substantially independent on the PEO chain length and also on the spacer alkyl chain length of the α-polymerizing end group. The total weight of the PEO chains incorporated by copolymerization into the particle surfaces (shells), relative to that of styrene polymerized into the particle cores, appears to be a key factor for controlling the particle size. To cite this article: K. Landfester et al., C. R. Chimie 6 (2003).     

Diastereomeric selective effects of double-stranded peptides conjugated with -Phe-Phe- residue for growth inhibition and permeability of Ca(2+) on A431, src(ts)NRK, and A549 cells proliferation

Our aim in this study is to elucidate the correlations between inhibition and chirality, especially, diastereomer, against cell proliferation of double-stranded peptides. In previous studies, we reported on the design, synthesis, and chemical properties on a series of novel double-stranded peptides, (y-AA-x-AA)(2)-spacer(S) (AA=amino acid, S=spacer, symbols x and y represent L- or D-forms, and (y-, x-) as represent of the symbol) conjugated with -y-AA-x-AA- and -z-AA-y-AA-x-AA- sequences to a spacer of carbon number n. The inhibition of A431 and src(ts)NRK cells growth by four diastereomers of the N(1),N(12)-bis(y-Phe-x-Phe)dodecanediamines (n=12) increased in the following order: (L-, L-)<(D-, D-)<(L-, D-)<(D-, L-). A similar trend was seen in the order for the activity of (y-AA-x-AA)(2)-spacer(S) with a spacer of carbon number n=2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 12 against the cell growth inhibition. To understand the mechanism of diasteromer selective cell growth inhibition, the correlations between chirality and cell growth inhibition were investigated from the measurement of the changes in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration (=[Ca(2+)](c)) of A431 cells. Although less active N(1),N(12)-bis(L-Phe-L-Phe)dodecanediamine increases cytosolic [Ca(2+)](c), more active diasteromers, N(1),N(12)-bis(L-Phe-D-Phe)dodecanediamine and N(1),N(12)-bis(D-Phe-L-Phe)dodecanediamine, decrease cytosolic [Ca(2+)](c) in A431 cell. This study provides diastereomeric effected new insights - this controls the polarity of double-stranded peptides - into the control of tumor cell proliferation and design of the uptake by penetration through the cell membrane of drugs.     

Adsorption of water on three-dimensional pillared-layer metal organic frameworks

We showed water adsorption isotherms at 303 K on water-resistant three-dimensional (3-D) pillared-layer metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with 1-D semi-rectangular pores, of which size depends on the length of ligand. The shapes of all three adsorption isotherms are type I by IUPAC classification showing strong water-MOFs interaction. The adsorbed amount of water molecules on the hydrophilic site of carboxylic group in 2-D sheets coincided with the crystal water amount. The adsorption on the hydrophilic sites occurs at similar relative pressure even if the used ligand is different.