Synthesis of graft terpolymers by addition reaction of amino‐terminated polyether to poly(methacrylate)s bearing five‐membered cyclic dithiocarbonate moieties and application of the graft terpolymers as modifiers for wool

Graft terpolymers bearing polyether side chains and poly(methacrylate) stems were synthesized by the graft‐onto reaction of monoamino‐terminated poly(PO₉‐co‐EO₁) to poly{[5‐(methacryloyloxy)methyl‐1,3‐oxathiolane‐2‐thione]‐co‐n‐butyl methacrylate} [poly(DTCMMA‐co‐BuMA)]. The grafting reaction proceeded via the nucleophilic addition of the terminal amino groups to the five‐membered cyclic dithiocarbonate moieties giving thiol moieties, although the grafting efficiency was low (9–34%) due to the steric hindrance of the side chains. The T_g values of the poly{[DTCMMA‐graft‐poly(PO₉‐co‐EO₁)]‐co‐BuMA} ranged 27–47 °C, depending on the amounts of flexible poly(PO₉‐co‐EO₁) chains introduced lowering the T_g values. Poly{[DTCMMA‐graft‐poly(PO₉‐co‐EO₁)]‐co‐BuMA}s bearing thiol groups were applied for the modification of wool via the disulfide exchange reaction. The modified wool had better dye ability toward a pigment from safflower than the original wool owing to the hydrophilic nature of poly{[DTCMMA‐graft‐poly(PO₉‐co‐EO₁)]‐co‐BuMA} introduced. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Acid‐promoted double ring‐opening reaction of bicyclobis (γ‐butyrolactone) with alcohol and its application to polyester synthesis

Bicyclobis(γ‐butyrolactone) (BBL) bearing methyl group 1a reacted with benzyl alcohol (BnOH) in the presence of p‐toluenesulfonic acid (p‐TsOH) through the double ring‐opening of the bislactone structure to afford the corresponding adduct 2a bearing carboxyl group. The resulting carboxyl group underwent condensation with BnOH to afford the corresponding diester 3a . The second step was quite slow at ambient temperature; however, it was efficiently accelerated by elevating temperature to 120 °C or performing under reduced pressure at 80 °C to afford 3a in an excellent yield. Based on these results, the reaction of 1a with xylene‐α,α‐diol (XyD) was carried out in chlorobenzene at 120 °C to obtain the corresponding polyester bearing ketone group in the side chain. The condensation reaction in the second step was effectively promoted by simultaneous removal of water under reduced pressure. BBLs 1b and 1c bearing reactive groups, isopropenyl and chloromethyl, respectively, were also employed as monomers efficiently. Their reactions with XyD gave the corresponding reactive polyesters bearing methacryloyl and chloroacetyl moieties, respectively. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Linkage isomerism of organoplatinum(II) compounds coordinated by two 1,3‐di­methyl­barbiturate anions

In two linkage isomers, bis[1,3‐di­methyl‐2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)‐pyrimidine­trionato]‐C⁵,O⁴‐(ethyl­enedi­amine‐N,N′)platinum(II), [Pt(C₆H₇N₂O₃)₂(C₂H₈N₂)], (I), and bis[1,3‐di­methyl‐2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)‐py­rim­idine­tri­on­ato‐C⁵](ethyl­enediamine‐N,N′)­plati­num(II) di­hyd­rate, [Pt(C₆H₇N₂O₃)₂(C₂H₈N₂)]·2H₂O, (II), crystal­lized from the same aqueous solution containing [Pt(en)(OH)₂] and 1,3‐di­methyl­barbituric acid (Hdmbarb) in a 1:2 molar ratio, a pair of monodentate dmbarb^? anions coordinate to the Pt atom at tetrahedral C atoms for (II), while one dmbarb^? anion coordinates at the carbon and the other at a deprotonated enol oxy­gen for (I). The Pt—C distances in (I) and (II) are comparable: 2.112 (4) Å for (I), and 2.114 (4) and 2.117 (4) Å for (II).     

Serum metabolomics as a novel diagnostic approach for gastrointestinal cancer

Conventional tumor markers are unsuitable for detecting carcinoma at an early stage and lack clinical efficacy and utility. In this study, we attempted to investigate the differences in serum metabolite profiles of gastrointestinal cancers and healthy volunteers using a metabolomic approach and searched for sensitive and specific metabolomic biomarker candidates. Human serum samples were obtained esophageal (n = 15), gastric (n = 11), and colorectal (n = 12) cancer patients and healthy volunteers (n = 12). A model for evaluating metabolomic biomarker candidates was constructed using multiple classification analysis, and the results were assessed with receiver operating characteristic curves. Among the 58 metabolites, the levels of nine, five and 12 metabolites were significantly changed in the esophageal, gastric and colorectal cancer patients, respectively, compared with the healthy volunteers. Multiple classification analysis revealed that the variations in the levels of malonic acid and l ‐serine largely contributed to the separation of esophageal cancer; gastric cancer was characterized by changes in the levels of 3‐hydroxypropionic acid and pyruvic acid; and l ‐alanine, glucuronoic lactone and l ‐glutamine contributed to the separation of colorectal cancer. Our approach revealed that some metabolites are more sensitive for detecting gastrointestinal cancer than conventional biomarkers. Our study supports the potential of metabolomics as an early diagnostic tool for cancer. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Macroporous Morphology of the Titania Films Prepared by a Sol-Gel Dip-Coating Method from the System Containing Poly(Ethylene Glycol). II. Effect of Solution Composition

The influences of water and alkoxide concentrations, as well as the relative humidity upon the macroporous morphology of the titania (TiO2) films have been studied for a sol-gel dip-coating system containing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The distribution of resultant morphology against the withdrawal speed and relative humidity is varied significantly by mainly modifying the polycondensation and phase separation processes during the dipping operation, even by the small change in starting composition of the dipping solution.     

Endohedral metallofullerenes-filled fullerene derivatives towards multifunctional reaction center mimics

In recent years, endohedral metallofullerenes have attracted tremendous interest not only in physics and chemistry, but also in interdisciplinary areas, such as materials and biological sciences. In this concept article we highlight recent results on different endohedral metallofullerenes based on lanthanides and their derivatives. The chemical and excited state reactivities of endohedral metallofullerenes are discussed for various endohedral clusters. Most important is the part that covers spectroscopic and kinetic assays of reductive and oxidative charge transfer evolving from photoexcited electron donors and electron acceptors, respectively, in a variety of electron donor-acceptor conjugates. Towards this end, we refer to the applications of endohedral metallofullerenes in photovoltaic devices that feature greater efficiency than devices fabricated with empty fullerenes. Herein, we focus mainly on results obtained in the groups of Akasaka, Echegoyen, and Guldi.     

Epitaxial thin films of ATiO(3-x)H(x) (A = Ba, Sr, Ca) with metallic conductivity

Epitaxial thin films of titanium perovskite oxyhydride ATiO(3-x)H(x) (A = Ba, Sr, Ca) were prepared by CaH(2) reduction of epitaxial ATiO(3) thin films deposited on a (LaAlO(3))(0.3)(SrAl(0.5)Ta(0.5)O(3))(0.7) substrate. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy detected a substantial amount and uniform distribution of hydride within the film. SrTiO(3)/LSAT thin film hydridized at 530 °C for 1 day had hydride concentration of 4.0 × 10(21) atoms/cm(3) (i.e., SrTiO(2.75)H(0.25)). The electric resistivity of all the ATiO(3-x)H(x) films exhibited metallic (positive) temperature dependence, as opposed to negative as in BaTiO(3-x)H(x) powder, revealing that ATiO(3-x)H(x) are intrinsically metallic, with high conductivity of 10(2)-10(4) S/cm. Treatment with D(2) gas results in hydride/deuteride exchange of the films; these films should be valuable in further studies on hydride diffusion kinetics. Combined with the materials' inherent high electronic conductivity, new mixed electron/hydride ion conductors may also be possible.     

Characterization of selenium species in extract from Niboshi (a processed Japanese anchovy)

Fish are selenium rich foodstuffs and a major selenium source for the Japanese population. Niboshi is processed from Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) and commonly used to prepare soup stock for Japanese dishes. In this study, we characterized selenium species in the Niboshi extract by ultrafiltration, ion-exchange chromatography and mass spectrometry. Selenium species in the Niboshi were more extractable by polar solvents (water and ethanol) than an apolar one (hexane) along with amino acids and proteinous species. Selenium in the water-extract from the Niboshi was mostly ascribed to organoselenium compounds with a molecular mass less than 5?kDa. Although selenoamino acids and selenoproteins and their fragments were involved in the extract, a large portion of the selenium species appeared to be low-molecular-mass organoselenium compounds other than selenoamino acids and their derivatives. Ion-exchange chromatographic separations revealed that most of the selenium species in the extract possess anionic and/or amphoteric characteristics. One of these selenium species from the Niboshi extract was detected at m/z 577 for 80Se by mass spectrometry subsequent to ion-pair extraction.     

Variational calculation of quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical free energy with electronic polarization of solvent

Quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) free energy calculation presents a significant challenge due to an excessive number of QM calculations. A useful approach for reducing the computational cost is that based on the mean field approximation to the QM subsystem. Here, we describe such a mean-field QM/MM theory for electronically polarizable systems by starting from the Hartree product ansatz for the total system and invoking a variational principle of free energy. The MM part is then recast to a classical polarizable model by introducing the charge response kernel. Numerical test shows that the potential of mean force (PMF) thus obtained agrees quantitatively with that obtained from a direct QM/MM calculation, indicating the utility of self-consistent mean-field approximation. Next, we apply the obtained method to prototypical reactions in several qualitatively different solvents and make a systematic comparison of polarization effects. The results show that in aqueous solution the PMF does not depend very much on the water models employed, while in nonaqueous solutions the PMF is significantly affected by explicit polarization. For example, the free energy barrier for a phosphoryl dissociation reaction in acetone and cyclohexane is found to increase by more than 10 kcal/mol when switching the solvent model from an empirical to explicitly polarizable one. The reason for this is discussed based on the parametrization of empirical nonpolarizable models.