Palladium-catalyzed oxidation of alcohols via their allyl carbonates under neutral conditions

Treatment of alkyl allyl carbonates derived from various alcohols with a palladium catalyst in MeCN affords ketones and aldehydes in high yields. This new method of oxidation of alcohols can be applied to various alcohols except simple primary alcohols.     

Dendrimer N-heterocyclic carbene complexes with rhodium(I) at the core

Novel dendrimer N-heterocyclic carbene complexes with rhodium(I) located at the core were synthesized, and a positive dendrimer effect was found in the hydrosilylation of ketones catalyzed by them.     

Study on the effect of diand trifluoromethyl groups on the baeyer-villiger reaction

Case studies of the Baeyer-Villiger reaction applied to diand trifluoromethylketone derivatives and the effect of the fluoromethyl groups on the Baeyer-Villiger reaction, are described.     

Growth limits in platinum oxides formed on Pt-skin layers on Pt-Co bimetallic nanoparticles

The dynamical oxidation processes of Pt-skin layers on Pt(3)Co were investigated in situ and in real-time by time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy combined with electrochemical measurements. Growth limit behaviors and the suppression of higher-order formation of surface oxides were observed, and these might explain the highly durable nature of Pt-skin layers.     

Transformation of peptide nanotubes into a vesicle via fusion driven by stereo-complex formation

Two types of peptide nanotubes, one is prepared from an amphiphilic peptide having a right-handed helix segment and the other from that having a left-handed helix segment, are shown to transform the morphology into a vesicle by membrane fusion due to stereo-complex formation between these helical segments.     

Development of SI-traceable C-peptide certified reference material NMIJ CRM 6901-a using isotope-dilution mass spectrometry-based amino acid analyses

A certified reference material (CRM) is a higher-order calibration material used to enable a traceable analysis. This paper describes the development of a C-peptide CRM (NMIJ CRM 6901-a) by the National Metrology Institute of Japan using two independent methods for amino acid analysis based on isotope-dilution mass spectrometry. C-peptide is a 31-mer peptide that is utilized for the evaluation of β-cell function in the pancreas in clinical testing. This CRM is a lyophilized synthetic peptide having the human C-peptide sequence, and contains deamidated and pyroglutamylated forms of C-peptide. By adding water (1.00 ± 0.01) g into the vial containing the CRM, the C-peptide solution in 10 mM phosphate buffer saline (pH 6.6) is reconstituted. We assigned two certified values that represent the concentrations of total C-peptide (mixture of C-peptide, deamidated C-peptide, and pyroglutamylated C-peptide) and C-peptide. The certified concentration of total C-peptide was determined by two amino acid analyses using pre-column derivatization liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and hydrophilic chromatography-mass spectrometry following acid hydrolysis. The certified concentration of C-peptide was determined by multiplying the concentration of total C-peptide by the ratio of the relative area of C-peptide to that of the total C-peptide measured by liquid chromatography. The certified value of C-peptide (80.7 ± 5.0) mg/L represents the concentration of the specific entity of C-peptide; on the other hand, the certified value of total C-peptide, (81.7 ± 5.1) mg/L can be used for analyses that does not differentiate deamidated and pyroglutamylated C-peptide from C-peptide itself, such as amino acid analyses and immunochemical assays.