Tetra‐μ‐chloro‐1:2κ4Cl;1:3κ4Cl‐di­methyl‐2κC,3κC‐tetra­kis(tetra­hydro­furan)‐1κ2O,2κO,3κO‐chromium(II)dizinc(II)

The title compound, [CrZn₂(CH₃)₂Cl₄(C₄H₈O)₄], contains a central distorted octa­hedral Cr atom, located at an inversion center, bound to two tetra­hydro­furan ligands and four chloro ligands that bridge to two symmetry‐related tetra­hedral Zn atoms. The coordination around zinc is completed by methyl and tetra­hydro­furan ligands. This structure is compared with a previously reported complex of vanadium, and their differences in metric parameters are explained.     

Purification of His-tagged hepatitis B core antigen from unclarified bacterial homogenate using immobilized metal affinity-expanded bed adsorption chromatography

Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) is used as a diagnostic reagent for the detection of hepatitis B virus infection. In this study, immobilized metal affinity-expanded bed adsorption chromatography (IMA-EBAC) was employed to purify N-terminally His-tagged HBcAg from unclarified bacterial homogenate. Streamline Chelating was used as the adsorbent and the batch adsorption experiment showed that the optimal binding pH of His-tagged HBcAg was 8.0 with a binding capacity of 1.8 mg per ml of adsorbent. The optimal elution condition for the elution of His-tagged HBcAg from the adsorbent was at pH 7 in the presence of 500 mM imidazole and 1.5 M NaCl. The IMA-EBAC has successfully recovered 56% of His-tagged HBcAg from the unclarified E. coli homogenate with a purification factor of 3.64. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) showed that the antigenicity of the recovered His-tagged HBcAg was not affected throughout the IMA-EBAC purification process and electron microscopy revealed that the protein assembled into virus-like particles (VLP).     

Carbodicarbene: geminal-Bimetallic Coordination in Selective Manner

The reaction of Pd(OAc)₂ with free carbodicarbene (CDC) generates a Pd acetate trinuclear complex 1 via intramolecular C(sp³)−H bond activation at one of the CDC methyl side arms. The solid structure of 1 reveals the capability of CDC to facilitate a double dative bond with two palladium centers in geminal fashion. This is attributed to the chelating mode of CDC, which can frustrate π-conjugation within the CDC framework. Such effect maybe also amplified by ligand-ligand interaction. The formation of other gem-bimetallic Pd−Pd, Pd−Au, and Ni−Au provides further structural evidence for this proof-of-concept in selective installation. Structural analysis is supported by computational calculations based on state-of-the-art energy decomposition analysis (EDA) in conjunction with natural orbitals for chemical valence (NOCV) method.     

The influence of electrolyte concentration on nanofractures fabricated in a 3D-printed microfluidic device by controlled dielectric breakdown

A three-dimensional-printed microfluidic device made of a thermoplastic material was used to study the creation of molecular filters by controlled dielectric breakdown. The device was made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene by a fused deposition modeling three-dimensional printer and consisted of two V-shaped sample compartments separated by 750 µm of extruded plastic gap. Nanofractures were formed in the thin piece of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene by controlled dielectric breakdown by application voltage of 15–20 kV with the voltage terminated when reaching a defined current threshold. Variation of the size of the nanofractures was achieved by both variation of the current threshold and by variation of the ionic strength of the electrolyte used for breakdown. Electrophoretic transport of two proteins, R-phycoerythrin (RPE; <10 nm in size) and fluorescamine-labeled BSA (f-BSA; 2–4 nm), was used to monitor the size and transport properties of the nanofractures. Using 1 mM phosphate buffer, both RPE and f-BSA passed through the nanofractures when the current threshold was set to 25 µA. However, when the threshold was lowered to 10 µA or lower, RPE was restricted from moving through the nanofractures. When we increased the electrolyte concentration during breakdown from 1 to 10 mM phosphate buffer, BSA passed but RPE was blocked when the threshold was equal to, or lower than, 25 µA. This demonstrates that nanofracture size (pore area) is directly related to the breakdown current threshold but inversely related to the concentration of the electrolyte used for the breakdown process.     

Encouraging problem-solving disposition in a Singapore classroom

In this article, we share our learning experience as a Lesson Study team. The Research Lesson was on Figural Patterns taught in Year 7. In addition to helping students learn the skills of the topic, we wanted them to develop a problem-solving disposition. The management of these two objectives was a challenge to us. From the lesson observation and the students’ classwork, it turned out better than we expected.     

SR-HARDI: Spatially Regularizing High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging

High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) has recently been of great interest in mapping the orientation of intravoxel crossing fibers, and such orientation information allows one to infer the connectivity patterns prevalent among different brain regions and possible changes in such connectivity over time for various neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. The aim of this article is to propose a penalized multiscale adaptive regression model (PMARM) framework to spatially and adaptively infer the orientation distribution function (ODF) of water diffusion in regions with complex fiber configurations. In PMARM, we reformulate the HARDI imaging reconstruction as a weighted regularized least-square regression (WRLSR) problem. Similarity and distance weights are introduced to account for spatial smoothness of HARDI, while preserving the unknown discontinuities (e.g., edges between white matter and gray matter) of HARDI. The L₁ penalty function is introduced to ensure the sparse solutions of ODFs, while a scaled L₁ weighted estimator is calculated to correct the bias introduced by the L₁ penalty at each voxel. In PMARM, we integrate the multiscale adaptive regression models, the propagation-separation method, and Lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) to adaptively estimate ODFs across voxels. Experimental results indicate that PMARM can reduce the angle detection errors on fiber crossing area and provide more accurate reconstruction than standard voxel-wise methods. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.     

Gallium and Indium Complexes of Bis(amino thiol) (N(2)S(2)) Ligands

Three methods have been developed to prepare gallium and indium complexes of three tetradentate N(2)S(2) ligands of the general formula M(N(2)S(2))R (M = Ga, In; R = Cl, Br, SCN, O(2)CC(6)H(5)-O,O'). The ancillary ligand (Cl, SCN, O(2)CC(6)H(5)-O,O') was varied with the tetradentate ligand BAT-TM. X-ray crystallography shows that the coordination geometry about the d(10) metal ion is influenced by the steric requirements of the ligands. X-ray crystallography of four molecules results in the following data: GaCl(BAT-TM) (1), formula = C(10)H(22)ClGaN(2)S(2), space group = Pnma, a = 12.387(4) ?, b = 21.116(6) ?, c = 5.986(2) ?, V = 1565.8(9) ?(3), Z = 4; InCl(BAT-TM) (2), formula = C(10)H(22)ClInN(2)S(2), space group = Pnma, a = 12.968(9) ?, b = 29.29(1) ?, c = 5.866(2) ?, V = 1620(2) ?(3), Z = 4; InNCS(BAT-TM) (3), formula = C(11)H(24)ClInN(3)S(3), space group = Pbca, a = 11.812(3) ?, b = 11.679(3) ?, c = 24.238(9) ?, V = 3449.7 (17) ?(3), Z = 8; In(O,O'-O(2)CC(6)H(5))(BAT-TM) (4), formula = C(19)H(29)O(2)InN(2)S(2), space group = P2(1)/n, a = 10.783(2) ?, b = 18.708(4) ?, c = 12.335(4) ?, V = 2321.7(9) ?(3), Z = 4. Proton NMR studies show that the complexes are stable in solution; in polar solvents such as acetonitrile, for certain molecules, two metal-ligand complexes are observed. Similarly, two metal-ligand complexes are seen in NMR data taken in 80% acetonitrile/20% D(2)O (pD = 4.6) mixture. HPLC studies (acetonitrile/50 mM sodium acetate, pH = 4.6) show that the lipophilicity of the ligand determines the retention time of the complex.     

Reversible oxidation state change in germanium(tetraphenylporphyrin) induced by a dative ligand: aromatic GeII(TPP) and antiaromatic GeIV(TPP)(pyridine)2

Treatment of GeCl2(dioxane) with Li2(TPP)(OEt2)2 (TPP = tetraphenylporphyrin) in THF yields Ge(TPP), the first free Ge(II) porphyrin complex. In pyridine Ge(TPP) is converted to Ge(TPP)(py)2, an antiaromatic Ge(IV) complex, whereas in benzene the reaction is reversed, and pyridine dissociates from Ge(TPP)(py)2 to form Ge(TPP). That reversible reaction represents an unusual, if not unique, example of an oxidation-state change in a metal induced by coordination of a dative ligand. UV-vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy show that Ge(TPP) is an aromatic Ge(II) porphyrin complex, while the 1H NMR spectrum of Ge(TPP)(py)2 clearly indicates the presence of a strong paratropic ring current, characteristic of an antiaromatic compound. Both Ge(TPP) and Ge(TPP)(py)2 have been crystallographically characterized, and the antiaromaticity of Ge(TPP)(py)2 leads to alternating short and long C-C bonds along the 20-carbon periphery of its porphine ring system. Coordination of pyridine to Ge(TPP) greatly increases its reducing ability: the Ge(TPP)0/2+ redox potential is about +0.2 V, while the Ge(TPP)(py)2(0/+) redox potential is -1.24 V (both vs. ferrocene). The equilibrium constant of the reaction Ge(TPP) + 2 py = Ge(TPP)(py)2 in C6D6 is 22 M-2. The germanium complex of the more electron-withdrawing tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]porphyrin, Ge(TArFP), and its pyridine adduct Ge(TArFP)(py)2 were synthesized. The equilibrium constant of the reaction Ge(TArFP) + 2 py = Ge(TArFP)(py)2 in C6F6/C6D6 is 2.3 x 10(4) M-2. Density functional theory calculations are consistent with the experimental observation that M(TPP)(py)2 formation from M(TPP) and pyridine is most favorable for M=Si, borderline for Ge, and unfavorable for Sn.