Partial molar volumes of gases dissolved in liquids. Part II. A dilatometer for measuring infinite-dilution partial molar volumes,and results for 40 liquid-gas systems

A dilatometer with an imprecision of less than 0.4% is described for the determination of partial molar volumes of gases dissolved in liquids. Measurements at 298.15 K are reported for 40 liquid-gas systems having n-alkanes and 1-alkanols as the liquid component. The results are interpreted in terms of a number of empirical and semiempirical correlations.     

Evaluation of high energy natural neutrino experiments

The directional intensities of neutrinos of various types produced in the decay of cosmic ray secondaries in the earth’s atmosphere have been estimated. The calculated energy spectra are believed to be uncertain by <20% for neutrino energies up to 100 GeV. Using these fluxes and making various assumptions about the behaviour of neutrino cross-section with energy, the energy spectra of neutrino-induced muons at large depths underground have been calculated. It is shown that a cross-section increasing only linearly with energy up to ～ 100 GeV. would account only for about one-fifth of the preliminary counting rate observed in a recent underground experiment. A more rapid increase in cross-section is indicated somewhere between 10 GeV. and 100 GeV. and this is shown to be quantitatively consistent with the existence of a charged intermediate boson of mass 2 GeV. ～ M_w < 5 GeV. (However see the note added in proof.) The question of detecting high energy neutrino signals from extra-terrestrial sources is briefly discussed.     

Annealing of polymers in the solid-melt region. I. A new approach to estimate the equilibrium melting temperature of polymer crystals

An annealing scheme for semicrystalline polymers is presented whereby a polymer is annealed in its solid-melt region, leading to crystals approaching the equilibrium crystals in terms of melting temperature. The annealing data is mathematically treated to estimate the equilibrium melting temperature (T⁰_m) of polymer crystals. As is the case with any extrapolation procedure, there are minor shortcomings with our approach, but these are far outweighed by the advantages; the latter are exemplified by a comparison with the widely used Hoffman-Weeks method for estimating (T⁰_m). The validity of our annealing scheme for the estimation of (T⁰_m) is demonstrated by analysis of well-studied polymers such as nylon 6, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypivalolactone (PPL), and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE); other polymers studied include polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and nylon 4,6.     

Estimation of pure component properties: Part 3. Estimation of the vapor pressure of non-electrolyte organic compounds via group contributions and group interactions

A group contribution method for the estimation of the normal boiling point of non-electrolyte organic compounds, which was published earlier, has been the basis for development of subsequent physical property methods. In this work, the model was extended to enable the prediction of vapor pressure data with special attention to the low-pressure region. The molecular structure of the compound and a reference point, usually the normal boiling point, are the only required inputs and enables the estimation of vapor pressure at other temperatures by group contribution. The structural group definitions are similar to those proposed earlier for the normal boiling point, with minor modifications having been made to improve the predictions. Structural groups were defined in a standardized form and fragmentation of the molecular structures was performed by an automatic procedure to eliminate any arbitrary assumptions. The new method is based on vapor pressure data for more than 1600 components. The results of the new method are compared to the Antoine correlative equation using parameters stored in the Dortmund Data Bank, as well as, the DIPPR vapor pressure correlations. The group contribution method has proven to be a good predictor, with accuracies comparable to the correlations. Moreover, because the regression of group contributions was performed for a large number of compounds, the results can in several cases be considered more reliable than those of the correlative models that were regressed to individual components only. The range of the method is usually from about the triple or melting point to a reduced temperature of 0.75–0.8.     

Organobismuth(III) Derivatives of Sterically Hindered Bifunctional Tetradentate Schiff Bases: Synthesis and Spectroscopic Characterization

The equimolar reactions of Ph 3 Bi with the bifunctional tetradentate Schiff bases proceed with cleavage of two Bi--C bond of Ph 3 Bi and result in the formation of phenylbismuth(III) derivatives PhBi[RC(NC 6 H 4 S)CH 2 (NC 6 H 4 S)CCOOCH 3 ] where R = C 6 H 5 , 4-ClC 6 H 4 ,4-BrC 6 H 4 , and 4-CH 3 C 6 H 4 . Physico-chemical, IR, and NMR ( 1 H and 13 C) spectral studies have been carried out to investigate the structural aspect of these derivatives which reveal a penta coordination around the central Bi atom.     

Cytochrome c: Ascorbate reduction site and possible electron-transfer path

The ascorbate reduction reaction of the native and urea-perturbed forms, 0–8M urea, of horse heart ferricytochrome c is found to be a three-step process: a urea-dependent equilibrium step between a reducible and an irreducible form with a midconcentration of urea of 7.4M, a binding step with a binding constant of 5.9M^–1, and a reduction step with a urea-independent rate constant of 2.9 ± 0.3 s^–1 [J. Biol. Chem. 255 , 9666 (1980)]. The effect of adding urea, in addition to the generation of an irreducible form, is a slight lowering of the ascorbate-protein binding constant, 5.9 to 2.7M^–1, which is limited to the 0–5.5M concentration range. The thermodynamics of the ureadenaturation process also yields a three-step mechanism, N? X₁? X₂? D, with midconcentrations of urea of 2.5–3M, 6.2M, and 7.5M, respectively, where N, D, and the X_s are the native, the 9-M-urea, and the intermediate forms. The three processes are described as the loosening of the heme crevice opening, the solvent exposure of the polypeptide backbone, and the disruption of the tryptophan–porphyrin interactions, respectively [Biochemistry 19 , 199 (1980)]. The reaction of the protein with 2,3-butanedione, a group-specific reagent for the guanidinium groups and an electron donor for this protein, is inhibited in the presence of ascorbate, but only one of the two functional groups is involved [J. Biol. Chem. 255 , 11094 (1980)]. A correlation of kinetic and thermodynamic observations led to the conclusion that the ascorbate reduction of the protein is independent of the state of the heme crevice opening and of the polypeptide organized structures; instead, it is determined by the integrity of the tryptophan indole–porphyrin interactions. This information, when taken in conjunction with the selective inhibition of the reaction of the arginine side chains by ascorbate, establishes the binding site of ascrobate as one of the two arginyl side chains, and not the opening of the crevice or its vicinity. From the three-dimensional structure of the protein, and taking into consideration the variability of the protein sequence, it is suggested that Arg-38 is the ascorbate binding site, and that the electronic interaction between the indole of Trp-59 and the porphyrin moiety must constitute, at least in part, the electron-transfer path to heme iron.     

Timolol transport from microemulsions trapped in HEMA gels

Approximately 90% of all ophthalmic drug formulations are now applied as eye-drops. While eye-drops are convenient and well accepted by patients, about 95% of the drug contained in the drops is lost due to absorption through the conjunctiva or through the tear drainage. A major fraction of the drug eventually enters the blood stream and may cause side effects [J.C. Lang, Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 16 (1995) 39-43; C. Bourlais, L. Acar, H. Zia, P.A. Sado, T. Needham, R. Leverge, Prog. Retinal Eye Res. 17 (1998) 33-58; M.P. Segal, FDA Consumer Mag. (1991)]. The drug loss and the side effects can be minimized by using microemulsion-laden soft contact lenses for ophthalmic drug delivery [D. Gulsen, A. Chauhan, Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 45 (2004) 2342-2347; D. Gulsen, A. Chauhan, Abstr. Pap. Am. Chem. Soc. 227 (2004) U875]. In order for microemulsion-laden gels to be effective, these should load sufficient quantities of drug and should release it a controlled manner. The presence of a tightly packed surfactant at the oil-water interface of microemulsions may provide barrier to drug transport, and this could be used to control the drug delivery rates. In this paper we focus on trapping ethyl butyrate in water microemulsions stabilized by Pluronic F127 surfactant in 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) gels and measuring the transport rates of timolol, which is a beta-blocker drug that is used for treating a variety of diseases including glaucoma. The results described here show that microemulsion-laden gels could have high drug loadings, particularly for drugs such as timolol base which can either be dissolved in the oil phase or form the oil phase of the microemulsions. However, the surfactant covered interface of the Pluronic microemulsions does not provide sufficient barrier to impede the transport of timolol, perhaps due to the small size of this drug.