Polymer-Supported Tetrabromooxomolybdate(V): A New Type of Catalyst for Oxidation by t-Butyl Hydroperoxide

Tetrabromooxomolybdate(V) was immobilized in alkylammonium cation-type polymers obtained by the reaction of poly(p-chloromethyl-styrene-co-divinylbenzene-co-styrene) (abbreviated CMS) with amines and derived from poly(p-vinylpyridine) and poly(p-vinylpyridine-co-divinylbenzene). These immobilized polymers were active catalysts for the oxidation of alcohols and epoxidation of olefins with t-butyl hydroperoxide (abbreviated t-BuOOH). Among these polymers, we could find a polymer catalyst showing specificity, which was obtained by immobilization of tetrabromooxomolybdate(V) in the polymer derived from the reaction of CMS with trimethylamine. This immobilized polymer does not catalyze epoxidation of olefins but catalyzes oxidation of alcohols with t-BuOOH. Ammonium tetrabromooxomolybdate(V) complex was stabilized by the immobilization in the polymers, and it was found that the reactivity of the active group is due to the microenvironment supplied by the polymer chain.     

Basic structure and cell culture condition of a bioartificial renal tubule on chip towards a cell-based separation microdevice

Various separation processes have been integrated in microfluidics, such as capillary electrophoresis and chromatography, on a microchip. However, it is extremely difficult to separate a complicated biological system by conventional methods. Here, we report on a feasible structure and the culture condition of human renal proximal tubule epithelial cells (RPTECs), with the aim to construct a bioartificial renal tubule on a chip. Glass microchips and a polycarbonate membrane were sealed with no leakage after a surface modification. Furthermore, matrigel was selected as an optimized extracellular matrix (ECM) for cell-proliferation on the membrane. After culturing for 5 days, RPTECs reached confluent in the chip-membrane structure, which was confirmed by nuclei staining. So far, we have constructed the basic structure and cell proliferation circumstance for the future demonstration of the RPTECs separating function. This separation microdevice has promising potential to be applied as both a unit of a circulation cell culture system and a research platform of cell biology.     

Synthetic studies of GKK1032s: the asymmetric synthesis of the decahydrofluorene skeleton via a novel cyclization of silyl enol ether and sequential retro Diels-Alder and intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions

GKK1032s, which were isolated from the culture broth of Penicillium sp. GKK1032, exhibit antitumor activity. We constructed the fully elaborated decahydrofluorene skeleton of GKK1032s. The C-ring was constructed by intramolecular cyclization reaction between a chiral epoxide and silyl enol ether, and the dienophile moiety was introduced concurrently. In addition, the AB-rings were stereoselectively constructed using novel sequential retro Diels-Alder (DA) and intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) reactions. Several further modifications of the IMDA adduct were carried out, leading to the asymmetric synthesis of the desired hydroxyester including nine stereo centers.     

i-RUBY: a novel software for quantitative analysis of highly accurate shotgun-proteomics liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry data obtained without stable-isotope labeling of proteins

We developed a novel software named i-RUBY (identification-Related qUantification-Based strategY algorithm for liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) data) that enables us to perform fully automatic ion current-based spectral feature analysis of highly accurate data obtained by LC/MS/MS. At the 1st step, this software utilizes accurate peptide/protein identification information for peak detection and peak matching among measurements. Then, at the 2nd step, it picks yet unidentified peaks and matches them to the peaks identified at the 1st step by a linear interpolation algorithm. The analysis of human plasma externally spiked with a known amount of yeast alcohol dehydrogenase 1 showed a good linear relationship between the amount of protein spiked and the quantitative values obtained by i-RUBY analysis. Experiment using human plasma digests spiked with a mixture of known amounts of synthetic peptides derived from two yeast proteins, alcohol dehydrogenase 1 and glucose-6-phospate isomerase, showed the expansion by the 2nd step of i-RUBY of the lower quantification limits to 1/10 to 1/1000 of those reached only by identified peaks at the 1st step. Good correlations between the i-RUBY results and the amount of proteins were confirmed by the analysis of real samples, i.e., sera of normal subjects and cancer patients, by comparing quantitative values of acute-phase proteins obtained by i-RUBY analysis of LC/MS/MS data with those obtained by an immunological method using Bio-Plex. These results taken together show that i-RUBY is a useful tool for obtaining dependable quantitative information from highly accurate shotgun-proteomics LC/MS/MS data.     

High-resolution dynamic measurement using electronic speckle pattern interferometry based on multi-camera technology

The speckle interferometer based on multi-camera technologies using two cameras is applied to a dynamic measurement. The new speckle interferometer is constructed by a prism array and two cameras. A phenomenon, which a bearing-ball collides against a thin polymer film, is investigated by the proposed interferometer. Then, it is shown that the local maximum deformation of the thin film by the collision is about 1.0 μm. Such a deformation process can precisely be analyzed by this method without any troubles of optical dislocations. In the results, it is confirmed that a large deformation process can be analyzed by accumulating measured results of small deformation in every small continuous analysis. Furthermore, it is estimated that the measurement precision of this method is about 5 nm as experimental results.     

Effect of residual oxygen on ionization processes of Si and Si sputtered from Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface

The effect of residual oxygen impurity on ionization processes of Si⁺ and Si²⁺ has been studied quantitatively. In this study, ion sputtering experiments were carried out for a Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface, irradiated with 9-11 keV Ar⁰ and Kr⁰ beam. Even if the oxygen concentration is less than the detection limit of Auger electron spectrometry, SiO⁺ and SiO₂⁺ ions have been appreciably observed. Moreover, as the SiO⁺ and SiO₂⁺ yields increases, the Si⁺ yield is slightly enhanced, whereas the Si²⁺ yield is significantly reduced. From the incidence angle dependence of secondary ion yields, it is confirmed that Si⁺* (Si⁺ with a 2p hole) created in the shallow region from the surface exclusively contributes to Si²⁺ formation. By assuming that the SiO⁺ and SiO₂⁺ yields are proportional to the residual oxygen concentration, these observations are reasonably explained: The increase of Si⁺ with the increase of residual oxygen is caused by a similar effect commonly observed for oxidized surfaces. The decrease of Si²⁺ yield can be explained by the inter-atomic Auger transition between the residual oxygen impurity and Si⁺*, which efficiently interferes the Si²⁺ formation process.     

An oxidation system for green chemistry – synthesis of bi-metallic schiff base complexes and oxidation of phenols in the presence of the complexes –

Bimetallic copper complexes were synthesized from the schiff bases which were obtained by the reaction between bis(3-aminophenyl) sulphone and salicylaldehyde and the derivatives in order to clarify the active site of the immobilized polymer catalyst. The complex-H₂O₂ system showed effective oxiation of phenols. The active site was elucidated by UV spectrum.     

Formation of interpenetrated spherulites based on miscible crystalline polymer blends

The morphology and formation process of interpenetrated spherulites of poly(butylene succinate)/poly(vinylidene choloride‐co‐vinyl chloride) (PBSU/PVDCVC) blends were investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). CLSM images showed that the dense fibrils of PBSU spherulites penetrated into the sparse PVDCVC spherulites. For a blend with PBSU content 50% and crystallization temperature T_c = 368 K, the simultaneous growth of PBSU and PVDCVC spherulites was observed. After PBSU fibrils collided with PVDCVC spherulites, they kept growing through PVDCVC spherulites. For a blend with PBSU content 30% and T_c = 363 K, PBSU started to nucleate after PVDCVC spherulites filled the whole space.