Cation binding properties of crown ether-modified polyethylenimines

Crown ether-modified polyethylenimines (PEI-CR) were prepared to elucidate their cation binding efficiency and selectivity by liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction methods. With alkali metal cations it was found that polyethylenimines containing benzo-15-crown-5 moieties (Ia and Ib) extracted all cations examined more efficiently than their monomeric analogs, especially in the cases of K⁺ and Rb⁺ cations. The solid-liquid extraction revealed clearly that the polymers complexed with K⁺ and Rb⁺ cations according to a 1:2 cation-to-crown stoichiometry. The high selectivities of the polymers for K⁺ and Rb⁺ were interpreted in terms of the favourable conformation of the polymer chain for the formation of intramolecular 1:2 complexes. On the contrary, these polymers bound alkali earth cations less effectively with low selectivities.     

Near-Infrared Imaging Using a High-Speed Monitoring Near Infrared Hyperspectral Camera(Compovision)

This review paper reports near-infrared (NIR) imaging studies using a newly-developed NIR camera, Compovision. Compovision can measure a significantly wide area of 150 mm×250 mm at high speed of between 2 and 5 s. It enables a wide spectral region measurement in the 1 000～2 350 nm range at 6 nm intervals. We investigated the potential of Compovision in the applications to industrial problems such as the evaluation of pharmaceutical tablets and polymers. Our studies have demonstrated that NIR imaging based on Compovision can solve several issues such as long acquisition times and relatively low sensitivity of detection. NIR imaging with Compovision is strongly expected to be applied not only to pharmaceutical tablet monitoring and polymer characterization but also to various applications such as those to food products, biomedical substances and organic and inorganic materials.     

Evaluating Optical Quality of a Bifocal Soft Contact Lens in Near Vision Using a Shack–Hartmann Wavefront Aberrometer

To assess optical characteristics of bifocal soft contact lenses (BCLs) in use, we measured wavefront aberrations of human eyes, of eyes with a monofocal soft contact lens (MCL), and of eyes with a BCL. Modulation transfer functions (MTFs), Strehl ratios, and simulated images for far and near vision were produced with the measured aberrations. High order aberrations of subject 1 were significantly smaller than those of subject 2 (t-test, P = 0.001). We found that wearing the BCL improved the optical quality of an eye in subject 1, expressed as the horizontal MTF from 2 to 48 cycles per degree (cpd) for near vision and the Strehl ratio (t-test, P = 0.009 for Strehl ratio). But we did not find the same effect in subject 2. This difference may be due to the difference in the aberrations of the eyes of the two subjects.     

Synthesis and hybridization properties of oligodeoxynucleotides incorporating 2-N-carbamoylguanine derivatives as guanine analogs

2-N-Carbamoyldeoxyguanosine and its derivatives were synthesized and incorporated into ODNs. The T_m analyses revealed higher selective base recognition ability of 2-N-carbamoylguanine than that of guanine. The new guanine analog must be useful for the development of functional oligodeoxynucleotides capable of precise base recognition.     

Synthesis to determine the absolute configuration of (−)-pyricuol, a phytotoxin isolated from rice blast disease fungus Magnaporthe grisea

The absolute configuration of (−)-pyricuol, a phytotoxin isolated from rice blast disease fungus Magnaporthe grisea, was determined to be R by synthetic studies.     

A microsensor for urea based on an ion-selective field effect transistor

The pH response of a pH-sensitive field-effect transistor (FET) is not affected by a ca. 1-μm thick membrane formed from λ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and glutaraldehyde over the gate insular by a vapor deposition method. The response between pH 5.5 and 8.5 is ca. 61 mV pH^?1 at 37°C in 5 mM Tris-HCl buffer. When urease is immobilized on the membrane, the sensor gives a linear relationship between the initial rate of the output gate voltage change and the logarithmic value of urea concentration between 16.7 and 167 mM. Determination of urea is possible within 30 s. The optimum pH is 6.0–6.5, at 37°C. The system can be used for 20 days with only slight loss of enzymatic activity.     

Hydrophilic polymer-immobilized lipoamides-iron(II) system as a new reducing catalyst for the reduction of O-benzylhydroxylamine by sodium borohydride

Based on a redox function of 1,2-dithiolane ? 1,3-dithiol, lipoamide immobilized on hydrophilic polymers such as polyacrylamide, polyethyleneimine, and chitosan was found to work as polymeric reducing catalysts for the reduction of O-benzylhydroxylamine to benzyl alcohol and ammonia with sodium borohydride in the presence of ferrous ion. These polymers were easily separable and maintained high reactivities even after repeated uses.     

Hydrolysis and polycondensation of acid-catalyzed Phenyltriethoxysilane (PhTES)

The effects of acid catalyst, water content and reaction temperature on the hydrolysis and polycondensation of phenyltriethoxysilane (PhTES) were studied using ²⁹Si NMR spectroscopy. The sol catalyzed by hydrochloric acid showed the simultaneous progress of hydrolysis and polycondensation. In addition, the reaction rate was almost independent of reaction temperature. On the other hand, the polycondensation in the PhTES-derived sol mixed with an excess amount of water and acetic acid as a catalyst proceeded after completion of the hydrolysis. In the acetic acid-catalyzed system, the degree of the hydrolysis and polycondensation largely depends on the reaction temperature.