Adsorption of aqueous Hg (II) by a novel poly(aniline‐co‐o‐aminophenol)/mesoporous silica SBA‐15 composite

A novel poly(aniline‐co‐o‐aminophenol) (PAOA)/mesoporous silica SBA‐15 nanocomposite was synthesized and investigated for adsorption of Hg (II) from aqueous solutions of wide pH range. A chemical oxidation method was employed for polymerization of aniline and o‐aminophenol on an ordered SBA‐15 template to obtain a significantly enlarged BET surface area of the adsorbent. Efficiency study revealed that the PAOA/SBA‐15 could reach a maximum Hg (II) adsorption capacity of over 400 mg/g. Kinetic study showed that the Hg (II) adsorption by the PAOA/SBA‐15 fitted a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model, indicating that the mercury adsorption process was predominantly controlled by chemical process. The results of this study also proved that the adsorbed Hg (II) could be effectively desorbed from the PAOA/SBA‐15 in 0.1M HCl and 5% sulfocarbonide solutions. Associated adsorption mechanism was also investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chiral salen-metal derivatives of polyoxometalates with asymmetric catalytic and photocatalytic activities

Immobilization of the chiral salen-metal complex [Mn(III)(salen)(H(2)O)(2)ClO(4)] on the Keggin-type polyoxometalate (POM) skeletons leads to the isolation of POM derivatives functionalized with chiral salen-metal complexes, which represent the first examples of introducing chiral salen-metal complexes into the POM systems.     

Metal-carboxylate coordination polymers with redox-active moiety of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)

Though numerous metal-organic frameworks or polymers have been reported, the organic building blocks are usually not redox-active. On the other hand, some mono-, di- or tri-nuclear compounds with tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) have been prepared, although little is known about the coordination polymers combined with paramagnetic metals and organic TTF ligands. We report herein a series of coordination polymers of copper(II) and manganese(II) with TTF dicarboxylate ligand (L). Compound 1, [CuL(2,2-bpy)](n), is a one-dimensional (1-D) coordination polymer with five-coordinated square-pyramidal Cu(II) centers. Mn(II) complex 2, [MnL(2,2-bpy)](n), also takes a 1-D structure, showing a double-bridged mode by carboxylate groups. The 4,4-bipyridine compound 3, [MnL(4,4-bpy)(H(2)O)](n)·CH(3)CN, takes a 2-D grid network. A zinc(II) compound 4, [ZnL(4,4-bpy)(H(2)O)](n)·CH(3)CN, isomorphous structure with 3, is also presented. The electrochemical properties of the solid-state compounds were investigated by cyclic voltammetry using surface-modified electrodes. As usually observed in TTF derivatives, two sets of redox-waves were observed. The values of E(1/2)(1) of compounds 1-4 are in the order of 2(Mn) ≈ 3(Mn) < 1(Cu) < 4(Zn), indicating that the metal coordination can affect the potential shift of the TTF ligand. Weak antiferromagnetic exchanges are observed for compounds 1, 2, and 3.     

An effective Cu(II) quenching fluorescence sensor in aqueous solution and 1D chain coordination polymer framework

In the article, a novel fluorescent probe for the copper cation based on fluorescence quenching mechanism was designed. It exhibited high selectivity for Cu(II) over other common metal ions in aqueous media. Furthermore the coordination between Cu(II) and the organic molecule sensor fabricated an interesting 1D chain coordination polymer framework.     

The synthesis of the near-spherical AgCl crystal for visible light photocatalytic applications

The near-spherical AgCl micro-crystals were prepared by an ionic liquids-assisted hydrothermal method. The influence of ionic liquids (C(x)MimCl x = 4, 8, 12, 16) on (001) facet growth of AgCl was studied systemically. The composition of the as-prepared samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and FTIR spectra. The morphological structures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Based on experimental data and the classical crystal growth theory, a plausible growth mechanism of the near-spherical AgCl was proposed. The plasmonic photocatalyst Ag@AgCl prepared from the near-spherical AgCl showed higher activity than that of cubic morphologies.     

Folding-promoted TBACl-mediated chemo- and regioselective demethylations of methoxybenzene-based macrocyclic pentamers

Tetrabutylammonium chloride (TBACl) salt alone has not been shown previously to be capable of removing methoxy groups. It is demonstrated here that the use of TBACl achieves efficient folding-promoted chemo- and regioselective demethylations, eliminating up to two out of five methyl groups situated in similar macrocyclic chemical microenvironments.     

A computational approach to design and evaluate enzymatic reaction pathways: application to 1-butanol production from pyruvate

We present a new computational strategy for the design and evaluation of novel enzymatic pathways for the biosynthesis of fuels and chemicals. The approach combines the use of the Biochemical Network Integrated Computational Explorer (BNICE) framework and a structure-based screening method for rapid generation and evaluation of novel enzymatic reactions and pathways. The strategy is applied to a case study of 1-butanol production from pyruvate, which yielded nine novel biosynthetic pathways. Using screening criteria based on pathway length, thermodynamic feasibility, and metabolic flux analysis, all nine novel pathways were deemed to be attractive candidates. To further assess their feasibility of implementation, we introduced a new screening criterion based on structural complementarity using molecular docking methods. We show that this approach correctly reproduces the native binding poses for a wide range of enzymes in key classes related to 1-butanol production and provides qualitative agreement with experimental measures of catalytic activity for different substrates. In addition, we show that the structure-based methods can be used to select specific proteins that may be promising candidates to catalyze novel reactions.     

Label-free detection of nucleic acids by turn-on and turn-off G-quadruplex-mediated fluorescence

In this study we have used two fluorescent probes, tetrakis(diisopropylguanidino)-zinc-phthalocyanine (Zn-DIGP) and N-methylmesoporphyrin IX (NMM), to monitor the reassembly of “split” G-quadruplex probes on hybridization with an arbitrary “target” DNA. According to this approach, each split probe is designed to contain half of a G-quadruplex-forming sequence fused to a variable sequence that is complementary to the target DNA. Upon mixing the individual components, both base-pairing interactions and G-quadruplex fragment reassembly result in a duplex–quadruplex three-way junction that can bind to fluorescent dyes in a G-quadruplex-specific way. The overall fluorescence intensities of the resulting complexes were dependent on the formation of proper base-pairing interactions in the duplex regions, and on the exact identity of the fluorescent probe. Compared with samples lacking any “target” DNA, the fluorescence intensities of Zn-DIGP-containing samples were lower, and the fluorescence intensities of NMM-containing samples were higher on addition of the target DNA. The resulting biosensors based on Zn-DIGP are therefore termed “turn-off” whereas the biosensors containing NMM are defined as “turn-on”. Both of these biosensors can detect target DNAs with a limit of detection in the nanomolar range, and can discriminate mismatched from perfectly matched target DNAs. In contrast with previous biosensors based on the peroxidase activity of heme-bound split G-quadruplex probes, the use of fluorescent dyes eliminates the need for unstable sensing components (H₂O₂, hemin, and ABTS). Our approach is direct, easy to conduct, and fully compatible with the detection of specific DNA sequences in biological fluids. Having two different types of probe was highly valuable in the context of applied studies, because Zn-DIGP was found to be compatible with samples containing both serum and urine whereas NMM was compatible with urine, but not with serum-containing samples.     

Traveling waves for nonlinear cellular neural networks with distributed delays

In this paper, we will establish the existence and nonexistence of traveling waves for nonlinear cellular neural networks with finite or infinite distributed delays. The dynamics of each given cell depends on itself and its nearest m left or l right neighborhood cells where delays exist in self-feedback and left or right neighborhood interactions. Our approach is to use Schauder?s fixed point theorem coupled with upper and lower solutions of the integral equation in a suitable Banach space. Further, we obtain the exponential asymptotic behavior in the negative infinity and the existence of traveling waves for the minimal wave speed by the limiting argument. Our results improve and cover some previous works.     

On meromorphic solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations of first order

We prove a uniqueness theorem in terms of value distribution for meromorphic solutions of a class of nonlinear partial differential equations of first order, which shows that such solutions f are uniquely determined by the zeros and poles of f−cj (counting multiplicities) for two distinct complex numbers c₁ and c₂.