Control of calcium carbonate polymorphism and morphology through biomimetic mineralization by means of nanotechnology

In vitro biomimetic mineralization by means of nanotechnology allows the formation of calcium carbonate polymorphs at low temperatures (<25 degrees C) under a CO(2) atmosphere of 500-1500 ppm. A two-dimensional zinc-ion ordered array (zinc array), which acts as an active-site mimic of carbonic anhydrase, has been prepared by immersing the self-organized monolayer of 3-(2-imidazolin-1-y)propyltriethosilane on mica (ImSi substrate) into aqueous zinc solution. The zinc array mounted on the ImSi substrate catalyzed the conversion from CO(2) to HCO(3) (-), and accelerated the formation of calcium carbonate. In situ X-ray diffraction data of the formed calcium carbonate on the poly(L-aspartate)-coated chitin substrate (pAsp substrate), with calcium ion-recognition sites, demonstrated that the interaction between the zinc array and pAsp substrates formed both vaterite and calcite at low temperature (15 degrees C) and mainly vaterite at 25 degrees C; this interaction also controlled the morphology of calcium carbonate formed on pAsp substrate.     

Practical and Scalable Organic Reactions with Flow Microwave Apparatus

Microwave irradiation has been used for accelerating organic reactions as a heating method and has been proven to be useful in laboratory scale organic synthesis. The major drawback of microwave chemistry is the difficulty in scaling up, mainly because of the low penetration depth of microwaves. The combination of microwave chemistry and flow chemistry is considered to overcome the problem in scaling up of microwave‐assisted organic reactions, and some flow microwave systems have been developed in both academic and industrial communities. In this context, we have demonstrated the scale‐up of fundamental organic reactions using a novel flow microwave system developed by the academic‐industrial alliance between the University of Shizuoka, Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and SAIDA FDS. In this Personal Account, we summarize the recent progress of our scalable microwave‐assisted continuous synthesis using the SAIDA flow microwave apparatus.     

A Sol-Gel Synthesis for Thermally Stable Aniline/Silica Material

Aniline/silica sol-gel material was obtained. The aniline was immobilized on the silica surface using chloropropyltrimethoxysilane as bridge reagent. The base activator NaH was used to produce a fast SN₂ reaction between the base and the alkylorganosilane. The resulting modified silica was characterized by elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy using an oven cell. The organic coverage on the surface was proportional to the organic precursor concentration. The aniline/silica materials are thermally stable up to 300°C, in high vacuum.     

Thermodynamic properties of the Cu-Au system using a face-centered-cubic lattice model with a renormalized potential

A Monte Carlo simulation is carried out to study thermodynamic properties of Cu-Au alloys using a face-centered-cubic (fcc) lattice-gas model. To obtain quantitatively accurate results, a Finnis-Sinclair-type potential, which has been widely used for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, is employed. To overcome some shortcomings of lattice-gas models such as neglecting vibrational entropy, the potential is mapped onto the fcc lattice using the renormalization technique. The renormalized potential gives an improved Cu-Au phase diagram compared to the original MD potential applied directly on the lattice.     

CpRuIIPF6/quinaldic acid-catalyzed chemoselective allyl ether cleavage. A simple and practical method for hydroxyl deprotection

A cationic CpRu(II) complex in combination with quinaldic acid shows high reactivity and chemoselectivity for the catalytic deprotection of hydroxyl groups protected as allyl ethers. The catalyst operates in alcoholic solvents without the need for any additional nucleophiles, satisfying the practical requirements of operational simplicity, safety, and environmental friendliness. The wide applicability of this deprotection strategy to a variety of multifunctional molecules, including peptides and nucleosides, may provide new opportunities in protective group chemistry. [structure: see text]     

Al2O3-coated 3-N-propylpyridinium chloride silsesquioxane polymer film: preparation and electrochemical property study of adsorbed cobalt tetrasulfophthalocyanine

Porous Al2O3 presenting a specific surface area of SBET = 105 m2 g(-1) was coated with 3-N-propylpyridinium chloride silsesquioxane polymer. The ion exchange capacity of this polymer grafted onto an Al2O3 surface, resulting in a material designated as AlSiPy(+)Cl-, was 1.09 mmol g(-1). Furthermore, a cobalt(II) tetrasulfophthalocyanine anionic complex was immobilized on the chemically modified surface by an ion exchange reaction with a yield of 40 micromol g(-1) (the surface density of the electroactive species is 3.80 x 10(-11) mol cm(-2)). The electrochemical properties of the material obtained, AlSiPy/CoTsPc, were tested for the catalytic oxidation of oxalic acid at 0.77 V vs SCE in 1.0 mol l(-1) KCl solution. Furthermore, a chronoamperometric technique was used with the electrode to test its potential use as a sensor for oxalic acid. The electrode response to oxalic acid concentrations between 1.0 and 3.5 mmol l(-1) was linear with an estimated detection limit of 0.5 mmol l(-1). The charge transfer resistance of the material, measured using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique, was 43 Omega cm2.     

Continuous chemoselective methylation of functionalized amines and diols with supercritical methanol over solid acid and acid-base bifunctional catalysts

The selective N-methylation of bifunctionalized amines with supercritical methanol (scCH(3)OH) promoted by the conventional solid acids (H-mordenite, beta-zeolite, amorphous silica-alumina) and acid-base bifunctional catalysts (Cs-P-Si mixed oxide and gamma-alumina) was investigated in a continuous-flow, fixed-bed reactor. The use of scCH(3)OH in the reaction of 2-aminoethanol with methanol (amine/CH(3)OH = 1/10.8) over the solid catalysts led to a significant improvement in the chemoselectivity of the N-methylation. Among the catalysts examined, the Cs-P-Si mixed oxide provided the most efficient catalyst performance in terms of selectivity and reactivity at 300 degrees C and 8.2 MPa; the N-methylation selectivity in the products reaching up to 94% at 86% conversion. The present selective methylation was successfully applied to the synthesis of N-methylated amino alcohols and diamines as well as O-methylated ethylene glycol. Noticeably, ethoxyethylamine was less reactive, suggesting that the hydroxy group of the amino alcohols is a crucial structural factor in determining high reactivity and selectivity, possibly because of the tethering effect of another terminus, a hydroxo group, to the catalyst surface. The magic-angle-spinning NMR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis of the Cs-P-Si mixed oxide catalyst revealed that the acidic and basic sites originate from P(2)O(5)/SiO(2) and Cs/SiO(2), respectively, and the weak acid-base paired sites are attributed to three kinds of cesium phosphates on SiO(2). The weak acid-base sites on the catalyst surface might be responsible for the selective dehydrative methylation.     

Single-particle light scattering study of polyethyleneglycol-grafted poly(ureaurethane) microcapsule in ethanol

Microcapsules having polyethyleneglycol-grafted poly(ureaurethane) (PUU) membrane and di-2ethylhexyl phthalate core have been prepared, and the structure when they were suspended in dispersing ethanol have been studied by means of single-particle light scattering method. The PUU membrane was synthesized from monomers with aromatic functional groups (microcapsule MC110) and hexamethylene functional groups (microcapsule MC160). Because the outer and inner solvent passed through the membrane easily, the outside and inside of the membrane were the same at the equilibrium state. The thickness of the wall membrane was significantly smaller than that calculated from the overall weight ratio of the wall-forming material and the core solvents. It was attributed to low affinity of PUU membranes and ethanol.     

Power-free poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfluidic devices for gold nanoparticle-based DNA analysis

An extremely simple, power-free pumping method for poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS) microfluidic devices is presented. By exploiting the high gas solubility of PDMS, the energy for the pumping is pre-stored in the degassed bulk PDMS, therefore no additional structures other than channels and reservoirs are required. In a Y-shaped microchannel with cross section of 100 microm width x 25 microm height, this method has provided flow rate of 0.5-2 nL s(-1), corresponding to linear velocity of 0.2-0.8 mm s(-1), with good reproducibility. As an application of the power-free pumping, gold nanoparticle-based DNA analysis, which does not rely on the cross-linking mechanism between nanoparticles, has been implemented in a microchannel with three inlets. Target 15mer DNA has been easily and unambiguously discriminated from its single-base substituted mutant. Instead of colorimetric detection in a conventional microtube, an alternative detection technique suitable for microdevices has been discovered-observation of deposition on the PDMS surfaces. The channel layout enabled two simultaneous DNA analyses at the two interfaces between the three laminar streams.