Solubilization of oleyl alcohol by pure and mixtures of surfactants

The solubilization behavior of oleyl alcohol by pure and mixtures of surfactants systems have been studied in terms of the maximum additive concentration (MAC), the solubilizing power, and the particle sizes of micelles with or without oleyl alcohol. The surfactants used are amphoteric (N,N-dimethyl-N-lauroyl lysine, DMLL; N,N,N-trimethyl-N-lauroyl lysine, TMLL; N,N-dimethyl-N-(carboxymethyl)-lauryl ammonium, DMCL), anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) and nonionic (alkyl polyoxyethylene ethers).The maximum additive concentration of oleyl alcohol by pure surfactants is larger by nonionic surfactants than by others.For a nonionic surfactant system mixed with DMLL, the mixing effect of surfactant on the increase in the MAC is not recognized. While, for DMLL mixed with SDS, the MAC becomes larger than that by pure surfactants. This may be attributed to the fact that the large micellar size will result in increasing the maximum additive concentration.     

Engineered biosynthesis of plant polyketides: chain length control in an octaketide-producing plant type III polyketide synthase

The chalcone synthase (CHS) superfamily of type III polyketide synthases (PKSs) produces a variety of plant secondary metabolites with remarkable structural diversity and biological activities (e.g., chalcones, stilbenes, benzophenones, acrydones, phloroglucinols, resorcinols, pyrones, and chromones). Here we describe an octaketide-producing novel plant-specific type III PKS from aloe (Aloe arborescens) sharing 50-60% amino acid sequence identity with other plant CHS-superfamily enzymes. A recombinant enzyme expressed in Escherichia coli catalyzed seven successive decarboxylative condensations of malonyl-CoA to yield aromatic octaketides SEK4 and SEK4b, the longest polyketides known to be synthesized by the structurally simple type III PKS. Surprisingly, site-directed mutagenesis revealed that a single residue Gly207 (corresponding to the CHS's active site Thr197) determines the polyketide chain length and product specificity. Small-to-large substitutions (G207A, G207T, G207M, G207L, G207F, and G207W) resulted in loss of the octaketide-forming activity and concomitant formation of shorter chain length polyketides (from triketide to heptaketide) including a pentaketide chromone, 2,7-dihydroxy-5-methylchromone, and a hexaketide pyrone, 6-(2,4-dihydroxy-6-methylphenyl)-4-hydroxy-2-pyrone, depending on the size of the side chain. Notably, the functional diversity of the type III PKS was shown to evolve from simple steric modulation of the chemically inert single residue lining the active-site cavity accompanied by conservation of the Cys-His-Asn catalytic triad. This provided novel strategies for the engineered biosynthesis of pharmaceutically important plant polyketides.     

Magnetic Properties of LnMnO3 (Ln=Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu)

Magnetic data are presented for LnMnO₃ (Ln=Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu) having the hexagonal crystal structure of P6₃cm. DC magnetization measurements show that magnetic order is not clearly observed for Ln=Ho-Yb, while an antiferromagnetic transition of the Mn³⁺ moments is found at ∼90 K for LuMnO₃, where the Lu³⁺ ion has no 4f localized moment. This is ascribed to both the paramagnetism of Ln³⁺ and the suppression of magnetization in the Mn³⁺ sublattices arising from strong antiferromagnetic interactions between Mn³⁺. Deviation from the Curie-Weiss law at low temperatures indicates the onset of antiferromagnetism. Some magnetization data of Ca-substituted compounds, Ln_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃, which have the different crystal structure of orthorhombic Pnma, are also discussed briefly.     

Infrared spectra of the water-nitrogen complexes (H2O)2-(N2)n(n = 1-4) in argon matrices

The infrared spectra of the water-nitrogen complexes trapped in argon matrices have been studied with Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy. The absorption lines of the H20-N2 1:1, 1:2, 1:n, and 2:1 complexes have been confirmed on the basis of the concentration effects. In addition, we have observed a few lines and propose the assignments for the 2:2, 2:3, and 2:4 complexes in the nu1 symmetric stretching and nu2 bending regions of the proton-acceptor molecule, and in the bonded OH stretching region of the proton-donor molecule. The redshifts in the bonded OH stretching mode and blueshifts in the OH bending mode suggest that the hydrogen bonds in the (H2O)2-(N2)n complexes with n = 1-4 are strengthened by the cooperative effects compared to the pure H2O dimer. Two absorption bands due to the 3:n complexes are also observed near the bonded OH stretching region of the H2O trimer.     

A study on the conformation-anomeric effect-stereoselectivity relationship in anomeric radical reactions,using conformationally restricted glucose derivatives as substrates

We previously theorized that, since the stereoselectivity of anomeric radical reactions is significantly influenced by the kinetic anomeric effect, which can be controlled by restricting the conformation of the radical intermediate, the proper conformational restriction of the pyranose ring of the substrates would therefore make highly alpha- and beta-stereoselective anomeric radical reactions possible. This theory was based on our previous results of the anomeric radical reactions with d-xylose derivatives as the substrates. We herein report the anomeric radical deuteration reactions with the conformationally restricted 1-phenylseleno-d-glucose derivatives, 2g and 3g, restricted in a (4)C(1)-conformation by an O-cyclic diketal moiety, and 4g, 5g, 6g, 7g, and 8g, restricted in a (1)C(4)-conformation by bulky O-silyl protecting groups. The radical deuterations with Bu(3)SnD, using the (4)C(1)-restricted substrates 2g and 3g, afforded the corresponding alpha-products (alpha/beta = 98:2) highly stereoselectively, whereas the (1)C(4)-restricted substrate 6g, having a trigonal (sp(2)) carbon substituent, i.e., -CHO, at the 5-position, selectively gave the beta-products (alpha/beta = 0:100). Thus, the stereoselectivity was significantly increased by the conformational restriction and was completely inverted by changing the substrate conformation from the (4)C(1)-form to the (1)C(4)-form. On the other hand, the deuterations with the (1)C(4)-restricted substrates 4g and 5g showed that the 1,5-steric effect due to the tetrahedral carbon substituent (-CH(2)OTIPS or -CH(2)OH) at the 5-axial position dominantly prevented the hydride transfer from the beta-face competing with the kinetic anomeric effect. This study suggests that, depending on the restricted conformation of the substrates to the (4)C(1)- or the (1)C(4)-form, the alpha- or beta-products would be obtained highly stereoselectively via anomeric radical reactions of hexopyranoses.     

Fast separation of oligonucleotide and triplet repeat DNA on a microfabricated capillary electrophoresis device and capillary electrophoresis

A laser-induced fluorescence detection system coupled with a highly sensitive silicon-intensified target (SIT) camera is successfully applied to the imaging of a band for DNA fragment labeling by fluorescence dye in a microchannel, and to the visualizing of the separation process on a microfabricated chip. We demonstrated that an only 6 mm separation channel is sufficient for the separation of triplet repeat DNA fragment and DNA molecular marker within only 12 s. The separation using the microfabricated capillary electrophoresis device is confirmed to be at least 18 times faster than the same separation carried out by conventional capillary electrophoresis with 24.5 cm effective length. The use of a short capillary with 8.5 cm effective length is also efficient for fast separation of DNA; however, the microchip technology is even faster than capillary electrophoresis using a short capillary.     

Polymerization of (o-methylphenyl)acetylene and polymer characterization

(o-Methylphenyl)acetylene polymerized with high yields in the presence of W and Mo catalysts. W catalysts were more active than the corresponding Mo catalysts. The weight-average molecular weight of the polymer formed with W(CO)₆–CCl₄–hv reached 8 × 10⁵, being higher than the maximum value (ca. 2 × 10⁵) for poly(phenylacetylene). The polymer had the structure $\rlap{--} [{\rm CH} \hbox{=\hskip-1pt=} {\rm C}(o - {\rm CH}_3 {\rm C}_6 {\rm H}_4 )\rlap{--} ]_n $. The stereochemical structure of the main chain could be determined by ¹³C-NMR; the cis content varied in a range of 41–61% depending on the polymerization conditions. The present polymer was thermally more stable than poly(phenylacetylene) according to thermogravimetric analysis. Interestingly, this polymer possessed deeper color than poly(phenylacetylene), and showed a fairly strong absorption in the visible region.     

Thermal degradation behavior of poly(4-hydroxybutyric acid)

Thermal degradation behavior of poly(4-hydroxybutyric acid) (P(4HB)) was investigated by thermogravimetric and pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometric analyses under both isothermal and non-isothermal conditions. Based on the thermogravimetric analysis, it was found that two distinct processes occurred at temperatures below and above 350 °C during the non-isothermal degradation of P(4HB) samples depending on both the molecular weight and the heating rate. From ¹H NMR analysis of the residual P(4HB) molecules after isothermal degradations at different temperatures, it was confirmed that the ω-hydroxyl chain-end was remained unchanged in the residual P(4HB) molecules at temperatures below 300 °C, while the ω-chain-end of P(4HB) molecules was converted to 3-butenoyl units at temperatures above 300 °C. In contrast, the majority of the volatile products evolved during thermal degradation of P(4HB) was γ-butyrolactone regardless of the degradation temperature. From these results, it is concluded that during the thermal degradation of P(4HB), the selective formation of γ-butyrolactone via unzipping reaction from the ω-hydroxyl chain-end predominantly occurs at temperatures below 300 °C. At temperatures above 300 °C, both the cis-elimination reaction of 4HB unit and the formation of cyclic macromolecules of P(4HB) via intramolecular transesterification take place in addition to unzipping reaction from the ω-hydroxyl chain-end. Finally, the primary reaction of thermal degradation of P(4HB) at temperatures above 350 °C progresses by the cyclic rupture via intramolecular transesterification of P(4HB) molecules with a release of γ-butyrolactone as volatile product. Moreover, we carried out the thermal degradation tests for copolymer of 93 mol% of 4HB with 7 mol% of 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3HB) to examine the effect of 3HB units on thermal stability of P(4HB).     

Kinetic determination of trace cobalt(II) by visual autocatalytic indication

A highly sensitive and simple visual autocatalytic method has been developed for the determination of trace cobalt. The cobalt ion released by the oxidative decomposition of inert bis[2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-(N-propyl-N-sulfopropyl-amino-phenolato] cobaltate (Co(III)-5-Br-PAPS) with peroxomonosulfate acts as a catalyst for the oxidative degradation of the complex. Thus a definite time lapse of degradation is observed by the sudden disappearance of colored Co(III) complexes. The degradation time varies inversely with the logarithm of the initial concentration of cobalt(II). The determination range of cobalt(II) was from 3x10(-9) to 2x10(-7) M in the presence of 5x10(-6) M of 5-Br-PAPS. The relative standard deviation of the spot size method (10 mul) was 3.5% at 1x10(-7) M cobalt(II). This autocatalytic indicator reaction system has been successfully applied for the visual determination of urinary cobalt.     

2-Silyl group effect on the reactivity of cyclopentane-1,3-diyls. Intramolecular ring-closure versus silyl migration

Generation of singlet and triplet 2-silylcyclopentane-1,3-diyls and their reactivity have been investigated in the thermal and photochemical denitrogenation of 2,3-diaza-7-silylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2-ene. 5-Silylcyclopentene (silyl migration product) is quantitatively obtained, while 5-silylbicyclo[2.1.0]pentane (intramolecular ring-closure product) is not detected in the denitrogenation reactions. Deuterium labeling studies clarify that 5-silylcyclopentene is formed by a suprafacial [1,2] silyl migration in singlet 2-silylcyclopentane-1,3-diyl. UDFT calculations closely reproduce the observed reactivity of the singlet diradical: The enthalpic barriers of the intramolecular ring-closure are calculated to be DeltaH++exo468 = 5.8 kcal/mol and DeltaH++endo468 = 6.7 kcal/mol, which are much higher than the energy barrier for the [1,2] silyl migration, DeltaH++468 = 2.7 kcal/mol. The notable effect of the silyl group on raising the energy barrier of the intramolecular cyclization is rationalized by an electronic configuration of the lowest singlet state of 2-silylcyclopentane-1,3-diyls.