Preparation and certification of the new reference materials; plastics (disk form, JSAC 0621-0625) for determination of mercury using x-ray fluorescent analysis.

The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry has developed some new plastic certified reference materials (CRMs) for the analysis of mercury in polyester disks using XRF analysis. These CRMs (named as JSAC 0621-0625) were prepared by casting polyesters including a toluene solution of organometallic compounds as a standard. Concentrations of the five levels of mercury ranged from 0 to 250 mg/kg. Homogeneity tests of prepared disks had shown excellent results. Interlaboratory comparison study for the certification was performed by 15 laboratory participants. The z-scores in robust statistical method was applied for the evaluation of outliers. The certified values were assigned after discarding outliers. The uncertainties of certified values were determined as the confidence levels of 95%.     

Mycosamine orientation of amphotericin B controlling interaction with ergosterol: sterol-dependent activity of conformation-restricted derivatives with an amino-carbonyl bridge

Amphotericin B (AmB 1) is known to assemble together and form an ion channel across biomembranes. The antibiotic consists of mycosamine and macrolactone moieties, whose relative geometry is speculated to be determinant for the drug's channel activity and sterol selectivity. To better understand the relationship between the amino-sugar orientation and drug's activity, we prepared conformation-restricted derivatives 2-4, in which the amino and carboxyl groups were bridged together with various lengths of alkyl chains. K+ influx assays across the lipid-bilayer membrane revealed that ergosterol selectivity was markedly different among derivatives; short-bridged derivative 2 almost lost the selectivity, while 3 showed higher ergosterol preference than AmB itself. Monte Carlo conformational analysis of 2-4 based on NOE-derived distances indicated that the amino-sugar moiety of 2 comes close to C41 because of the short bridge, whereas those of 3 and 4 are pointing outward. The mutual orientation of the amino-sugar moiety and macrolide ring is so rigid in derivatives 2 and 3 that these conformations should be unchanged upon complex formation in lipid membranes. These results strongly suggest that the large difference in sterol preference between derivatives 2 and 3 is ascribed to the different orientation of amino-sugar moieties. These findings allowed us to propose a simple model accounting for AmB-sterol interactions, in which hydrogen bonding between 2'-OH of AmB and 3beta-OH of ergosterol plays an important role.     

Preparation of 1,1,1,3,3-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245fa) by using a SbF5-attached catalyst

In this report, a simple process for preparing HFC-245fa through the reaction of 1,1,1,3,3-pentachloropropane (PCP) and anhydrous HF via two-step vapor-phase catalytic fluorination is described. The antimony pentafluoride catalyst was supported on inert porous materials to improve the catalytic activity. The resulting process catalyst not only exhibited high catalytic activity and excellent thermo-stability, but also improved the performance of SbF₅, in terms of hygroscopicity and corrosion.     

On the theory of coagulation and the coalescence of mercury droplets in aqueous solutions

Summary The potential ranges of polarization of a pair of dropping mercury electrodes, over which the two mercury droplets coalesced, were measured as functions of ionic concentrations for various electrolytes. In the case of simple inorganic electrolytes the condition of coalescence obtained was proved to be in quantitative agreement with theVerwey-Overbeek theory of coagulation of lyophobic sols, thus indicating that the interaction between sub-microscopic particles of hydrophobic sols is essentially the same as that between macroscopic mercury droplets. While, in the case of sodium citrate solutions two kinds of marked deviations from the theory were observed, which appeared to be due to the specific adsorption of citrate ions and to the formation of protective interfacial films.

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Zusammenfassung Die Potentialbereiche der Polariation eines Paares von Quecksilber-Tropfelektroden, über die die beiden Quecksilbertropfen koaleszieren, werden als Funktion der Ionenkonzentration verschiedener Elektrolyte gemessen. Im Fall einfacher anorganischer Elektrolyte wurde die erhaltene Bedingung der Koaleszenz mit der Theorie vonVerwey-Overbeek der Kaogulation lyophober Sole geprüft und in quantitativer übereinstimmung befunden. Das zeigt, da\ die Wechselwirkung zwischen submikroskopischen Partikeln hydrophober Sole im wesentlichen dieselbe ist wie zwischen den makroskopischen Quecksilbertröpfchen. Dagegen ergaben sich im Fall von Natriumzitratlösungen zwei Arten markanter Abweichungen von der Theorie. Diese scheinen spezifische Adsorption der Zitrationen und die Ausbildung von SchutzgrenzflÄchenfilmen zur Ursache zu haben.

     

Solid-phase synthesis of liquid crystalline isoxazole library

Combinatorial library of isoxazoles was prepared by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition on solid support. p-Cyano derivatives showed nematic and/or smectic A phases. A bilayer smectic phase for 2h is proposed by the combination of molecular mechanics calculation and X-ray diffraction experiment.     

A novel rearrangement reaction in doubly charged ion mass spectra of acetophenone derivatives

A novel rearrangement reaction for a methyl group is found in doubly charged ion mass spectra of p-substituted acetophenone derivatives. The driving force for the reaction is discussed.     

Effects of solvent in photo-induced graft copolymerization of vinyl monomers on cellulose

The effects of swelling of the sample and polymerization solvents were studied for photo-induced graft copolymerization of vinyl monomers on cellulose. The graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) was activated by swelling of the sample or organic solvent-water solutions within a certain range of their concentrations. Though each organic solvent gave a maximum in per cent grafting and the number of grafts at about 25 vol-% concentration, the initiation reaction scarcely took place at 100% concentration; thus, the solvent itself is considered to have a negative effect. The solvents used in the experiments were all hydrophilic, such as methanol, acetone, and dioxane. The average molecular weight of the grafted PMMA differed in each solvent, indicating a different characteristic effect of solvent on the growing grafted polymer radicals. The presence of ferric ion as a sensitizer stimulated further the contributions of the sample swelling and the organic solvents to the copolymerization reaction. A similar effect was observed for styrene as for MMA, but not for acrylic acid and methacrylic acid.     

1,1-bis(trimethylsilyl)-1-alkanols as silylcarbene equivalent

Silylcarbenes are generated by the pyrolysis of 1,1-bis(trimethylsilyl)-1-alkanols with elimination of trimethylsilanol.     

Total synthesis of cis-solamin

[structure: see text] A convergent total synthesis of cis-solamin and its diastereomer was accomplished using VO(acac)2-catalyzed diastereoselective epoxidation followed by cyclization of bis-homoallylic alcohol as the key step. By comparison of the optical rotation of two possible diastereomers, it is suggested that the absolute configuration of natural cis-solamin is 1a.