Synthesis,spectral, thermal and structural characterization of {[Cu(H2O)3][Cu(MAL)2] · 2H2O}∞ and [Cu(MAL)(TEA)] · H2O (MAL = malonate and TEA = triethanolamine)

A polymeric malonato-bridged copper(II) complex, {[Cu(H₂O)₃][Cu(MAL)₂]· 2H₂O}, and a mononuclear malonato-copper(II) complex with triethanolamine, [Cu(MAL)(TEA)]·H₂O, have been prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, i.r., u.v.–vis, magnetic measurements and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The polymeric complex consists of one-dimensional chains containing the MAL bridged [Cu(H₂O)₃]²⁺ and [Cu(MAL)₂]^2– ions and each MAL ligand simultaneously exhibits chelating bidentate (at one copper atom) and bridging (at the adjacent copper atom) coordination modes. The intrachain Cu1...Cu2 separation is 4.963 Å and the polymeric complex exhibits antiferromagnetic behaviour. In the mononuclear complex, the copper(II) ion is octahedrally coordinated by one bidentate MAL and one tetradentate neutral TEA ligands. The i.r. spectra and thermal decompositions of both complexes are described.     

Modeling chemoadaptive behavior: X-ray structure of the trimethylamine oxide-urea (1∶4) complex

The structure of a trimethylamine oxide (TMAO)-urea 14 complex was investigated by x-ray crystallographic methods. C₃H₉NO, 4CH₄N₂O, M_r=315.33, monoclinic P2₁/n, a=11.004(2), b=9.8259, c=15.419(2),=106.88(4), V=1595.4(2) å₃, Z=4, D_x=1.313(1) g cm^–3, monochromatized Cu (=1.5418 å),=8.94 cm^–1, F(OOO)=680, temperature = 110K, final R=0.067, for 1786 unique observed reflections. Based on these studies and comparison with related compounds a model of the interaction of urea and TMAO with proteins, especially enzymes, is proposed. This is important in the physiology of many organisms, especially elasmobranchs. The counteracting effect of TMAO on urea perturbation of protein structure and function is interpreted in terms of water structure as a balance between the structure breaking effect of urea and the structure-stabilizing effect of TMAO.     

Lignin and Lignin-Derived Compounds for Wood Applications—A Review

Improving the environmental performance of resins in wood treatment by using renewable chemicals has been a topic of interest for a long time. At the same time, lignin, the second most abundant biomass on earth, is produced in large scale as a side product and mainly used energetically. The use of lignin in wood adhesives or for wood modification has received a lot of scientific attention. Despite this, there are only few lignin-derived wood products commercially available. This review provides a summary of the research on lignin application in wood adhesives, as well as for wood modification. The research on the use of uncleaved lignin and of cleavage products of lignin is reviewed. Finally, the current state of the art of commercialization of lignin-derived wood products is presented.     

Modular Breath Analyzer (MBA): Introduction of a Breath Analyzer Platform Based on an Innovative and Unique,Modular eNose Concept for Breath Diagnostics and Utilization of Calibration Transfer Methods in Breath Analysis Studies

Exhaled breath analysis for early disease detection may provide a convenient method for painless and non-invasive diagnosis. In this work, a novel, compact and easy-to-use breath analyzer platform with a modular sensing chamber and direct breath sampling unit is presented. The developed analyzer system comprises a compact, low volume, temperature-controlled sensing chamber in three modules that can host any type of resistive gas sensor arrays. Furthermore, in this study three modular breath analyzers are explicitly tested for reproducibility in a real-life breath analysis experiment with several calibration transfer (CT) techniques using transfer samples from the experiment. The experiment consists of classifying breath samples from 15 subjects before and after eating a specific meal using three instruments. We investigate the possibility to transfer calibration models across instruments using transfer samples from the experiment under study, since representative samples of human breath at some conditions are difficult to simulate in a laboratory. For example, exhaled breath from subjects suffering from a disease for which the biomarkers are mostly unknown. Results show that many transfer samples of all the classes under study (in our case meal/no meal) are needed, although some CT methods present reasonably good results with only one class.     

Polyampholytic Graft Copolymers as Matrix for TiO2/Eosin Y/[Mo3S13]2− Hybrid Materials and Light-Driven Catalysis

An effective strategy to enhance the performance of inorganic semiconductors is moving towards organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Here, we report the design of core–shell hybrid materials based on a TiO₂ core functionalized with a polyampholytic (poly(dehydroalanine)-graft-(n-propyl phosphonic acid acrylamide) shell (PDha-g-PAA@TiO₂). The PDha-g-PAA shell facilitates the efficient immobilization of the photosensitizer Eosin Y (EY) and enables electronic interactions between EY and the TiO₂ core. This resulted in high visible-light-driven H₂ generation. The enhanced light-driven catalytic activity is attributed to the unique core–shell design with the graft copolymer acting as bridge and facilitating electron and proton transfer, thereby also preventing the degradation of EY. Further catalytic enhancement of PDha-g-PAA@TiO₂ was possible by introducing [Mo₃S₁₃]²⁻ cluster anions as hydrogen-evolution cocatalyst. This novel design approach is an example for a multi-component system in which reactivity can in future be independently tuned by selection of the desired molecular or polymeric species.     

Tailored Mobility in a Zeolite Imidazolate Framework (ZIF) Antibody Conjugate**

Zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) hybrid fluorescent nanoparticles and ZIF antibody conjugates have been synthesized, characterized, and employed in lateral-flow immunoassay (LFIA). The bright fluorescence of the conjugates and the possibility to tailor their mobility gives a huge potential for diagnostic assays. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as label, proved the integrity, stability, and dispersibility of the antibody conjugates, LC-MS/MS provided evidence that a covalent link was established between these metal-organic frameworks and lysine residues in IgG antibodies.     

Many-to-many location-routing with inter-hub transport and multi-commodity pickup-and-delivery

In this paper, we consider a variant of the many-to-many location-routing problem, where hub facilities have to be located and customers with either pickup or delivery demands have to be combined in vehicle routes. In addition, several commodities and inter-hub transport processes are taken into account. A practical application of the problem can be found in the timber-trade industry, where companies provide their services using hub-and-spoke networks. We present a mixed-integer linear model for the problem and use CPLEX 12.4 to solve small-scale instances. Furthermore, a multi-start procedure based on a fix-and-optimize scheme and a genetic algorithm are introduced that efficiently construct promising solutions for medium- and large-scale instances. A computational performance analysis shows that the presented methods are suitable for practical application.     

Heterotrimeric liquid crystalline thiadiazole derivatives

Abstract

Various trimeric co-oligomers combining 2-phenyl-1,3,4-thiadiazole mesogenic moieties with a biphenyl mesogenic moiety were synthesized and their mesomorphic behaviour investigated by polarizing microscopy, calorimetry and X-ray scattering. Such co-oligomeric structures provide an opportunity to combine different mesogenic units. Thus readily accessible homochiral biphenyl mesogenic units were connected with thiadiazole mesogenic units leading to an oligomeric liquid crystal material with ferroelectric properties.