Structure elucidation of three diphenyl ether derivatives from the mangrove endophytic fungus SBE‐14 from the South China Sea

Two new natural products, tenelate A ( 1 ) and B ( 2 ), together with the known compound, tenellic acid C ( 3 ), were isolated from the mangrove endophytic fungus Talaromyces sp. (SBE‐14), from the South China Sea. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, mainly 1D and 2D NMR techniques. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Highly enantioselective addition of methyl propiolate to aldehydes catalyzed by a titanium(IV) complex of a β-hydroxy amide

Three chiral β-hydroxy amide ligands were prepared by the reaction of benzyl chloride with amino alcohols derived from l-tyrosine. The titanium(IV) complex of chiral ligand 4a was found to be an effective catalyst for the asymmetric addition of methyl propiolate to aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes. The γ-hydroxy-α,β-acetylenic esters were obtained in excellent enantiomeric excesses (up to 94% ee) under optimized conditions.     

Adjoint sensitivity analysis of kinetic,thermochemical, and transport data of nitrogen and ammonia chemistry

Many studies apply sensitivity analysis to explore the impact of reaction kinetic parameters on model predictions. The importance of thermochemical and transport data is often assumed to be relatively low. While this is true for specific combustion properties of hydrocarbons, the role of thermochemical and transport data in combustion processes of nitrogen-containing molecules remains to be investigated. Thus, this work applies adjoint sensitivity analysis to the complete set of parameters in combustion models, i.e., kinetics, thermodynamics, and transport data. This integral approach increases the number of parameters considered in the sensitivity analysis drastically. Compared to forward sensitivity analysis, the adjoint approach is very efficient for a large number of parameters, and analysis with several thousand parameters can be performed in seconds. Nitrogen oxide formation in methane/air flames and laminar burning velocities of ammonia/air flames are considered as prediction targets. Sensitivity analysis results for kinetic, thermochemical, and transport data are compared by jointly considering all appearing parameter uncertainties. The comparison reveals that, due to their importance for the equilibrium constants of elementary reactions, the optimization potential of thermodynamic properties is often similarly high as that of the kinetics parameters. Transport parameters are found to be of the lowest priority for the model development due to their low uncertainties, even though high sensitivities are determined for several of them. More specifically, the analysis for the laminar burning velocities of ammonia/air flames reveals a high optimization potential for parameters in the N₂-amine chemistry, including the molar heat capacities of N₂H₂, N₂H₃, and NH. Interestingly, analyses with different mechanisms reveal strongly diverging results, especially regarding the importance of reactions with OH, which is uncommon when considering the combustion of hydrocarbons.     

Fast redox kinetics of a perovskite oxygen carrier measured using micro-fluidized bed thermogravimetric analysis

Redox kinetics of oxygen carrier in chemical looping combustion (CLC) is important for reactor design and its oxidation enthalpy is important in order to establish auto thermal demonstration. Most published redox kinetics of oxygen carrier has been measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) which can include additional diffusion limitations and thus underestimate the overall kinetics. In this study, the redox kinetics of a new perovskite oxygen carrier (CaMn_0.375Ti_0.5Fe_0.125O_3-δ) was measured by a novel micro-fluidized bed thermogravimetric analysis (MFB-TGA) method which can achieve real-time weight measurement of oxygen carrier in a fluidizing state with similar mass and heat transfer characteristics as in a CLC reactor. The experimental data from MFB-TGA were analyzed with a reactor model. The redox kinetics was described by a two-stage model of gas-solid reaction. The effect of temperature, O₂ concentrations and reducing gas type (H₂ and CH₄) on the redox kinetics in MFB-TGA was investigated and compared with other oxygen carriers such as natural manganese ore and ilmenite. It is observed that the oxidation of both manganese ore and ilmenite can be divided into two stages, a fast initial stage followed by a second slower stage, resulting in slower total oxidation rates. A very interesting finding is that there is only the fast initial stage for the oxygen carrier of CaMn_0.375Ti_0.5Fe_0.125O_3-δ, and the full oxidation of CaMn_0.375Ti_0.5Fe_0.125O_3-δ can be finished within ～4 s which is ～7.5 and ～30 times faster than that of manganese ore and ilmenite. The reduction kinetics of CaMn_0.375Ti_0.5Fe_0.125O_3-δ by H₂ is also ～5 and ～2.2 times faster than that of manganese ore and ilmenite, respectively. The kinetic parameters of three oxygen carriers were compared and the redox mechanism of CaMn_0.375Ti_0.5Fe_0.125O_3-δ was discussed.     

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of Nok sculptures in I. P. Stanback Museum

Biochar prepared from Triticum aestivum straw (SB) was used to investigate the sorption separation of Cd²⁺ and Co²⁺ ions in single and binary systems. The maximum adsorption capacity of SB was higher for Cd²⁺ ions and the process was strongly pH dependent. Adsorption data in the binary system Cd²⁺–Co²⁺ were well described by the extended Langmuir model and the values of affinity parameter b indicate a higher affinity of SB to Cd²⁺ in comparison with Co²⁺ ions. The mechanisms for the removal of Cd and Co by biochar were evidenced by the different instrumental analyses as well as by chemical speciation modeling. Elemental mapping of SB revealed spatial distributions of cobalt and cadmium on biochar surfaces. The role of functional groups in metal sorption was confirmed by FTIR. Results demonstrate that SB is a promising heavy metal-immobilizing agent for contaminated soils or water.     

Experimental Study on Purification of Diesel Particulate Matter by Non-thermal Plasma Technology

In order to investigate the effects of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on diesel particulate matter (PM), an engine test bench was built up. An engine exhaust particle sizer (EEPS) was introduced to analyze the emission concentration and size distribution of PM and a thermo-gravimetric analyzer was used to analyze the effects of NTP on the composition of the particulate matter in the exhaust gas. The results show that the size distribution interval of the particle mass concentration falls behind that of the quantity concentration under various loads. When the diesel engine operating speed is 2400 rpm and the load is 25%, after NTP, the proportions of the nucleation mode particles and the accumulative mode particles exhibit a small fluctuation while the proportion of ultrafine particles decreases by 10% due to their large quantity concentration. Under the dual effect of DPF and NTP, the particle quantity concentration decreases by 98%. In order to investigate the effect of NTP on the composition of the PM, a thermo-gravimetric analysis of the particles obtained before and after NTP was carried out. The results show that the proportion of volatile matter falls by 16.05% and solid carbon accounts for an increase of 7.29%. NTP has the ability to improve reduction activity of particles and make particles easier to be oxidized at a lower temperature.     

A novel anthracene-based receptor: Highly sensitive fluorescent and colorimetric receptor for fluoride

A new highly sensitive colorimetric receptor 1 for fluoride based on anthracene-9,10-dicarbaldehyde bis-p-nitrophenylhydrazone was designed, synthesized and characterized. Experiments showed that the receptor 1 can selectively recognize the fluoride in DMSO and even in 95/5 DMSO/H₂O (v/v) mixtures. The ability of recognition and the bond between receptor 1 and anions were determined using visual inspection, UV-vis and fluorescence analyses. In addition, ¹H NMR experiments were carried out to explore the nature of interaction between receptor 1 and fluoride. Finally, analytical application and detection of fluoride in toothpaste have been studied.     

Derivatization and Determination of MCPA in Soil by GC

A reliable and sensitive method for determination of MCPA in soil by derivatization through p-toluenesulfonic acid and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol followed by gas chromatographic detection under ECD mode has been established. After treatment with hydrochloric acid, the soil samples were directly extracted without any clean-up with dichloromethane by vortexing. After derivatization and liquid–liquid extraction, the product was subjected to GC analysis. Under optimized conditions, recovery of MCPA reached 87–91%; intra- and inter-day precision values were recorded in the range 3.4–6.4% and 7.4–8.7%, respectively. Excellent linear relationship was observed within 0.1–10 μg mL^?1 (0.005–0.5 mg kg^?1) with linear correlation coefficient (R) of 0.9997. The LOD and LOQ were 0.001 and 0.0026 mg kg^?1, respectively, and the overall sensitivity for detection was found to be in the same range as with the conventional GC-MS technique.     

High-Level Expression and Efficient Purification of Bioactive Swollenin in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Aspergillus oryzae</Emphasis>

The bioactivity of swollenin is beneficial to cellulose decomposition by cellulase despite the lack of hydrolytic activity itself. In order to improve the productivity of swollenin, the effects of culture conditions on the expression level in recombinant Aspergillus oryzae were investigated systematically. With regard to the bioactivity of swollenin, glycerin and peanut meal were the optimal carbon or nitrogen source, respectively. The highest level production of swollenin (50 mg L⁻¹) was attained after 88 h cultivation with the initial pH of 5.6 in the culture medium. Then the soluble swollenin was effectively purified from the cultural supernatant by ammonium sulfate precipitation and cationic exchange chromatography with recovery yield of 53.2%. The purified swollenin was fully bioactive due to its strong synergistic activity with cellulose.