Formation of a vanillic Mannich base — theoretical study

One-pot anti-Mannich reaction of vanillin, aniline and cyclohexanone was successfully catalyzed by ionic liquid triethanolammonium chloroacetate, at room temperature. Yield of the obtained Mannich base was very good and excellent diastereoselectivity was achieved. Mechanism of the reaction was investigated using the density functional theory. The reaction started with a nucleophilic attack of aniline nitrogen at the carbonyl group of vanillin. The intermediate α-amino alcohol formed in this way was further subjected to protonation by the triethanolammonium ion yielding the imminium ion. Theoretically, the obtained imminium ion and the enol form of cyclohexanone can build the protonated Mannich base via the anti and syn pathways. The chloroacetic anion spontaneously abstracts the proton yielding the final product of the reaction anti 2-[1-(N-phenylamino)-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)]methylcyclohexanone (MB-H). The syn pathway requires lower activation energy but the anti pathway yields a thermodynamically more stable product, which implies that the examined Mannich reaction is thermodynamically controlled.     

Single‐Crystal‐to‐Single‐Crystal Transition in an Enantiopure [7]Helquat Salt: The First Observation of a Reversible Phase Transition in a Helicene‐Like Compound

Here it is reported that crystals of an enantiopure [7]helquat salt undergo reversible thermal solid–solid phase transition at 404 K. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), and X‐ray diffraction analysis were used to unravel the mechanistic details of this process. The single‐crystal‐to‐single‐crystal course enabled direct monitoring of the structural changes by in situ variable‐temperature X‐ray diffraction, thus providing the first direct evidence of a solid phase transition in a helicene‐like compound.     

BioLeT: A new design strategy for functional bioluminogenic probes

By integrating photoinduced electron transfer (PET) into the design of functional bioluminogenic probes, Urano and his coworkers recently developed a new rational design strategy, BioLeT. It is expected that this BioLeT strategy will enable us to design and develop new bioluminescence probes for detecting various biomolecules with no catalytic or reactive activity.     

Pretreating near infrared spectra with fractional order Savitzky–Golay differentiation(FOSGD)

With the aid of Riemann–Liouville fractional calculus theory,fractional order Savitzky–Golay differentiation(FOSGD) is calculated and applied to pretreat near infrared(NIR) spectra in order to improve the performance of multivariate calibrations.Similar to integral order Savitzky–Golay differentiation(IOSGD),FOSGD is obtained by fitting a spectral curve in a moving window with a polynomial function to estimate its coefficients and then carrying out the weighted average of the spectral curve in the window with the coefficients.Three NIR datasets including diesel,wheat and corn datasets were utilized to test this method.The results showed that FOSGD,which is easy to compute,is a general method to obtain Savitzky–Golay smoothing,fractional order and integral order differentiations.Fractional order differentiation computation to the NIR spectra often improves the performance of the PLS model with smaller RMSECV and RMSEP than integral order ones,especially for physical properties of interest,such as density,cetane number and hardness.     

Development of a triple channel detection probe for hydrogen peroxide

The rapid and reliable measurement of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is imperative for many areas of technology, including pharmaceutical, clinical, food industry and environmental applications. In this work, a novel multifunctional complex, [Ru(bpy)₂(luminol-bpy)](PF₆)₂ (bpy: 2,20'-bipyridine), was designed and synthesized by incorporating a Ru(II) complex with a luminal group. In the presence of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), reaction of [Ru(bpy)₂(luminol-bpy)]²⁺ with H₂O₂ can be monitored by three sensing channels including photoluminescence (PL), chemiluminiscence (CL) and eletrochemiluminiscence (ECL). The quantitative assays for H₂O₂ in aqueous solutions using [Ru(bpy)₂(Luminalbpy)]( PF₆)₂ as a probe were established with PL, ECL and CL signal output modes, respectively.     

Solvent free synthesis of trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols by cross Aldol reaction

Exceedingly fast preparation of trifluoromethyl tertiary alcohols has been accomplished from methyl ketones and trifluoromethyl ketones under solvent free conditions by cross Aldol reaction. The reaction was achieved in the presence of common inorganic base by grinding method at ambient temperature to give β-trifluoromethyl-β-hydroxyl ketones in high yields (up to 95%).     

Development and validation of polymerized high internal phase emulsion monoliths coupled with HPLC and fluorescence detection for the determination of trace tetracycline antibiotics in environmental water samples

A polymerized high internal phase emulsion monolith was used as a novel sorbent for solid‐phase extraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection for the determination of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, doxycycline, and chlorotetracycline in environmental water samples. The polymerized high internal phase emulsion monolithic column was prepared by the in situ polymerization of the continuous phase of a high internal phase emulsion containing glycidyl methacrylate, styrene, and divinylbenzene in pipette tips, and then functionalized with iminodiacetic acid. The resulting monolith exhibited highly interconnected porosity and large surface areas, making it an excellent candidate as an solid‐phase extraction sorbent for the enrichment of trace tetracycline antibiotics. Several factors affecting the extraction performance of polymerized high internal phase emulsion monoliths, including the pH of sample solution, the eluting solvents, the sample loading flow rate and volume, were investigated, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, the mean recoveries of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, doxycycline, and chlorotetracycline spiked in pond and farm wastewater samples ranged from 78.1 to 119.3% with relative standard deviation less than 15%. The detection limits (S/N = 3) of the proposed method were in the range of 51–137 pg/mL. This study demonstrated that the monolithic polymerized high internal phase emulsion would be promising solid‐phase extraction sorbents in the extraction and proconcentration of trace analytes from complex samples.