Evolution of water vapor from indium-tin-oxide transparent conducting films fabricated by dip coating process

Tin-doped indium oxide In₂O₃ (indium-tin-oxide) transparent conducting films were fabricated on silicon substrates by a dip coating process. The thermal analysis of the ITO films was executed by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) or thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) in high vacuum. Gas evolution from the ITO film mainly consisted of water vapor. The total amount of evolved water vapor increased on increasing the film thickness from approx. 25 to 250 nm and decreased by increasing the preparation temperature from 365 to 600°C and by annealing at the same temperature for extra 10 h. The evolution occurred via two steps; the peak temperatures for 250 nm thick films were approx. 100-120 and 205-215°C. The 25 nm thick films evolved water vapor at much higher temperatures; a shoulder at approx. 150-165°C and a peak at approx. 242°C were observed. The evolution temperatures increased by increasing the preparation and the annealing temperatures except in case of the second peak of the 25 nm thick films. The evolution of water vapor at high temperature was tentatively attributed to thermal decomposition of indium hydroxide, In(OH)₃, formed on the surface of the nm-sized ITO particles. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay for glucuronidation activity of 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), the active metabolite of irinotecan (CPT-11), in human liver microsomes

A simple and sensitive assay for glucuronidation activity of 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), the active metabolite of irinotecan (CPT-11), in human liver microsomes by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection is reported. The method was validated for the determination of SN-38 glucuronide (SN-38G) with respect to specificity, linearity, recovery, stability, precision, accuracy, and limits of detection and quantitation. There was no interference from matrix and non-enzymatic reactions. The calibration curve for SN-38G was linear from 5 to 500 nM. Average recoveries ranged from 98 to 100% in spiked human liver microsome samples, and the SN-38G was stable at 4 degrees C for at least 72 h. The newly developed method was found to be more sensitive and selective than previous methods using thin layer chromatography and HPLC. The limit of quantitation for SN-38G was 5 nM (2.5 pmol/assay). The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were less than 7 and 4%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precision of enzyme assay for UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activity toward SN-38 in human liver microsomes was less than 4%. With this improved sensitivity, the kinetics of SN-38 glucuronidation in human liver microsomes could be determined more precisely. Therefore, this method is applicable to in vitro study on the side effects and drug interactions of CPT-11 using small amounts of biological sample.     

Aurilide, a cytotoxic depsipeptide from the sea hare Dolabella auricularia: isolation, structure determination, synthesis, and biological activity

The bioassay-guided fractionation of the cytotoxic constituents of the Japanese sea hare Dollabella auricularia led to the isolation of aurilide (1), a 26-membered cyclodepsipeptide. The gross structure of 1 was established by spectroscopic analysis including 2D NMR techniques. The absolute stereostructure was determined by chiral HPLC analysis of acid hydrolysates of 1 and by the enantioselective synthesis of a degradation product arising from a dihydroxylated fatty acid portion. The enantioselective synthesis of 1 was achieved in 12% overall yield (16 steps) and confirmed the absolute stereostructure of 1. The cytotoxicity of 1 was evaluated using a synthetic sample, which was found to exhibit potent cytotoxicity against HeLa S₃ cells with an IC₅₀ of 0.011 μg/mL. Further biological and pharmacological studies of 1 have been carried out by using synthetic 1.     

Photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate in the presence of tertiary amines

The sensitization effect of tertiary amines on the photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate was studied. N,N-Dimethylbenzylamine, triethylamine, and N,N-dimethylaniline increased the rate of polymerization in this order, but pyridine did not show any effect. A free-radical mechanism was confirmed by the tacticity of polymer, the retarding effect of hydroquinone, and the copolymer composition with styrene. On the basis of the detailed kinetics of the sensitized polymerization and the ultraviolet spectra of the reaction mixtures, a sensitization mechanism is proposed, in which the excited monomer and the amine form a complex and generate an initiating radical.     

A practical asymmetric synthesis of trans-4,5-benzhydrindan-1-ones as a precursor of A-nor B-aromatic steroidal compounds

The enantio-controlled synthesis of trans-4,5-benzhydrindan-1-ones was achieved by means of a stereoselective [4+2] cycloaddition of o-quinodimethanes generated by a thermal cleavage of benzocyclobutene derivatives as a key step. The chiral substrates of the thermal reaction were synthesized by a diastereoselective Grignard addition to the chiral O-isopropylideneglyceroketones connected to a benzocyclobutene ring, which were simply prepared from D-mannitol as a chiral source. This approach can provide a new efficient access to A-nor B-aromatic steroidal compounds.     

Crystal structures of n-alkanes with branches of different size in the middle

We synthesized four branched n-alkane samples C35-C1, C35-C4, C35-C6, and C35-C4Ph with the same number of carbons as the main chain, n = 35, to which the methyl, butyl, hexyl, and butyl phenyl groups were respectively attached at the middle, and also the corresponding linear homologue of C35, and studied their crystalline structures from DSC, IR, and Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction measurement, and computer simulation. Solid-solid phase transitions characteristic of linear alkane C35 are not observed for any branched alkanes, and their melting temperatures Tm are lowered to 325.2, 318.5, 314.3, and 314.1K, respectively. Main chains of branched alkane molecules are not folded, irrespective of length and chemical structure of branches, but are extended to take the planar zigzag form in the solid state. The branches of C35-C4 and C35-C6 are also aligned inside the crystal in the extended form. Data analyses on solution-grown crystallized samples reveal that, with increasing the branch length, their crystal structures transform from polymorphic forms of the orthorhombic (P2(1)2(1)2(1)) and the triclinic (P) for C35-C1 and C35-C4 to the unique triclinic form for C35-C6 and C35-C4Ph, so as to minimize extra surface energy invoked by introduction of long branches.