Characterization of Carbohydrates in Paper and Paper Pulps Using Anion Exchange Chromatography and Principal Component Analysis

In the course of this investigation, a method for the characterization and differentiation of paper pulps was developed. After hydrolyzation of the papers and the respective raw pulps with trifluoroacetic acid, the hydrolyzates were analyzed with respect to their carbohydrate composition using ion exchange chromatography. The variations in carbohydrate composition mainly arise from the various hemicelluloses of the papers and pulps. The chromatographic results were then further processed using principal component analysis which allows correlating the various papers to different pulp materials.     

The Mitsunobu Inversion Reaction of Sterically Hindered 17-Hydroxy Steroids

The Mitsunobu inversion reaction of 3-methoxyestra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17-ol is dramatically influenced by the acidic component. There appears to be a relationship between the dissociation constant of the electron-withdrawing substituent on the aryl acid and the overall effectiveness of the reaction, with more acidic species generally providing a higher yield of inverted product.     

Characterization of a Nudix hydrolase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Deinococcus radiodurans</Emphasis> with a marked specificity for (deoxy)ribonucleoside 5'-diphosphates

Background  

Nudix hydrolases form a protein family whose function is to hydrolyse intracellular nucleotides and so regulate their levels and eliminate potentially toxic derivatives. The genome of the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans encodes 25 nudix hydrolases, an unexpectedly large number. These may contribute to radioresistance by removing mutagenic oxidised and otherwise damaged nucleotides. Characterisation of these hydrolases is necessary to understand the reason for their presence. Here, we report the cloning and characterisation of the DR0975 gene product, a nudix hydrolase that appears to be unique to this organism.     

Physico-chemical characterization of liposomes with covalently attached hepatitis A VP3(101-121) synthetic peptide.

The covalent conjugation of a 20-mer peptide belonging to the VP3 capsid protein of hepatitis A virus to the surface of preformed liposomes was investigated. Three different bonds (disulfide, thioether and amide) were established between the peptide sequence and liposomes bearing at their surface appropriate reactive groups. The effect of the relative concentration of the N-[4-(p-maleimidophenyl)butyryl]dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine anchor in liposomes on stability during coupling of the peptide sequence was studied. The interaction of the three liposomal preparations with phospholipids in a biomembrane model system, monolayers at the air-water interface, is also reported. The results showed that although the peptides associate with liposomes in similar yields for the three strategies studied, differences can be observed when their interaction with phospholipid monolayers composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine is analysed.     

Resistance distance and Laplacian spectrum

The resistance distance r _ij between two vertices v _i and v _j of a (connected, molecular) graph G is equal to the resistance between the respective two points of an electrical network, constructed so as to correspond to G, such that the resistance of any two adjacent points is unity. We show how the matrix elements r _ij can be expressed in terms of the Laplacian eigenvalues and eigenvectors of G. In addition, we determine certain properties of the resistance matrix R=||r _ij ||. AcknowledgementsThis research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China and Fujian Province, and by the Ministry of Sciences, Technologies and Development of Serbia, within Project no. 1389. The authors thank Douglas J. Klein (Galveston) for useful comments.     

Photocatalytic TiO2 Coatings: Effect of Substrate and Template

Transparent TiO₂ films with a high photodegradation activity towards an azo dye in aqueous solution were prepared by sol–gel processing. Films on soda–lime glass supports protected with a thin silica barrier layer exhibited better crystallization and monodisperse nanoparticles, higher absorption of light below 370 nm, and higher photocatalytic activity than those films deposited on bare glass supports proving the detrimental effect of interdiffused sodium ions on the development of the anatase nanostructure. The effect of substrate was more pronounced in thinner films (300 nm) than in thicker ones (1200 nm), which were achieved by adding a template (i.e. Pluronic F127) to the sol.     

Towards rod-shaped molecules based on the twelve-vertex ferratricarbollides

The compounds with a single and double -CH₂C₆H₄CH₂- spacer, [CpFeC₃B₈H₁₀-NH-CH₂C₆H₄CH₂-NH-C₃B₈H₁₀FeCp] and [CpFeC₃B₈H₁₀-N-(CH₂C₆H₄CH₂)₂-N-C₃B₈H₁₀FeCp], represent the first example of designed shaping by extremely stable cyclopentadienyl-ferratricarbollide (CpFeTCB) cages into rigid molecular constructions approaching linear arrangement.     

A study on the metalation of alkoxydibromobenzenes

The metalation of (quasi)alkoxy-substituted dibromobenzenes C₆H₃(OR)Br₂ with lithium diisopropylamide (LDA) has been investigated. For 1-(quasi)alkoxy-3,5-dibromobenzenes (R = Me, TMS), different selectivities were observed depending on reaction conditions and the size of the alkoxy group. The methoxy group was an effective ortho-director whereas this was not the case for the bulky trimethylsilyloxy group. The metalation of related 2,5-dibromoanisole was also examined showing a significant meta-directing effect by the methoxy group. The thermal stability of aryllithium intermediates is significantly lower when lithium is flanked by a bromine and a methoxy group, whereas 4-(quasi)alkoxy-2,6-dibromoaryllithiums are less labile.     

Absolute rate calculations: atom and proton transfers in hydrogen-bonded systems.

We calculate energy barriers of atom- and proton-transfer reactions in hydrogen-bonded complexes in the gas phase. Our calculations do not involve adjustable parameters and are based on bond-dissociation energies, ionization potentials, electron affinities, bond lengths, and vibration frequencies of the reactive bonds. The calculated barriers are in agreement with experimental data and high-level ab initio calculations. We relate the height of the barrier with the molecular properties of the reactants and complexes. The structure of complexes with strong hydrogen bonds approaches that of the transition state, and substantially reduces the barrier height. We calculate the hydrogen-abstraction rates in H-bonded systems using the transition-state theory with the semiclassical correction for tunneling, and show that they are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. H-bonding leads to an increase in tunneling corrections at room temperature.     

Ion excitation in a linear quadrupole ion trap with an added octopole field

Modeling of ion motion and experimental investigations of ion excitation in a linear quadrupole trap with a 4% added octopole field are described. The results are compared with those obtained with a conventional round rod set. Motion in the effective potential of the rod set can explain many of the observed phenomena. The frequencies of ion oscillation in the x and y directions shift with amplitude in opposite directions as the amplitudes of oscillation increase. Excitation profiles for ion fragmentation become asymmetric and in some cases show bistable behavior where the amplitude of oscillation suddenly jumps between high and low values with very small changes in excitation frequency. Experiments show these effects. Ions are injected into a linear trap, stored, isolated, excited for MS/MS, and then mass analyzed in a time-of-flight mass analyzer. Frequency shifts between the x and y motions are observed, and in some cases asymmetric excitation profiles and bistable behavior are observed. Higher MS/MS efficiencies are expected when an octopole field is added. MS/MS efficiencies (N(2) collision gas) have been measured for a conventional quadrupole rod set and a linear ion trap with a 4% added octopole field. Efficiencies are chemical compound dependent, but when an octopole field is added, efficiencies can be substantially higher than with a conventional rod set, particularly at pressures of 1.4 x 10(-4) torr or less.