Micellization of economically viable surfactants in CO(2)

Stability and aggregation structures of various economically viable surfactants for CO(2) are reported. The compounds are either commercially available octylphenol nonionics (Triton X-100, X-100 reduced, and X-45) or custom-made analogues of aerosol-OT (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123 (2001) 988). These were selected to reveal the influence of chain terminal group structure, namely highly methylated t-butyl units, on solubility and aggregation in CO(2). In addition the mean ethylene oxide block length is varied for the Triton surfactants (X-100 approximately EO(10), X-45 approximately EO(8)). High-pressure small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments revealed the presence of aggregates, consistent with spheroidal reverse micelles. The nonionics show a temperature and pressure dependence on solubility. These results confirm the special affinity of highly methyl-branched tails for CO(2). However, none of these systems were able to disperse significant amounts of water or brine; therefore hydrated reversed micelles or microemulsion droplets were not stabilized. Hence the utility of these cheap methyl-branched surfactants in CO(2) is limited, and so groups of greater CO(2)-philicity are needed to achieve the goal of water-hydrocarbon surfactant-CO(2) dispersions.     

Synthesis of substituted 3‐(5‐amino‐[1,3,4]thiadiazol‐2‐yl)‐2H‐pyrano[2,3‐c]pyridin‐2‐ones

An efficient two‐step synthesis of novel 3‐(5‐amino‐[1,3,4]thiadiazol‐2‐yl)‐2H‐pyrano[2,3‐c]pyridine‐2‐ones was developed. In the first step, a new 2H‐pyrano[2,3‐c]pyridine‐3‐carboxamide 5 was prepared by Knoevenagel condensation of pyridoxal hydrochloride with cyanoacetamide. In the second step, the reaction of carboxamide 5 with a series of N⁴‐substituted thiosemicarbazides yielded a library of 35 dis crete compounds 8 {1–35} in high yields. The intermolecular recyclization mechanism leading to these products is discussed.     

Rate acceleration of anionic oxy-cope rearrangements induced by an additional unsaturation

[reaction: see text] In sharp contrast to their isopropyl counterparts, a variety of (Z)-isopropenyl tertiary bicyclo[2.2.2]octenols undergo facile anionic oxy-Cope rearrangements allowing the stereoselective incorporation of an isopropenyl group into polycyclic skeletons such as the tricyclic system of vinigrol, bicyclo[5.3.1]undecane, and cis-decalin frameworks. This rate acceleration is probably due to the stabilization of the transition state by the additional unsaturation on the terminal position.     

Asymmetry induction by cooperative intermolecular hydrogen bonds in surface-anchored layers of achiral molecules.

The mesoscale induction of two-dimensional supramolecular chirality (formation of 2D organic domains with a single handedness) was achieved by self-assembly of 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic (trimellitic) acid on a Cu(100) surface at elevated temperatures. The combination of spectroscopic [X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS)], real-space-probe [scanning tunneling microscopy (STM)], and computational [density functional theory (DFT)] methods allows a comprehensive characterization of the obtained organic adlayers, where details of molecular adsorption geometry, intermolecular coupling, and surface chemical bonding are elucidated. The trimellitic acid species, comprising three functional carboxylic groups, form distinct stable mirror-symmetric hydrogen-bonded domains. The chiral ordering is associated with conformational restriction in the domains: molecules anchor to the substrate with an ortho carboxylate group, providing two para carboxylic acid moieties for collective lateral interweaving through H bonding, which induces a specific tilt of the molecular plane. The ease of molecular symmetry switching in domain formation makes homochiral-signature propagation solely limited by the terrace width. The molecular layer modifies the morphology of the underlying copper substrate and induces mum-sized strictly homochiral terraces.     

Unified synthesis of C19-C26 subunits of amphidinolides B1, B2, and B3 by exploiting unexpected stereochemical differences in Crimmins' and Evans' aldol reactions

The efficient synthesis of the C(19)-C(26) subunit of amphidinolide B(1) and B(2) has been completed using a boron-mediated aldol reaction. The synthesis of the C(19)-C(26) subunit of amphidinolide B(3) has also been accomplished through an unexpected anti aldol reaction using a titanium-mediated process. In addition, the first reported examples of a stereochemical discrepancy between the Evans' boron-mediated oxazolidinone and the Crimmins' titanium-mediated oxazolidinethione aldol reactions are disclosed. A working hypothesis is put forth to explain the results.     

Second quantization for systems with a constant number of particles in the Dirac notation

The relation between the completeness condition for an appropriate one-particle basis set and the occupation number representation (second quantization) is shown for the time-independent case. The explicit expressions for the basic symmetric operators are derived in the Dirac bra–ket notation. The physical meaning of these operators, the algebra as well as the connections with the one-electron density matrix and with the projector on the Fermi sea in the one-electron approximation, follow directly from these expressions. The generalization for a nonorthogonal basis and the algebra for corresponding basic operators are formulated. The connection with the notion of the molecular diagrams of different kinds for the nonorthogonal atomic orbitals is shown. The Mulliken populations and the Chirgwin–Coulson bond orders are equal to the diagonal and offdiagonal elements of the molecular diagram 1, respectively. The matrix elements of the projector on the Fermi sea in the one-electron approximation in the representation of nonorthogonal atomic orbitals are elements of the molecular diagram 2.     

Parallel liquid-phase synthesis of N-substituted 6-aminosulfonyl-2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline-4-carboxamide and 6-aminosulfonylquinoline-4-carboxamide derivatives

Two efficient strategies for solution-phase parallel synthesis of libraries of quinoline derivatives are described. The first synthetic pathway features the Pfitzinger reaction of isatin with diethyl malonate and sulfochlorination of the resulting 2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline-4-carboxylate followed by generation of sulfonamide library. The second strategy employs the unusual behavior of 5-sulfamoylisatins in Pfitzinger reactions, which results in formation of 6-sulfamoyl-4-carboxyquinolines instead of the anticipated 2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline structures. The obtained carboxylates appeared to be convenient synthetic intermediates for the generation of the corresponding carboxamide libraries. Using these reagents, the parallel solution-phase synthesis of more than 500 substituted quinoline and 2-oxo-1,2-dihydroquinoline derivatives has been accomplished on the 50-100-mg scale. Simple manual techniques for parallel reactions using special CombiSyn synthesizers were coupled with easy purification procedures to give high-purity final products. The scope and limitations of the developed approaches are discussed.     

Electromagnetic interactions in plasmonic nanoparticle arrays

Single two-dimensional planar silver arrays and one-dimensional linear gold chains of nanoparticles were investigated by dark-field surface plasmon spectroscopy and studied as a function of interparticle distance, particle size, and number of particles. In agreement with recent theoretical predictions, a red shift of the surface plasmon resonance occurring in two-dimensional arrays was found for lattice spacings below 200 nm. This red shift is associated with a significant broadening of the resonance and is attributed to the onset of near-field interactions. We found that the relative contributions of the long-range and short-range interactions in two-dimensional arrays of particles are fundamentally different to those occurring in individual linear chains.     

FAIMS operation for realistic gas flow profile and asymmetric waveforms including electronic noise and ripple

The use of field asymmetric waveform ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS) has rapidly grown with the advent of commercial FAIMS systems coupled to mass spectrometry. However, many fundamental aspects of FAIMS remain obscure, hindering its technological improvement and expansion of analytical utility. Recently, we developed a comprehensive numerical simulation approach to FAIMS that can handle any device geometry and operating conditions. The formalism was originally set up in one dimension for a uniform gas flow and limited to ideal asymmetric voltage waveforms. Here we extend the model to account for a realistic gas flow velocity distribution in the analytical gap, axial ion diffusion, and waveform imperfections (e.g., noise and ripple). The nonuniformity of the gas flow velocity profile has only a minor effect, slightly improving resolution. Waveform perturbations are significant even at very low levels, in some cases approximately 0.01% of the nominal voltage. These perturbations always improve resolution and decrease sensitivity, a trade-off controllable by variation of noise or ripple amplitude. This trade-off is physically inferior to that obtained by adjusting the gap width and/or asymmetric waveform frequency. However, the disadvantage is negligible when the perturbation period is much shorter than the residence time in FAIMS, and ripple adjustment appears to offer a practical method for modifying FAIMS resolution.     

Antigen binding forces of single antilysozyme Fv fragments explored by atomic force microscopy

We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) to explore the antigen binding forces of individual Fv fragments of antilysozyme antibodies (Fv). To detect single molecular recognition events, genetically engineered histidine-tagged Fv fragments were coupled onto AFM tips modified with mixed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of nitrilotriacetic acid- and tri(ethylene glycol)-terminated alkanethiols while lysozyme (Lyso) was covalently immobilized onto mixed SAMs of carboxyl- and hydroxyl-terminated alkanethiols. The quality of the functionalization procedure was validated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (surface chemical composition), AFM imaging (surface morphology in aqueous solution), and surface plasmon resonance (SPR, specific binding in aqueous solution). AFM force-distance curves recorded at a loading rate of 5000 pN/s between Fv- and Lyso-modified surfaces yielded a distribution of unbinding forces composed of integer multiples of an elementary force quantum of approximately 50 pN that we attribute to the rupture of a single antibody-antigen pair. Injection of a solution containing free Lyso caused a dramatic reduction of adhesion probability, indicating that the measured 50 pN unbinding forces are due to the specific antibody-antigen interaction. To investigate the dynamics of the interaction, force-distance curves were recorded at various loading rates. Plots of unbinding force vs log(loading rate) revealed two distinct linear regimes with ascending slopes, indicating multiple barriers were present in the energy landscape. The kinetic off-rate constant of dissociation (k(off) approximately = 1 x 10(-3) s(-1)) obtained by extrapolating the data of the low-strength regime to zero force was in the range of the k(off) estimated by SPR.