Self-assembly of an organocatalyst for the enantioselective synthesis of Michael adducts and α-aminoxy alcohols in a nonpolar medium

A proline–thiourea host–guest complex is described as a self-assembled organocatalyst for the enantioselective Michael addition of aldehydes to nitroolefins and for the asymmetric α-aminoxylation of both aldehydes and ketones. The Michael adducts were obtained in good yields of up to 80%, high diastereoselectivities of up to 5:95, and high enantiomeric excesses of up to 98%. The optically active aminoxy alcohols were synthesized in 60–85% yields with 94–99% enantiomeric excesses after reduction of the α-oxidation products using NaBH₄.     

Determination of Dimenhydrinate Nasal Delivery System in the Blood by RP-LC

Dimenhydrinate (DM) is used therapeutically for the prevention of motion sickness associated with nausea and vomiting. The aim of this investigation is the development of a new, rapid, sensitive, simple and fully validated RP-LC procedure for the suitable assay of DM in pharmaceutical formulation applied in blood samples. The method was validated before the amount determination studies in order to confirm linearity, precision, accuracy, selectivity, determination and quantification limit and consistency. High determination coefficient (r ² = 0.998) of the standard curve drawn in the linearity studies showed that the line equation can be used in the quantification of the DM. Literature was reviewed for the methods based on diphenhydramine (DIP), its metabolite dimenhydrinate, in the in vivo determination of dimenhydrinate amount. The most appropriate method to be used in LC was decided to be the method applied by benefitting from the fluorescence characteristic of DIP. Maximum excitation and emission wavelengths in the developed method were scanned using multiple wavelengths and, maximum excitation and emission wavelengths were found to be 215 and 300 nm, respectively. In the validation study used to prove validity of the method, determination coefficient of the developed standard curve was calculated as 0.998 (RSD %), and line equation was concluded to be appropriate for use in amount determination studies. BBS % (1.06, 1.84 %) values obtained as “<2 %” in the intra-day and inter-day precision studies proved the precision of the method. Selectivity study revealed that other materials used in the formulation did not exhibit absorbance in the same wavelengths. Detection and quantification limit were found as 1 and 5 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The determination of DM plasma concentrations using the proposed and fully validated LC assay has allowed us to characterize DMPK in the sheep, as well as determine DM relative bioavailability.

     

Carboligation reactivity of benzaldehyde lyase (BAL,EC 4.1.2.38) covalently attached to magnetic nanoparticles

Epoxy-functionalized Fe₃O₄–SiO₂ core–shell magnetic nanoparticles (epoxy-M-support) were prepared by modification with glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) methods. Pure histidine-tagged recombinant benzaldehydelyase (BAL, EC 4.1.2.38) was efficiently immobilized onto the epoxy-M-support with covalent binding. An immobilized BAL epoxy-M-support system was tested to catalyze the self and cross condensation reactions of aldehydes, and the kinetic resolution of racemic acyloins. The acyloin products were obtained in high yield and with high enantiomeric excesses (?98% ee). The carboligation reactivity of the immobilized enzyme was comparable to that of free enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The covalent immobilization offers high enzyme activity and stability (at least 5 repeats without losing its activity).     

Self-assembly of organocatalysts for the enantioselective Michael addition of aldehydes to nitroalkenes

A proline–thiourea self-assembled organocatalyst is described as a good catalyst for the enantioselective nitro-Michael addition of aldehydes to nitroalkenes. The reaction is efficient with 5% of the thiourea, to give moderate to good enantioselectivity (up to 76% ee). High syn-selectivity was obtained with both branched and unbranched aliphatic aldehydes. This is the first example of self-assembly of organocatalysts with an achiral additive in a Michael addition wherein aldehydes are utilized as donors.     

Polymer electrolyte membranes based on p‐toluenesulfonic acid doped poly(1‐vinyl‐1,2,4‐triazole): Synthesis,thermal and proton conductivity properties

Throughout this work, the synthesis, thermal as well as proton conducting properties of acid doped heterocyclic polymer were studied under anhydrous conditions. In this context, poly(1‐vinyl‐1,2,4‐triazole), PVTri was produced by free radical polymerization of 1‐vinyl‐1,2,4‐triazole with a high yield. The structure of the homopolymer was proved by FTIR and solid state ¹³C CP‐MAS NMR spectroscopy. The polymer was doped with p‐toluenesulfonic acid at various molar ratios, x = 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, with respect to polymer repeating unit. The proton transfer from p‐toluenesulfonic acid to the triazole rings was proved with FTIR spectroscopy. Thermogravimetry analysis showed that the samples are thermally stable up to ～250 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry results illustrated that the materials are homogeneous and the dopant strongly affects the glass transition temperature of the host polymer. Cyclic voltammetry results showed that the electrochemical stability domain extends over 3 V. The proton conductivity of these materials increased with dopant concentration and the temperature. Charge transport relaxation times were derived via complex electrical modulus formalism (M*). The temperature dependence of conductivity relaxation times showed that the proton conductivity occurs via structure diffusion. In the anhydrous state, the proton conductivity of PVTri1PTSA and PVTri2PTSA was measured as 8 × 10^?4 S/cm at 150 °C and 0.012 S/cm at 110 °C, respectively. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 48: 1016–1021, 2010     

Euler-Seidel method for certain combinatorial numbers and a new characterization of Fibonacci sequence

In this paper we use the Euler-Seidel method for deriving new identities for hyperharmonic and r-Stirling numbers. The exponential generating function is determined for hyperharmonic numbers, which result is a generalization of Gosper’s identity. A classification of second order recurrence sequences is also given with the help of this method.      

Optimal static pricing for a service facility with holding costs

We study a service facility modelled as a single-server queueing system with Poisson arrivals and limited or unlimited buffer size. In systems with unlimited buffer size, the service times have general distributions, whereas in finite buffered systems service times are exponentially distributed. Arriving customers enter if there is room in the facility and if they are willing to pay the posted price. The same price is charged to all customers at all times (static pricing). The service provider is charged a holding cost proportional to the time that the customers spend in the system. We demonstrate that there is a unique optimal price that maximizes the long-run average profit per unit time. We also investigate how optimal prices vary as system parameters change. Finally, we consider buffer size as an additional decision variable and show that there is an optimal buffer size level that maximizes profit.     

Computation of ionization and various excited state energies ofhelium and helium‐like quantum dots

In the effective mass approximation, we calculated the wave functions and some energy states of helium and helium‐like quantum dots (QDs) with impurity charges Z = 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4. In addition, we carried out the ionization energies of these QDs as a function of dot radius, and we investigated the influence of impurity on the ionization energy. We utilized the method that is a combination of quantum genetic algorithm (QGA) and Hartree‐Fock Roothaan (HFR). The results are in a good agreement with literature results. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

PEG crosslinked poly(vinylbenzene boronic acid) polymer electrolytes for Li-ion batteries

Poly(4-vinylbenzeneboronic acid), PVBBA was synthesized via free-radical polymerization of 4-vinylbenzeneboronic acid (4-VBBA) and followed by crosslinking with polyethylene glycol (PEG) with different molecular weights to produce boron containing crosslinked polymers. Prior to crosslinking, the materials were doped with CF₃SO₃Li at several stoichiometric ratios to get PVBBAPEGX-Y where X is the molecular weight of PEG and Y is the EO/Li ratio. The materials were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The ionic conductivity of these novel crosslinked electrolytes was studied by dielectric-impedance spectroscopy. Li-ion conductivity of these polymer electrolytes depends on the length of the side units as well as the doping ratio. PVBBAPEG200-10 illustrated a satisfactory ionic conductivity of 3.1 × 10^?5 S/cm at 20 °C and 1.8 × 10^?3 S/cm at 100 °C.