Enzyme thermistors for process monitoring and control

In today’s biotechnology there is an increasing demand for appropriate analytical systems for process control. At present the most widely used control systems are based on measurements of pH, pO₂, and pCO₂. Such systems do not allow the direct measurement of substrates and products. To overcome this drawback sensors such as enzyme thermistors and enzyme electrodes have been designed and their development into industrial useful sensors for monitoring and controlling is the subject of active research.     

Rapid Fluorometric Screening of Antibiotics in Seafood

Simple and rapid fluorometric screening methods have been developed based on the competitive binding between the target and an intercalating fluorophore dye to double-stranded-DNA (dsDNA). In this study, the long-wavelength fluorescente dye TOTO-3 was employed as the indicator. Compounds that interact with dsDNA will affect the binding of TOTO-3 to the nucleic acid thereby changing the fluorescence intensity. The analyte concentration is indirectly determined by the decrease in fluorescence intensity. A fiber optic fluorescence screening system was developed for rapid and convenient sample processing. Lambda DNA (48.5 kb) was chosen as a suitable sensing nucleic acid material. Detection of sulfathiazole and chloramphenicol in shrimps using this method was studied in the range of 0.5–25 ng mL⁻¹ of sulfathiazole and of 1–50 ng mL⁻¹ of chloramphenicol. Detection limits of 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ of sulfathiazole and 1 ng mL⁻¹ of chloramphenicol were achieved. This approach is useful as a routine test in the monitoring of antibiotics in the environment or aquaculture products. The easy operation and the rapid and sensitive detection make this a potential high-throughput screening method.     

Photo-degradation and photo-stabilisation of the two-phase system poly(vinyl chloride)-polybutadiene

The photo-oxidative degradation of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC)/polybutadiene (PB) blends has been studied. After uv irradiation, photo-grafting of the PVC and PB phases was observed. Photolysis of PVC accelerates cis-trans isomerisation of PB. Both phases, PVC and PB, are photo-degraded according to free radical oxidation mechanisms. The rates of these processes can be decreased by the addition of metal chelates, such as commercially produced Cyasorb uv light absorber 1084 (2,2′-thiobis(4-t-octylphenolato)-n-butylamine nickel(II)) and Cyasorb uv light absorber 2548 (cobalt dicyclohexyldithiophosphinate).     

Radical-mediated carboxylation of alkyl iodides with [11C]carbon monoxide in solvent mixtures

[reaction: see text] [carboxyl-(11)C]Carboxylic acids were prepared from alkyl iodides via photoinitiated radical reactions using 10(-)(8) mol of [(11)C]carbon monoxide in binary and ternary homogeneous solvent mixtures. Short- (isobutyric), medium-, and long-chain saturated fatty acids (heptadecanoic) were labeled with isolated decay-corrected radiochemical yields ranging from 55% to 70% in 5-7-min reactions. The conversion of [(11)C]carbon monoxide to products reached 80-90%. To obtain good yields in the reactions performed in water-acetonitrile and water-THF mixtures, the addition of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide was essential. The carboxylation was efficient for primary and secondary alkyl iodides. The carboxylation of tertiary iodides was feasible for 1-iodoadamantane but not for tert-butyl iodide. The dependence of the radiochemical yields on reaction time, photoirradiation conditions, and organic and inorganic additives was studied. The method provides a one-step route to [carboxyl-(11)C]carboxylic acids; traditional methods, in contrast, would require several steps. For example, using the devised reaction conditions, 3.19 GBq of purified [1-(11)C]1,10-decanedicarboxylic acid (specific radioactivity 188 GBq/mumol) was obtained within 35 min of the end of 10 muAh bombardment. (1-(13)C)4-Phenylbutyric acid was synthesized using ((13)C)carbon monoxide for identifying the labeling position with (1)H and (13)C NMR.     

Mass spectrometric investigation of isomeric 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-4-oxoquinazolines

Six isomeric methylphenyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-4-oxoquinazolines have been prepared and their fragmentation patterns upon electron impact studied. Deuterium labelling and high-resolution measurements were performed in order to facilitate the interpretation of the spectra. The dissociation of the molecular ion follows two main routes, the fragmentation being governed by the position of the phenyl group.     

N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylene diamine as a co-catalyst in the anionic polylymerization of methyl methacrylate

Anionic polymerization of methyl methacrylate in toluene solution has been studied. The polymerizations were initiated by fluorenyllithium as well as by butyl-, benzyl-, and phenylmagnesium halides, and carried out in the presence of polar additives. Especially the organomagnesium initiators gave generally rise to highly isotactic polymers (mm = 0.90-0.95) in the absence of solvating additives. In the presence of the bidentate ligand N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylene diamine (TMEDA) at molar ratios of 1–2 relative to magnesium, highly syndiotactic polymers were obtained at ?78°C (rr = 0.8–0.9), while at higher temperatures stereoblock polymers or stereocomplexes were formed. It is proposed that at low temperatures the magnesium cations are strongly solvated under the influence of TMEDA, with the formation of monomeric ion pairs. The large solvated magnesium cations will not have any directional influence on the monomer in the propagation step, with syndiotactic propagation as a result.     

Auto‐Initiating Performance of Styrene on Surface Photografting Polymerization

Investigating the surface photografting polymerization of styrene (St), it was found that in the absence of photoinitiator and at high temperatures, a remarkable amount of St‐grafted polymer is formed. The initiation performance of St was further confirmed by surface photografting polymerization of acrylic acid, where St was used as the photoinitiator. This finding is useful to investigate the reaction mechanism of aromatic compounds under UV radiation and develop photoinitiator‐free polymerization systems.