Directed self-assembly in laponite/CdSe/polyaniline nanocomposites

Laponite films provide versatile inorganic scaffolds with materials architectures that direct the self-assembly of CdSe quantum dots (QDs or EviTags) and catalytic surfaces that promote the in situ polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) to yield novel nanocomposites for light emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cell applications. Water-soluble CdSe EviTags with varying, overlapping emission wavelengths in the visible spectrum were incorporated using soft chemistry routes within Na-Laponite host film platforms to achieve broadband emission in the visible spectrum. QD concentrations, composition and synthesis approach were varied to optimize photophysical properties of the films and to mediate self-assembly, optical cascading and energy transfer. In addition, aniline tetramers coupled to CdSe (QD-AT) surfaces using a dithioate linker were embedded within Cu-Laponite nanoscaffolds and electronically coupled to PANI via vapor phase exposure. Nanotethering and specific host-guest and guest-guest interactions that mediate nanocomposite photophysical behavior were probed using electronic absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies, optical microscopy, AFM, SEM, powder XRD, NMR and ATR-FTIR. Morphology studies indicated that Lap/QD-AT films synthesized using mixed solvent, layer by layer (LbL) methods exhibited anisotropic supramolecular structures with unique mesoscopic ordering that affords bifunctional networks to optimize charge transport.     

The effect of filamentous bacteria on foam production and stability

Bacteria have been implicated in the formation of viscous brown foams that can appear suddenly on wastewater treatment plants. Three strains of the filamentous bacterium Gordonia amarae, isolated from wastewater treatment plants, were investigated to determine their effect on foam formation and stabilisation. During the exponential phase of the bacterial growth a biosurfactant was formed, causing a significant drop in the surface tension of the filtered medium and the formation of persistent foam. Foaming tests in the presence and absence of bacteria showed that bacteria increased foam persistence, most probably by reducing the drainage from the lamellae between bubbles. Experiments showed that > or =55% of the three bacterial strains partitioned into the foam produced by the biosurfactant, indicating that their surfaces were hydrophobic. The extent of partitioning was independent of the growth stage, suggesting that the cell surface hydrophobicity did not change with age, or with cell viability. This work shows that, although the G. amarae cells themselves do not cause foaming, they do produce biosurfactant, which aids foam formation, and they stabilise the foam by reducing the rate of drainage from the foam lamellae.     

Reaction of fluorogenic reagents with proteins I. Mass spectrometric characterization of the reaction with 3-(2-furoyl)quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde, Chromeo P465, and Chromeo P503

3-(2-Furoyl)quinoline-2-carboxaldehyde (FQ), Chromeo P465, and Chromeo P503 are weakly fluorescent reagents that react with primary amines to produce fluorescent products. We studied the reaction of these reagents with alpha-lactalbumin by mass spectrometry. The reaction generated a set of products by the addition of one or more labels to the protein. At room temperature, the reaction was an order of magnitude faster with the Chromeo reagents than with FQ; however, the steady-state labeling efficiency was a factor of two higher for FQ compared with the Chromeo reagents. The relative abundance of the products with FQ usually followed a binomial distribution, which suggests that the labeling sites were uniformly accessible to this reagent. In contrast, the distribution of reaction products with the Chromeo reagents did not follow a binomial distribution for reactions performed in the absence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS); it appears that the protein labeled with the Chromeo reagents refolded into a relatively stable secondary structure that hid some reactive sites. The reaction with the Chromeo reagent did follow the binomial distribution if the protein underwent treatment with 1% SDS at 95 degrees C for 5 min, which apparently disrupts the protein's secondary structure and allowed uniform access to all labeling sites. Chromeo 503 labeled seven of the 13 primary amines in denatured alpha-lactalbumin.     

Selective solid-phase microextraction of explosives using fibers coated with the La(III) complex of p-di(4,4,5,5,6,6,6-heptafluoro-1,3-hexanedionyl)benzene

This research demonstrates enhanced capture of explosives on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers coated with a metal beta-diketonate polymer, [La(III) complex of p-di(4,4,5,5,6,6,6-heptafluoro-1,3-hexanedionyl)benzene, La(dihed)], compared to PDMS control fibers. SPME sampling was performed in an explosives bunker where the concentration of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was estimated at less than 3parts-per-trillion (v/v). Analysis by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry showed an approximate 10-fold enhancement in the quantity of 2,4-dinitrotoluene captured on La(dihed) over the control fiber. La(dihed) sampling also resulted in a strong signal for TNT, whereas this explosive was well below the detection limit (1pg on fiber) on the control fiber.     

Utilisation of pH stacking in conjunction with a highly absorbing chromophore, 5-aminofluorescein, to improve the sensitivity of capillary electrophoresis for carbohydrate analysis

This study explores the use of pH stacking in conjunction with 5-aminofluorescein as a derivatization agent for the sensitive analysis of simple sugars such as glucose, lactose and maltotriose by capillary electrophoresis (CE). The derivatization agent was selected on the basis of its extremely high molar absorptivity, its compatibility with a 488nm light-emitting diode (LED) and the fact that it has two ionizable groups making it compatible with on-line stacking using a dynamic pH junction. The influence of both acetic and formic acids at concentrations of 0.19, 0.019 and 0.0019molL(-1) were investigated with regard to both derivatization efficiency and the ability to stack using a dynamic pH junction. Superior sensitivity and resolution was obtained in formic acid over acetic acid. Substantially lower peaks were obtained with 0.19molL(-1) formic acid when compared to 0.019 and 0.0019molL(-1) concentrations, which was confirmed by computer simulation studies to be due to the inadequate movement of the pH boundary for stacking. Further simulation studies combined with experimental data showed the separation with the best resolution and greatest sensitivity when the carbohydrates were derivatized with the 0.095molL(-1) formic acid. Utilisation of stacking via dynamic pH junction mode in conjunction with LED detection enabled efficiencies of 150,000 plates and detection limits in the order of 8.5x10(-8)molL(-1) for simple sugars such as glucose, lactose and maltotriose hydrate. The current system also demonstrates a 515 times improvement in sensitivity when compared to using a normal deuterium lamp, and 16 times improvement over other systems using LEDs.     

Kinetics and energetics of phosphate sorption in a multi-component Al(III)-Fe(III) hydr(oxide) sorbent system

Multi-component Al-Fe hydr(oxides) are ubiquituous in soil and aquatic environments, where they exhibit biogeochemical controls on nutrients and contaminants. Although, sorption on single-component Al and Fe hydr(oxides) have been extensively studied, limited studies have been done on their multi-component counterparts. In this study, effects of Al/Fe content on the kinetics and energetics of phosphate sorption in a poorly-crystalline co-precipitated mixed Al-Fe hydr(oxide) system were investigated using a combination of traditional batch techniques and flow adsorption calorimetry. Differences in Al/Fe content was found to influence the structural development and anion exchange capacity of the hydr(oxides) and subsequently their phosphate sorption characteristics. Higher structural development decreased phosphate sorption, while higher AEC was associated with increased phosphate sorption, initial sorption rate, and smaller losses in sorption with increasing pH. Results from flow adsorption calorimetry indicated that at pH 4.8 phosphate sorption: (i) occurred irreversibly on anion exchange sites, with a loss of 1.9 moles of AEC per mole of phosphate sorbed, and (ii) was exothermic, with molar heats of adsorption between -25 and -39 kJmol(-1). Molar heats of adsorption were ten times that for anion exchange and independent of hydr(oxide) composition with the amount of energy evolved being directly proportional to the quantity of phosphate sorbed.     

Total synthesis of (-)-hennoxazole A

An enantioselective, convergent total synthesis of the antiviral marine natural product (-)-hennoxazole A is completed in 14 steps (longest linear sequence) from commercially available 4-methyloxazole-2-carboxylic acid. Synthesis of the C(1)-C(15) pyran/bisoxazole fragment takes advantage of an aldol-like coupling between a dimethyl acetal and an N-acetylthiazolidinethione for the direct, stereoselective installation of the C(8)-methoxy-bearing stereocenter. A one-pot acetoacetate acylation/decarboxylation/cyclodehydration of another elaborate thiazolidinethione allows for rapid assembly of the pyran-based ring system. Synthesis of the C(15)-C(25) skipped triene side chain fragment makes use of a [2,3]-Wittig-Still rearrangement for efficient installation of the trisubstituted Z-double bond. Key late-stage coupling of the two fragments is effected by deprotonation of the methyl group on the bisoxazole system using lithium diethylamide, followed by alkylation with an allylic bromide side chain segment to form the C(15)-C(16) bond.     

Investigating the initial steps in the biosynthesis of cyanobacterial sunscreen scytonemin

The cyanobacterial natural product scytonemin (1) functions as a sunscreen, absorbing harmful UV-A radiation. Using information from a recently identified gene cluster, we propose a biosynthetic route to this pigment. We also report the characterization of two enzymes, NpR1275 and NpR1276, which are involved in the initial stages of this pathway. A regioselective acyloin reaction between indole-3-pyruvic acid (4) and p-hydroxyphenylpyruvic acid (5) is a key step in assembling the carbon framework of a proposed monomeric scytonemin precursor (2).     

Room-temperature and near-room-temperature molecule-based magnets

Additional members of the family of high- T c molecule-based magnets, V[acceptor] 2. yCH 2Cl 2 have been discovered in which the acceptor is a fluorophenyltricyanoethylene. Varying the number and position of the fluorine substitutions around the phenyl ring results in materials with significantly different magnetic ordering temperatures ( T c's) ranging from 160 to 300 K. Density functional theory calculations were performed on the neutral and anionic forms of the acceptors that reveal modest correlation between T c and three calculated quantities: the gas-phase electron affinity, the dihedral angle between the phenyl ring and the olefin, and the Mulliken spin densities on the nitrogen atoms. The electrochemistry of the acceptors has also been examined.     

Novel Electrochemical Microsensor for Hydrogen Peroxide based on Iron‐Ruthenium Hexacyanoferrate Modified Carbon Fiber Electrode

Novel electrochemical microsensor based on mixed iron‐ruthenium hexacyanoferrate (FeRuHCF) modified carbon fiber microelectrode (CFME) is presented for voltammetric and amperometric measurement of hydrogen peroxide at physiological pH. The FeRuHCF coating was electrochemically deposited using a one step procedure onto the substrate carbon fiber microelectrode by cycling the potential between 0.0 and +1.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in a solution containing all precursor salts. The microsensor displayed good stability in neutral and alkaline media and had a nonstop working lifetime of up to 12 hours. The amperometric response time varied from 5 to 15 s depending on the hydrogen peroxide concentration level. The newly developed electrochemical microsensor exhibited a highly linear behavior in the examined concentration range from 5 to 1000 μmol L^?1 (R²=0.999), an LoD (3σ) of 0.9 μmol L^?1, and a favorable reproducibility with a calculated RSD of 2.9% (n= 6) for 100 μmol L^?1 hydrogen peroxide, thus holding great promise for its further application in real samples and its exploitation in combination with biorecognition elements in advanced microbiosensor design.