Electrochemical technologies for treating petroleum industry wastewater

This review focuses on recent developments in electrochemical technology (with special emphasis on electrocoagulation, electro-oxidation, and electro-Fenton) to treat petroleum industry effluents (offshore and hydraulic fracturing extraction, as well as refinery effluents). In addition, an overview is given of what these processes face to position themselves as consolidated technologies.     

Imaging intracellular viscosity by a new molecular rotor suitable for phasor analysis of fluorescence lifetime

The arsenal of fluorescent probes tailored to functional imaging of cells is rapidly growing and benefits from recent developments in imaging strategies. Here, we present a new molecular rotor, which displays strong absorption in the green region of the spectrum, very little solvatochromism, and strong emission sensitivity to local viscosity. The emission increase is paralleled by an increase in emission lifetime. Owing to its concentration-independent nature, fluorescence lifetime is particularly suitable to image environmental properties, such as viscosity, at the intracellular level. Accordingly, we demonstrate that intracellular viscosity measurements can be efficiently carried out by lifetime imaging with our probe and phasor analysis, an efficient method for measuring lifetime-related properties (e.g., bionalyte concentration or local physicochemical features) in living cells. Notably, we show that it is possible to monitor the partition of our probe into different intracellular regions/organelles and to follow mitochondrial de-energization upon oxidative stress.     

A general method for convergent synthesis of functionalized exo-glycals based on halogenation and Suzuki cross-coupling of 1-exo-methylene sugars

Functionalized exo-glycals can be readily obtained by palladium catalyzed Suzuki cross-coupling of halo-exo-glycals with boronic acids.     

Synthesis of variolin B

The total synthesis of variolin B from 4-methoxy-7-azaindole is described. The preparation of the protected amino derivative 10 and a coupling reaction of the iodo derivative 12 with 2-acetylamino-4-trimethylstannylpyrimidine are the key steps of the sequence. The use of N-tosyldichloromethanimine for the cyclisation step afforded a good entry to the 9-aminopyrido[3′,2′:4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine system. Variolin B was obtained from the triply protected tetracyclic compound 13 in two steps.     

On the Stability of the Schiff Bases of Pyridoxal 5′-Phosphate with Polypeptides Containing L-Lysine

We determined the apparent equilibrium constant of formation, K_pH, of the Schiff bases of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) and poly- and copolymers containing L -lysine, as a function of pH at 25° and a constant ionic strength of 0.1 M . The K_pH values obtained at acidic and neutral pH were larger that those reported for Schiff bases of PLP and hexylamine. We determined calorimetrically ΔH of formation of Schiff bases of PLP and poly(L -lysine) (?4.5′kcal/mol), and PLP and hexylamine (?3.4 kcal/mol) at pH 7.00. Semi-empirical theoretical calculations (INDO and AMI methods) of a model compound of Schiff base of PLP and polypeptide containing L -lysine show the capability of specific interactions between groups of PLP and the peptide skeleton.     

A Safety Strategy for Producing Poly(Acrylic Acid) of Low Molar Mass

The synthesis of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) of low molar mass under safe conditions is difficult due to the high polymerization rate of acrylic acid (AA) and the fast heat generation. The aqueous‐solution “semibatch” polymerization of non‐ionized AA in almost starved conditions involves high initiator loads when low molar masses are required. This article proposes the simultaneous feeding of AA and nonconventional chain transfer agents (CTA) as a strategy aimed at controlling both the molar masses and the generated heat rate. Three CTAs are investigated: 2‐mercaptoethanol, thioglycolic acid, and isopropyl alcohol. Even when PAA of relatively low molar mass can be produced by adequately selecting the flow rates and concentrations of both AA and CTA, it is found that the nature of CTA can have a significant effect on the polymerizations kinetics. The mechanisms responsible for these effects are discussed with the help of a representative mathematical model.

     

Computational study of pH‐responsive di‐lanthanide complexes

Lanthanide complexes have found extensive use as luminescent probes for biological and medical investigations. Recently, a di‐europium complex that exhibits pH‐dependent luminescence‐decay was reported, and the ligand in that complex includes a large number of ionizable sites. To better understand the pH‐dependence of luminescence‐decay of this complex, the pK _a's of all tautomers of the di‐Lu³⁺ version of this complex were calculated computationally. The calculated Boltzmann‐averaged pK _a's of the complex are 5.85, ?0.21, and ?1.47 for the di‐Lu³⁺ complex in its first, second, and third protonation states, respectively. These pK _a values across protonation states indicate that changes in luminescence‐decay rate at physiologically relevant pH may be related to first protonation event of the complex exclusively.     

Low- and high-conversion studies of the free radical copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate with styrene in N,N′-dimethylformamide solution

2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and styrene (S) have been copolymerized in a 3 mol · L⁻¹N,N′-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution using 2,2′azobis (isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) as an initiator over a wide composition and conversion range. From low-conversion experiments and ¹H-NMR analysis, the monomer reactivity ratios were determined according to the Mayo–Lewis terminal model. The comparison of the obtained results with those previously reported for copolymerization in bulk and in toluene reveals a relatively small but noticeable solvent effect that can be qualitatively explained by the bootstrap model. Cumulative copolymer composition as a function of conversion is satisfactorily described by the integrated Mayo–Lewis equation; overall copolymerization rate increases with increasing the HEMA/S ratio, and individual monomer conversion is closely related to the monomer molar fraction in the feed. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 2941–2948, 1999     

A fuzzy approach to a municipality grouping model towards creation of synergies

In recent years, a trend for accelerating the economic, social and environmental development of cities through associations, organization and creation of synergies has been identified. Our investigation applies a grouping model in order to identify municipalities that could create optimal synergies towards the construction of competitive advantages. In order to achieve this task, we use tools of Fuzzy Logic to evaluate subjective and qualitative characteristic elements of different municipalities under Galois’ group theory. Results conclude on 32 different groups ordered in 7 different levels, relating 12 municipalities of a specific region according to 8 competitive variables. This work seeks to shed light in the conformation of groups under uncertain conditions and the deep examination of the characteristic competitive elements in a specific region for further policy and decision-making processes.