Adsorption of egg albumin onto methylated yeast biomass

A new biosorbent, methylated yeast (MeYE), was prepared for the adsorptive separation of proteins from aqueous solutions. Yeast was methylated in a 0.1 M HCl methyl alcohol solution at room temperature. About 80% of the carboxylic groups of yeast could be methylated within 9 h. The adsorption of egg albumin onto MeYE was studied to evaluate the protein adsorption ability of MeYE. At near neutral pH, egg albumin was scarcely adsorbed onto unmethylated yeast and the adsorbed amount of egg albumin increased with increasing methylation degree. The amount of egg albumin adsorbed onto MeYE increased with increasing pH from 4 to 7 and steeply decreased above pH 7. The Langmuir isotherm was applied to determine the apparent adsorption constant and the saturated adsorbed amount of egg albumin on MeYE. Both the apparent adsorption constant and the saturated adsorbed amount increased with the degree of methylation. The saturated adsorbed amount of egg albumin onto MeYE having methylation degree 77% was 8.41 x 10(-6) mol g(-1) or 0.378 gg(-1) at near neutral pH.     

Laser Emission from Dye-Doped Organic-Inorganic Particles of Microcavity Structure

Interaction between laser light and a micrometer-size spherical particle causes an optical resonance in its interior since a spherical wall acts as a cavity. The present work seeks to investigate the preparation of organicinorganic particles containing laser dyes and demonstrate their lasing behavior. Rhodamine 6G was incorporated into organic-inorganic spherical particles of micrometer-size using sol-gel technique. Phenyl triethoxy silane was used as a starting material for particles. Particle size was 1–10 μm and dye content was 1–7 × 10⁻⁵ mol/g. A particle was set on a glass plate in air and pumped by a second harmonic pulse ofQ-switched Nd-YAG laser (532 nm wavelength). From a particle of 6 μm in diameter, a strong laser emission peak was observed at 598 nm wavelength which corresponded to the whispering-gallery mode resonance.     

Evaluation of titanium dioxide as a pharmaceutical excipient for preformulation of a photo-labile drug: effect of physicochemical properties on the photostability of solid-state nisoldipine

To characterize the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 via solid-state reaction, the relationship between the physicochemical properties and photocatalytic activity of TiO2 was investigated and estimated from the results of photodegradation of nisoldipine. The photodegradation of nisoldipine was significantly enhanced by addition of TiO2. Two degradation products, nitroso-phenylpyridine derivative and nitro-phenylpyridine derivative, were formed. The degree of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 was quite different between the various types of TiO2 investigated, even when the crystalline phase was the same. As a result of the investigations into the relationship between the photocatalytic activity and physicochemical properties of TiO2, it was found that for the rutile form the photocatalytic activity has good correlation with specific surface area of TiO2, but poor correlation with water loss on drying of TiO2. However, for the anatase form, the photocatalytic activity has good correlation with water loss on drying of TiO2, but poor correlation with specific surface area. Moreover, it was found that the crystallinity of TiO2 has a moderate correlation with the photocatalytic activity of both crystal forms of TiO2. These results suggest that a degree of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 depends on the various physicochemical properties of each type of TiO2 investigated.     

Ca1.5Eu3Sn0.5O7: a calcium europium tin oxide with a novel structure

A new quaternary compound in the Ca–Eu–Sn–O system, namely calcium europium tin hepta­oxide, Ca_1.5Eu₃Sn_0.5O₇, was prepared by solid‐state reaction at 2073 K. All atoms in the structure are on 4i special positions (on mirrors) in space group C2/m. Ca/Eu sites are situated within two O octa­hedra and within two sevenfold coordination sites surrounded by O‐capped trigonal prisms. A Ca/Eu/Sn site is coordinated by five O atoms. The structural formula can be represented as (Ca_0.28Eu_0.72)(Ca_0.16Eu_0.84)(Ca_0.46Eu_0.54)(Ca_0.28Eu_0.72)(Ca_0.32Eu_0.18Sn_0.50)O₇. The crystal structure is a new type and is related to the structure of B‐form Eu₂O₃.     

Tishchenko Reaction Over Solid Base Catalysts

Catalytic behavior of solid bases for mixed Tishchenko reaction in which an equimolar mixture of two different aldehydes is allowed to react was investigated employing the combinations of benzaldehyde and pivalaldehyde, pivalaldehyde and cyclopropanecarbaldehyde, and cyclopropanecarbaldehyde and benzaldehyde. The reactions were performed at 353K for 4h in vacuo without solvent using 5mmol of each aldehyde and 100mg of solid base catalyst. For all the combinations, the catalytic activity of alkaline earth oxides increased in the order of BaOMgO2O₃, ZrO₂, ZnO, -alumina, hydrotalcite, KF/alumina, and KOH/alumina produced either no amount or very small amounts of cross-esterification and self-esterification products. Quantum chemical calculations carried out at the PM3-MO level for the positive charges on the carbonyl carbon atoms of aldehydes and the structure parameters of the active species for the ester formations indicated that the selectivities to four Tishchenko dimers over MgO and CaO are determined primarily in the step of the nucleophilic addition of the active species (PhCH₂O^-, ^tBuCH₂O^-, and C₃H₅CH₂O^-) to the carbonyl carbon atoms of aldehydes. The reaction of the aldehyde having more positively charged and sterically less hindered carbonyl carbon atom with the active species having less hindered oxygen atom proceeds faster.We also attempted the application of solid base catalysts to the challenging Tishchenko reaction of furfural, and excellent results were obtained with CaO and SrO. For instance, when furfural (10mmol) was treated with SrO (100mg) without solvent at 353K for 6h in vacuo, almost quantitative conversion to the corresponding ester was accomplished. Furthermore, application of SrO to the Tishchenko reaction of 3-furaldehyde was carried out successfully. The catalytic systems were also successfully applicable to the intramolecular Tishchenko reaction (lactonization) of o-phthalaldehyde to phthalide. For example, treatment of o-phthalaldehyde (1mmol) with CaO (50mg) in benzene (1mL) solvent at 313K under N₂ produced phthalide quantitatively in a short time of 15min. We finally refer to the perspective of application of solid base catalysts to Tishchenko reaction.     

Multinuclear macromolecule metal complexes 2. Preparation and characterization of Prussian blue and its analogs bonded to pofy(vinylamine hydrochloride)

Prussian blue and its analogs bonded to poly(vinylamine hydrochloride) (PVAm · HCl) containing Fe^II or Fe^III and M²⁺ (M=Fe, Co, Cu) in a 11 molar ratio were obtained by the reaction of [Fe(CN)₆] ^n– (n=3,4) with M²⁺ ion-PVAm · HCl mixture in aqueous solution. Under a limited polymer concentration (T_VAm/T_Fe over 10), these polymer complexes thus obtained were stable and soluble in water. By casting these solutions, colored films can be produced. The formation of Prussian blue and its analogs bonded to PVAm · HCl was also investigated by the Benesi-Hildebrand method. The molar extinction coefficients of intervalence charge transfer (Fe^IIFe^III, Co^IIFe^III, Fe^IICu^II) band for MFe(CN)₆]^(n–2)– bound to PVAm · HCl (M=Fe, Co, Cu) were found to be 10,100–9601 · mol^–1 · cm^–1 at 25 C. The formation constants were found to be in the range of 10⁷ to 10¹⁰ M^–1. The changes of enthalpy (H) and entropy (S) were found to be in the range of –10.4 to –22.5 kJ · mol^–1 and 5.7 to 52.9 J · K^–1 mol^–1 respectively, at 25C.     

Oxidative Methylation of Toluene with Methane over K-exchanged Y Type Zeolite Catalyst Promoted with Alkali Metal Bromide and Alkali Metal Oxide

IntroductionManyresearchgroupsareconductingextensiveresearchtoreplacecrudeoil-basedchemicalswithnaturalgasandcoal-basedchemicals.Itisknownthatstyreneisoneofthemostimportantindustrialmonomers.Currently,styreneisproducedbycatalyticalkylationofbenzenewithethyleneoverA1Cl,-HClcata-lyst,followedbyoxidativedehydrogenationoftheresultantethylbenzeneoverpotassium-promotedironoxidecatalystsL'l.However,thisprocessinvolvestheutilizationofbenzeneandethylene,obtainedfromcrudeoilandpetroleumgas,whichareexp…     

Development of high ductility and tensile properties by a two-stage draw of poly(acrylonitrile): Effect of molecular weight

Ultradrawing of atactic poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) was investigated for a M_v series, ranging 8.0 × 10⁴–2.3 × 10⁶. Samples for the draw were prepared from 0.5–30 wt % solutions of PAN in N,N′-dimethylformamide. The solutions were converted to a gel by quenching from 100 to 0°C. The dried gel films were initially drawn uniaxially by solid-state coextrusion (first-stage draw) to an extrusion draw ratio (EDR) of 16, followed by further tensile draw at 100–250°C (second-stage draw). The maximum total draw ratio (DR_t,max) and tensile properties achieved by two-stage draw increased remarkably with sample M_v. Other factors affecting ductility were the solution concentration from which gel was made and the second-stage draw temperature. The effects of these variables became more prominent with increasing M_v. The temperature for optimum second-stage draw increased with sample M_v. Both the initial gel and the drawn products showed no small-angle X-ray long period scattering maximum, suggesting the absence of a chain-folded lamellae structure, which had been found in our previous study on the drawing of nascent PAN powder. The chain orientation function (f_c) and sample density (ρ_s) increased rapidly with DR_t in the lower range (DR_t < 30) and approached constant values of f_c = 0.980–0.996 and ρ_s = 1.177–1.181 g/cm³, respectively, at higher DR_t > 30–100. The tensile modulus also showed a similar increase with DR_t. The tensile strength increased linearly with DR_t, reaching a maximum, and decreased slightly at yet higher DR_t. The highest modulus of 28.5 GPa and strength of 1.6 GPa were achieved with the highest M_v of 2.3 × 10⁶. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 629–640, 1998     

End‐functionalization of polystyrene by malto‐oligosaccharide generating aggregation‐tunable polymeric reverse micelle

This article describes that glucose, maltose, maltotriose, maltotetraose, maltopentaose, and maltohexaose ( a , b , c , d , e , and f , respectively) were introduced into the initiating chain‐end of polystyrene (PSt) through the 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐1‐oxyl (TEMPO)‐mediated radical polymerization. A series of glycoconjuaged TEMPO‐adducts, 1a–f , was synthesized and used as the initiators for the polymerization of styrene (St) for 6 h at 120 °C to afford the end‐functionalized PSt's with the acetyl saccharides, 2a–f , in the yields of 37–43%. For 2a–f obtained by the polymerizations using the [St]/[ 1 ] of 125, 250, and 500, the number‐average molecular weights determined by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), M_n,SEC's, were 4800–6300, 8800–10,600, and 18,400–25,200, respectively, which fairly agreed with the predicted values. The end‐functionalized PSt's with saccharides, 3a–f , which were obtained from the deacetylation of 2a–f using sodium methoxide in dry THF, formed the polymeric reverse micelles consisting of a saccharide‐core and a PSt‐shell in chloroform and toluene. The static laser light scattering (SLS) measurements provided the average molar mass of the aggregates in toluene, M_w,SLS's, which ranged from 7.50 × 10⁴ to 1.77 × 10⁵ for 3a , from 1.90 × 10⁵ to 4.93 × 10⁵ for 3b , from 4.41 × 10⁵ to 7.21 × 10⁵ for 3c , from 5.85 × 10⁵ to 8.51 × 10⁵ for 3d , from 7.55 × 10⁵ to 8.53 × 10⁵ for 3e , and from 8.54 × 10⁵ to 9.26 × 10⁵ for 3f . The aggregation numbers, N_agg's, which were calculated from the M_w,SLS's, were from 7 to 24 for 3a , from 20 to 37 for 3b , from 34 to 89 for 3c , from 39 to 116 for 3d , from 41 to 145 for 3e , and from 31 to 146 for 3f . It was confirmed that the aggregation property, such as the M_w,SLS or N_agg values, was strongly related to the polymerization degrees of St (DP's) or the number of the glucose residues (n's) for 3a–f . © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4864–4879, 2006     

HPLC retention behaviors of pi-electron rich compounds on Ni2+- and Cu2+-phthalocyanine derivatives bound to silica gels in polar eluents.

The effect of the central metal of columns packed with silica gels binding Ni(2+)- and Cu(2+)-phthalocyanine derivatives (Ni-and Cu-PCS(D)s) on the retention behavior of poly-aromatic-hydrocarbons (PAHs) thereof in a polar eluent was examined. The retention factors of PAHs on the Ni- and Cu-PCS(D)s in 80% methanol showed a good linear correlation. The Cu-PCS(D) column exhibited the pi-pi interactions for PAHs, while the Ni-PCS(D) column exhibited the pi-d interactions for PAHs in addition to the pi-pi interaction for PAHs. Further, an investigation of the retention behavior of anthracene derivatives having different substituents revealed that the Ni- and Cu-PCS(D) columns could recognize the differences of substituents only in a polar eluent.