The study of degradable polystyrene: Photolysis in solution and photo-oxidation in films

Radical copolymerization of styrene with benzalacetophenone or benzalacetone in bulk or in suspension yielded copolymers with as much as 10 wt% of carbonyl monomer. They were characterized by GPC, viscometry and spectroscopy. Photolysis of copolymers was investigated in benzene at 313 nm. Quantum yields for main chain scissions were about 0.005 and the life-time of the triplet state was 5 nsec. Photo-oxidation in films was followed by monitoring the decrease in molecular weight and by i.r. and emission spectra. Quantum yield for main chain scission in films was about 0.0002. During photooxidation in film, the molecular weight distribution widened. A new i.r.-band appeared at 3580 cm^?1 and the carbonyl band was spread between 1700 and 1800 cm^?1. In the emission spectra, the vibrational resolved emission (typical of the carbonyl chromophore) disappeared.     

Synthesis and Properties of First Bis(fluoreno)crownophanes

Alkylation of 2,7-dihydroxy-9H-fluoren-9-one with 2-(2-chloroethoxy)ethanol, 2-[2-(2-chloroethoxy)-ethoxy]ethanol, and 2-{2-[2-(2-chloroethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy}ethanol in dimethylformamide in the presence of potassium carbonate gave 78–80% of the corresponding diols which were treated with p-toluenesulfonyl chloride in a dioxanechloroform mixture in the presence of triethylamine at 0– 5°C (30 h). The resulting bis(p-toluene-sulfonates) were brought into condensation with 2,7-dihydroxy-9H-fluoren-9-one in a very dilute solution in dimethylformamide containing anhydrous potassium carbonate at 80–85°C. Appropriate treatment of the reaction mixture, followed by chromatographic purification afforded 53–27% of the first representatives of a new class of cyclophanes, bis(oxofluoreno)crownophanes. Raising the temperature to 95–105°C resulted in an appreciable decrease of the product yield. The yield of the target products did not increase on replacement of potassium carbonate by cesium carbonate.__________Translated from Zhurnal Organicheskoi Khimii, Vol. 41, No. 1, 2005, pp. 144–149.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Lyapunov, Kirichenko, Kulygina, Luk’yanenko.     

Analysis of cement and cement raw meal by atomic absorption spectrophotometry using a new fusion agent

A new fusion agent is proposed for the analysis of cement and cement raw meal using AAS. In the described method, 0.8 g of the fusion agent, consisting of equal portions of oxalic acid, lithium carbonate and lithium tetraborate, was mixed with 0.2 g of the sample, and the mixture was fused for 10 min at 925 degrees C in a platinum crucilbe. The fusion cake was dissolved with dilute hydrochloric acid (1 + 10) and diluted to 500 ml for the determination of Si, Al, Fe, Ti, Na and K expressed as SiO(2), Al(2)O(3), Fe(2)O(3), TiO(2), Na(2)O, and K(2)O respectively. For the determination of Ca and Mg (expressed as CaO and MgO respectively), 10 ml of the previous sample solution were mixed with 4 ml of 6% (m/v) lanthanum nitrate solution and the solution was diluted to 100 ml. The method was found to have good accuracy and precision. The time required to determine the eight elements was around 80 min for each sample.     

Sturmian functions for nonlocal interactions

The problem of calculation of Sturmian functions (positive energy Weinberg states) for nonlocal (exchange) interactions is considered. It is shown that the method of continued fractions proposed by Horáek and Sasakawa makes the calculation of Sturmian eigenfunctions and eigenvalues feasible even for complicated nonlocal interactions. As an example Sturmian functions and Sturmian eigenvalues for the low energy electron-hydrogen scattering in the static exchange approximation are calculated. In addition a very general proof of convergence of the method of continued fractions is presented.Dedicated to the memory of Professor Jozef Kvasnica.     

High-performance liquid radiochromatography: Its application for stability study of [3H] stobadin

An HPLC method was developed for studying the stability of [³H] stobadin stored in physiological saline or buffers at various pH. Optimum conditions for the separation of degradation products were elaborated. A high-performance liquid chromatograph equipped with a radioactivity detector was used.     

New Approaches to Coupling TLC with TOF-SIMS

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - A new hyphenated technique that enables coupling of thin-layer chromatography (TLC) with time-of-flight secondary-ion mass...     

Use of carbowax 20M glass capillary columns below their lower temperature limit

The optimal separation properties of Carbowax 20M as a stationary phase in 300-m glass capillary columns at temeperatures below its lower temperature limit (60°) in terms of the selectivity, efficiency and speed of the gas chromatographic analysis of isomeric C₁₀---₁₃n-alkenes were investigated.In the separation of isomeric n-alkenes two possible states of the Carbowax stationary phase below 60° were used (solid state and intermediate liquid state), and the dependence of the retention of the isomers on temperature was studied. The region of the hysteresis portion of the I^CW = f(T)diagram permits the continuous setting of column selectivity. The efficiency of the column at temperatures below the lower temperature limit of Carbowax 20M depends on the spatial cis-trans configuration of n-alkenes and, in the solid state, for cis-isomers is comparable to the high efficiency of this column at higher temperatures (115°). Utilization of Carbowax 20M in the solid state made it possible to achieve faster and more complete separations of the eleven possible positional and spatial isomers of n-tridecenes in comparison with previous methods.     

Electrophoretic analysis of oxidatively modified eye lens proteins in vitro: implications for diabetic cataract

Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) profiles of eye lens proteins showed that both progression of diabetic cataract in rats in vivo and precipitation of soluble eye lens proteins stressed by free radicals in vitro were accompanied by significant protein cross-linking. There was a noticeable contribution of disulfide bridges to protein cross-linking in diabetic eye lens in vivo. In contrast, under conditions in vitro, when eye lens proteins were exposed to hydroxyl or peroxyl radicals, we showed that the participation of reducible disulfide linkages in the formation of high molecular mass products was markedly lower. These in vivo--in vitro differences indicate that the generally accepted role of reactive oxygen species in diabetic cataractogenesis may be overestimated in connection with the processes of protein cross-linking.     

Statistical approach to bistable behaviour of a nonlinear system in a stationary field

Conclusions This discussion concerning the probability density confirms in a new way the results obtained in paper [1] in which a two-peak behaviour of the photocount distribution has been found. This general result depends on the particular nonlinear interaction scheme, and the bistable behaviour is caused by quantum fluctuations produced by the nonlinear interaction.As losses are not taken into account, other kinds of fluctuations that can modify the bistable behaviour are not accounted for in this paper.     

Orientational behavior of thermotropic liquid crystals on surfaces presenting electrostatically bound vesicular stomatitis virus

We report the orientational behavior of nematic phases of 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) on cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfaces before and after contact of these surfaces with solutions containing the negatively charged vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). The surfaces were prepared on evaporated films of gold by either adsorption of poly-L-lysine (cationic) or formation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) from HS(CH2)2SO3- (anionic) or HS(CH2)11(OCH2CH2)4OH (nonionic). Prior to treatment with virus, we measured the initial orientation of 5CB (delta epsilon = epsilon(parallel) - epsilon(perpendicular) > 0) to be parallel to the cationic surfaces (planar anchoring) but perpendicular (homeotropic) after equilibration for 5 days. A similar transition from planar to homeotropic orientation of 5CB was observed on the anionic surfaces. Only planar orientations of 5CB were observed on the nonionic surfaces. Because N-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-butylaniline (MBBA, delta epsilon = epsilon(parallel) - epsilon(perpendicular) < 0) exhibited planar alignment on all surfaces, the time-dependent alignment of 5CB on the ionic surfaces is consistent with a dipolar coupling between the 5CB and electrical double layers formed at the ionic interfaces. Treatment ofpoly-L-lysine-coated gold films (cationic) with purified solutions of VSV containing 10(8)-10(10) plaque-forming units per milliliter (pfu/mL) led to the homeotropic alignment of 5CB immediately after contact of 5CB with the surface. In contrast, treatment of anionic surfaces and nonionic surfaces with solutions of VSV containing approximately 10(10) pfu/mL did not cause immediate homeotropic alignment of 5CB. These results and others suggest that homeotropic alignment of 5CB on cationic surfaces treated with VSV of titer > or = 10(8) pfu/mL reflects the presence of virus electrostatically bound to these surfaces.