Aqua(oxydiacetato‐κ3O,O′,O′′)(pyridine‐3‐carboxamide‐κN1)copper(II) sesquihydrate

In the monomeric title compound, [Cu(C₄H₄O₅)(C₆H₆N₂O)(H₂O)]·1.5H₂O, the Cu^II cation is bound in a square‐pyramidal coordination to a tridentate oxydiacetate (ODA) ligand, a monodentate pyridine‐3‐carboxamide (p3ca) ligand and one aqua ligand, where the two organic ligands form the basal plane and the water O atom occupies the unique apical site. The ODA ligand presents a slight out‐of‐plane puckering in its central ether O atom, while the p3ca ligand is essentially planar. The availability of efficient donors and acceptors for hydrogen bonding results in the formation of strongly linked hydrogen‐bonded bilayers parallel to (101), with an interplanar distance of 3.18 (1) Å and a stacking separation between the bilayers of 3.10 (1) Å, both of them governed by extended π–π interactions. The disordered nature of the solvent water molecules around inversion centres is discussed. The monoaqua compound is compared with the octahedral diaqua analogue, [Cu(C₄H₄O₅)(C₆H₆N₂O)(H₂O)₂], reported recently [Perec & Baggio (2009). Acta Cryst. C 65 , m296–m298].     

Microscopic growth mechanisms for carbon and boron-nitride nanotubes

Received: 27 November 1998 / Accepted: 18 December 1998     

Triades et familles de courbes gauches

Sans résumé Received: 3 April 1998 / in final form: 16 December 1998     

Walks on the slit plane

 In the first part of this paper, we enumerate exactly walks on the square lattice that start from the origin, but otherwise avoid the half-line . We call them walks on the slit plane. We count them by their length, and by the coordinates of their endpoint. The corresponding three variable is algebraic of degree 8. Moreover, for any point (i, j), the length for walks of this type ending at (i, j) is also algebraic, of degree 2 or 4, and involves the famous Catalan numbers. Our method is based on the solution of a functional equation, established via a simple combinatorial argument. It actually works for more general models, in which walks take their steps in a finite subset of ℤ² satisfying two simple conditions. The corresponding are always algebraic. In the second part of the paper, we derive from our enumerative results a number of probabilistic corollaries. For instance, we can compute exactly the probability that an ordinary random walk starting from (i, j) hits for the first time the half-line at position (k, 0), for any triple (i, j, k). This generalizes a question raised by R. Kenyon, which was the starting point of this paper. Taking uniformly at random all n-step walks on the slit plane, we also compute the probability that they visit a given point (k, 0), and the average number of visits to this point. In other words, we quantify the transience of the walks. Finally, we derive an explicit limit law for the coordinates of their endpoint. Received: 22 December 2001 / Revised version: 19 February 2002 / Published online: 30 September 2002 Both authors were partially supported by the INRIA, via the cooperative research action Alcophys. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): O5A15-60C05     

Highly hydrophilic surfaces from polyglycidol grafts with dual antifouling and specific protein recognition properties

Homopolymer grafts from α-tert-butoxy-ω-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol (PGL) were prepared on gold and stainless steel (SS) substrates modified by 4-benzoyl-phenyl (BP) moieties derived from the electroreduction of the parent salt 4-benzoyl benzene diazonium tetrafluoroborate. The grafted BP aryl groups efficiently served to surface-initiate photopolymerization (SIPP) of PGL. In similar conditions, SIPP of hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) permitted the production of PHEMA grafts as model surfaces. Water contact angles were found to be 66°, 15°, and 0° for SS-BP, SS-PHEMA, and SS-PPGL, respectively. The spontaneous spreading of water drops on SS-PPGL was invariably observed with 1.5 μL water drops. PPGL thus appears as a superhydrophilic polymer. Resistance to nonspecific adsorption of proteins of PPGL and PHEMA grafts on gold was evaluated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) using antibovine serum albumin (anti-BSA). The results conclusively show that PPGL-grafts exhibit enhanced resistance to anti-BSA adsorption compared to the well-known hydrophilic PHEMA. PPGL grafts were further modified with BSA through the carbonyldiimidazole activation of the OH groups providing immunosensing surfaces. The so-prepared PPGL-grafted BSA hybrids specifically interacted with anti-BSA in PBS as compared to antimyoglobin. It is clear that the superhydrophilic character of PPGL grafts opens new avenues for biomedical applications where surfaces with dual functionality, namely, specific protein grafting together with resistance to biofouling, are required.     

Computational study of the effect of confinement within microporous structures on the activity and selectivity of metallocene catalysts for ethylene oligomerization

The effect of confinement within some zeolitic structures on the activity and selectivity of metallocene catalysts for the ethylene oligomerization has been investigated using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations (GCMC). The following zeolite (host) frameworks displaying different pore sizes, have been studied as solid hosts: mazzite (MAZ), AIPO-8 (AET), UTD-1F (DON), faujasite (FAU), and VPI-5 (VFI). Intermediates and transition states involved in the ethylene trimerization reaction catalyzed by a Ti-based catalyst [(η(5)-C(5)H(4)CMe(2)C(6)H(5))TiCl(3)/MAO] have been used as sorbates (guests). We have demonstrated linear correlations with slope a(H,j) between the adsorption enthalpy and the molecular volume V(m) of the sorbates, each holding for a given microporous host below a host-specific threshold V(mmax,j). Beyond this maximal molecular volume, the adsorption vanishes due to steric exclusion. a(H,j) increases, and V(mmax,j) decreases with decreasing host pore size, in line with the confinement concept. We moreover showed that, in the limit of vanishing loading (Henry regime), the enthalpies and entropies of adsorption in a given host are linearly correlated. We have defined a host-specific confinement compensation temperature a(j), which refers to a temperature where the stabilizing adsorption enthalpic interactions are canceled out against the loss in entropy. However, calculated a(j) are much larger than the operating temperatures. With a setup microkinetic model, we predict that the activity and selectivity of the confined Ti-catalyst in ethylene oligomerization can be significantly altered with respect to homogeneous phase conditions, since the adsorption free energies of transition states and intermediates also become functions of a(H,j) and V(m). We have applied this theory to predict the optimum host pore size to get maximum α-octene production, instead of α-hexene, which is primarily produced in the homogeneous phase. We also predict a significantly increased activity for confined catalysts.     

Nonribosomal peptide synthesis in animals: the cyclodipeptide synthase of Nematostella

Cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs) are small enzymes structurally related to class-I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs). They divert aminoacylated tRNAs from their canonical role in ribosomal protein synthesis, for cyclodipeptide formation. All the CDPSs experimentally characterized to date are?bacterial. We show here that a predicted CDPS from the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis is an active CDPS catalyzing the formation of various cyclodipeptides, preferentially containing tryptophan. Our findings demonstrate that eukaryotes encode active CDPSs and suggest that all CDPSs have?a similar aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase-like architecture and ping-pong mechanism. They also raise questions about the biological roles of the cyclodipeptides produced in bacteria and eukaryotes.     

Comparative properties of Amazonian oils obtained by different extraction methods

Pequi (Caryocar brasiliense Camb.), baba?u (Orbignya phalerata Mart.), buriti (Mauritia flexuosa), and passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) oils were studied to determine their antibacterial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities, as well as their total phenol and carotenoid contents. The fatty acid contents were determined by GC-MS. The three types of passion fruit oils studied were refined, cold pressed or extracted from seeds in a Soxhlet apparatus. The oils thus obtained showed differences in antioxidant activity and carotenoid content, but were similar in regard to total phenols. Buriti and pequi had the highest carotenoid contents, while refined and cold pressed passion fruit oil displayed the highest antioxidant activity. Pequi oil was the only oil to display antibacterial and cytotoxic activity.