Crystal engineering of a liquid crystalline piperazinedione

[structure: see text] A molecule designed to self-assemble via hydrogen bonding, arene-arene, and van der Waals interactions and expected to possess thermotropic liquid crystalline properties has been synthesized and characterized. Results support the validity of an assembly paradigm based on incorporation of chemically orthogonal and spatially independent recognition elements in the molecular building blocks.     

Pattern formation within Escherichia coli: diffusion, membrane attachment, and self-interaction of MinD molecules

In E. coli, accurate cell division depends upon the oscillation of Min proteins from pole to pole. We provide a model for the polar localization of MinD based only on diffusion, a delay for nucleotide exchange, and different rates of attachment to the bare membrane and the occupied membrane. We derive analytically the probability density, and correspondingly the length scale, for MinD attachment zones. Our simple analytical model illustrates the processes giving rise to the observed localization of cellular MinD zones.     

Flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of aluminium in water with pyrocatechol violet

Optimum conditions for the adaptation of the spectrophotometric pyrocatechol violet method for aluminium to a flow-injection system are described. The detection limit is 3 μg Al l^?1 and calibration graphs are linear up to 3 or 10 mg l^?1 (with 200-μl or 10-μl injection loops, respectively). The relative standard deviation is 〈 2% at 0.1 mg Al l^?1. Potential interferences of 40 common inorganic ions and of 20 organic substances, including fulvic acid, are reported. With the use of conventional masking agents and predigestion of samples with high organic content, the method is suitable for determining total aluminium in natural waters.