Enzyme-less amperometric biosensor for l-ascorbate using poly-l-histidine-copper complex as an alternative biocatalyst

A poly-l-histidine(PLH)-copper(II) complex can be used as an alternative biocatalyst in an O(2) detection-type amperometric enzyme-less l-ascorbate (AsA) sensor. The PLH-Cu(II) membrane was simply prepared by entrapping the PLH in polyacrylamide gel and subsequent treatment of the gel with CuCl(2) solution. This enzyme-less biosensor can be used over a relatively wide pH region from 4 to 11 and enables precise determination of AsA (RSD less than 3%, n=10) at pH 7.0. The fundamental performance characteristics (sensitivity, response time, and linear range) of this PLH-Cu(II)-based sensor is comparable to those of a native ascorbate oxidase-based sensor. Unfortunately, the selectivity is inherently rather low and, as a result, the response was degraded in the presence of higher concentrations (more than mM order) of quinones. However, reducing sugars caused no interference and the sensor could be used to detect AsA in some fruits and drinks. This enzyme-less sensor has excellent stability for at least 3 months of repeated analysis (more than 300 samples) without loss of ordinal activity.     

Application of intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cyclic addition of azide and olefin; construction of (pyrrolidine-2-ylidene)glycinate and glycinamides

Oxopropyl E-(pyrrolidine-2-ylidene)glycinamide (5c) and allyl E-(pyrrolidine-2-ylidene)glycinate (5d) were effectively synthesized from 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-4-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl(TBDMS)-D-arabinal (7) using intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cyclic reaction of azide and olefin as a key reaction. These results proved this cyclic reaction should be applicable for the synthesis of various (pyrrolidine-2-ylidene)glycinate and glycinamide. In addition, the development of a synthetic route for the precursor of an unsaturated cyclic dehydro amino acid involved in azinomycins (carzinophilin) using relating glycinate, methyl E-(pyrrolidine-2-ylidene)glycinate (5a) was described.     

Asymmetric cyclization of 2-alkenylphenols. A comparative study on the use of palladium(II) and titanium(IV) complexes

The oxidative cyclization of 2-(3-pentenyl)phenol catalyzed by [(η³-pinene)PdOAc]₂ gives optically active (+)-2-vinylchroman (25% e.e.), while (−)-2-(1-hydroxyethyl)chroman (56% e.e.) is formed as a single diastereomer upon treatment with t-BuOOH in the presence of Ti(OⁱPr)₄ and -(+)-diethyl tartrate. 2-(2-Butenyl)phenol also undergoes the Ti-promoted asymmetric cyclization to give (2S,1′R)-(−)-2-(1-hydroxyethyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (29% e.e.).     

Vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography of carboxylic acids on a weakly acidic cation-exchange resin

In this preliminary study, a new approach to ion-exclusion chromatography is proposed to overcome the relatively poor conductivity detection response which occurs in ion-exclusion chromatography when acids are added to the eluent in order to improve peak shape. This approach, termed vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography, requires the sample to be used as eluent and a sample of water to be injected onto a weakly acidic cation-exchange column (TSKgel OApak-A). Vacancy peaks for each of the analytes appear at the retention times of these analytes. Highly sensitive conductivity detection is possible and sharp, well-shaped peaks are produced, leading to efficient separations. Retention times were found to be affected by the concentration of the analytes in the eluent, and also by the presence of an organic modifier such as methanol in the eluent. Detection limits for oxalic, formic, acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids were 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5 microM, respectively, and linear ranges for some acids extended over two orders of magnitude. Precision values for retention times were 0.21% and for peak areas were <1.90%. The vacancy ion-exclusion chromatography method was found to give detection responses four to 10 times higher than conventional ion-exclusion chromatography using sulfuric acid eluent and two to five times higher than conventional ion-exclusion chromatography using benzoic acid eluent.     

Photo-switchable ion and enzyme sensors. Photoinduced potentiometric response of glassy carbon electrode coated with polymer or polymer/enzyme dual membrane

Photo-switchable ion and enzyme sensors were fabricated by the use of glassy carbon electrode coated with nonactindoped or enzyme modified poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membranes. The ion sensor with nonactin-doped PVC membrane, which contained spirobenzopyran as the photosensitive dye, exhibited a potentiometric photoresponse to NH4+ ion in the solution. The dynamic range of the NH4+ ion sensor was 10(-7)--10(-3) M. Urea, adenosine, and asparagine sensors were prepared by coating the surface of the NH4+-ion sensor with urease, adenosine deaminase, and asparaginase membranes, respectively. These enzyme sensors could be used for determining the substrates at the micro mole level. The performance characteristics of these sensors were compared with those previously prepared membrane electrode sensors.     

Preparation and characterization of novel polyaryloxydiphenylsilanes with high glass transition temperature by melt polycondensation of dianilinodiphenylsilane with bisphenols

Novel polyaryloxydiphenylsilanes with reduced viscosities of 0.31–0.65 dL/g were obtained by the melt polycondensation of dianilinodiphenylsilane with three bisphenols, 2,2-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane, 3 (4-hydroxyphenyl)-1,1,3-trimethyl-5-indanol, and 9,9-bis (4-hydroxyphenyl) fluorene, at 200–320°C in vacuo. These polymers are all amorphous and readily soluble in a wide variety of organic solvents such as chlorinated and aromatic hydrocarbons, cyclic ethers, and polar aprotic solvents. Because of their bulky and/or rigid ring structures, polyaryloxydiphenylsilanes containing diphenylhexafluoropropane, phenylindane, and diphenylfluorene units in the main chain have high glass transition temperatures of 106, 112, and 172°C, respectively. They are thermally stable showing almost no weight loss up to 350°C in air. Colorless, transparent, but brittle films are obtained from these polymers by solution casting. Ultraviolet transmission is sharply cut off by these polyaryloxydiphenylsilane films at ca. 300 nm, and the cut-off wavelength depends on the bisphenols used.     

An atropisomeric M2L4 cage mixture displaying guest-induced convergence and strong guest emission in water

Introduction of atropisomeric axes into a bent bispyridine ligand leads to the quantitative formation of a complex mixture of atropisomeric M₂L₄ cages upon treatment with metal ions. Whereas the isomer ratio of the obtained cage mixture, consisting of up to 42 isomers, is insensitive to temperature and solvent, the quantitative convergence from the mixture to a single isomer is accomplished upon encapsulation of a large spherical guest, namely fullerene C₆₀. The observed isomerization with other guests depends largely on their size and shape (e.g., <10 and 82% convergence with planar triphenylene and bowl-shaped corannulene guests, respectively). Besides the unusual guest-induced convergence, the present cage mixture displays the strongest guest emission (Φ_F = 68%) among previously reported M_nL_m cages and capsules, upon encapsulation of a BODIPY dye in water.

A complex mixture of atropisomeric M₂L₄ cages is shown to undergo perfect convergence to a single isomer upon encapsulation of spherical C₆₀ in water. Moreover, the cage mixture displays very strong guest emission upon encapsulation of a BODIPY dye.     

Control of viscoelasticity using redox reaction

The viscoelasticity of a fluid was tuned with the Faradaic reaction of (11-ferrocenylundecyl)trimethylammonium bromide (FTMA), a "redox-switchable" surfactant. An aqueous solution of the reduced form of FTMA exhibited a remarkable viscoelasticity in the presence of sodium salicylate (NaSal) because of the formation of three-dimensional entanglement of wormlike micelles. Electrolytic oxidation of FTMA caused the viscosity of the system to dramatically decrease and the elasticity to disappear. This drastic decrease in viscoelasticity arose from the disruption of wormlike micelles. This novel electrorheological phenomenon is expected to be applicable to ink for inkjet printers, the electrochemically controlled release of substances entrapped in wormlike micelles of FTMA, and fluid flow rate control using electric signals.     

Ion-exclusion chromatography with conductimetric detection of aliphatic carboxylic acids on a weakly acidic cation-exchange resin by elution with benzoic acid-beta-cyclodextrin

In this study, an aqueous solution consisting of benzoic acid with low background conductivity and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) of hydrophilic nature and the inclusion effect to benzoic acid were used as eluent for the ion-exclusion chromatographic separation of aliphatic carboxylic acids with different pKa values and hydrophobicity on a polymethacrylate-based weakly acidic cation-exchange resin in the H+ form. With increasing concentration of beta-cyclodextrin in the eluent, the retention times of the carboxylic acids decreased due to the increased hydrophilicity of the polymethacrylate-based cation-exchange resin surface from the adsorption of OH groups of beta-cyclodextrin. Moreover, the eluent background conductivity decreased with increasing concentration of beta-cyclodextrin in 1 mM benzoic acid, which could result in higher sensitivity for conductimetric detection. The ion-exclusion chromatographic separation of carboxylic acids with high resolution and sensitivity was accomplished successfully by elution with a 1 mM benzoic acid-10 mM cyclodextrin solution without chemical suppression.