Ion recognition properties of new pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamide bearing propeller-like pendant residues: multi-spectroscopic approach

The synthesis and ion binding properties of new amide derived from propeller-like tris(2-pyridyl)amine and 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid chloride were described. Amide binds divalent metal cations: copper(II), nickel(II), zinc(II), and lead(II) in acetonitrile. In acetonitrile:water mixture (9:1 v/v) amide interacts only with copper(II) and nickel(II) cations forming complexes of 1:1 stoichiometry. It was found that the introduction of bulky, nitrogen donor atom bearing pendant groups can influence coordination mode of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamides. The probable model of ligand-ion interactions is proposed on the basis of 1H NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy.     

Model potentials in studies of atomic electron density distribution

In density functional theory (DFT ), a many-electron problem for the electron density in atoms may be reduced, according to the Kohn-Sham scheme, to a one-electron problem. In the present work, a variational model is proposed which leads, within some assumptions, to the set of equations describing the change of the electron density ρ and energy ϵ during the ionization process. It is shown that the one-electron density contributions are not necessarily spherically symmetric, but assume the symmetry which depends upon the symmetry of the positive field. A few nonspherically symmetric potentials are studied in the present article. The nonlinear differential equation for density r is formulated and solved for Coulombic, Fues-Kratzer, and Hartmann potentials. The solutions and some particular examples are presented. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Monte carlo study of the dynamics of star-branched polymers

A uniform star-branched polymer model with f = 3 arms based on a simple cubic lattice was studied by means of the dynamic Monte Carlo method. The model chain is athermal with excluded-volume interactions and it is flexible. A new type of local micromodification was introduced to make the branching point movable. Static properties of the star polymer are in accordance with other theoretical predictions and experimental evidence. Scaling of the self diffusion constant and the terminal relaxation times is close to those of the Rouse theory and to simulation results of linear chains.     

Influence of Plant Extract Addition to Marinades on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Formation in Grilled Pork Meat

Marinating is one of the most common methods of pre-processing meat. Appropriate selection of marinade ingredients can influence the physicochemical properties of the meat and can reduce the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the final product. The effects of the inclusion of natural plant extracts such as bay leaf (BL), black pepper (BP), turmeric (TU), jalapeno pepper (JP) and tamarind paste (TA) in marinades on the physicochemical properties of grilled pork neck were studied. The addition of spice extracts to marinades increased the proportion of colour components L* and b*. The use of TU, TA, JP, MX and C marinades lowered the hardness and pH of the meat. The highest phenolic compound levels were observed in the case of the mixture of all extracts (MX) and JP marinades, and the highest total antioxidant capacity was exhibited by the BL and MX marinades. The highest PAH content was recorded in the CON marinade (Σ12PAH 98.48 ± 0.81 µg/kg) and the lowest in the JP marinade (4.76 ± 0.08 µg/kg), which had the strongest, statistically significant reducing effect (95% reduction) on PAH levels. Analysis of correlation coefficients showed a relationship between the total antioxidant capacity of the marinades and the PAH content in grilled pork.     

Stereochemistry of the reaction of ribonucleoside cyclic 3′,5′-phosphorothioates with oxiranes

The stereochemical course of the epoxide-induced oxidative rearrangement of ribonucleoside cyclic 3′,5′-phosphorothioates into the corresponding 2′,3′-phosphates has been determined using styrene [¹⁸O] oxide and (S_p)-uridine cyclic 3′,5′-phosphorothioate. The evidence of full stereoselectivity of this reaction is presented and mechanistic implications of the presence of the nucleoside 2′-hydroxyl group are discussed in terms of a classical Hamer Mechanism.     

Substituent effect in anionic polymerization of β-lactones initiated by alkali metal alkoxides

The influence of methyl substituent on the mechanism of the ring-opening polymerization of β-lactones initiated by alkali metal alkoxides is discussed. Attention has been paid to the effect of the substituent position in the monomer molecule on the ring-opening mechanism, the 3,3-dimethyl-2-oxetanone (pivalolactone), 4-methyl-2-oxetanone (β-butyrolactone) and 2-oxetanone (β-propiolactone) being chosen as model monomers. Moreover, it was found unexpectedly that in the case of pivalolactone polymerization, besides open-chain polymers, cyclic oligomers are produced.     

Photoconducting composite,polyester polymer-cds powder

The relation between electrical, photoelectrical and electrophotographical properties of polyester polymer–CdS composites as a function of component weight ratio, electric field strength and light intensity were investigated. Cl and Cu activated CdS_a powder as well as unactivated CdS powder were added to polyester polymer. It has been shown that the composite containing from 60 to 70 wt-% of CdS_a has the best photoelectric properties. The electrophotographical layers of this composite exhibited a photosensitivity as high as 1.25 (Lx · s)⁻¹. The results have been explained in terms of the reduction in interparticle barrier height assisted by the localized trapping of photoexcited or field-excited holes.     

Polyphosphate chains by addition of oxiranes to phosphoric acid

Addition of diepoxides to the acids of phosphorus provides a new, attractive route to polyphosphates. In order to understand better the mechanism of this reaction and the structure of the products, the model reactions, namely additions of simple oxiranes to the acids of phosphorus, have been studied. It was shown that this reaction is catalysed by the P-OH groups of the acids. Activation of the oxirane molecule occurs predominantly by formation of the hydrogen bonded species while ionized form of acid plays only a minor role at the studied conditions (1,4-dioxane solution, 25°C). Reactivity of subsequent P-OH groups in phosphoric acid increases with increasing degree of substitution by -OCH₂CH₂OH groups. The ratio of the rate constants of formation of mono-, di-, and triesters of phosphoric acid is equal to 1/2/4. This has been attributed to the formation of internal hydrogen bonds, involving substituents and the P-OH groups. The observed order of the rate constants shows that reaction can not be stopped at the diester stage (linear units) and triester species (branched units) are formed fast. However, due to the large difference in the rate of hydrolysis, especially pronounced at basic conditions, triesters of phosphoric acid can easily be converted into the corresponding diesters by simple hydrolysis. Thus, the addition of diepoxides to phosphoric acid, followed by hydrolysis, leads to essentially linear polyphosphate chains.     

Algorithms with high order convergence speed for blind source extraction

A rigorous convergence analysis for the fixed point ICA algorithm of Hyvärinen and Oja is provided and a generalization of it involving cumulants of an arbitrary order is presented. We consider a specific optimization problem OP(p), p>3, integer, arising from a Blind Source Extraction problem (BSE) and prove that every local maximum of OP(p) is a solution of (BSE) in sense that it extracts one source signal from a linear mixture of unknown statistically independent signals. An algorithm for solving OP(p) is constructed, which has a rate of convergence p?1.     

First Experimental Quantitative Charge Density Studies of Advanced Intermediate of Vitamin D Analogues

Vitamins D are a group of fat-soluble secosteroids which play a regulatory role in the functioning of most cells. Rational design of new vitamin D analogs, of increased therapeutic potency and lowered calcemic side effects, requires high-resolution initial structures and a deep understanding of interactions with the molecular targets. In this paper, using quantum crystallography, we present the first determination of the experimental quantitative charge density of an advanced intermediate of vitamin D analogues as well as a reconstruction of the theoretical electron density of final vitamin D analogues. Application of these methods allows for topological and electrostatic interaction energy analysis. We showed that the A-ring chair conformation has a significant influence on the topological properties of vitamin D compounds. Moreover, the interactions between the CD-ring and side-chain additionally stabilize the crystal structure. These results are supported by our theoretical calculations and previous biological studies.