Physical vapor deposition method for the high-throughput synthesis of solid-state material libraries

A method that combines co-evaporation of pure elements from multiple finite-size sources on temperature-controlled substrates with independently controlled source shutters has been used for the synthesis of solid-state material combinatorial libraries. The source shutters are positioned to achieve a controlled gradient of the deposited elements across the substrate and are fixed during the course of deposition. Choice of the shutter position and the rate of deposition for each source allow the direct synthesis of continuous and controlled materials of varying composition. There are significant advantages of the method over alternatives which rely on sequential deposition and subsequent heat treatment to produce thin film materials. The parameters governing the creation of gradients have been identified and defined. Simulations and experimental data have been compared in the case of a single source. Results are presented for the synthesis of a ternary alloy library to demonstrate the methodology.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of silica-coated FePt nanocrystals

Colloidal FePt nanocrystals, 6 nm in diameter, were synthesized and then coated with silica (SiO2) shells. The silica shell thickness could be varied from 10 to 25 nm. As-made FePt@SiO2 nanocrystals have low magnetocrystalline anisotropy due to a compositionally disordered FePt core. When films of FePt@SiO2 particles are annealed under hydrogen at 650 degrees C or above, the FePt core transforms to the compositionally ordered L1(0) phase, and superparamagnetic blocking temperatures exceeding room temperature are obtained. The SiO2 shell prevents FePt coalescence at annealing temperatures up to approximately 850 degrees C. Annealing under air or nitrogen does not induce the FePt phase transition. The silica shell limits magnetic dipole coupling between the FePt nanocrystals; however, low temperature (5 K) and room temperature magnetization scans show slightly constricted hysteresis loops with coercivities that decrease systematically with decreased shell thickness, possibly resulting from differences in magnetic dipole coupling between particles.     

Peak alignment of urine NMR spectra using fuzzy warping

Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopic analysis of mixtures has been used extensively for a variety of applications ranging from the analysis of plant extracts, wine, and food to the evaluation of toxicity in animals. For example, NMR analysis of urine samples has been used extensively for biomarker discovery and, more simply, for the construction of classification models of toxicity, disease, and biochemical phenotype. However, NMR spectra of complex mixtures typically show unwanted local peak shifts caused by matrix and instrument variability, which must be compensated for prior to statistical analysis and interpretation of the data. One approach is to align the spectral peaks across the data set. An efficient and fast warping algorithm is required as the signals typically contain ca. 32,000-64,000 data points and there can be several thousand spectra in a data set. As demonstrated in our study, the iterative fuzzy warping algorithm fulfills these requirements and can be used on-line for an alignment of the NMR spectra. Correlation coefficients between the aligned and target spectra are used as the evaluation function for the algorithm, and its performance is compared with those of other published warping methods.     

C-15 thiazol-4-yl analogues of (E)-9,10-didehydroepothilone D: synthesis and cytotoxicity

The syntheses and biological evaluation of six epothilone D analogues are reported. These side-chain variants of the (E)-9,10-didehydroepothilone scaffold contain C-15 thiazole appendages that are derived from bromomethyl ketone intermediates. Although each of these analogues is less cytotoxic than the parent (E)-9,10-didehydroepothilone D, three maintain IC(50) values in the double-digit nanomolar range against both susceptible and resistant cell lines.     

Determination of the interconversion energy barrier of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomers by HPLC. 2. On-column interconversion

In this paper, an HPLC method is used to determine the enantiomerization barrier of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomers. The racemate of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid was separated by HPLC on a chiral CHIROBIOTIC T column with a 90:10 (100:0.5:0.5 MeOH/HOAc/TEA)/H2O mobile phase. Peak areas of enantiomers prior to (A(+)0, A(-)0) and after the separation (A(+), A(-)), were used for calculation of the rate constants and the enantiomerization barrier, as determined by computer-assisted peak deconvolution of the peak clusters on the chromatograms. The kinetic equation for irreversible reactions was used to determine the apparent enantiomerization rate constants and the interconversion energy barrier. The dependence of the apparent enantiomerization barrier (deltaG1(app), deltaG-1(app)) on temperature was used to determine the apparent activation enthalpy (deltaH1(app), deltaH(-1)app) and entropy (deltaS1(app), deltaS-1(app)) for the interconversion of 2,3-pentadienedioic acid enantiomers, where the coefficients 1 and -1 designate the interconversions (+) --> (-) and (-) --> (+), respectively.     

Elemental mapping and quantitative analysis of Cu, Zn, and Fe in rat brain sections by laser ablation ICP-MS

This report details the application of laser ablation quadrupole ICP-MS for the (multi)elemental mapping of 100-μm-thick sections of rat brain. The laser spot size used was 60 μm, and the laser scan speed was 120 μm s⁻¹. The analysis was relatively rapid, allowing mapping of a whole brain thin section (≈1 cm²) in about 2 h. Furthermore, the method was amenable to multi-element data collection including the physiologically important elements P and S and afforded sub μg g⁻¹ detection limits for the important trace elements Cu and Zn. Calibrations were performed with pressed pellets of biological certified reference materials, and the elemental distributions and concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Fe were determined in whole rat brain sections. The distributions and concentration ranges for these elements were consistent with previous studies and demonstrate the utility of this technique for rapid mapping of brain thin sections.     

A tripodal sulfur ligand for the selective ruthenium-catalysed hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate

The first example of a catalyst utilising a sulfur-based ligand [MeC(CH2SBu)3] for the selective hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate to methyl glycolate is reported.     

Formation of an unusual charge-transfer network from an ionic liquid

An intriguing and novel charge-transfer complex between dimethyldihydrophenazine and diethylviologen has been crystallized from an ionic liquid at room temperature, resulting in an interesting stacking motif of interrupted D***A***D type triads: efficient formation of the complex is seen within an ionic liquid and acetone, with the complex absorbing strongly across nearly the entire visible-NIR spectral region.     

Parallel analysis of v-Src mutant protein function using reverse transfection cell arrays

The conversion of the genomic information produced by the recent sequencing projects into a comprehensive understanding of the human proteome has yet to occur. A new technology that represents a potential bridge between genomics and proteomics is reverse transfection. Reverse transfection cell microarrays are produced by overlaying cDNA arrays with mammalian cells, generating localized clusters of transfected cells with each cluster overexpressing a unique protein. This miniaturized cell-based microarray format affords parallel functional analysis of thousands of cDNA constructs in a high throughput format. In this report we document the development of a co-transfection methodology for reverse transfection applications. The demonstrated high co-transfection efficiency with a "marker" plasmid encoding for GFP enables the identification of transfected cells and eliminates the need for epitope-tagged constructs in cell-based high throughput screening applications using reverse transfection. This co-transfection method was used to study in parallel the structure/function of multiple versions of the v-Src protein using automated fluorescence microscopy. The wild-type v-Src protein and four mutants having insertions or deletions in the SH2 or SH3 domains displayed high levels of tyrosine kinase activity in HEK293T cells. Three other mutated v-Src proteins, including a kinase-dead version, were shown to be defective for tyrosine kinase activity. This reverse co-transfection approach is applicable for high throughput screening of both cDNA libraries and positional scanning recombinant protein libraries.