Complexation of lead(II) by chlorogenic acid: experimental and theoretical study

Density functional theory (DFT) structure calculations and time-dependent DFT electronic excitation calculations have been performed on chlorogenic acid (H(3)CGA), a polyphenolic compound, used as a model molecule of humic substances. The different deprotonated forms of H(3)CGA have also been investigated. H(3)CGA is a multisite ligand that presents several metal complexing sites in competition, notably the carboxylic and catechol moieties. In low acidic aqueous medium, the complexation of Pb(II) has been followed by electronic absorption spectrometry. The formation of two complexes of stoichiometry metal:ligand 1:1 (log beta(1:1) = 3.39) and 2:1 (log beta(2:1) = 7.12) has been highlighted with use of chemometric methods. The theoretical spectrum of the 1:1 complex obtained by TD-DFT methodology shows the formation of a chelate [Pb(H(2)CGA)(H(2)O)(3)](+) with the metal fixation at the level of the carboxylate function. The second complexing site, the catechol moiety, is rapidly involved in the formation of the 2:1 complex from molar ratios [metal]/[ligand] higher than 0.1. The electronic transitions calculated for both free ligand and complexes involved the same molecular orbitals, and no ligand-metal or metal-ligand charge transfer is observed.     

Digests or extracts?—Some interesting but conflicting results for three widely differing polluted sediment samples

Three sets of samples have been investigated in some detail. One set is from a river polluted by mine workings, containing substantial levels of Fe, Mn,Cu, Zn and Ni with traces of many other metals. The second set consists of typical estuarine sediments contaminated from a wide range of industrial sources, and the third set consists of oily drilling cuttings from the sea bottom in the vicinity of a North Sea oil production platform.These samples have been subjected to treatment 1) with EDTA at two different pH's (extracts) 2) with HNO₃/H₂O₂ 3) with HNO₃/HCl and 4) with HNO₃/HCl/HF (digests). EDTA recoveries, compared toaqua regia digests, are often very reproducible, not dependent on pH, and usually significantly low. Nitric/peroxide andaqua regia digests often give very close results suggesting that these are meaningful values indicating the maximum levels of polluting metals in the sediments. However, the triple acid digest with HF does sometimes give higher values (and reasonable agreement for CRM's such as MESS-1) but with poorer reproducibility.     

Single-run analysis of retinal isomers, retinol and photooxidation products by high-performance liquid chromatography

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) procedure was developed to allow the rapid separation, in a single run, of a mixture of the main retinal isomers (all-trans, 13-cis, 9-cis), all-trans-retinol, and of the two major photooxygenated photoproducts (5,8-peroxyretinal and 5,6-epoxyretinal). The mixture was separated by HPLC on an octadecyl (ODS) column with 16% (v/v) diethyl ether in hexane as mobile phase and anthracene as the internal standard. A commercial type cosmetic formulation containing 0.05% all-trans-retinal was analyzed successfully for this analyte.     

Ordering in Bio-Polyelectrolyte Chitosan Solutions

The scaling of the polyelectrolyte scattering peak in chitosan solutions, as deduced from the relation q_max∼c_p^α was studied by synchrotron SAXS as a function of the charge density of the polymer. We observe a variation in the α exponent corresponding to the limit of the ionic condensation, by varying the degree of acetylation of the polymer. The nature of the solution medium also affects the polyelectrolyte peak, and it is shown that in alcoholic/water mixtures, the lower dissociation of the acid induces a lower charge density, thus influencing the polyelectrolyte ordering.     

Downfalls of Chemical Probes Acting at the Kinase ATP-Site: CK2 as a Case Study

Protein kinases are a large class of enzymes with numerous biological roles and many have been implicated in a vast array of diseases, including cancer and the novel coronavirus infection COVID-19. Thus, the development of chemical probes to selectively target each kinase is of great interest. Inhibition of protein kinases with ATP-competitive inhibitors has historically been the most widely used method. However, due to the highly conserved structures of ATP-sites, the identification of truly selective chemical probes is challenging. In this review, we use the Ser/Thr kinase CK2 as an example to highlight the historical challenges in effective and selective chemical probe development, alongside recent advances in the field and alternative strategies aiming to overcome these problems. The methods utilised for CK2 can be applied to an array of protein kinases to aid in the discovery of chemical probes to further understand each kinase’s biology, with wide-reaching implications for drug development.     

Diamondoid Nanostructures as sp3‐Carbon‐Based Gas Sensors

Diamondoids, sp³‐hybridized nanometer‐sized diamond‐like hydrocarbons (nanodiamonds), difunctionalized with hydroxy and primary phosphine oxide groups, enable the assembly of the first sp³‐C‐based chemical sensors by vapor deposition. Both pristine nanodiamonds and palladium nanolayered composites can be used to detect toxic NO₂ and NH₃ gases. This carbon‐based gas sensor technology allows reversible NO₂ detection down to 50 ppb and NH₃ detection at 25–100 ppm concentration with fast response and recovery processes at 100 °C. Reversible gas adsorption and detection is compatible with 50 % humidity conditions. Semiconducting p‐type sensing properties are achieved from devices based on primary phosphine–diamantanol, in which high specific area (ca. 140 m² g^?1) and channel nanoporosity derive from H‐bonding.     

Ternary complexes in gels from agarose and from chemically‐modified agarose

Thermodynamic data and mechanical measurements are shown for gels prepared in aqueous binary solvents (water/DMSO, water/DMF, water/methyl formamide and water/formamide). When electrostatic interactions, as opposed to hydrogen bonding, can be established with the cosolvent (DMSO, DMF, methyl formamide) we come to the conclusion that ternary complexes are formed (agarose/water/cosolvent). In the case of chemically‐modified agarose (OH groups replaced by OCH₃ groups) we suggest that these cosolvents are directly involved in the formation of the gel.     

Syzygies among reduction operators

We introduce the notion of syzygy for a set of reduction operators and relate it to the notion of syzygy for presentations of algebras. We give a method for constructing a linear basis of the space of syzygies for a set of reduction operators. We interpret these syzygies in terms of the confluence property from rewriting theory. This enables us to optimise the completion procedure for reduction operators based on a criterion for detecting useless reductions. We illustrate this criterion with an example of construction of commutative Gröbner basis.     

Cohomological properties of the quantum shuffle product and application to the construction of quasi-Hopf algebras

For a commutative algebra the shuffle product is a morphism of complexes. We generalize this result to the quantum shuffle product, associated to a class of non-commutative algebras (for example all the Hopf algebras). As a first application we show that the Hochschild-Serre identity is the dual statement of our result. In particular, we extend this identity to Hopf algebras. Secondly, we clarify the construction of a class of quasi-Hopf algebras.