Legendre spectral Galerkin method for second-kind Volterra integral equations

The Legendre spectral Galerkin method for the Volterra integral equations of the second kind is proposed in this paper. We provide a rigorous error analysis for the proposed method, which indicates that the numerical errors (in the L ₂ norm) will decay exponentially provided that the kernel function and the source function are sufficiently smooth. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results.      

Gold(I) eta2-arene complexes

The reaction of 9-{[N-n-propyl-N-(diphenylphosphino)amino]methyl}anthracene (1) with Au(SMe2)Cl yields complex 2 with an arm-opening configuration. The latter is treated with AgClO4 to form complex 4 and then respectively reacted with acetonitrile, pyridine, and triphenylphosphine sulfide to afford novel gold(I) eta2-arene complexes 3a-c, which have arm-closing configurations and feeble or weak fluorescence emissions. The observation can be attributed to charge transfer from the anthracene unit to the Au+ ion. When the solution of 3a or 4 in CH2Cl2 was added with 1 equiv of Ph3P, complex 5 with the arm-opening configuration was formed and strong emission was restored.     

Preparation of insulin-loaded PLA/PLGA microcapsules by a novel membrane emulsification method and its release in vitro

Uniform-sized biodegradable PLA/PLGA microcapsules loading recombinant human insulin (rhI) were successfully prepared by combining a Shirasu Porous Glass (SPG) membrane emulsification technique and a double emulsion-evaporation method. An aqueous phase containing rhI was used as the inner water phase (w1), and PLA/PLGA and Arlacel 83 were dissolved in a mixture solvent of dichloromethane (DCM) and toluene, which was used as the oil phase (o). These two solutions were emulsified by a homogenizer to form a w1/o primary emulsion. The primary emulsion was permeated through the uniform pores of a SPG membrane into an outer water phase by the pressure of nitrogen gas to form the uniform w1/o/w2 droplets. The solid polymer microcapsules were obtained by simply evaporating solvent from droplets. Various factors of the preparation process influencing the drug encapsulation efficiency and the drug cumulative release were investigated systemically. The results indicated that the drug encapsulation efficiency and the cumulative release were affected by the PLA/PLGA ratio, NaCl concentration in outer water phase, the inner water phase volume, rhI-loading amount, pH-value in outer water phase and the size of microcapsules. By optimizing the preparation process, the drug encapsulation efficiency was high up to 91.82%. The unique advantage of preparing drug-loaded microcapsules by membrane emulsification technique is that the size of microcapsules can be controlled accurately, and thus the drug cumulative release profile can be adjusted just by changing the size of microcapsules. Moreover, much higher encapsulation efficiency can be obtained when compared with the conventional mechanical stirring method.     

Differentiation of herbs linked to "Chinese herb nephropathy" from the liquid chromatographic determination of aristolochic acids

A HPLC method was developed and applied to analyze aristolochic acids (AA-I and AA-II) in Chinese medicinal herbs. The herb samples were extracted by using ultrasonication with the extraction efficiency of better than 82%. Extracts were then filtered and injected onto a C18 column eluting under a gradient program using methanol and water-containing 0.5% acetic acid. The method with the detection limits of 1.33 ng for AA-I and 7.29 ng for AA-II per injection was successfully applied for the analysis of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and related products and differentiation of Chinese medicinal herbs that have previously been misused and caused toxicological effects. The developed protocol provided an example that analysis of selected component markers could serve for health security and quality control of TCM consumption.     

Triconstituent co-assembly to ordered mesostructured polymer-silica and carbon-silica nanocomposites and large-pore mesoporous carbons with high surface areas

Highly ordered mesoporous polymer-silica and carbon-silica nanocomposites with interpenetrating networks have been successfully synthesized by the evaporation-induced triconstituent co-assembly method, wherein soluble resol polymer is used as an organic precursor, prehydrolyzed TEOS is used as an inorganic precursor, and triblock copolymer F127 is used as a template. It is proposed for the first time that ordered mesoporous nanocomposites have "reinforced concrete"-structured frameworks. By adjusting the initial mass ratios of TEOS to resol, we determined the obtained nanocomposites possess continuous composition with the ratios ranging from zero to infinity for the two constituents that are "homogeneously" dispersed inside the pore walls. The presence of silicates in nanocomposites dramatically inhibits framework shrinkage during the calcination, resulting in highly ordered large-pore mesoporous carbon-silica nanocomposites. Combustion in air or etching in HF solution can remove carbon or silica from the carbon-silica nanocomposites and yield ordered mesoporous pure silica or carbon frameworks. The process generates plenty of small pores in carbon or/and silica pore walls. Ordered mesoporous carbons can then be obtained with large pore sizes of approximately 6.7 nm, pore volumes of approximately 2.0 cm(3)/g, and high surface areas of approximately 2470 m(2)/g. The pore structures and textures can be controlled by varying the sizes and polymerization degrees of two constituent precursors. Accordingly, by simply tuning the aging time of TEOS, ordered mesoporous carbons with evident bimodal pores at 2.6 and 5.8 nm can be synthesized.     

The dipolar route to naphtho[2,1‐c]isoxazoles from the baylis‐hillman adducts of 2‐alkynylbenzaldehydes

A new synthesis of 4‐carbomethoxynaphtho[2,1‐c]isoxazoles 4a‐d from methyl 3‐(alkynylphenyl)‐2‐nitromethyl‐2‐propenoates 2a‐d by the intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition is described. The latter are readily obtained from 2‐alkynylbenzaldehydes through the Baylis‐Hillman adduct acetates 1a‐d followed by nucleophilic substitution of nitrite anion.     

One-pot preparation of arylalkynes by a tandem catalytic iodination of arenes and palladium-catalyzed coupling of iodoarenes with terminal alkynes

Iodination of activated arenes by air-oxidation is carried out in the presence of catalytic bismuth salts at room temperature. Subsequently, the formed iodoarenes react with terminal alkynes to give arylalkynes under a selected palladium-catalyzed coupling condition in the same pot.     

Competing excited state intramolecular proton transfer pathways from phenol to anthracene moieties

Four new 9-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)anthracene derivatives 7-10 were synthesized and their potential excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) reaction investigated. Whereas 7 reacted via the anticipated (formal) ESIPT reaction (proton transfer to the 10-position of the anthracene), derivatives 8-10 reacted via ESIPT to both 9- and 10-positions, giving rise to two types of intermediates, quinone methides (e.g., 29) and zwitterions (e.g., 30). These intermediates are trapped by solvent (water or methanol) giving addition products that can readily revert back to starting material. However, on extended photolysis, the products that are isolated can best be rationalized as being due to competing elimination and intramolecular cyclization of zwitterions 30 and 37. These results show that it is possible to structurally tune ESIPT in (hydroxyphenyl)anthracenes to either result in a completely reversible reaction or give isolable anthracene addition or rearrangement products.     

Simultaneous Determination of Acetylsalicylic Acid and Caffeine in Pharmaceutical Formulation by First Derivative Synchronous Fluorimetric Method

A sensitive, rapid, and specific assay has been developed for the simultaneous determination of acetylsalicylic acid and caffeine in commercial tablets based on their natural fluorescence. The mixture of these drugs was resolved by first derivative synchronous fluorimetric technique using two scans. At Δλ=106 nm, using first derivative synchronous scanning, only acetylsalicylic acid yields a detectable signal at 316 nm (peak to zero method) which is unaffected by caffeine. At Δλ=30 nm, the signal of caffeine at 288 nm (peak to zero method) is not affected by acetylsalicylic acid. The range of application is between 0.021 and 41.62 μg ml⁻¹ (correlation coefficient, R=0.9995) for acetylsalicylic acid and between 0.4486 and 44.86 μg ml⁻¹ (correlation coefficient, R=0.99786) for caffeine. The recovery range of 98.40–102% for acetylsalicylic acid and 90–100.5% for caffeine from their synthetic mixture was reported. Overall recovery of both compounds about 97–99% for acetylsalicylic acid and 97–98% for caffeine was obtained from real sample analysis. The detection limits are 0.0013 μg ml⁻¹ and 0.0306 μg ml⁻¹ for acetylsalicylic acid and caffeine, respectively. The relative standard deviation (n=10) for 20 μg ml⁻¹ of acetylsalicylic acid is 2.75% and for 2.2 μg ml⁻¹of caffeine is 1.7%.