Exploiting Aggregation To Achieve Phase Separation in Macrocyclization

The aggregation properties of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) can be exploited in organic synthesis to control dilution effects. Through the use of solvent mixtures containing PEG₄₀₀/MeOH, macrocyclization by Glaser–Hay coupling can be conducted at high concentrations. The origin of the selectivity has been studied by using surface tension measurements, UV spectroscopy, and chemical tagging and demonstrates the dependence of the yield and selectivity on the aggregation of PEG₄₀₀ and its ability to preferentially solubilize organic substrates, resulting in a phase separation from the catalyst system.     

Screening of Wood/Forest and Vine By-Products as Sources of New Drugs for Sustainable Strategies to Control Fusarium graminearum and the Production of Mycotoxins

Fusarium graminearum is a fungal pathogen that can colonize small-grain cereals and maize and secrete type B trichothecene (TCTB) mycotoxins. The development of environmental-friendly strategies guaranteeing the safety of food and feed is a key challenge facing agriculture today. One of these strategies lies on the promising capacity of products issued from natural sources to counteract crop pests. In this work, the in vitro efficiency of sixteen extracts obtained from eight natural sources using subcritical water extraction at two temperatures was assessed against fungal growth and TCTB production by F. graminearum. Maritime pine sawdust extract was shown to be extremely efficient, leading to a significant inhibition of up to 89% of the fungal growth and up to 65% reduction of the mycotoxin production by F. graminearum. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of this active extract revealed the presence of three families of phenolics with a predominance of methylated compounds and suggested that the abundance of methylated structures, and therefore of hydrophobic compounds, could be a primary factor underpinning the activity of the maritime pine sawdust extract. Altogether, our data support that wood/forest by-products could be promising sources of bioactive compounds for controlling F. graminearum and its production of mycotoxins.     

A Multifunctional Photoswitch: 6π Electrocyclization versus ESIPT and Metalation

A terthiazole‐based molecular switch associating 6π electrocyclization, excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT), and strong metal binding capability was prepared. The photochemical and photophysical properties of this molecule and of the corresponding nickel and copper complexes were thoroughly investigated by steady‐state and ultrafast absorption spectroscopy and rationalized by DFT/TDDFT calculations. The switch behaves as a biphotochrome with time‐dependent photochemical outcome and displays efficient ESIPT‐based fluorescence photoswitching. Both photochemical reactions are suppressed by nickel or copper metalation, and the main factors contributing to the quenching of the electrocyclization are discussed.     

Highly Tin‐Selective Stille Coupling: Synthesis of a Polymer Containing a Stannole in the Main Chain

The incorporation of heavier Group 14 element heteroles into semiconducting polymers leads to unusual optoelectronic properties. However, polymers containing stannoles have not been accessible to date. We report a synthetic route to a well‐defined, stannole‐containing polymer, the first example of this class of π‐conjugated polymers. This route was made possible by developing difunctionalized stannole monomers and highly tin‐selective Stille coupling reactions that leave the tin in the stannole untouched. Compared to poly(3‐n‐hexylthiophene), the resulting polymer displays a remarkable bathochromic shift in its absorption.     

Cyclic antiautomorphisms of directed triple systems

A transitive triple, (a,b,c), is defined to be the set {(a,b), (b,c), (a,c)} of ordered pairs. A directed triple system of order v, DTS(v), is a pair (D,β), where D is a set of v points and β is a collection of transitive triples of pairwise distinct points of D such that any ordered pair of distinct points of D is contained in precisely one transitive triple of β. An antiautomorphism of a Directed triple system, (D,β), is a permutation of D that maps β to β⁻¹, where β ⁻¹ = {(c,b,a)|(a,b,c) E β}. In this article we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a Directed triple system of order v admitting an antiautomorphism consisting of a single cycle of length d and having v − d fixed points. Further, we give a more general result for partial Directed triple systems in which the missing ordered pairs are precisely those containing two fixed points. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Capillary zone electrophoresis with UV-scanning detection for the analysis of metal species and their organic binding partners in biological systems

A capillary zone electrophoretic method with UV-scanning detection for the separation and identification of both free ligands and metal species is presented. The electrophoretic behavior of naturally occurring binding partners such as organic acids and amino acids was studied and compared with their metal-complexes. Copper(II) complexes of citrate and amino acids showed decreased electrophoretic mobilities and altered UV spectra. The optimized method was validated on ultrafiltered cow's milk and human milk samples. In cow's milk six low molecular weight substances, including citrate, orotate, and hippurate, could be separated. Metal supplementation with Cu(II), Ni(II), or Zn(II) decreased not only the citrate peak but also the orotate signal and in the case of copper(II) supplementation a new signal for the copper(II)-citrate complex appeared. In human milk samples various amino acids such as glutamate, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan could be identified besides citrate. The electrophoretic mobilites and peak areas of the amino acids were also influenced by the metal supplementation.     

Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/fourier-transform infrared spectrometry of poly(ester urethane) elastomers

Three types of industrial poly (ester urethane) elastomers were studied by Curie–point pyrolysis–gas chromatography/Fourier–Transform infrared spectrometry (Py–GC/FTIR) with a maximum pyrolysis temperature of 973 K. The samples chosen were the Urepans 600 and 641 from Bayer and Elastollan C 78 A from BASF/Elastogran. The poly(ester urethane) elastomers are composed of three units: a polyesterdiol, a short chain diol and a diisocyanate. Py–GC/FTIR allows a rapid and unambiguous identification of the polymer chains by key fragments.