Sorption of dyes on cellulose II: effect of alkali treatment of fibre and dye structure

Cellulose is a linear 1,4-β-glucan polymer where the units are able to form highly ordered structures, as a result of extensive interaction through intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding of the three hydroxyl groups in each cellulose unit. Alkali has a substantial influence on morphological, molecular and supramolecular properties of cellulose II polymer fibres causing changes in crystallinity. Lyocell fibres pre-treated with 0.0, 2.0, and 4.0 mol dm⁻³ aqueous NaOH solution were dyed with hydrolyzed reactive dyes that had different molecular shapes and sizes. Overall exhaustion (q _e), value of K, and −ΔG increased for lyocell samples pre-treated with aqueous NaOH solution in the following order: 2.0 > 4.0 > 0.0 mol dm⁻³ NaOH. The same trends were observed for colour strength (K/S) values of the dyeings. Pre-treatment of lyocell with 2.0 mol dm⁻³ NaOH creates the substrate that achieves the most thermodynamically favourable system for sorption of hydrolyzed reactive dyes, as at this concentration crystallinity decreases (with respect to 0.0 mol dm⁻³ NaOH treated lyocell) to afford higher sorption; however, at higher alkali concentrations the macro-sorbent forms a compacted unit that limits diffusion within the sorbent interior. Molecular size of the sorbate dye has a significant effect on the sorption process: for the largest dye structure the sorption isotherm is most closely correlated to a Langmuir isotherm; as the size of the dye decreases correlation to a Langmuir isotherm is observed, but with good correlation to the Freundlich isotherm; as the size of the dye is decreased further sorption is more typical of a Freundlich isotherm.     

Application of phosphonate and thiophosphate analogues of nucleotides to studies of some enzyme reactions

The enzymatic cleavage of a scissile P O bond can be blocked by recourse to phosphonate analogues of biological phosphate esters. α-Fluorophosphonates have an enhanced electronegativity at the bridging carbon, which, in many cases, makes them superior to simple methylene phosphonates for the study of enzyme reactions. Thus, the β,γ-difluoro-methylene analogue of ATP is a good substrate for the interferon-induced (2→5)A_n synthetase, which converts it into a (2→5)A₄ species having a 5′-β,γ-difluoromethylenetriphosphate. This binds strongly to RNase L but does not activate it. The unsymmetrical Ap₄Aases from Artemia and Lupin are strongly inhibited by P^1,P⁴-dithiophosphate analogues of diadenosyl-5′,5‴-P¹,P⁴-tetraphosphate although nonregiospecific cleavage of certain P²,P³-methylene analogues can be observed. Some of these analogues are remarkably effective inhibitors of platelet aggregation and are effective inhibitors in vivo of arterial blood-clotting in rabbits. Separation of all diastereoisomers of P¹,P⁴-dithiophosphate analogues of Ap₄A is achieved cleanly using reverse-phase hplc chromatography and this provides direct access to β,γ-CHF-bridged analogues of ATP with resolved stereochemistry at the CHF center. Lastly, growing cells of Dictyostelium discoideum not only tolerate a range of substituted methylene bisphosphonates in their growth medium but actually incorporate them into nucleotide analogues of ATP and Ap₄A.