A Nitrite Biosensor Based on the Direct Electron Transfer of Hemoglobin Immobilized on Carboxyl‐Functionalized Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes/Polyimide Composite

The high electrically conductive carboxyl‐functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (COOH‐MWCNTs) were used to combine with nonconducting polyimide (PI) to generate a PI/COOH‐MWCNTs membrane. PI served as a matrix to entrap COOH‐MWCNTs and hemoglobin (Hb). COOH‐MWCNTs can improve the conductivity of the composite. The direct electrochemistry measurement indicated that the PI/COOH‐MWCNTs composite enhanced the immobilization of Hb significantly. Besides, the Hb/PI/COOH‐MWCNTs/GCE biosensor possessed excellent electrocatalytic activity for the detection of nitrite. Therefore, PI is a good matrix for Hb immobilization and it has application in sensor construction. This work is promising in the development of sensitive biosensors based on PI/COOH‐MWCNTs composite film.     

Use of dimethyl carbonate as a solvent greatly enhances the biaryl coupling of aryl iodides and organoboron reagents without adding any transition metal catalysts

The coupling reaction of aryl iodides with arylboronic acids to give biaryl compounds can be efficiently performed without adding a transition metal catalyst. The key to success is the use of dimethyl carbonate as a solvent. This finding provides a new strategy for constructing a biaryl linkage.     

Synthesis,Crystal Structure,Antioxidation and DNA‐Binding Studies of a Zinc(II) Complex with the Bis(N‐allylbenzimidazol‐2‐ylmethyl)aniline

A complex of zinc(II) picrate (pic) with bis(N‐allylbenzimidazol‐2‐ylmethyl)aniline (abba), with composition [Zn(abba)₂](pic)₂, was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, electrical conductivity, IR and UV/Vis spectral measurements. The crystal structure of the zinc(II) complex has been determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. The Zn(II) is bonded to two abba ligands through four benzimidazole nitrogen, resulting in a distorted tetrahedron geometry. The DNA‐binding properties of the ligand and the zinc(II) complex were investigated by electronic absorption, fluorescence spectra and viscosity measurements. The experimental results suggest that the zinc(II) complex binds to DNA in an intercalation mode. In addition, the ligand abba and Zn(II) complex have scavenging effects for hydroxyl radicals and the complex shows stronger scavenging effects for hydroxyl radicals than the ligand.     

Cyclization reactions of homopropargyl azide derivatives catalyzed by PtCl4 in ethanol solution: synthesis of functionalized pyrrole derivatives

[Structure: see text] PtCl4-catalyzed cyclization reactions of homopropargyl azide derivatives to pyrrole rings were investigated. Using ethanol as solvent with 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylpyridine as the base was found to be the best set of conditions for effecting this ring-closing reaction. These reaction conditions can be applied to the preparation of functionalized pyrrole derivatives, with no effect on the functional groups.     

Selective shortening of single-crystalline gold nanorods by mild oxidation

Gold nanorods (NRs) have received much attention due to their size-dependent surface plasmon-related optical properties. A seed-mediated approach has recently been developed for the synthesis of Au NRs with varying length-to-diameter aspect ratios. With the introduction of silver ions in the growth solution, Au NRs of narrow size distributions can be produced in high yields. Herein we describe an approach for the continuous and selective shortening of Au NRs synthesized by the silver ion-assisted seed-mediated method through oxidation with environmentally benign oxygen at slightly elevated temperatures. UV-visible extinction measurements indicate that the longitudinal surface plasmon band of Au NRs decreases in intensity and blue-shifts as a function of the oxidation time. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging shows that the length of Au NRs decreases with oxidation and their diameter stays almost constant, which suggests that oxidation starts at the ends of Au NRs. The size distributions of shortened Au NRs are similar to those of starting NRs. Further oxidation transforms Au NRs into nanospheres, which become smaller in diameter and finally completely disappear. It has been found that the oxidation rate of Au NRs can be controlled by temperature and acid concentration. Furthermore, high-resolution TEM studies reveal that Au NRs synthesized by the silver ion-assisted seed-mediated method are single crystalline and they stay single crystalline during oxidation. It is expected that Au NRs of any aspect ratio with narrow size distributions within the limit of that possessed by starting NRs can be produced by this mild oxidation approach.     

Picolinyl ester fragmentation mechanism studies with application to the identification of acylcarnitine acyl groups following transesterification

Acyl picolinyl esters provide excellent data to identify the structures of acyl groups. However, the mechanisms for the formation of fragment ions from picolinyl esters are unsettled. Proposed structures for fragment ions have focused on long-chain groups and may not accommodate results from medium- and short-chain acyl groups. Using deuterium-labeled organic acids, we have investigated the mechanisms for the formation of fragment ions. Based on these studies, we propose a new mechanism that is consistent with the experimental data. We then tested the mechanisms by analyzing selected acylcarnitines. Transesterification of acylcarnitines was performed by reaction with 3-pyridylcarbinol and potassium tert-butoxide in dichloromethane to produce acyl picolinyl esters. The picolinyl esters were separated and detected by gas chromatography/electron ionization-mass spectrometry. Each mass spectrum contained a series of peaks with m/z differences of 12, 13, or 14 u depending on the acyl group's chemical structure. The position of an unsaturated bond or branched methyl in the acyl group of acylcarnitine can be readily determined.     

Simple fluorimetric liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of undecylenic acid and zinc undecylenate in pharmaceutical preparations

A simple and selective liquid chromatographic method is described for the analysis of undecylenic acid (UA) and zinc undecylenate (ZnUA) in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on the derivatization of the analytes extracted from various samples with 2-(2-naphthoxy)ethyl 2-(piperidino)ethanesulfonate. The resulting derivative was analyzed by liquid chromatography with fluorimetric detection. The quantitation of the method is in the range of 3.0-50.0 microM UA with a detection limit of about 0.3 microM (S/N = 3 with 10 microl injection). We found that acetonitrile is a selective solvent for differentially dissolving UA from coexisted ZnUA in compound formulation. This results in the specific analysis of UA in the presence of ZnUA and simply analyzing the coexisted ZnUA by the value of total UA (UA+ZnUA) minus that of UA. Application of the method to the analysis of undecylenic acid and zinc undecylenate in ointment, powder and solution preparations proved feasible.     

Rank-one cross commutators on backward shift invariant subspaces on the bidisk

For a backward shift invariant subspace N in H^2（Г^2）, the operators Sz and Sw on N are defined by Sz = PNTz｜N and Sw, = PNTw｜N, where PN is the orthogonal projection from L^2（Г^2） onto N. We give a characterization of N satisfying rank [Sz, Sw^＊] = 1.     

The acidic domains of the Toc159 chloroplast preprotein receptor family are intrinsically disordered protein domains

Background  

The Toc159 family of proteins serve as receptors for chloroplast-destined preproteins. They directly bind to transit peptides, and exhibit preprotein substrate selectivity conferred by an unknown mechanism. The Toc159 receptors each include three domains: C-terminal membrane, central GTPase, and N-terminal acidic (A-) domains. Although the function(s) of the A-domain remains largely unknown, the amino acid sequences are most variable within these domains, suggesting they may contribute to the functional specificity of the receptors.     

Quasilinear elliptic equations with Neumann boundary and singularity

Let Ω be a bounded domain with a smooth C2 boundary in RN（N ≥ 3）, 0 ∈Ω, and n denote the unit outward normal to ЭΩ.We are concerned with the Neumann boundary problems： -div（｜x｜α｜△u｜p-2△u）=｜x｜βup（α,β）-1-λ｜x｜γup-1,u（x）〉0,x∈Ω,Эu/Эn=0 on ЭΩ,where 1〈p〈N and α〈0,β〈0 such that p（α,β）△=p（N＋β）/N-p＋α〉p,y〉α-p.For various parameters α,βorγ,we establish certain existence results of the solutions in the case 0∈Ω or 0∈ЭΩ.