Free‐Standing Membranes to Study the Optical Properties of Anodic TiO2 Nanotube Layers

In the present work we investigate various optical properties (such as light absorption and reflectance) of anodic TiO₂ nanotube layers directly transferred as self‐standing membranes onto quartz substrates. This allows investigation in a transmission geometry which provides significantly more reliable data than measurements on the metallic Ti substrate. Light transmission and reflectance measurements were carried out for layers of thickness varying from 1.8 to 50 μm, and the layers were investigated in their amorphous and crystalline forms. A series of wavelength‐dependent light attenuation coefficients are extrapolated and found to match the photocurrent versus irradiation wavelength behavior. A feature specific to anodic nanotubes is that their intrinsic carbon contamination content causes a proportional sub‐bandgap response. Overall, the extracted data provide a valuable basis and understanding for the design of photo‐electrochemical devices based on TiO₂ nanotubes.     

Sandwich-type tetranuclear lanthanide complexes with cucurbit[6]uril: from molecular compounds to coordination polymers

Sandwich-type lanthanide complexes with macrocyclic ligand cucurbit[6]uril (C 36H 36N 24O 12, CB[6]) were synthesized under hydrothermal conditions from aqueous solutions of lanthanide(III) bromides, CB[6], and 4-cyanopyridine. According to X-ray analysis (Ln = La, Pr, Dy, Ho, Er, and Yb), the compounds with different structural types of lanthanide cores have a common fragment where the tetranuclear hydroxo complex is sandwiched between two macrocycles {(IN@CB[6])Ln 4(mu 3-OH) 4(IN@CB[6])} (6+) (IN = isonicotinate). The photoluminescence (for Ln = Eu) and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectra (for Ln = Pr, Dy, and Er) were studied. The compounds are used for the first time as precursors for the synthesis of lanthanide-silver heterometallic coordination polymers. The chainlike crystal structure of polymers (Ln = La, Pr, and Dy) is constituted by the sandwich complexes linked via the coordination of IN nitrogen atoms to the silver atoms.     

Charged molecular films on brownian particles: structure, interactions, and relation to stability

The interfacial film of physically adsorbed ionic amphiphilic molecules on submicron particles dispersed in water was studied by a combination of surface tension measurements, laser light scattering (LLS) and high-shear experiments in a microchannel. General features in the structure and morphology of the molecular film are identified and understood in the framework of the two-step Langmuir adsorption model deduced from the adsorption isotherm. On the basis of this approach, the phase transitions and structural ordering of the film at the solid-liquid interface are analyzed in detail. A novel methodology based on high-shear aggregation experiments subsequently analyzed by means of LLS is proposed and turns out to be able to provide significant information on the phase transitions and structural arrangements of the adsorbed molecules (in substantial agreement with the adsorption isotherm model) as well as on the resulting interactions. Particularly important for applications is the result that, with no added salt, the films on two particles can adhere/fuse, leading to aggregation as long as an uncovered (hydrophobic) patch is present (unsaturated molecular layers). In the opposite case of fully developed layers, by analyzing the mechanism of shear aggregation of charged particles in the low-salt limit, we show that, when the hydrophobic attraction is absent, short-range hydration repulsive forces dominate over Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) forces and adhesion can never be achieved even upon application of very high collision energies. Consistently, a lower limiting boundary for the hydration interaction is calculated and found to be in agreement with data in the literature.     

Do hydroxyl radical-water clusters, OH(H2O)n, n = 1-5, exist in the atmosphere?

It has been speculated that the presence of OH(H2O)n clusters in the troposphere could have significant effects on the solar absorption balance and the reactivity of the hydroxyl radical. We have used the G3 and G3B3 model chemistries to model the structures and predict the frequencies of hydroxyl radical/water clusters containing one to five water molecules. The reaction between hydroxyl radical clusters and methane was examined as a function of water cluster size to gain an understanding of how cluster size affects the hydroxyl radical reactivity.     

Rapid test by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry to evaluate equine urine reactivity towards 17beta-OH steroids

Bacteria frequently found in equine urine samples may cause degradation of 17beta-OH steroids. A simple liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method has been developed to evaluate the microbiological contamination of equine urine as a marker of poor storage conditions. Norethandrolone was used as the internal standard, and the linearity, sensitivity, precision and accuracy of the method were evaluated. 17beta-OH oxidation was demonstrated for testosterone, nandrolone, trenbolone and boldenone, but did not occur in alpha-epimers such as alpha-boldenone and epitestosterone, demonstrating the stereoselectivity of the reaction. A rapid test was performed by spiking one of the four 17beta-OH steroids in samples of diluted equine urine. The steroids were transformed into their respective ketones in the presence of bacterial activity. The test allows direct injection of diluted samples into the LC/MS system, without the need for prior extraction. Results show that the best method of storage is freezing at -18 degrees C. Urine specimens should be analyzed as soon as possible after thawing. This allows bacterial degradation of equine urine to be arrested temporarily, so that the urine can be used for qualitative or quantitative analysis of 17beta-OH steroids.     

Study on structural properties and solution dynamics of zinc complexes with the (N,N-dimethylaminomethyl)ferrocenyl ligand

The reaction of {C,N-[Fe(η⁵-C₅H₅)(η⁵-C₅H₃(CH₂NMe₂)-2)]}Li, (FcN)Li, with zinc chloride affords the diorganozinc complex (FcN)₂Zn (1). In solution, 1 appears as a mixture of rac and meso diastereomers, whereas in the solid state it crystallizes solely as a rac diastereomer. The ratio of rac/meso diastereomers in solution is solvent-, temperature- and concentration-dependent, consistent with an intermolecular exchange between diastereomers. An intramolecular dynamic phenomenon involving dissociation and recoordination of Zn---N bonds was also observed. The reaction of 1 with zinc chloride yields the monoorganozinc compound (FcN)ZnCl (2) as a slightly soluble yellow microcrystalline powder.     

Chemoenzymatic approaches toward dechloroansamitocin P-3

[reaction: see text] The enantioselective total synthesis of proansamitocin, a key biosynthetic intermediate of the highly potent antitumor agent ansamitocin P-3, is described which bears a diene-ene RCM as the key macrocyclization step. Feeding of proansamitocin to an AHBA block mutant Actinosynnema pretiosum (HGF073) yielded ansamitocin P-3 as well as dechloroansamitocin P-3, the latter also being formed upon fermentation in the presence of 3-amino-5-methoxybenzoic acid.     

Equilibrium dynamics of an associating polymer melt in narrow slits by computer simulation

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to study the dynamics of a coarse-grained model of a melt of polymer chains with associating terminal groups, confined in a narrow slit by two layers of Lennard-Jones sites. Simulations were carried out as a function of wall separation and attracting strength. We found that confinement has an important effect on the overall dynamics of the system. Strongly attracting walls can significantly modify the dynamics of the melt, giving an aggregation structure with extremely long relaxation times. A noticeable degree of anisotropy was found for the dynamics of both the individual chains and the aggregates formed by the associating terminal groups.     

First-principles prediction of the pK(a)s of anti-inflammatory oxicams

The gas- and aqueous-phase acidities of a series of oxicams have been computed by combining M05-2X/6-311+G(3df,2p) gas-phase free energies with solvation free energies from the CPCM-UAKS, COSMO-RS, and SMD solvent models. To facilitate accurate gas-phase calculations, a benchmarking study was further carried out to assess the performance of various density functional theory methods against the high-level composite method G3MP2(+). Oxicams are typically diprotic acids, and several tautomers are possible in each protonation state. The direct thermodynamic cycle and the proton exchange scheme have been employed to compute the microscopic pK(a)s on both solution- and gas-phase equilibrium conformers, and these were combined to yield the macroscopic pK(a) values. Using the direct cycle of pK(a) calculation, the CPCM-UAKS model delivered reasonably accurate results with MAD ~ 1, whereas the SMD and COSMO-RS models' performance was less satisfactory with MAD ~ 3. Comparison with experiment also indicates that direct cycle calculations based on solution conformers generally deliver better accuracy. The proton exchange cycle affords further improvement for all solvent models through systematic error cancellation and therefore provides better reliability for the pK(a) prediction of compounds of these types. The latter approach has been applied to predict the pK(a)s of several recently synthesized oxicam derivatives.     

Laccase–polyazetidine prepolymer–MWCNT integrated system: Biochemical properties and application to analytical determinations in real samples

Bioelectrochemical properties of Trametes versicolor Laccase (TvL) and Trametes hirsuta Laccase (ThL) immobilized by using polyazetidine prepolymer (PAP) onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) screen printed electrode (SPE) surface, have been studied with several redox mediators by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The efficient entrapment of laccase in the PAP layer was confirmed by determination of both kinetic parameters (maximum current and Michaelis–Menten apparent constant) and analytical performances by chronoamperometry. The Laccase-modified MWCNTs electrode provides an effective biosensor for determination of polyphenols and catecholamines in real matrices; performances of the considered biosensors for real samples analysis are also compared and discussed.