Triple framework interpenetration and immobilization of open metal sites within a microporous mixed metal-organic framework for highly selective gas adsorption

A three-dimensional triply interpenetrated mixed metal-organic framework, Zn(2)(BBA)(2)(CuPyen)·G(x) (M'MOF-20; BBA = biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate; G = guest solvent molecules), of primitive cubic net was obtained through the solvothermal reaction of Zn(NO(3))(2), biphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid, and the salen precursor Cu(PyenH(2))(NO(3))(2) by a metallo-ligand approach. The triple framework interpenetration has stabilized the framework in which the activated M'MOF-20a displays type-I N(2) gas sorption behavior with a Langmuir surface area of 62 m(2) g(-1). The narrow pores of about 3.9 ? and the open metal sites on the pore surfaces within M'MOF-20a collaboratively induce its highly selective C(2)H(2)/CH(4) and CO(2)/CH(4) gas separation at ambient temperature.     

Metal-ion-complexing properties of 2-(pyrid-2'-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline, a more preorganized analogue of terpyridyl. A crystallographic, fluorescence, and thermodynamic study

Some metal-ion-complexing properties of the ligand 2-(pyrid-2'-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline (MPP) are reported. MPP is of interest in that it is a more preorganized version of 2,2';6,2'-terpyridine (tpy). Protonation constants (pK(1) = 4.60; pK(2) = 3.35) for MPP were determined by monitoring the intense π-π* transitions of 2 × 10(-5) M solutions of the ligand as a function of the pH at an ionic strength of 0 and 25 °C. Formation constants (log K(1)) at an ionic strength of 0 and 25 °C were obtained by monitoring the π-π* transitions of MPP titrated with solutions of the metal ion, or 1:1 solutions of MPP and the metal ion were titrated with acid. Large metal ions such as Ca(II) or La(III) showed increases of log K(1) of about 1.5 log units compared to that of tpy. Small metal ions such as Zn(II) and Ni(II) showed little increase in log K(1) for MPP compared to the tpy complexes, which is attributed to the presence of five-membered chelate rings in the MPP complexes, which favor large metal ions. The structure of [Cd(MPP)(H(2)O)(NO(3))(2)] (1) is reported: monoclinic, P2(1)/c, a = 7.4940(13) ?, b = 12.165(2) ?, c = 20.557(4) ?, β = 96.271(7)°, V = 1864.67(9) ?(3), Z = 4, and final R = 0.0786. The Cd in 1 is seven-coordinate, comprising the three donor atoms of MPP, a coordinated water, a monodentate, and a bidentate NO(3)(-). Cd(II) is a fairly large metal ion, with r(+) = 0.96 ?, slightly too small for coordination with MPP. The effect of this size matching in terms of the structure is discussed. Fluorescence spectra of 2 × 10(-7) M MPP in aqueous solution are reported. The nonprotonated MPP ligand fluoresces only weakly, which is attributed to a photoinduced-electron-transfer effect. The chelation-enhanced-fluorescence (CHEF) effect induced by some metal ions is presented, and the trend of the CHEF effect, which is Ca(II) > Zn(II) > Cd(II) ~ La(III) > Hg(II), is discussed in terms of factors that control the CHEF effect, such as the heavy-atom effect.     

Intensity thresholds and the statistics of the temporal occurrence of solar flares

Introducing thresholds to analyze time series of emission from the Sun enables a new and simple definition of solar flare events and their interoccurrence times. Rescaling time by the rate of events, the waiting and quiet time distributions both conform to scaling functions that are independent of the intensity threshold over a wide range. The scaling functions are well-described by a two-parameter function, with parameters that depend on the phase of the solar cycle. For flares identified according to the current, standard definition, similar behavior is found.     

Existence and multiplicity of positive solutions for classes of singular elliptic PDEs

We consider the boundary value problem

     

Biodiversity of Secondary Metabolites Compounds Isolated from Phylum Actinobacteria and Its Therapeutic Applications

The current review aims to summarise the biodiversity and biosynthesis of novel secondary metabolites compounds, of the phylum Actinobacteria and the diverse range of secondary metabolites produced that vary depending on its ecological environments they inhabit. Actinobacteria creates a wide range of bioactive substances that can be of great value to public health and the pharmaceutical industry. The literature analysis process for this review was conducted using the VOSviewer software tool to visualise the bibliometric networks of the most relevant databases from the Scopus database in the period between 2010 and 22 March 2021. Screening and exploring the available literature relating to the extreme environments and ecosystems that Actinobacteria inhabit aims to identify new strains of this major microorganism class, producing unique novel bioactive compounds. The knowledge gained from these studies is intended to encourage scientists in the natural product discovery field to identify and characterise novel strains containing various bioactive gene clusters with potential clinical applications. It is evident that Actinobacteria adapted to survive in extreme environments represent an important source of a wide range of bioactive compounds. Actinobacteria have a large number of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters. They can synthesise thousands of subordinate metabolites with different biological actions such as anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-virus, anti-cancer and growth-promoting compounds. These are highly significant economically due to their potential applications in the food, nutrition and health industries and thus support our communities’ well-being.     

Ecofriendly chromatographic estimation of spasmolytic pharmaceutical mixture along with official toxic impurity, 3,5-dichloroaniline: Complete green profile appraisal

Nowadays, Green Analytical Chemistry is widely applied to provide various analytical methods with eco-friendly procedures employing the least toxic, harmful reagents on humans and the environment without affecting the efficacy of the determination. Accordingly, two eco-friendly, accurate, and reliable high-performance thin-layer chromatography-densitometry and high-performance liquid chromatographic methods were established for the determination and separation of two antispasmodic drugs, namely phloroglucinol and trimethylphloroglucinol in their pure, combined dosage form along with phloroglucinol toxic impurity, 3,5-dichloroaniline. For high-performance thin-layer chromatography-densitometry, efficient separation was developed via utilizing the stationary phase of high-performance thin-layer chromatography silica gel 60 F₂₅₄ plates and developing a system comprising of ethyl acetate-butanol-ammonia in the ratio of 8.0:2.0:0.2, by volume and scanning of the developed bands at 210.0 nm. The subsequent method is isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection in which separation was successively attained using XTerra RP-C₁₈ (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) column as stationary phase and methanol-10.0 mM phosphate buffer, pH 3.7 ± 0.1 as mobile phase in the ratio of 75.0:25.0, v/v at flow rate 1.0 ml/min and scanning at 220.0 nm. The developed liquid chromatography methods were validated according to the International Council for Harmonization guidelines, and all results acknowledged their efficacy. Additionally, the proposed methods worked well for assessing the cited drugs in binary combined commercially available pharmaceutical formulation. The greenness profile of the present methods was assessed and estimated using various assessment tools, namely; Green Analytical Procedure Index, analytical eco-scale method, National Environmental Method Index in addition to Analytical GREEnness tool to evaluate the greenness of the provided methods with a statistical comparison between them to assess the more green ones.     

Passivation techniques for InAs/GaSb strained layer superlattice detectors

InAs/(In,Ga)Sb Strained Layer Superlattices (SLSs) have made significant progress since they were first proposed as an infrared (IR) sensing material more than three decades ago. The basic material properties of SLS provide a prospective benefit in the realization of IR imagers with suppressed interband tunneling and Auger recombination processes, as well as high quantum efficiency and responsivity. With scaling of single pixel dimensions, the performance of focal plane arrays is strongly dependent on surface effects due to the large pixels’ surface/volume ratio. This article discusses the cause of surface leakage currents and various approaches of their reduction including dielectric passivation, passivation with organic materials (polyimide or various photoresists), passivation by overgrowth of wider bandgap material, and chalcogenide passivation. Performance of SLS detectors passivated by different techniques and operating in various regions of infrared spectrum has been compared.