THE EFFECT OF ALIPHATIC ALCOHOLS ON FLUORESCENCE QUENCHING AND FLUORESCENCE POLARIZATION OF LUMINESCENCE PROBES IN HEXADECYLTRIMETHYLAMMONIUM BROMIDE MICELLES

Abstract— The fluorescence quenching of the indole chromophore by NO⁻₂ and the fluorescence depolarization of several luminescence probes in aqueous solutions containing hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (HDTBr) were measured as a function of added C₂–C₄ aliphatic alcohol concentration. The fluorescence decay profiles of pyrene in the micellar solutions were also measured to estimate the aggregation number of the micelles. The addition of n -butyl alcohol significantly reduces the fluorescence quenching rate and the aggregation number and increases the extent of fluorescence depolarization in HDTBr micellar systems. The addition of ethyl alcohol shows a similar but smaller effect.     

Improved preparation of h5-C5H5 Fe(CO)2(h1-alkyl) complexes from [h5-C5H5Fe(CO)2(h2-alkene)]+BF4−

Sodium cyanoborohydride has been found to be very effective for the conversion of [(h⁵-C₅H₅)Fe(CO)₂(h²-alkene)]⁺BF₄^? complexes to the corresponding h¹-alkyl derivatives.     

Aryloxy radicals from diaryloxydiazirines: alpha-cleavage of diaryloxycarbenes or excited diazirines?

The synthesis of diaryloxydiazirines, precursors to diaryloxycarbenes, is described. Thermolyses of the diazirines afford anticipated carbene products, but photolyses afford both carbenes and aryloxy radicals by alpha-scission. UV spectra of the carbenes and radicals are observed. [reaction: see text]     

Interactions between spherical colloids mediated by a liquid crystal: a molecular simulation and mesoscale study

Monte Carlo simulations and dynamic field theory (DyFT) are used to study the interactions between dilute spherical particles, dispersed in nematic and isotropic phases of a liquid crystal. A recently developed simulation method (expanded ensemble density of states) was used to determine the potential of mean force (PMF) between the two spheres as a function of their separation and size. The PMF was also calculated by a dynamic field theory that describes the evolution of the local tensor order parameter. Both methods reveal an overall attraction between the colloids in the nematic phase; in the isotropic phase, the overall attraction between the colloids is much weaker, whereas the repulsion at short range is stronger. In addition, both methods predict a new topology of the disclination lines, which arises when the particles approach each other. The theory is found to describe the results of simulations remarkably well, down to length scales comparable to the size of the molecules. At separations corresponding to the width of individual molecular layers on the particles' surface, the two methods yield different defect structures. We attribute this difference to the neglect of density inhomogeneities in the DyFT. We also investigate the effects of the size of spherical colloids on their interactions.     

Rapid cyanation of aryl iodides in water using microwave promotion

We show that using water in conjunction with microwave heating it is possible to prepare aryl nitriles from the corresponding aryl iodides rapidly and in high yield without the need for a palladium catalyst.     

Single-walled carbon nanotube combing during layer-by-layer assembly: from random adsorption to aligned composites

Oriented SWNTs in polymer composites have shown dramatic improvements in the physical properties of a composite because of the anisotropic shape and properties of SWNTs. Controlled alignment of SWNTs during composite fabrication implies better material function performance. This letter reports a new fabrication technique whereby aligned SWNTs and robust SWNT-polymer composites can be made using a fusion method of SWNT combing and layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly. As we previously reported, LBL assembly demonstrated exceptional processing ability in constructing the uniform distribution of a SWNT-polymer composite. Combined with this uniformity, this SWNT combing technique endows controlled alignment of single-stranded SWNTs in a SWNT-polymer composite system. SWNT combing employs air-water interfacial forces to change the molecular topography from the random adsorption state to the stretched alignment of SWNTs. More specifically, air-water interfacial forces are associated with an excess viscous drag force and an intrinsic dewetting rate along SWNTs. Moreover, the alignment efficiency of SWNTs is high enough to construct a multilayered LBL film with horizontal-linear weaving structures. This simple method also can be applied for aligning other nanowire materials because it utilizes simple geometric features of SWNTs.     

Odd carbon long linear chains HC2n+1H (n = 4-11): properties of the neutrals and radical anions

The optimized geometries, adiabatic electron affinities, vertical electron affinities, vertical electron detachment energies (for the anions), and IR-active vibrational frequencies have been predicted for the long linear carbon chains HC(2)(n)()(+1)H (n = 4-11). The B3LYP density functional combined with DZP and TZ2P basis sets was used in this theoretical study. These methods have been extensively calibrated versus experiment for the prediction of electron affinities (Chem. Rev. 2002, 102, 231). The computed physical properties are discussed and compared with the even carbon chains HC(2)(n)()H. The predicted electron affinities form a remarkably regular sequence: 2.12 eV (HC(9)H), 2.42 eV (HC(11)H), 2.66 eV (HC(13)H), 2.85 eV (HC(15)H), 3.01 eV (HC(17)H), 3.14 eV (HC(19)H), 3.25 eV (HC(21)H), and 3.35 eV (HC(23)H). These electron affinities are as much as 0.4 eV higher than those for analogous even carbon chains. The predicted structures display an intermediate cumulene-polyacetylene type of bonding, with the inner carbons appearing cumulenic and the outer carbons polyacetylenic.     

A metabonomic investigation of hepatotoxicity using diffusion-edited 1H NMR spectroscopy of blood serum

It has been shown extensively, that chemometric investigations of 1H NMR spectra of rat urine taken from animals dosed with model toxins produce characteristic patterns of metabolic responses and that this permits the identification of biomarkers of toxic response and regeneration. To date, metabonomic methods have been mainly optimised for urine which contains mainly low molecular weight moieties, and thus a conventional 1-dimensional 1H NMR pulse sequence is an efficient means of obtaining information-rich data. In the case of biofluids such as blood plasma or serum, which contain a wide range of macromolecules the resonances of which can overlap with peaks from small molecule metabolites, the information giving rise to sample classification can be concealed in a conventional NMR spectrum andthis presents a different analytical challenge in terms of chemometric analysis of spectral profiles. Here, the use of other types of NMR data have been investigated and it is shown that by using spectra where the peak intensities are edited according to their molecular diffusion coefficients, it is possible to improve differentiation of control animals and those treated with the model hepatotoxin, alpha-naphthylisothiocyanate (ANIT). By using diffusion-edited spectroscopy, plasma lipid moieties are less attenuated than those from small endogenous metabolites and thus the toxin-induced changes to the lipoprotein profiles are more easily detectable.     

Controlled synthesis of ternary II-II'-VI nanoclusters and the effects of metal ion distribution on their spectral properties

The reaction of [(3,5-Me(2)-C(5)H(3)N)(2)Zn(ESiMe(3))(2)] (E = Se, Te) with cadmium(II) acetate in the presence of PhESiMe(3) and P(n)Pr(3) at low temperature leads to the formation of single crystals of the ternary nanoclusters [Zn(x)()Cd(10)(-)(x)()E(4)-(EPh)(12)(P(n)()Pr(3))(4)] [E = Se, x = 1.8 (2a), 2.6 (2b); Te, x = 1.8 (3a), 2.6 (3b)] in good yield. The clusters [Zn(3)Hg(7)Se(4)(SePh)(12)(P(n)()Pr(3))(4)] (4) and [Cd(3.7)Hg(6.3)Se(4)(SePh)(12)(P(n)()Pr(3))(4)] (5) can be accessed by similar reactions involving [(3,5-Me(2)-C(5)H(3)N)(2)Zn(SeSiMe(3))(2)] or [(N,N'-tmeda)Cd(SeSiMe(3))(2)] (1) and mercury(II) chloride. The metal silylchalcogenolate reagents are efficient delivery sources of {ME(2)} in cluster synthesis, and thus, the metal ion content of these clusters can be readily moderated by controlling the reaction stoichiometry. The reaction of cadmium acetate with [(3,5-Me(2)-C(5)H(3)N)(2)Zn(SSiMe(3))(2)], PhSSiMe(3), and P(n)()Pr(3) affords the larger nanocluster [Zn(2.3)Cd(14.7)S(4)(SPh)(26)(P(n)()Pr(3))(2)] (6). The incorporation of Zn(II) into {Cd(10)E} (E = Se, Te) and Zn(II) or Cd(II) into {Hg(10)Se} nanoclusters results in a significant blue shift in the energy of the first "excitonic" transition. Solid-state thermolysis of complexes 2 and 3 reveals that these clusters can be used as single-source precursors to bulk ternary Zn(x)Cd(1)(-)(x)E materials as well as larger intermediate clusters and that the metal ion ratio is retained during these reactions.     

Effects of ionic strength and surface charge on protein adsorption at PEGylated surfaces

PEGylated Nb2O5 surfaces were obtained by the adsorption of poly(L-lysine)-g-poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG) copolymers, allowing control of the PEG surface density, as well as the surface charge. PEG (MW 2 kDa) surface densities between 0 and 0.5 nm(-2) were obtained by changing the PEG to lysine-mer ratio in the PLL-g-PEG polymer, resulting in net positive, negative and neutral surfaces. Colloid probe atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize the interfacial forces associated with the different surfaces. The AFM force analysis revealed interplay between electrical double layer and steric interactions, thus providing information on the surface charge and on the PEG layer thickness as a function of copolymer architecture. Adsorption of the model proteins lysozyme, alpha-lactalbumin, and myoglobin onto the various PEGylated surfaces was performed to investigate the effect of protein charge. In addition, adsorption experiments were performed over a range of ionic strengths, to study the role of electrostatic forces between surface charges and proteins acting through the PEG layer. The adsorbed mass of protein, measured by optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy (OWLS), was shown to depend on a combination of surface charge, protein charge, PEG thickness, and grafting density. At high grafting density and high ionic strength, the steric barrier properties of PEG determine the net interfacial force. At low ionic strength, however, the electrical double layer thickness exceeds the thickness of the PEG layer, and surface charges "shining through" the PEG layer contribute to protein interactions with PLL-g-PEG coated surfaces. The combination of AFM surface force measurements and protein adsorption experiments provides insights into the interfacial forces associated with various PEGylated surfaces and the mechanisms of protein resistance.