Nano palladium supported on high‐surface‐area metal–organic framework MIL‐101: an efficient catalyst for Sonogashira coupling of aryl and heteroaryl bromides with alkynes

Palladium nanoparticle‐incorporated metal–organic framework MIL‐101 (Pd/MIL‐101) was successfully synthesized and characterized using X‐ray diffraction, nitrogen physisorption, X‐ray photoelectron, UV–visible and infrared spectroscopies, and transmission electron microscopy. The characterization techniques confirmed high porosity and high surface area of MIL‐101 and high stability of nano‐size palladium particles. Pd/MIL‐101 nanocomposite was investigated for the Sonogashira cross‐coupling reaction of aryl and heteroaryl bromides with various alkynes under copper‐free conditions. The reusability of the catalyst was tested for up to four cycles without any significant loss in catalytic activity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sensitive targeted multiple protein quantification based on elemental detection of Quantum Dots

A generic strategy based on the use of CdSe/ZnS Quantum Dots (QDs) as elemental labels for protein quantification, using immunoassays with elemental mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), detection is presented. In this strategy, streptavidin modified QDs (QDs-SA) are bioconjugated to a biotinylated secondary antibody (b-Ab₂). After a multi-technique characterization of the synthesized generic platform (QDs-SA-b-Ab₂) it was applied to the sequential quantification of five proteins (transferrin, complement C3, apolipoprotein A1, transthyretin and apolipoprotein A4) at different concentration levels in human serum samples. It is shown how this generic strategy does only require the appropriate unlabeled primary antibody for each protein to be detected. Therefore, it introduces a way out to the need for the cumbersome and specific bioconjugation of the QDs to the corresponding specific recognition antibody for every target analyte (protein). Results obtained were validated with those obtained using UV–vis spectrophotometry and commercial ELISA Kits.     

Design and investigation of UV image detectors

The results of investigation of optical image detectors designed for the largest problem, near-VUV, range of the spectrum are presented. The possibility of using a dual-stage image detection system to appreciably lower the sensitivity threshold and make computer data processing feasible is considered. The integration of a UV module into a wideband image detector is studied.     

Two fluoro compounds of main group elements: Synthesis,characterization, theoretical and spectroscopic study

Two new compounds of fluorine: (C₂H₅)₄N[I₂F] and (C₂H₅)₄N[Br₂F], have been easily synthesized in a nearly quantitative by a direct reaction of (C₂H₅)₄NF, I₂ and Br₂. The products were isolated and characterized by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods such as: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). These compounds have been studied computationally with the Scalar ZORA relativistic level of theory using the ADF program package. The molecular parameters, and vibrational spectra were calculated. The excitation energies were found by timedependent perturbation density functional theory (TD-DFT). Molecule optimization, frequencies and excitation energies were calculated with standard Slatertype-orbital (STO) basis sets with triple-zeta quality double plus polarization functions (TZ2P) for all atoms. The FTIR, UV-Vis spectra and assignment of principal transitions and total density of state (TDOS) were extracted using the GaussSum 2.2 program. The comparison between experimental and calculated values showes that the experimental results correlate well with the predicted data.