[Ru(DMSO)4]Cl2 catalyzes the α-alkylation of ketones by alcohols

The electrophilic α-alkylation of ketones with alcohols was accomplished by a [Ru(DMSO)₄]Cl₂ catalyzed process, water being the only wasted material. The reaction can be successfully governed to produce either the expected ketones or their related alcohols only by changing the reaction conditions. When 2-aminobenzyl alcohol was used, a cyclization process took place to yield 2,3-disubstituted quinolines.     

Rapid determination of beta-aminoisobutyric acid by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

For the determination of beta-aminoisobutyric acid (BAIBA) in urine samples in which the beta-alanine concentrations are higher than those of BAIBA, the resolution between these two amino acids, separated by reversed-phase liquid chromatography on an octadecylsilane column, was optimized. The chromatographic analysis included precolumn derivatization of amino acids with o-phthalaldehyde, followed by a 15-min isocratic elution and detection at 340 nm. Because of its simplicity, this method should be useful for monitoring urinary excretion of BAIBA.     

Production of antitumoral retamycin during fed-batch fermentations of Streptomyces olindensis

Fed-batch runs were performed in order to correlate the production of retamycin, an anthracycline antibiotic produced by Streptomyces olindensis in submerged cultures, with the specific growth rate. Maximum retamycin production was achieved with an exponential feed rate, controlling the specific growth rate at a low value (0.03 h-1, about 10% of the maximum specific growth rate). Control of the specific growth rate at higher values (0.10 and 0.17 h-1) caused a decrease in antibiotic production. Morphology, assessed by image analysis, was shown to be highly relevant in this process. Cell growth mainly in the form of clumps (90% clumps and 10% free filaments) led to better results than growth as clumps (75%) and free filaments (25%).     

Transparent conducting oxides: texture and microstructure effects on charge carrier mobility in MOCVD-derived CdO thin films grown with a thermally stable, low-melting precursor

A series of low-melting, thermally stable cadmium metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) precursors have been synthesized, structurally and spectroscopically characterized, and implemented in growth of highly conductive and transparent CdO thin films. One member of the series, bis(1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro-2,4-pentanedionato)(N,N-diethyl-N',N'-dimethyl-ethylenediamine)cadmium(II), Cd(hfa)(2)()(N,N-DE-N',N'-DMEDA), represents a particularly significant improvement over previously available Cd precursors, owing to the low melting point and robust thermal stability. High-quality CdO films were grown by MOCVD on glass and single-crystal MgO(100) between 300 and 412 degrees C. Film growth parameters and substrate surface have large effects on microstructure and electron carrier transport properties. Enhanced mobilities observed for highly biaxially textured films grown on MgO(100) vs glass are attributed, on the basis of DC charge transport and microstructure analysis, to a reduction in neutral impurity scattering and/or to a more densely packed grain microstructure. Although single-grained films grown on MgO(100) exhibit greater mobilities than analogues with discrete approximately 100 nm grains and similar texture, this effect is attributed, on the basis of charge transport and Hall effect measurements as well as optical reflectivity analysis, to differences in carrier concentration rather than to reduced grain boundary scattering. Unprecedented conductivities and mobilities as high as 11,000 S/cm and 307 cm(2)/V.s, respectively, are obtained for epitaxial single-grained films (X-ray diffraction parameters: fwhm(omega) = 0.30 degrees, fwhm(phi) = 0.27 degrees ) grown in situ on MgO(100) at a relatively low temperature (400 degrees C).     

Conformational dynamics of a bispyridinium cyclophane

A complete study of the conformational behavior of 4,8-diaza-3(1,4),9(4,1)-dipyridina-1,6(1,4)-dibenzenacyclodecaphan-3(1),9(1)-bis(ilium) bishexafluorophosphate is described. This study allows us to conclude that the process observed by which the different chemical shifts of the pyridinium protons show coalescence at a high-temperature 1H NMR is the rotation around the C-N bond, whereas the conformational equilibrium between the four conformers is produced at low temperature.     

A new method for obtaining adsorption isotherms on colloidal suspensions via electrokinetic sonic amplitude measurement

The standard methods for obtaining adsorption isotherms on colloidal suspensions are usually very time consuming and involve a large number of steps and assumptions that increase the experimental errors. In this work, an alternative method is proposed to evaluate the adsorption behavior of electrosteric-stabilized systems based on electrokinetic sonic amplitude signal measurements. The new method, entitled "zeta-sorption", is noticeably less time-consuming when compared to conventional procedures but showed great precision and reliability confirmed by comparison with data obtained from conventional routes on alumina-polyacrylate and alumina-citric acid aqueous suspensions. The experimental conditions that restrict the applicability of the new method were identified and justified by discussing the possible ion exchanges.     

UV index experimental values during the years 2000 and 2001 from the Spanish broadband UV-B radiometric network

An analysis is made of experimental ultraviolet erythemal solar radiation data measured during the years 2000 and 2001 by the Spanish UV-B radiation evaluation and prediction network. This network consists of 16 Robertson-Berger type pyranometers for evaluating solar erythemal radiation and five Brewer spectroradiometers for evaluating the stratospheric ozone. On the basis of these data the Ultraviolet Index (UVI) was evaluated for the measuring stations that are located either in coastal regions or in the more densely populated regions inland on the Iberian Peninsula. It has been checked that in most cases the maximum irradiance values corresponded to solar noon, although there were exceptions that could be explained by cloudiness. The maximum experimental values of the UVI were around 9 during the summer, though frequently passing this value at the inland measurement stations. The annual accumulated dose of irradiation on a horizontal plane has also been studied, as well as the evolution through the year in units of energy, standard erythemal doses and minimum erythemal doses, according to different phototypes.     

Approximate transferability in alkanenitriles

The atomic and bond properties of a series of alkanenitriles were calculated in order to analyze the transferability of the CN, methyl, and methylene groups. The calculations were carried out using the atoms in molecules (AIM) theory on RHF/6‐31++G**// RHF/6‐31G** wave functions obtained for compounds CN–R (R ranging from H to C₁₁H₂₃). Linear correlations between L(Ω) and N(Ω) were used to establish N(CH₂) and N(CH₃) nearly transferable values. Average values and maximum differences to the mean value of several properties were used for classifying the CN group. It shows a transferable behavior along the CN–R series for R>Et. The methyl group presents specific properties when R<Pr. The methylene groups can be classified considering both their position with respect to the end of the chain and the position with respect to the CN group. The atomic energy displays a dependence on the molecular size. Although this behavior does not allow to consider this property as transferable, both the ab initio total electronic molecular energies and the experimental heats of formation can be fitted, by linear regression analysis, as a function of the number of methylene groups. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001     

Ligand-protein docking using a quantum stochastic tunneling optimization method

A novel hybrid optimization method called quantum stochastic tunneling has been recently introduced. Here, we report its implementation within a new docking program called EasyDock and a validation with the CCDC/Astex data set of ligand-protein complexes using the PLP score to represent the ligand-protein potential energy surface and ScreenScore to score the ligand-protein binding energies. When taking the top energy-ranked ligand binding mode pose, we were able to predict the correct crystallographic ligand binding mode in up to 75% of the cases. By using this novel optimization method run times for typical docking simulations are significantly shortened.