Mechanical Properties and Failure Behavior of Physically Assembled Triblock Copolymer Gels with Varying Midblock Length

Mechanical properties including the failure behavior of physically assembled gels or physical gels are governed by their network structure. To investigate such behavior, we consider a physical gel system consisting of poly(styrene)‐poly(isoprene)‐poly(styrene)[PS‐PI‐PS] in mineral oil. In these gels, the endblock (PS) molecular weights are not significantly different, whereas, the midblock (PI) molecular weight has been varied such that we can access gels with and without midblock entanglement. Small angle X‐ray scattering data reveals that the gels are composed of collapsed PS aggregates connected by PI chains. The gelation temperature has been found to be a function of the endblock concentration. Tensile tests display stretch‐rate dependent modulus at high strain for the gels with midblock entanglement. Creep failure behavior has also been found to be influenced by the entanglement. Fracture experiments with predefined cracks show that the energy release rate scales linearly with the crack‐tip velocity for all gels considered here. In addition, increase of midblock chain length resulted in higher viscous dissipation leading to a higher energy release rate. The results provide an insight into how midblock entanglement can possibly affect the mechanical properties of physically assembled triblock copolymer gels in a midblock selective solvent. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 1014–1026     

A Stability Indicating LC Method for Deferasirox in Bulk Drugs and Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms

A novel, sensitive, stability indicating RP-LC method has been developed for the quantitative determination of deferasirox, its related impurities in both bulk drugs and pharmaceutical dosage forms. Efficient chromatographic separation was achieved on a C18 stationary phase with simple mobile phase combination delivered in an isocratic mode and quantitation was by ultraviolet detection at 245 nm. The mobile phase consisted of buffer, acetonitrile and methanol (50:45:5, v/v) delivered at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. Buffer consisted of 10 mM potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate monohydrate, pH adjusted to 3.0 by using orthophosphoric acid. In the developed LC method the resolution (R _s ) between deferasirox and its four potential impurities was found to be greater than 2.0. Regression analysis showed an r value (correlation coefficient) greater than 0.999 for deferasirox and its four impurities. This method was capable to detect all four impurities of deferasirox at a level of 0.002% with respect to test concentration of 0.5 mg mL^?1 for a 10 μL injection volume. The inter- and intra-day precision values for all four impurities and for deferasirox was found to be within 2.0% RSD. The method showed good and consistent recoveries for deferasirox in bulk drugs (98.3–101.1%), pharmaceutical dosage forms (100.2–103.1%) and for its all the four impurities (99.7–102.1%). The test solution was found to be stable in methanol for 48 h. The drug was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. Considerable degradation was found to occur in acid stress hydrolysis. The stress samples were assayed against a qualified reference standard and the mass balance was found close to 99.95%. The developed RP-LC method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness.     

Observations on Solution Crystallization of Poly(vinyl alcohol) in the Presence of Single‐Wall Carbon Nanotubes

PVA/SWNT dispersions yield aloe plant‐like crystals, where the leaves are single crystals templated by PVA coated SWNT. Longer growth times (≈18 months) lead to hexagonal rod‐like crystals. HR‐TEM images show evidence that PVA molecules are aligned parallel to the SWNT axis. WAXD, electron diffraction, and HR‐TEM observations of these aloe plant and hexagonal crystals suggests evidence for possible PVA‐SWNT epitaxy. Wide‐angle and electron diffraction data of these crystals also show that the structure seems to mimic the 2D hexagonal crystal packing of SWNT. PVA lattice images and moiré fringes were also observed in the leaf‐like crystals.

     

A Simple and Rapid Stability Indicating LC Determination of Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride as a Bulk Drug and from Formulations

The present research work discusses the development of a stability indicating reversed phase LC method for determination of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride as a bulk drug and from formulations. The mobile phase selected was water-acetonitrile-triethylamine 75:25:0.1 (v/v/v) adjusted to pH 4.0 with o-phosphoric acid. The calibration curve of the drug was linear in the range 0.25–15 μg mL^?1. The method was accurate and precise with limits of detection and quantitation of 8.01 and 26.7 ng, respectively. Mean percent recovery was 100.71%. The method was used for analysis of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride from pharmaceutical formulations in the presence of its degradation products and commonly used excipients.     

Enantiomeric Separation of Moxifloxacin and Its (R,R)-Isomer by Ligand-Exchange Chiral Chromatography

A new stereospecific LC method for the separation and quantification of moxifloxacin and its (R,R)-enantiomer in bulk drug was developed and validated by ligand-exchange liquid chromatography on a reversed phase column using aqueous mobile phase containing the chiral reagent l-isoleucine-Cu(II). The UV detector was operated at 293 nm. The flow rate of mobile phase was set at 0.9 mL min^?1. The achiral ODS column offers good separation of the two enantiomers in less than 20 min. The test concentration was 1,000 μg mL^?1 in the mobile phase. This method was capable of detecting the (R,R)-enantiomer of moxifloxacin up to 0.1 μg mL^?1 for a 20 μL injection volume. The drug was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. There was no interference of degradants with the (R,R)-enantiomer in the developed method. The developed chiral RP-LC method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision and robustness. The percentage recovery for the (R,R)-enantiomer in bulk drug samples ranged from 98.1 to 104.4%. The test solution was found to be stable in the mobile phase for 48 h after preparation.     

The local structure of protonated water from x-ray absorption and density functional theory

We present a combined x-ray absorption spectroscopy/computational study of water in hydrochloric acid (HCl) solutions of varying concentration to address the structure and bonding of excess protons and their effect on the hydrogen bonding network in liquid water. Intensity variations and energy shifts indicate changes in the hydrogen bonding structure in water as well as the local structure of the protonated complex as a function of the concentration of protons. In particular, in highly acidic solutions we find a dominance of the Eigen form, H(3)O(+), while the proton is less localized to a specific water under less acidic conditions.     

Convergent synthesis and preliminary biological evaluations of the stilbenolignan (+/-)-aiphanol and various congeners

Treatment of an equimolar mixture of stilbene 7 and cinnamyl alcohol 8 with silver carbonate in acetone-benzene afforded a ca. 2:1:2:1 mixture of the stilbenolignan (+/-)-aiphanol (1) and congeners 2-4 each of which show significant anti-angiogenic and COX-2 inhibitory properties.     

Synthesis of hybrid framework materials under "dry" hydrothermal conditions: crystal structure and magnetic properties of Mn(2)(H(2)PO(4))(2)(C(2)O(4))

An exploration of the manganese oxalate-phosphoric acid-water system under hydrothermal conditions, and using "reagent" quantities only of water, has led to the isolation of a new mixed anion framework material Mn(2)(H(2)PO(4))(2)(C(2)O(4)). This material features continuous chains of cis edge-sharing MnO(6) octahedra, a motif which is unique among mixed phosphate-oxalate materials identified so far. These octahedral chains are linked into a three-dimensional framework via corner-sharing with H(2)PO(4) tetrahedra, with oxalate ions acting as a bis-bidentate ligand in the third direction. Magnetic susceptibility studies show that this material may be modeled as an antiferromagnetic, S = (5)/(2) Heisenberg chain, with weaker coupling between the chains.     

Tetraazaadamantane derivatives of group VI metal carbonyls

Summary Tetraazaadamantane (taad) reacts with group VI metal hexacarbonyls to give mononuclear (taad)M(CO)₅ (M=Cr, Mo and W) derivatives. Mixed ligand metal tricarbonyls,cis- (L-L)(taad)M(CO)₃ (L-L=o-phenanthroline or 2,2-bipyridine; M=Cr and Mo) have also been synthesised. Bromine or iodine reacts with (taad)M(CO)₅ (M=Cr and Mo) to give [(taad)M(CO)₅X]⁺X^– (X=Br or I). Nitrosyl chloride reacts with (taad)M(CO)₅ at room temperature to yieldmer- (taad)M(CO)₃NOCl while with the mixed (L-L)(taad)-Mo(CO)₃ complex, a mixture of (L-L)Mo(NO)₂Cl₂ and (L-L)Mo(CO)₂NOCl was obtained. An analogous reaction with (L-L)(taad)Cr(CO)₃, gave only (L-L)Cr(NO)₂Cl₂ derivatives. The products have been characterised by elemental analysis, i.r. spectra, conductivity data and magnetic measurements.