Solid state a.c. conductivity and FT-IR spectral analyses for the conflicting effects of proton mobility and association in some azophenol derivatives of cyclic phosphazene

Variable strength H-bonding affects the mobility and so electric conduction of protons differently. Also, variable extent mesomerism modifies electric conduction with varying dielectric features. Both these molecular modifiers are properly cited using azophenol derivatives as model compounds for discussion of their consequences in the varying features of electric conduction. The electric permittivity shows low-frequency dispersion characteristic of ionic conduction over mobile charge carries; the mobility shifts at a critical temperature T _c, being structure dependent. The frequency-dependent Z′′-Z′ layout changes with temperature from linear at low temperatures to semicircular above T _c within a frame of temperature-sensitive dipole-ionic mediated conduction. The a.c. conductivity, σ_ac, increases with frequency and temperature and becomes frequency insensitive, like d.c. conductivity, σ_dc, above the T _c because of the escalating contribution from the d.c. conduction. The mesomeric structure seems to prompt a dipole-based electric conduction of high relaxation energy over the strongly associated phenolic protons that may be thermally activated above the T _c into a much lower relaxation energy protonic conduction of up to two orders higher conductivity. The protonic conduction emerges at a T _c that falls with a drop in the relaxation energy following a similar order of increasing proton mobility and mesomerism in the azophenol derivatives: azocatechol>azoquinol>azoresorcinol. On the molecular level, variable temperature infrared spectroscopy reveals higher proton mobility and mesomerism for the azocatechol derivative that demonstrates its higher protonic conductivity at lower T _c and relaxation energy, compared to the azoquinol and azoresorcinol derivatives. This is well verified in the light of conflicting intramolecular H-bonding that assists the proton mobility in azocatechol whereas it associates the protons in azoresorcinol more than in azoquinol. Electronic Publication     

Microwave-assisted extraction of zearalenone from wheat and corn

A microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method has been developed for determination of zearalenone in wheat and corn by LC-MS with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interface (APCI). Matrix effects were minimized by use of matrix-matched standard curves for quantification of the analyte. The limit of quantification (LOQ) of the method was 30 ng g(-1) in wheat and 20 ng g(-1) in corn. The rapid LC-MS method enabled analysis of the extracts without clean-up, thereby reducing analyte losses, the time required for the analytical procedure, and costs. A factorial design approach was used to examine the effect on extraction efficiency of the main extraction conditions - time, temperature, and solvent. On the basis of results from statistical assessment extraction was performed with 1:1 (v/v) methanol-acetonitrile at 80 degrees C for 5 min. When these extraction conditions were applied to a wheat sample from a recently conducted international proficiency test, 92% (103 ng g(-1)) of the assigned zearalenone concentration (112 ng g(-1)) in the test material was obtained. This result was within the uncertainty (u) range of the assigned value of the test material (u=+/-15.8 ng g(-1), alpha=0.05) thereby demonstrating the accuracy of the method was sufficient. The precision of the whole method was also confirmed to be adequate, because the observed relative standard deviation (RSD) of 12% (n=10) also fulfils the quality criteria recommended by European guidelines for in-house method validation.     

Mathematical studies of Kekulé structures

The perfect matching vector and forcing and the Kekulé-vector of cata-benzenoids are defined. Two theorems are given which set the sufficient and necessary conditions for HKZ-vector (Harary et al. J Math Chem 6:295, 1991) and Kekulé-vector in cata-benzenoids. Additional two theorems are obtained which give sharp bounds for the modules of HKZ- and Kekulé vectors. Dedicated to Professor Tadeusz Marek Krygowski on the happy occasion of his 70th birthday.     

High-resolution Hadamard transform microscope fluorescence imaging: quantifying the DNA content in single cells

This study presents a novel miniaturized Hadamard transform fluorescence imaging microscope, by combining a conventional fluorescence microscope with Hadamard transform multiplexing encoding using a one-dimensional movable mask to realize spatial resolution and a linear CCD for multichannel detection. The microscope can provide high-resolution automatically-generated 0–255 gray level HT images for morphological analysis and visualization of a single cell, and normalized HT images for cellular quantitative measurements. The microscopes imaging capability was applied to measure the DNA content in human lymphocyte, chicken erythrocyte and eel erythrocyte, and a comparative study was performed. The results show that the calibrated DNA content in a chicken erythrocyte is 2.32 pg when human lymphocyte is used as the standard, and eel erythrocyte may be a potentially reliable and novel standard for determining DNA contents in other species because it has a stable DNA value of 2.06 pg, with a CV of 4.3% when 20 eel erythrocytes are measured. The results also demonstrate that the HT imaging microscope should be valuable in the fields of medicine and cell biology.     

油菜花粉十二肽的二维核磁共振研究

用核磁共振方法对油菜花粉十二肽溶液构象进行了研究。利用２Ｄ ＣＯＳＹ和ＮＯＥＳＹ归属了＾１Ｈ ＮＭＲ谱的全部共振峰。用Ｋａｒｐｌｕｓ方程从肽键Ｎ－Ｈ质子与α－Ｈ质子的偶合常数计算出了所有肽键的二面角θ及Φ，并对其进行不同温度及不同溶剂条件下的观测。结果表明，在水溶液中该肽链为无规卷曲结构，个别肽段存在γ－ｔｕｒｎ构象。     

Chemische Vitamin D<Subscript>3</Subscript>-Bestimmung in Lebertran

The different aspects of Vitamin D₃ determination and the data reported in the literature are discussed. The spectrophotometric determination of Vitamin D₃ in cod-liver oil is carried out after the alkaline saponification, extraction of unsaponified parts, precipitation of accompanying sterols and the column- and thin-layer chromatographic purification and separation of vitamin D₃ on 40 cm plates from other vitamins. The dyestuff α-naphtholbenzein is suited well as standard substance for the better location and identification of vitamin D₃ zone on the thin-layer plate. The results obtained from the chemical method were checked through the simultaneous biological determination.     

Inclusion-dependent mechanism of modification of cyclodextrins with heterocycles

Mono(6-deoxy-dimethylpyridinium)-β-cyclodextrins have been synthesized in reaction of mono (p-toluenesulfonyl) derivative of β cyclodextrin with the appropriate lutidine under microwave irradiation and conventional conditions. The results indicate that the mechanism consists of inclusion complex formation.     

Analysis of urban dust (PM<Subscript>2</Subscript>/PM<Subscript>10-2</Subscript>) in Daejeon city by instrumental neutron activation analysis

Summary As part of an air pollution monitoring study, airborne particulate matter (PM₂/PM_10-2) samples were collected from 2000 to 2003 at two sampling sites in an urban region, Daejeon, the middle of Korea. Mass concentrations of both fine and coarse fractions and that of the black carbon in the fine particles were measured using the Gent stacked filter unit sampler and the smoke stain reflectometer, respectively. In the collected samples the concentrations of 24 elements were analyzed using instrumental neutron activation analysis. Monitored data were investigated for their temporal trends under different environmental conditions and their seasonal correlation patterns. Crustal enrichment factors were also estimated to establish the contribution between anthropogenic and crustal origin. Patterns for airborne particle matter (APM) and elemental concentrations, seasonal variation of some marker elements were investigated. The results can be applied for the investigation of further air pollution sources and for the evaluation of air quality.     

Water／Oil Biphasic Hydroformylation of Higher Olefins over a TPPTS-Rh／SiO2 Catalyst

A novel TPPTS-Rh/SiO2 catalyst, prepared by directly modifying a heterogeneous high-surface-area Rh/SiO2 catalyst with water-soluble TPPTS ligands, could decrease the resistance of masstransfer in water/oil biphasic media for the hydroformylation of higher olefins. The catalytic performancefor hydroformylation on this biphasic TPPTS-Rh/SiO2 catalyst system was higher than those of thetraditional biphasic HRhCO(TPPTS)3 systems, owing to the chemical bonds between the highly dispersedRh metal particles and the TPPTS ligands. The catalyst system is applicable for hydroformylation ofhigher olefins such as 1-dodecene.     

The influence of cross-linking agents on ring-opening metathesis polymerized thermosets

The addition of suitable cross-linking agents with norbornene-based monomers has significant effects on the thermal properties of the resulting polymers formed by olefin metathesis. Ethylidene norbornene (ENB) and endo-dicyclopentadiene (endo-DCPD) were mixed separately with various loadings of three different cross-linking agents and then polymerized with the addition of Grubbs’ catalyst. The polymerization kinetics and resulting glass transition temperature (T _g) of the systems were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The addition of the first cross-linking agent, norbornadiene (CL-1), to both endo-DCPD and ENB resulted in decreasing glass transition temperatures with increasing concentrations. In contrast, the addition of the other two cross-linking agents (CL-2 and CL-3), which were both custom synthesized bifunctional norbornyl systems, to both endo-DCPD and ENB resulted in a monotonic increases in T _g with cross-linker concentration. By tailoring the loading of these custom cross-linking agents, the properties of these polymer systems can be controlled for various applications, including self-healing composites.