Preparation of highly dispersible and tumor-accumulative, iron oxide nanoparticles Multi-point anchoring of PEG-b-poly(4-vinylbenzylphosphonate) improves performance significantly

This paper describes the preparation of iron oxide nanoparticles, surface of which was coated with extremely high immobilization stability and relatively higher density of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), which are referred to as PEG protected iron oxide nanoparticles (PEG-PIONs). The PEG-PIONs were obtained through alkali coprecipitation of iron salts in the presence of the PEG-poly(4-vinylbenzylphosphonate) block copolymer (PEG-b-PVBP). In this system, PEG-b-PVBP served as a surface coating that was bound to the iron oxide surface via multipoint anchoring of the phosphonate groups in the PVBP segment of PEG-b-PVBP. The binding of PEG-b-PVBP onto the iron oxide nanoparticle surface and the subsequent formation of a PEG brush layer were proved by FT-IR, zeta potential, and thermogravimetric measurements. The surface PEG-chain density of the PEG-PIONs varied depending on the [PEG-b-PVBP]/[iron salts] feed-weight ratio in the coprecipitation reaction. PEG-PIONs prepared at an optimal feed-weight ratio in this study showed a high surface PEG-chain surface density (≈0.8 chainsnm(-2)) and small hydrodynamic diameter (<50 nm). Furthermore, these PEG-PIONs could be dispersed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) that contains 10% serum without any change in their hydrodynamic diameters over a period of one week, indicating that PEG-PIONs would provide high dispersion stability under in vivo physiological conditions as well as excellent anti-biofouling properties. In fact we have confirmed the prolong blood circulation time and facilitate tumor accumulation (more than 15% IDg(-1) tumor) of PEG-PIONs without the aid of any target ligand in mouse tumor models. The majority of the PEG-PIONs accumulated in the tumor by 96 h after administration, whereas those in normal tissues were smoothly eliminated by 96 h, proving the enhancement of tumor selectivity in the PEG-PION localization. The results obtained here strongly suggest that originally synthesized PEG-b-PVBP, having multipoint anchoring character by the phosphonate groups, is rational design for improvement in nanoparticle as in vivo application. Two major points, viz., extremely stable anchoring character and dense PEG chains tethered on the nanoparticle surface, worked simultaneously to become PEG-PIONs as an ideal biomedical devices intact for prolonged periods in harsh biological environments.     

Proposal for generation of high-intensity monochromatic Cherenkov radiation in THz range by femtosecond electron bunches in impurity-doped semiconductor tube

A novel method to generate high-power THz radiation is proposed. If a beam with a bunch length on the order of 100 fs is injected into an electron–hole plasma of a semiconductor with a plasma frequency on the order of THz, THz wake fields are coherently generated. If the beam moves on the axis of a hollow tube covered by a metal, the frequency spectrum of the radiation is composed of discrete components. Monochromatic radiation is obtained by making only the lowest frequency component coherent.     

Phase behavior of binary mixtures composed of ethylene carbonate and various organic solvents

Phase behaviors of the binary mixtures composed of ethylene carbonate (EC) and aliphatic alcohols, ω-phenyl alcohols, and alkylbenzenes were investigated. In addition, heat of solution of EC into these organic solvents was measured. The EC/methanol and EC/ethanol systems gave homogeneous solution at the temperature above their liquidus lines, while the mixtures of EC and alcohols with longer alkyl chain showed a miscibility gap in a liquid phase and provided the monotectic-type phase diagram. The liquid–liquid phase separation region expanded with the increase in the alkyl chain length. A similar phase behavior was also observed for the mixtures of EC and alkylbenzenes. On the other hand, the EC mixtures with ω-phenyl alcohols showed no miscibility gap in a liquid phase at least up to 4-phenylbutan-1-ol which has C4 alkyl chain intervening between phenyl and hydroxyl groups. This result demonstrates that both of the hydroxyl and phenyl groups act to facilitate the mixing of aliphatic compounds with EC. The phase behavior of these EC mixtures was analyzed applying the modified regular solution model in which the pair interaction energy was regarded as free energy. The model calculation with the use of heat of solution of EC at infinite dilution as the pair interaction enthalpy reproduced well both of the experimentally obtained liquidus line and mutual solubility curve as well as monotectic point.     

Energy relaxation of intermolecular motions in supercooled water and ice: a molecular dynamics study

We investigate the energy relaxation of intermolecular motions in liquid water at temperatures ranging from 220 K to 300 K and in ice at 220 K using molecular dynamics simulations. We employ the recently developed frequency resolved transient kinetic energy analysis, which provides detailed information on energy relaxation in condensed phases like two-color pump-probe spectroscopy. It is shown that the energy cascading in liquid water is characterized by four processes. The temperature dependences of the earlier three processes, the rotational-rotational, rotational-translational, and translational-translational energy transfers, are explained in terms of the density of states of the intermolecular motions. The last process is the slow energy transfer arising from the transitions between potential energy basins caused by the excitation of the low frequency translational motion. This process is absent in ice because the hydrogen bond network rearrangement, which accompanies the interbasin transitions in liquid water, cannot take place in the solid phase. We find that the last process in supercooled water is well approximated by a stretched exponential function. The stretching parameter, β, decreases from 1 to 0.72 with decreasing temperature. This result indicates that the dynamics of liquid water becomes heterogeneous at lower temperatures.     

An LC method for quantifying bepridil in human plasma using 1-naphthol as the internal standard

A modified method for the quantitative determination of bepridil hydrochloride in human plasma is described. This method is unrelated to chemical methods currently in use. The mobile phase is 50 mM phosphate buffer (pH3.0)-methanol-acetonitrile-triethylamine (57:3:40:1, v/v), and the samples are fractionated on a C8-3 column (150 × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) using a flow rate of 0.9 mL/min. Bepridil was detected by UV spectroscopy at 254 nm. The retention times of bepridil and 1-naphthol were 12.6 min and 7.5 min, respectively; there was no interference originating from human plasma. We confirmed that the bepridil and 1-naphthol peaks were not influenced by the presence of 32 commercial medicines frequently co-administered with bepridil. Additionally, the concentration of bepridil in the plasma of five patients treated with bepridil for atrial fibrillation was measured. These samples were collected just before each dosage of bepridil. Their rhythm and rate control were well maintained. Trough concentrations ranged from 233.9 to 347.4 ng/mL, similar to previously reported values.     

Catalysis-based and protecting-group-free total syntheses of the marine oxylipins hybridalactone and the ecklonialactones A, B, and C

Concise and protecting-group-free total syntheses of the marine oxylipins hybridalactone (1) and three members of the ecklonialactone family (2-4) were developed. They deliver these targets in optically pure form in 14 or 13 steps, respectively, in the longest linear sequence; five of these steps are metal-catalyzed and four others are metal-mediated. The route to either 1 or 2-4 diverges from the common building block 22, which is accessible in 7 steps from 2[5H]furanone by recourse to a rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric 1,4-addition reaction controlled by the carvone-derived diene ligand 35 and a ring-closing alkene metathesis (RCM) catalyzed by the ruthenium indenylidene complex 17 as the key operations. Alternatively, 22 can be made in 10 steps from furfural via a diastereoselective three-component coupling process. The further elaboration of 22 into hybridalactone as the structurally most complex target with seven contiguous chiral centers was based upon a sequence of cyclopropanation followed by a vanadium-catalyzed epoxidation, both of which were directed by the same free hydroxy group at C15. The macrocyclic scaffold was annulated to the headgroup by means of a ring-closing alkyne metathesis reaction (RCAM). In response to the unusually high propensity of the oxirane of the targeted oxylipins for ring opening, this transformation had to be performed with complexes of the type [(Ar(3)SiO)(4)Mo≡CPh][K·OEt(2)] (43), which represent a new generation of exceedingly tolerant yet remarkably efficient catalysts. Their ancillary triarylsilanolate ligands temper the Lewis acidity of the molybdenum center but are not sufficiently nucleophilic to engage in the opening of the fragile epoxide ring. A final semireduction of the cycloalkyne formed in the RCAM step to the required (Z)-alkene completed the total synthesis of (-)-1. The fact that the route from the common fragment 22 to the ecklonialactones could follow a similar logic showcased the flexibility inherent to the chosen approach.     

Interaction of ferrocene moieties across a square Pt4 unit: synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical properties of carboxylate-bridged bimetallic Pt4Fe(n) (n = 2, 3, and 4) complexes

Four types of square Pt(4) complexes bearing two or more ferrocenecarboxylate ligands--[Pt(4)(μ-OCOCH(3))(4)(μ-OCOC(5)H(4)FeCp)(4)] (6); [Pt(4)(μ-OCOCH(3))(4)(μ-OCOC(5)H(4)FeCp)(3)(μ-ArNCHNAr)], where ArNCHNAr = N,N'-diarylformamidinate) (7); trans-[Pt(4)(μ-OCOCH(3))(4)(μ-OCOC(5)H(4)FeCp)(2)(μ-ArNCHNAr)(2)] (8); and cis-[Pt(4)(μ-OCOCH(3))(4)(μ-OCOC(5)H(4)FeCp)(2)(κ(4)-N(4)-DArBp)(2)], where DArBp = 1,3-bis(benzamidinato)propane (9)--were successfully prepared via reactions of [FeCp(η(5)-C(5)H(4)COOH)] (5) with the corresponding square Pt(4) complexes, which have labile in-plane acetate ligands. The newly prepared Pt(4) complexes (6-9) with ferrocene moieties as pendants were characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy (MS), combustion analyses, and single-crystal X-ray analysis for 6, some of the trans-Pt(4)Fe(2)8, and the cis-Pt(4)Fe(2) complexes 9. Weak interactions between two ferrocene moieties across the Pt(4) core, providing ΔE(1/2) values and K(c) constants, were revealed electrochemically, using cyclic and differential-pulse voltammetry in dichloromethane containing [(n)Bu(4)N][BAr(F)(4)] (where Ar(F) = C(6)H(3)(CF(3))(2)-3,5), which was a better supporting electrolyte for such an interaction than [(n)Bu(4)N][PF(6)].     

Formation and dielectric properties of anodic oxide films on Zr–Al alloys

Zr–Al alloys containing up to 26 at.% aluminum, prepared by magnetron sputtering, have been anodized in 0.1 mol dm⁻³ ammonium pentaborate electrolyte, and the structure and dielectric properties of the resultant anodic oxide films have been examined by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, and AC impedance spectroscopy. The anodic oxide film formed on zirconium consists of monoclinic and tetragonal ZrO₂ with the former being a major phase. Two-layered anodic oxide films, comprising an outer thin amorphous layer and an inner main layer of crystalline tetragonal ZrO₂ phase, are formed on the Zr–Al alloys containing 5 to 16 at.% aluminum. Further increase in the aluminum content to 26 at.% results in the formation of amorphous oxide layer throughout the thickness. The anodic oxide films become thin with increasing aluminum content, while the relative permittivity of anodic oxide shows a maximum at the aluminum content of 11 at.%. Due to major contribution of permittivity enhancement, the maximum capacitance of the anodic oxide films is obtained on the Zr–11 at.% Al alloy, being 1.7 times than on zirconium at the formation voltage of 100 V.     

Two-carbon ring expansion of cyclobutanone skeletons by nickel-catalyzed intermolecular alkyne insertion

The reaction of cyclobutanone with an alkyne in the presence of a nickel(0) catalyst formally achieves intermolecular alkyne insertion between the carbonyl carbon and the α-carbon of a cyclobutanone, providing a six-membered carbocyclic skeleton.