Development of a chemical vapor sensor using piezoelectric quartz crystals with coated unusual lipids

Piezoelectric quartz crystal sensors were developed using lipids with various properties for highly sensitive detection of chemical vapors. Lipids with varying lengths of alkyl chains were coated onto 10 MHz AT-cut quartz crystal resonators and the response of these modified crystals to chemical vapors were measured. It was shown that hydrophilic compounds, such as ethanol and methanol, could be recognized efficiently by lipids having shorter alkyl chains, whereas lipids with longer alkyl chains showed affinity to more hydrophobic vapors, such as toluene, hexane and cyclohexane. Frequency changes caused by adsorption of alcohols could be enhanced when cholesterol was co-immobilized in the lipid layer. To confirm the assumption that the sensor-response might be affected by the properties of lipids derived from acyl chains, we have examined the effects of two types of newly synthesized unusual lipids on sensor response. When lipids having one triple bond each at different positions on their alkyl chains were coated onto quartz crystals separately, lower responses were observed compared to responses obtained for a sensor with immobilized, saturated phosphatidylcholine. Lipids containing -branched acyl chains, however, showed good affinity for organic vapors, and sensor responses improved 4–5-fold. Moreover, these sensors were shown to have sensitivity of the same order as the humans' sense of smell (10⁻⁵–10⁻⁶ w/w in liquid paraffin) when measured using standard odorants (isovaleric acid, skatole, etc.) for an olfactometry established in Japan.     

Cycloadditionsreaktionen der aminofluorsilane

Aminofluorsilanes are obtained by the reaction of fluorosilanes with the lithium salts of the corresponding amines. The reaction of aminofluorosilanes with butyllithium in a (2 + 2)cyclo addition reaction leads to the formation of fourmembered silicon-nitrogen ring compounds. The mechanism of the reaction is discussed, the mass, ¹H and ¹⁹F NMR spectra of the compounds are reported.     

Exact convergence rates for the bounded law of the iterated logarithm in Hilbert space

Summary In a previous paper we obtained upper and lower class type results refining the bounded LIL for sums of iid Hilbert space valued mean zero random variables, whose covariance operators satisfy certain regularity assumptions. We now establish precise convergence rates for the bounded LIL in the non-regular case. It turns out that the almost sure behavior in this case is entirely different from the behavior in the previous situation.Supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 90-05804     

Influence of solvents on the insertion of methacrolein into zirconacyclopropenes

The reaction of Cp₂Zr(L)(η²-Me₃SiC₂) (L = THF, py) with equimolar amounts of H₂C = CMe-CHO at room temperature depends strongly on the ligands L and the solvents that are used. With L = THF, in the THF solution the insertion product

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1 was isolated, whereas by conducting the reaction in n-hexane solution an alkyne substitution with 1,4-coordination of the methacrolein takes place and the binuclear complex [

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2 was obtained. In conttrast, with L = py (a stronger ligand) only a 1:1 ratio of 1 and 2 was observed in both THF and in n-hexane. At 50°C complex 1 was converted into 2 and the alkyne was eliminated quantitatively.

Complexes 1 and 2 were characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopical measurements and 1 by an additional X-ray structure determination.     

Fluorsilylsubstituierte N,N- und N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)-hydroxylamine

Fluoro- und aminofluoro-silanes react with the lithium salt of N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamine under LiF elimination and substitution. Alkyl- and amino-fluorosilanes give O-fluorosilyl-N,N-bis(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamines, arylfluorosilanes give N-fluorosilyl-N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamines. By the further reaction of O-difluorosilyl-N,N-bis(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamine with the lithiated hydroxylamine, O,O′-fluoromethylsilyldi[N,N-bis(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamine] is formed. On heating N-difluorophenylsilyl-N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamine di[fluorophenylsilyl(methyl)amino]pentamethylsiloxane is formed by methyl group migration. The NMR and mass spectra of the compounds are reported.     

Radiolabelling of TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles for radiotracer studies

Industrially manufactured titanium dioxide nanoparticles have been successfully radiolabelled with ⁴⁸V by irradiation with a cyclotron-generated proton beam. Centrifugation tests showed that the ⁴⁸V radiolabels were stably bound within the nanoparticle structure in an aqueous medium, while X-ray diffraction indicated that no major structural modifications to the nanoparticles resulted from the proton irradiation. In vitro tests of the uptake of cold and radiolabelled nanoparticles using the human cell line Calu-3 showed no significant difference in the uptake between both batches of nanoparticles. The uptake was quantified by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and high resolution γ-ray spectrometry for cold and radiolabelled nanoparticles, respectively. These preliminary results indicate that alterations to the nanoparticles’ properties introduced by proton bombardment can be controlled to a sufficient extent that their further use as radiotracers for biological investigations can be envisaged and elaborated.     

On the Origin of Primitive Cells: From Nutrient Intake to Elongation of Encapsulated Nucleotides

Recent major discoveries in membrane biophysics hold the key to a modern understanding of the origin of life on Earth. Membrane bilayer vesicles have been shown to provide a multifaceted microenvironment in which protometabolic reactions could have developed. Cell‐membrane‐like aggregates of amphiphilic molecules capable of retaining encapsulated oligonucleotides have been successfully created in the laboratory. Sophisticated laboratory studies on the origin of life now show that elongation of the DNA primer takes place inside fatty acid vesicles when activated nucleotide nutrients are added to the external medium. These studies demonstrate that cell‐like vesicles can be sufficiently permeable to allow for the intake of charged molecules such as activated nucleotides, which can then take part in copying templates in the protocell interior. In this Review we summarize recent experiments in this area and describe a possible scenario for the origin of primitive cells, with an emphasis on the elongation of encapsulated nucleotides.     

New Cyclic and Polycyclic Ring Systems Containing Group 14 (Si,Ge, Sn) and 16 (S,Se, Te) Elements

The reactions of Me₂MCl₂ (M = Si, Ge, Sn), Si₂Me₄Cl₂, Si₂Me₂Cl₃, Si₂Me₂Cl₄ and CH₂(SiCl₂Me)₂, and suitable mixtures thereof, with H₂S / NEt₃ and Li₂E (E = Se, Te) have been investigated and lead to a variety of new group 14 chalcogenide systems.