Use of a chiral surfactant for enantioselective reduction of a ketone

The influence of a chiral surfactant and a polymer-supported chiral additive on reduction of ketones using sodium borohydride will be described. Initial preparations involved methylation of (S)-leucinol to give (2S)-N , N-dimethyl-2-amino-4-methyl-1-pentanol (1) (67%). The chiral surfactant (2) was synthesized by reacting (1) with bromohexadecane (71%). The functionalized styrene for the polymer-supported chiral additive (5) was synthesized by reacting (1) with 4-vinylbenzyl chloride. Polymerization was carried out with 10% of the functionalized monomer (4), 5% cross-linking agent divinylbenzene, and 85% styrene with AIBN as the initiator. The activity of the chiral surfactant and polymeric additive were examined by using them as additives in a standard reduction of 2-pentanone with sodium borohydride to yield (R)- and (S)-2-pentanol (3) (20%). The resulting alcohol was analyzed by polarimetry (ee 9.5%) and also esterified with (2S)-methylbutyric acid prior to characterization by NMR. 13C NMR indicated an enantiomeric excess of 5.2% when the chiral surfactant was used, and 7% when the polymeric additive was used.     

Preparation and characterization of C16 monolithic columns for capillary electrochromatography

A series of methacrylamide-based C16 monolithic columns were prepared and characterized to determine how their porous structural properties and chromatographic behavior are affected by the percentages of functional monomer, base monomer, and cross-linker in the polymerization solution. Baseline separation of 6 neutral compounds can be readily obtained in an optimized column. Furthermore, the effects of organic additive in the mobile phase, operating voltages, and temperature on retention behaviors and separation efficiencies were also studied. The separation mechanism is also discussed. High column efficiency and good reproducibility indicate that the monolithic columns hold considerable promise.     

Diffusion characteristics of a T-type microchannel with different configurations and inlet angles.

A series of symmetrical and asymmetrical microfluidic T-sensors with different inlet angles were fabricated to study the mixing characteristics of a T-type microstructure for generating concentration gradient. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations showed that the concentration gradient, transition zone and diffusion length were different for various configurations and inlet angles. Quick mix and sharp concentration gradient occurred in the asymmetrical structure with large inlet angle. The observed concentration gradients in the fabricated microchannel were consistent with the theoretical prediction. In this microstructure, stagnant zone and z-direction diffusion also affected the concentration gradient. Based on the simulation results, the microfluidic structure was optimized to generate desired concentration gradient for a cell-based study.     

A vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometric study of acetone

The photoionization and dissociative photoionization of acetone have been studied at the photon energy range of 8-20 eV. Photoionization efficiency spectra for ions CH3COCH3+, CH3+, C2H3+, C3H3+, C3H5+, CH(2-)CO+, CH3CO+, C3H4O+, and CH3COCH2+ have been measured. In addition, the energetics of the dissociative photoionization has been examined by ab initio Gaussian-3 (G3) calculations. The computational results are useful in establishing the dissociation channels near the ionization thresholds. With the help of G3 results, the dissociation channels for the formation of the fragment ions CH3CO+, CH2CO+, CH3+, C3H3+, and CH3COCH2+ have been established. The G3 results are in fair to excellent agreement with the experimental data.     

LIGHT-SCATTERING STUDY OF POLYELECTROLYTE HOLLOW CAPSULES

Silver halide (AgX) microcrystal was used as template to synthesize hollow polyelectrolyte capsules. These hollow capsules were characterized by laser light scattering (LLS) used to measure the size of the capsules in solution. The ratio of hydrodynamic radius (Rh) from dynamic LLS to the radius of gyration (Rg) from static LLS is almost unity, revealing that the entities are hollow in solution. The results suggest that the LLS method can be regarded as a good complement to the confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) method for the characterization of small hollow capsules, and it possesses the advantage of not needing fluorescence labeling.     

Amperometric biosensor for ethanol based on immobilization of alcohol dehydrogenase on a nickel hexacyanoferrate modified microband gold electrode

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) has been immobilized on a nickel hexacyanoferrate modified microband gold electrode surface by a glutaraldehyde/bovine serum albumin (BSA) cross-linking procedure to provide a new amperometric sensor for the assay of ethanol. The resulting enzyme electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalysis for the oxidation of reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NADH). The amperometric determination is based on the electrochemical detection of NADH which is generated in the enzymatic reaction of ethanol with NAD(+) under catalysis of ADH. The influence of various experimental conditions was examined for the determination of the optimum analytical performance. The sensor responds rapidly to ethanol with a detection limit of (5.0 +/- 0.3) x 10(-7) mol 1(-1). The response current increases linearly with ethanol concentration up to 5 mmol 1(-1). The sensor remains relatively stable for about 1 week.     

High-efficiency, environment-friendly electroluminescent polymers with stable high work function metal as a cathode: green- and yellow-emitting conjugated polyfluorene polyelectrolytes and their neutral precursors

A series of aminoalkyl-substituted polyfluorene copolymers with benzothiadiazole (BTDZ) of different content were synthesized by Suzuki coupling reaction, and their quaternized ammonium polyelectrolyte derivatives were obtained through a postpolymerization treatment on the terminal amino groups. Copolymers are soluble in environmentally friendlier solvents, such as alcohols. It was found that the efficient energy transfer occurs by exciton trapping on the narrow band gap BTDZ site under UV illumination. Only 1% of BTDZ content is needed to completely quench a fluorene emission for both the neutral and the quaternized copolymers in the neat film. Absolute PL efficiencies of copolymer films were greatly enhanced as a result of the suppression of excimer formation. Light-emitting devices fabricated from these copolymers show high external quantum efficiencies over 3% and 1% for the neutral precursor and the quaternized copolymers, respectively, with high work function metals such as Al as a cathode. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on an electroluminescent polymer which bears the high EL efficiency, the electron-injection ability from high work function metals, and the solubility in environment-friendly solvents at the same time. These features make them a promising candidate for the next generation of light-emitting copolymers in PLED flat panel display application.     

Study on synthesis of two-armed polymers containing a crown ether core and their self-assembly behaviors in selective solvents

A series of well-defined two-armed polymers containing a crown ether core, poly(stearyl methacrylate)-crown ether-poly(stearyl methacrylate) (PSMA-crown-PSMA), with different molecular weight were synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The resultant polymers were characterized by ¹H NMR and GPC. The self-assembly behaviors of this kind of polymer in selective solvents were studied by TEM, and it was found that polymers with different molecular weight can directly self-assemble into hollow spheres, solid spheres and a monolayer film with regular pores by varying molecular weight and water content. The possible molecular packing motels for their self-assembly behaviors were proposed.     

A remarkable stereoselectivity switching upon solid-state versus solution-phase enantiodifferentiating photocyclodimerization of 2-anthracenecarboxylic acid mediated by native and 3,6-anhydro-γ-cyclodextrins

The enantiodifferentiating [4+4] photocyclodimerization of anthracenecarboxylic acid (AC) mediated by native, mono- and di-3,6-anhydro-γ-cyclodextrins was investigated in both aqueous solution and solid-state. The solid-state photolyses gave inherently disfavored head-to-head photodimers in much higher chemical and optical yields than in the aqueous solution.