Enhancing effect of DNA on chemiluminescence from the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by copper(II)

In the absence of any special luminescence reagent, emission of weak chemiluminescence has been observed during the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by copper(II) in basic aqueous solution. The intensity of the chemiluminescence was greatly enhanced by addition of DNA and was strongly dependent on DNA concentration. Based on these phenomena, a flow-injection chemiluminescence method was established for determination of DNA. The chemiluminescence intensity was linear with DNA concentration in the range 2×10^–7–1×10^–5 g L^–1 and the detection limit was 4.1×10^–8 g L^–1 (S/N=3). The relative standard deviation was less than 3.0% for 4×10^–7 g L^–1 DNA (n=11). The proposed method was satisfactorily applied for determination of DNA in synthetic samples. The possible mechanism of the CL reaction is discussed.     

The Degree of Disorder in Hardwood Kraft Pulps Studied by Means of LODP

The amount of disordered material in two types of hardwood kraft pulps was estimated by determining the weight loss at the point where the levelling-off degree of polymerisation (LODP) was reached. The pulps used were commercial pulps viz (1)one conventional birch kraft and (2)one mixed hardwood (MHW) kraft pulp that had been prehydrolysed prior to cooking. The results indicated that the hemicellulose xylan is closely associated with the cellulose in commercial birch pulps. It is therefore only possible to use LODP as a measure of the crystallite length of hardwood cellulose in highly purified pulps, such as prehydrolysed kraft pulp. A model explaining the LODP-results is proposed.     

A combination atmospheric pressure LC/MS:GC/MS ion source: Advantages of dual AP-LC/MS:GC/MS instrumentation

Modification of commercial LC/MS instrumentation to allow both atmospheric pressure (AP) LC/MS and GC/MS is described. Advantages of this additional capability versus LC/MS alone include higher chromatographic resolution in the GC versus LC mode, greater peak capacity for complex mixture analysis, higher sensitivity for a variety of volatile compounds, and the ability to observe compounds of low polarity that are not readily observed in LC/MS. Advantages over conventional GC/MS include the ability to use higher carrier gas flow and shorter columns for passing less volatile materials through the gas chromatograph, selective ionization, and rapid switching between positive and negative ion modes. Other advantages include application of the enhanced capabilities of LC/MS instrumentation to GC/MS analyses such as cone voltage fragmentation, MS(n), high mass resolution, and accurate mass measurement. Limitations of APGC/MS include the inability to observe saturated hydrocarbon and certain other highly nonpolar compounds and less odd-electron fragmentation for computer aided library searching. For some analyses, the limitation related to ionization of highly nonpolar compounds is advantageous, as is the simplified mass spectrum and easy molecular weight identification that results from less fragmentation observed in the AP ionization mode.     

Selective hydrogenation by Pd nanoparticles embedded in polyelectrolyte multilayers

Alternating adsorption of poly(acrylic acid) and a polyethylenimine-Pd(II) complex on alumina and subsequent reduction of Pd(II) by NaBH4 yield catalytic Pd nanoparticles embedded in multilayer polyelectrolyte films. The polyelectrolytes limit aggregation of the particles and impart catalytic selectivity in the hydrogenation of alpha-substituted unsaturated alcohols by restricting access to catalytic sites. Hydrogenation of allyl alcohol by encapsulated Pd(0) nanoparticles can occur as much as 24-fold faster than hydrogenation of 3-methyl-1-penten-3-ol. Additionally, the nanoparticle/polyelectrolyte system suppresses unwanted substrate isomerization, when compared to a commercial palladium catalyst. Selective diffusion through poly(acrylic acid)/polyethlyenimine membranes suggests that hydrogenation selectivities are due to different rates of diffusion to nanoparticle catalysts. First-order kinetics are also consistent with a diffusion-limited mechanism. Further exploitation of the versatility of polyelectrolyte films should increase selectivity in hydrogenation as well as other reactions.     

Dispersed fluorescence spectroscopy of primary and secondary alkoxy radicals

Dispersed fluorescence (DF) spectra of 1-propoxy, 1-butoxy, 2-propoxy, and 2-butoxy radicals have been observed under supersonic jet cooling conditions by pumping different vibronic bands of the B-X laser induced fluorescence excitation spectrum. The DF spectra were recorded for both conformers of 1-propoxy, three conformers of the possible five of 1-butoxy, the one possible conformer of 2-propoxy, and two conformers of the possible three of 2-butoxy. Analysis of the spectra yields the energy separations of the vibrationless levels of the ground X and low-lying A electronic state as well as their vibrational frequencies. In all cases, the vibrational structure of the DF spectra is dominated by a CO stretch progression yielding the nuCO stretching frequency for the X state and in most cases for the A state. In addition to the experimental work, quantum chemical calculations were carried out to aid the assignment of the vibrational levels of the X state and for some conformers the A state as well. Geometry optimizations of the different conformers of the isomers were performed and their energy differences in the ground states were determined. The results of the calculation of the energy separations of the close-lying X and A states of the different conformations are provided for comparison with the experimental observations.     

Diamond paste-based electrodes for determination of Cr(III) in pharmaceutical compounds

A new class of monocrystalline diamond paste-based electrodes is proposed for the determination of chromium(III) at trace levels in vitamins. Three types of monocrystalline diamond—natural diamond 1 (natural diamond), synthetic diamond 50 (synthetic-1), and synthetic diamond 1 (synthetic-2)—were used for electrode construction. The linear concentration ranges are between 10^–10 and 10^–8; 10^–9 and 10^–7, and 10^–10 to 10^–8 mol L^–1, with limits of detection of 10^–12, 10^–12, and 10^–11 mol L^–1, when natural diamond, synthetic-1, and synthetic-2, respectively, are used as electrode materials. For electrodes based on natural diamond and synthetic-1 it was found that Cr(III) yields a peak at about +0.275±0.015 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) within a predetermined positive potential range situated between +0.4 and +0.2 V, while for the electrode based on synthetic-2 the peaks are found at +0.300±0.015 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The proposed method is reliable for the determination of chromium(III) at trace levels in two vitamin tablets (RSD<0.2%).     

Synthesis and applications of poly(acryl<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-aminobenzenesulfonamideamidine-<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-aminobenzenesulfonylamide) chelating fiber for pre-concentrating and separating trace Bi(III), Hg(III), Au(III) and Pd(IV) from solution samples

Poly(acrylp-aminobenzenesulfonamideamidine-p-aminobenzenesulfonylamide) chelating fiber containing "S", "N", and "O" elements was synthesized from polyacrylonitrile fiber and p-aminobenzene sulfonamide and used to enrich and separate trace Bi(III), Hg(III), Au(III), and Pd(IV) ions from wastewater and ore sample solution. The enrichment acidity, flow rate, elution conditions, reuse, interference ions, saturated adsorption capacity, constant of adsorption rate, analytical accuracy, and actual samples on chelating fiber were investigated by means of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) with satisfactory results. Solutions of 100 ng mL^–1 of Bi(III), Hg(III), Au(III), and Pd(IV) ions can be enriched quantitatively by this chelating fiber at a rate of 1.0 mL min^–1 at pH 4 and desorbed quantitatively with 20 mL of 0.25 M HCl and 2% CS(NH₂)₂ solution at 50 °C (with recovery 97%). When the chelating fiber was reused for 20 times, the recoveries of the analyzed ions enriched by the fiber were still over 95% (except for Hg(III)). One thousand-fold excesses of Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cu²⁺, Ni²⁺, Al³⁺, and Ba²⁺ ions and thousands-fold excesses of Na⁺ and K⁺ cause little interference in the pre-concentration and determination of the analyzed ions. The saturated adsorption capacity of Bi(III), Hg(III), Au(III), and Pd(IV) was 4.850×10^–4, 3.235×10^–4, 2.807×10^–4, and 3.386×10^–4 mol g^–1, respectively. The constants of adsorption rate were 0.409 min^–1 for Bi, 0.122 min^–1 for Hg, 0.039 min^–1 for Au, and 0.080 min^–1 for Pd. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for the enrichment and determination of 10 ng mL^–1 Bi(III), Hg(III), Au(III), and Pd(IV) were lower than 2.3%. The results obtained for these ions in actual samples by this method were basically in agreement with the given values with average errors of less than 1.0%. FT-IR spectra shows that the existence of –SO₂–Ar, –H₂N–Ar, O=C–NH–, HN=C–NH–, and –HN–SO₂ functional groups are verified in the chelating fiber. From the FT-IR spectroscopy, we can see that Hg(III), Au(III), and Pd(IV) are mainly combined with nitrogen and sulfur (or oxygen), and Bi(III) is mainly combined with nitrogen (or oxygen) of the groups to form a chelating complex.     

What controls the melting properties of DNA-linked gold nanoparticle assemblies?

We report a series of experiments and a theoretical model designed to systematically define and evaluate the relative importance of nanoparticle, oligonucleotide, and environmental variables that contribute to the observed sharp melting transitions associated with DNA-linked nanoparticle structures. These variables include the size of the nanoparticles, the surface density of the oligonucleotides on the nanoparticles, the dielectric constant of the surrounding medium, target concentration, and the position of the nanoparticles with respect to one another within the aggregate. The experimental data may be understood in terms of a thermodynamic model that attributes the sharp melting to a cooperative mechanism that results from two key factors: the presence of multiple DNA linkers between each pair of nanoparticles and a decrease in the melting temperature as DNA strands melt due to a concomitant reduction in local salt concentration. The cooperative melting effect, originating from short-range duplex-to-duplex interactions, is independent of DNA base sequences studied and should be universal for any type of nanostructured probe that is heavily functionalized with oligonucleotides. Understanding the fundamental origins of the melting properties of DNA-linked nanoparticle aggregates (or monolayers) is of paramount importance because these properties directly impact one's ability to formulate high sensitivity and selectivity DNA detection systems and construct materials from these novel nanoparticle materials.     

Dimeric water embedded within a hydrophobic cavity of tetra-(p-tert-butyl)thiacalix[4]arene

X-ray crystallographic analysis and density functional B3LYP/6-31G(d) calculation confirm that dimeric water is embedded within a hydrophobic cavity of tetra-(p-tert-butyl)thiacalix[4]arene and stabilized by hydrogen bondings of aromatic π?H₂O(1) and methyl?H₂O(2) in the dimeric water inclusion complex with binding energies of 1.4 and 0.9 kcal mol⁻¹ respectively, and by hydrogen bonding formed between H₂O(2) and four phenolic OH groups from an adjacent tetra-(p-tert-butyl)thiacalix[4]arene, with binding energy of 3.8-4.2 kcal mol⁻¹.     

New resveratrol oligomers in the stem bark of Vatica pauciflora

Five new resveratrol oligomers; pauciflorols A-C (1-3), isovaticanols B (6) and C (8), and three new oligostilbene glucosides; pauciflorosides A (11), B (13), C (14), were isolated from the stem bark of Vatica pauciflora (Dipterocarpaceae) together with known 17 resveratrol oligomers (4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12 and 15-25) and bergenin (26). The structures of isolates were established on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis. The typical and characteristic spectral properties of some resveratrol oligomers were also discussed.