Inclusion complexes of cryptophane-E with dichloromethane and chloroform: A thermodynamic and kinetic study using the 1D-EXSY NMR method

Complexation equilibria and kinetics of exchange of chloroform and dichloromethane molecules between the cavity of cryptophane-E and bulk solution were investigated using NMR methods. Using one-dimensional magnetization transfer (1D-EXSY type sequence), chemical exchange rates were measured in different temperature ranges, limited by the equilibrium constant values of the complexes and the boiling points of the guest substances. From the kinetic data, activation energies were calculated using the Arrhenius equation. From the temperature-dependence of the association constant data, the enthalpy and entropy of complexation were estimated and compared with values for similar complexes of other cryptophanes.     

Quadruple systems with independent neighborhoods

A 4-graph is odd if its vertex set can be partitioned into two sets so that every edge intersects both parts in an odd number of points. Let

     

Modeling the structure formation of particulate langmuir films: the effect of polydispersity

Two-dimensional molecular dynamics computer simulation has been developed to model the compression of Langmuir films composed of spherical nanoparticles with arbitrary size distribution. We demonstrate that the usual assumption in the determination of interparticle potentials from the surface pressure vs area isotherms (i.e., monodisperse particles in perfect hexagonal order) leads to a systematic overestimation of the characteristic length of the interaction. On the basis of the results of the simulation, we propose a correction method to improve the traditional way of determining the interparticle potentials. We use the corrected particle-particle interactions to explore the correlation between the broadness of the size distribution and several structural parameters (decay length of pair-correlation function, global orientational order parameter, mean, and standard deviation of number of neighbors). Due to the uniaxial compression and the stiffness of the particulate layer, the surface pressure is not a scalar field. We investigate the effect of polydispersity on the anisotropy and the fluctuation of the surface pressure tensor in Langmuir films during uniaxial compression.     

Structure of low-density nanoporous dielectrics revealed by low-vacuum electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering

Aerogels (AGs) are ultralow-density nanoporous solids that have numerous potential applications. However, as most AGs are strong insulators with poor mechanical properties, direct studies of the complex nanoporous structure of AGs by methods such as atomic force and conventional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have not proven feasible. Here, we use low-vacuum SEM to image directly the ligament and pore size and shape distributions of representative AGs over a wide range of length scales (approximately 100-105 nm). The structural information obtained is used for unambiguous, real-space interpretation of small-angle X-ray scattering curves for these complex nanoporous systems. Low-vacuum SEM permits imaging of both cross-sections and skin layers of AG monoliths. Images of skin layers reveal the presence of microcracks, which alter the properties of cast monolithic AGs.     

A bridge to coordination isomer selection in lanthanide(III) DOTA-tetraamide complexes

Interest in macrocyclic lanthanide complexes such as DOTA is driven largely through interest in their use as contrast agents for MRI. The lanthanide tetraamide derivatives of DOTA have shown considerable promise as PARACEST agents, taking advantage of the slow water exchange kinetics of this class of complex. We postulated that water exchange in these tetraamide complexes could be slowed even further by introducing a group to sterically encumber the space above the water coordination site, thereby hindering the departure and approach of water molecules to the complex. The ligand 8O2-bridged DOTAM was synthesized in a 34% yield from cyclen. It was found that the lanthanide complexes of this ligand did not possess a water molecule in the inner coordination sphere of the bound lanthanide. The crystal structure of the ytterbium complex revealed that distortions to the coordination sphere were induced by the steric constraints imposed on the complex by the bridging unit. The extent of the distortion was found to increase with increasing ionic radius of the lanthanide ion, eventually resulting in a complete loss of symmetry in the complex. Because this ligand system is bicyclic, the conformation of each ring in the system is constrained by that of the other; in consequence, inclusion of the bridging unit in the complexes means only a twisted square, antiprismatic coordination geometry is observed for lanthanide complexes of 8O2-bridged DOTAM.     

The mandelamide keto-enol system in aqueous solution. Generation of the enol by hydration of phenylcarbamoylcarbene

Flash photolysis of diazophenylacetamide in aqueous solution produced phenylcarbamoylcarbene, whose hydration generated a transient species that was identified as the enol isomer of mandelamide. This assignment is based on product identification and the shape of the rate profile for decay of the enol transient, through ketonization to its carbonyl isomer, as well as by the form of acid-base catalysis of and solvent isotope effects on the decay reaction. Rates of enolization of mandelamide were also determined, by monitoring hydrogen exchange at its benzylic position, and these, in combination with the ketonization rate measurements, gave the keto-enol equilibrium constant pK(E) = 15.88, the acidity constant of the enol ionizing as an oxygen acid, pQ(E)(a)= 8.40, and the acidity constant of the amide ionizing as a carbon acid pQ(K)(a)= 24.29. (These acidity constants are concentration quotients applicable at ionic strength = 0.10 M.) These results show the enol content and carbon acid strength of mandelamide, like those of mandelic acid and methyl mandelate, to be orders of magnitude less than those of simple aldehydes and ketones; this difference can be attributed to resonance stabilization of the keto isomers of mandelic acid and its ester and amide derivatives, through electron delocalization into their carbonyl groups from the oxygen and nitrogen substituents adjacent to these groups. The enol of mandelamide, on the other hand, again like the enols of mandelic acid and methyl mandelate, is a substantially stronger acid than the enols of simple aldehydes and ketones. This difference can be attributed to the electronegative nature of the oxygen and nitrogen substituents geminal to the enol hydroxyl group in the enols of mandelic acid and its derivatives; in support of this, the acidity constants of these enols correlate well with field substituent constants of these geminal groups.     

Liposaccharide-based nanoparticulate drug delivery system

A series of anionic liposaccharide derivatives were synthesized in order to develop a system, which would have the capacity to act as an absorption enhancer and to improve oral bioavailability of drugs. The addition of a liposaccharide to a drug enhances drug stability against enzymatic degradation, while the lipophilicity can be controlled by variation of the lipid side chain. All liposaccharide derivatives were purified and fully characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The thermodynamic profiles, critical aggregation concentrations and size of the synthesized liposaccharides were determined by isothermal titration microcalorimetry, transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. These liposaccharides formed nanoparticles with sizes below 100 nm.     

Impact of Gd3+ on DNP of [1-13C]pyruvate doped with trityl OX063, BDPA, or 4-oxo-TEMPO

Hyperpolarized [1-(13)C]pyruvate has become an important diagnostic tracer of normal and aberrant cellular metabolism for in vitro and in vivo NMR spectroscopy (MRS) and imaging (MRI). In pursuit of achieving high NMR signal enhancements in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) experiments, we have performed an extensive investigation of the influence of Gd(3+) doping, a parameter previously reported to improve hyperpolarized NMR signals, on the DNP of this compound. [1-(13)C]Pyruvate samples were doped with varying amounts of Gd(3+) and fixed optimal concentrations of free radical polarizing agents commonly used in fast dissolution DNP: trityl OX063 (15 mM), 4-oxo-TEMPO (40 mM), and BDPA (40 mM). In general, we have observed three regions of interest, namely, (i) a monotonic increase in DNP-enhanced nuclear polarization P(dnp) upon increasing the Gd(3+) concentration until a certain threshold concentration c(1) (1-2 mM) is reached, (ii) a region of roughly constant maximum P(dnp) from c(1) until a concentration threshold c(2) (4-5 mM), and (iii) a monotonic decrease in P(dnp) at Gd(3+) concentration c > c(2). Of the three free radical polarizing agents used, trityl OX063 gave the best response to Gd(3+) doping, with a 300% increase in the solid-state nuclear polarization, whereas addition of the optimum Gd(3+) concentration on BDPA and 4-oxo-TEMPO-doped samples only yielded a relatively modest 5-20% increase in the base DNP-enhanced polarization. The increase in P(dnp) due to Gd(3+) doping is ascribed to the decrease in the electronic spin-lattice relaxation T(1e) of the free radical electrons, which plays a role in achieving lower spin temperature T(s) of the nuclear Zeeman system. These results are discussed qualitatively in terms of the spin temperature model of DNP.     

Self-organised microdots formed by dewetting in a highly volatile liquid

Dewetting induced self-organisation was used to prepare an ordered microstructure from a highly volatile liquid. Dewetting of an evaporating iron oxide precursor solute on silicon substrate resulted in arrays of microdots with nearly hexagonal and tetragonal symmetries. Ordered structures form either by stick-slip motion or fingering instability at the receding contact line of evaporating droplets. Subsequent thermal treatment at 550 °C yields crystalline Fe(2)O(3) microdots with a diameter range of 1-4 μm. The size, density and shape of the microdots can be changed by using patterned substrates with different surface energies.