Taking snapshots of photoexcited molecules in disordered media by using pulsed synchrotron X-rays

Photoexcited molecules are quintessential reactants in photochemistry. Structures of these photoexcited molecules in disordered media in which a majority of photochemical reactions take place remained elusive for decades owing to a lack of suitable X-ray sources, despite their importance in understanding fundamental aspects in photochemistry. As new pulsed X-ray sources become available, short-lived excited-state molecular structures in disordered media can now be captured by using laser-pulse pump, X-ray pulse-probe techniques of third-generation synchrotron sources with time resolutions of 30-100 ps, as demonstrated by examples in this review. These studies provide unprecedented information on structural origins of molecular properties in the excited states. By using other ultrafast X-ray facilities that will be completed in the near future, time-resolution for the excited-state structure measurements should reach the femtosecond time scales, which will make "molecular movies" of bond breaking or formation, and vibrational relaxation, a reality.     

Monitoring formation of poly(neutral red) film by EQCM

An electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) is employed for monitoring the growth of poly(neutral red) films on platinum in the electrolytic solution containing 5.0 mmol dm⁻³ neutral red, 0.3 mol dm⁻³ H₂SO₄, and 0.5 mol dm⁻³ Na₂SO₄. The in situ measurement of the frequency changes of the EQCM reveals that both the adsorption/desorption of neutral red and the formation of poly(neutral red) film can be observed together with anion sorption/desorption during the redox transformation of the polymer, and that the polymerization rate of neutral red increases slowly before the 11th cycle and then increases quickly with increasing number of potential cycles. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2007, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 284–289. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Hierarchical Structure‐Within‐Structure Morphologies in A2‐star‐(B‐alt‐C) Molecules

We employ dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) to examine the self‐assembly behavior of A₂‐star‐(B‐alt‐C) molecules. We successfully observe various types of hierarchical structure‐within‐structures, such as A‐formed spheres in the matrix formed by B and C alternating layers, hexagonally packed A‐formed cylinders in the matrix with B and C segregated layers, B and C alternating layers‐within‐lamellae, coaxial B and C alternating domains within hexagonally packed BC‐formed cylinders in the A‐matrix, and co‐centric BC‐alternating domains within BC‐formed spheres in the A‐matrix, by increasing the A composition. Generally speaking, the small length‐scale B and C segregated domains are in parallel to the large length‐scale structures. This hierarchical periodicity along the same axis as well as the various characteristic structures, that the A₂‐star‐(B‐alt‐C) copolymers display, are quite different from those in A‐block‐(B‐graft‐C) coil‐comb copolymers. Moreover, it is interesting to find that when the copolymer chain length increases, though the hierarchical structure type is maintained, the number of small length‐scale lamellae that can form within the large length‐scale structure increases. These hierarchical structures under various compositions are reported theoretically for the first time in the copolymer systems consisting of the alternating blocks, and are in good agreement with the most recent experimental work by Matsushita and co‐workers (Macromolecules 2007 , 40, 4023).     

毛细管电泳法研究提取剂对黄连-黄柏共煎剂中生物碱含量的影响

用毛细管电泳法,对黄连与黄柏配伍后共煎剂中的主要生物碱进行了分析。以50 mmol/L Na2B4O7(pH=7)-CH3OH(85:15,V/V)为背景电解质,操作电压为14 kV,电迁移进样10 kV×5s,柱上223 nm检测,5种主要生物碱9 min内可在50 cm×75μm毛细管上实现基线分离。以小檗碱、巴马汀的提取量为指标,分析了提取剂对提取效果的影响。以30％的乙醇水溶液为提取剂,可得到最大煎出量。     

Structures, stabilities, and electronic and optical properties of c(58) fullerene isomers, ions, and metallofullerenes.

The 1205 classical isomers of fullerene C58, as well as one quasi-fullerene C58 isomer with a heptagonal ring (labeled as Cs:hept) have been investigated by the quantum chemical methods PM3, HCTH/3-21G, and B3LYP/6-31G(d). Isomer C3v:0001, which has the lowest number of adjacent pentagons, is predicted to be the most stable isomer, but the quasi-fullerene isomer Cs:hept is only 2.50 kcal mol-1 higher in energy. Systematic investigations of the electronic properties of C3v:0001 and Cs:hept find that the C3v:0001 isomer has high vertical electron affinity (3.19 eV). The nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICS) value at the center of Cs:hept (-5.1 ppm) is more negative than that of C60 (-2.8 ppm). The NICS value at the center of the heptagonal ring in Cs:hept (-2.5 ppm) indicates weakly aromatic character. In contrast, the C58(6-) and C58(8-) ions of the C3v:0001 and Cs:hept geometries possess large aromatic character, with NICS values between -14.0 and -26.2 ppm. To clarify the thermodynamic stabilities of C58 isomers at different temperatures, the entropy contributions are taken into account on the basis of the Gibbs energy at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. The C3v:0001 isomer prevails in a wide range of temperatures, and the Cs:hept isomer is also an important component around 2800 K. The IR spectra of C58 isomers are simulated to facilitate experimental identification of different isomers. In addition, the electronic spectra and the second-order hyperpolarizabilities are predicted by ZINDO and the sum-over-states model. The static second-order hyperpolarizability of the C3v:0001 isomer is 96.5 % larger than that of C60, and its second-order hyperpolarizabilities at external field frequencies are at least nine times larger than those of C60.     

高效液相色谱荧光检测法测定瓜子中的4-氨基丁酸

在众多的氨基酸中，4-氨基丁酸是一种非蛋白质类氨基酸，它在医学上是一种抑制性神经递质，由于其自身的特点，一些常规的直接测定法灵敏度较低。尽管对其测定有较多报道，但采用柱前衍生的分离测定的报道相对较少，且测定结果不很理想。本实验采用新型荧光试剂咔唑-9-乙基氯甲酸酯(CEOC)作为衍生试剂在Hyperil C18柱上分离测定了4-氨基丁酸(GABA)。结果表明，所建立的方法简单、快速，灵敏度高。     

A basket tetradecavanadate cluster with blue luminescence

A blue luminescent tetradecavanadate compound, [Et4N]5[V14O36Cl], has been synthesized. It possesses an unprecedented half-open basket framework. Through the {ABAB}-type stacking, the {V14O36} clusters form infinite one-dimensional channels with considerable accessible volume in the crystalline state.     

Uniformity of ionization response of structurally diverse analytes using a chip-based nanoelectrospray ionization source

The major drawback of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) for the analysis of mixtures is the non-quantitative nature of these studies. The ionization efficiency of the various components in the mixture (e.g., a compound and its metabolites) can vary greatly and, therefore, relative intensities of signals cannot be related to relative abundance. A chip-based nanoelectrospray ionization source was used to compare the ionization efficiencies of compounds with different physical-chemical characteristics. The data indicate that the ionization efficiencies vary much less with the chip-based device than by LC/MS. This was ascribed to the generation of a much higher electric field around the nozzles, which supplies a large excess of protons to the small droplets and reduces/eliminates the differences in the ionization efficiency for the analytes.     

对硅酸聚合机制反应级数的验证

用胶凝法研究酸化了的不同摩尔比 (Si O2 /Na2 O)的硅酸钠溶液的胶凝速度 ,发现在恒盐条件下 ,硅酸胶凝速度常数是 2 ,这个结果和我们过去所提出的硅酸聚合机制符合一致。     

A Study on Thermal Decomposition of K_3[Fe(CN)_6] and KFe[Fe(CN)_6] in Helium

K3 [Fe(CN)6] and KFe[Fe(CN)6] are classical coordination compounds. However, the mechanism of decomposition reactions has not been well expounded. The gas products of thermal decomposition were examined by gas chroma tography (GC) , and the structure of the solid products by Mossbauer spectroscopy(MS) and X-ray diffraction(XRD). The findings are explained in terms of the theory of coordination chemistry and a decomposition mechanism is proposed in this study. On the basis of various experimental results, the first stage of the decomposition of K3[Fe(CN)6] in He was found to be the evolution of(CN)2 resulting in the reduction of Fe(Ⅲ)12K3 [Fe(CN)6]→9K4[Fe(CN)6] + Fe2 [Fe(CN)6] + 6 ( CN )For KFe [Fe(CN) 6 ], the first stage of decomposition man be represented as6KFe[Fe(CN)6]→3K2Fe[Fe(CN)6] + 2Fe2[Fe(CN)6 + 3(CN)2At higher temperatures, the decomposition of both K3[Fe(CN)6) andKFe[Fe(CN)6] to form KCN and Fe2C was accomplished by the release of(CN)2 and N2.