Increased electrochemical detector sensitivity by electrode surface modification

Summary Electrode surface modification by electrochemical pretreatment of glassy carbon electrodes was shown to enhance significantly the sensitivity of the electrodes for the detection of timolol and oxprenolol, but reduce slightly the sensitivity to prenalterol. This method may permit the detection of exprenolol and timolol with increased sensitivity, or may allow their detection at lower applied potentials than is presently possible. Electrode surface modification may prove to be a valuable aid to the detection of compounds that are considered to be outside the practical limits of electrochemical detection.     

Strategies to enhance the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated softwood with high residual lignin content

Pretreatment of Douglas-fir by steam explosion produces a substrate containing approx 43% lignin. Two strategies were investigated for reducing the effect of this residual lignin on enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose: mild alkali extraction and protein addition. Extraction with cold 1% NaOH reduced the lignin content by only approx 7%, but cellulose to glucose conversion was enhanced by about 30%. Before alkali extraction, addition of exogenous protein resulted in a significant improvement in cellulose hydrolysis, but this protein effect was substantially diminished after alkali treatment. Lignin appears to reduce cellulose hydrolysis by two distinct mechanisms: by forming a physical barrier that prevents enzyme access and by non-productively binding cellulolytic enzymes. Cold alkali appears to selectively remove a fraction of lignin from steam-exploded Douglas-fir with high affinity for protein. Corresponding data for mixed softwood pretreated by organosolv extraction indicates that the relative importance of the two mechanisms by which residual lignin affects hydrolysis is different according to the pre- and post-treatment method used.     

Preparation and characterization of individual peptide-wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes

Two challenges for effectively exploiting the remarkable properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) are the isolation of intact individual nanotubes from the raw material and the assembly of these isolated SWNTs into useful structures. In this study, we present atomic force microscopy (AFM) evidence that we can isolate individual peptide-wrapped SWNTs, possibly connected end-to-end into long fibrillar structures, using an amphiphilic alpha-helical peptide, termed nano-1. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and well-resolved absorption spectral features further corroborate nano-1's ability to debundle SWNTs in aqueous solution. Peptide-assisted assembly of SWNT structures, specifically in the form of Y-, X-, and intraloop junctions, was observed in the AFM and TEM images.     

Reactions of diphosphineplatinum(II) oxalate complexes with phenylacetylene. Formation of phenylalkynylplatinum complexes

[Pt(C₂O₄)(dppe)] reacts thermally with PhCCH to produce [Pt(CCPh)₂(dppe)], which has been prepared by alternative routes. Similar treatment of [Pt(C₂O₄)(dppm)] initially produces [Pt(CCPh)₂(dppm)], which rearranges to give cis,cis-[Pt₂(CCPh)₄(μ-dppm)₂]. Reaction of [PtCl₂(dppm)] with PhCCH/KOH/18-crown-6, or with (PhCC)SnMe₃, gives [Pt(CCPh)₂(dppm)], which may be converted to the cis,cis-dimer by addition of oxalic acid. Ultraviolet irradiation or refluxing with a trace amount of dppm converts [Pt(CCPh)₂(dppm)] to trans,trans-[Pt₂(CCPh)₄(μ-dppm)₂], but the cis,cis-dimer is stable under these conditions. [Pt(C₂O₄)L₂] (L = PPh₃, PEt₃) complexes also react thermally with PhCCH to yield [Pt(CCPh)₂L₂] species.     

Antibody properties for chemically reversible biosensor applications

A recently reported fiber-optic sensor based on a homogeneous fluorescence energy-transfer immunoassay operates in a continuous, reversible manner to quantify the anticonvulsant drug phenytoin (5,5-diphenylhydantoin). The chemical kinetics of the two simultaneous antibody-hapten (analyte) and antibody-hapten (labeled indicator) reactions in the sensor are now modeled mathematically. Simulation shows that the chemical response time is controlled by the dissociation rate constant and is independent of the association rate constant, and that an equalibrium chemical response can be achieved in minutes. The sensitivity and dynamic range of the analyte concentration which can be measured depends on the ratio of dissociation rate constants for the labeled and unlabeled hapten reactions, and on the total concentration of reactants in the sensor. The relative concentration ratios of antibody to labeled hapten has little impact on the sensitivity or dynamic range of the system, but can be optimized to provide the maximum amount of labeled hapten availble for instrumental measurement.     

Synthesis of an octahydroindolinone scaffold for a diversity-based chemical compound library

The synthesis of a chemical compound library using diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) is discussed. The library is structurally inspired by the Amaryllidaceae alkaloids, a family of natural products which has been known to demonstrate potent antiviral and antineoplastic activity. Highlights of this work include the rapid, high-yielding construction of the octahydroindolinone core and the solid-phase diversification of the lactam using a neutral phosphazene base.     

Electron spin resonance studies of the radiolysis of bi-π-cyclopentadienylalkyls of molybdenum and tungsten

Exposure of (C₅H₅)₂MO(CH₃)₂ and (C₅H₅)₂W(CH₃)₂, prepared from the corresponding dichlorides, to ²⁰Co γ-rays at 77 K gave H₂C.CML₃ carbene species characterised by their ESR spectra, together with a central feature possibly due to the parent cations. Dilute solutions in CD₃OD gave features assigned to the parent anions which were converted on bleaching with visible light into methyl radicals, and H₂C.ML₃ radicals. From the magnitude of the ¹H and ¹⁸³W hyperfine coupling constants, it is deduced that the SOMO for H₂C.WL₃ radicals is strongly localised on carbon.Dilute solutions in aqueous sulphuric acid also gave species with A(2H) = 20 G, identified as the carbene derivatives, H₂C.Ml₃. These were formed on annealing, as signals assigned to HSO₄ · radicals were lost.     

Complexation of Am(III) and Nd(III) by 1,10-Phenanthroline-2,9-Dicarboxylic Acid

The complexant 1,10-phenanthroline-2,9-dicarboxylic acid (PDA) is a planar tetradentate ligand that is more preorganized for metal complexation than its unconstrained analogue ethylendiiminodiacetic acid (EDDA). Furthermore, the backbone nitrogen atoms of PDA are aromatic, hence are softer than the aliphatic amines of EDDA. It has been hypothesized that PDA will selectively bond to trivalent actinides over lanthanides. In this report, the results of spectrophotometric studies of the complexation of Nd(III) and Am(III) by PDA are reported. Because the complexes are moderately stable, it was necessary to conduct these titrations using competitive equilibrium methods, competitive cation complexing between PDA and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid, and competition between ligand protonation and complex formation. Stability constants and ligand protonation constants were determined at 0.1 mol·L^?1 ionic strength and at 0.5 mol·L^?1 ionic strength nitrate media at 21 ± 1 °C. The stability constants are lower than those predicted from first principles and speciation calculations indicate that Am³⁺ selectivity over Nd³⁺ is less than that exhibited by 1,10-phenanthroline.     

Individuation in Quantum Mechanics and Space-Time

Two physical approaches—as distinct, under the classification of Mittelstaedt, from formal approaches—to the problem of individuation of quantum objects are considered, one formulated in spatiotemporal terms and one in quantum mechanical terms. The spatiotemporal approach itself has two forms: one attributed to Einstein and based on the ontology of space-time points, and the other proposed by Howard and based on intersections of world lines. The quantum mechanical approach is also provided here in two forms, one based on interference and another based on a new Quantum Principle of Individuation (QPI). It is argued that the space-time approach to individuation fails and that the quantum approach offers several advantages over it, including consistency with Leibniz’s Principle of Identity of Indiscernibles.     

Doping highly ordered organic semiconductors: experimental results and fits to a self-consistent model of excitonic processes, doping, and transport

An in-depth study of n-type doping in a crystalline perylene diimide organic semiconductor (PPEEB) reveals that electrostatic attractions between the dopant electron and its conjugate dopant cation cause the free carrier density to be much lower than the doping density. Measurements of the dark currents as a function of field, doping density, electrode spacing, and temperature are reported along with preliminary Hall-effect measurements. The activation energy of the current, E(aJ), decreases with increasing field and with increasing dopant density, n(d). It is the measured change in E(aJ) with n(d) that accounts primarily for the variations between PPEEB films; the two adjustable parameters employed to fit the current-voltage data proved to be almost constants, independent of n(d) and temperature. The free electron density and the electron mobility are nonlinearly coupled through their shared dependences on both field and temperature. The data are fit to a modified Poole-Frenkel-like model that is shown to be valid for three important electronic processes in organic (excitonic) semiconductors: excitonic effects, doping, and transport. At room temperature, the electron mobility in PPEEB films is estimated to be 0.3 cm(2)/Vs; the fitted value of the mobility for an ideal PPEEB crystal is 3.4 +/- 2.7 cm(2)/Vs. The modified Poole-Frenkel factor that describes the field dependence of the current is 2 +/- 1 x 10(-4) eV (cm/V)(1/2). The analytical model is surprisingly accurate for a system that would require a coupled set of nonlinear tensor equations to describe it precisely. Being based on general electrostatic considerations, our model can form the requisite foundation for treatments of more complex systems. Some analogies to adventitiously doped materials such as pi-conjugated polymers are proposed.