Imide-siloxane block copolymer/silica hybrid membranes: preparation, characterization and gas separation properties

Imide-siloxane block copolymer/silica hybrid membranes with covalent bonds were prepared via sol–gel reaction. The structural informations of these hybrid membranes were obtained by using Fourier transform-infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), ²⁹Si nuclear magnetic resonance (²⁹Si NMR), XPS and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The gas separation properties of the hybrid membranes were also investigated in terms of organosiloxane (PDMS) or silica content at various temperatures. In the hybrids, the addition of PDMS phase increased the permeabilities of gases such as He, CO₂, O₂, and N₂, indicating that the gas transport occurred mainly through rubbery organic matrix. Meanwhile, the PDMS phase contributed the decreased gas selectivities to nitrogen but the reduction in selectivities was very small in comparison with other siloxane containing polymeric membranes. This might be due to the restriction of chain mobility by the existence of inorganic component such as silica network in the hybrids. Additionally, the increase of silica content in these hybrid membranes considerably retarded the falling-off of gas selectivity at elevated temperature. The increase of silica content in hybrid membranes resulted in well-formed silica networks and hence these inorganic components restricted the plasticization of organic matrix by the thermal segmental motion of organic components, leading to preventing the large decrease of the gas selectivity.     

Direct observation of an intermediate state for a surface photochemical reaction initiated by hot electron transfer

The photoinduced charge transfer that had been suggested to result in the dissociation of phenol on Ag(111) was investigated by two-photon photoemission spectroscopy. An unoccupied intermediate state was positively identified, which was found to be located 3.22 eV above the Fermi level. From the photoelectron energy dispersion, the effective mass of the intermediate state was determined to be (15 +/- 10)m(e) for a 1 ML coverage of phenol. This implies that the excited electron is localized mainly on the adsorbed phenol, forming a molecular resonance state. Polarization dependence of the photoelectron intensity suggested that the initial photoexcitation of the substrate produces hot electrons that scatter into the molecular resonance state, leading ultimately to the dissociation of the adsorbate. These results are the first two-photon photoemission study to characterize the transient anionic state involved in photodissociation of a molecule adsorbed on a metal surface.     

State-to-state reaction dynamics of CH3I photodissociation at 304 nm

The detailed reaction dynamics of CH(3)I photodissociation at 304 nm were studied by using high-resolution long time-delayed core-sampling photofragment translation spectroscopy. The vibrational state distributions of the photofragment, i.e., CH(3), are directly resolved due to the high kinetic resolution of this experiment for the first time. CH(3) radicals produced from I((3)Q(0+)), I((1)Q(1) <--( 3)Q(0+)), and I((3)Q(1)) channels are populated in different vibrational state distributions. The I((3)Q(0+)) and I((3)Q(1)) channels show only progressions in the nu2'(a2") umbrella bending mode, and the I((1)Q(1) <-- (3)Q(0+)) channel shows both progression in the nu2' umbrella bending mode and a small amount of excitation in the nu1'(a1') C-H stretching mode. The photodissociation processes from the vibrational hot band of CH(3)I (upsilon3 = 1, upsilon3 = 2) were also detected, primarily because of the absorption probability from the vibrational excited states, i.e., hot bands are relatively enhanced. Photofragments from the hot bands of CH(3)I show a cold vibrational distribution compared to that from the vibrational ground state of CH(3)I. The I* quantum yield and the curve crossing possibility were also studied for the ground vibrational state of CH(3)I. The potential energy at the curve crossing point was calculated to be 32 790 cm(-1) by using the one-dimensional Landau-Zener model.     

Studies on the Physicochemical Properties, Structure and Antitumor Activity of an Oligosaccharide Homologue SnS-2 from the Root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsh

An oligosaccharide homologue named SnS-2 was isolated from the root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl.SnS-2 was purified by means of gel-permeation chromatography and ion-exchange chromatography. Its physicochemical properties, including carbohydrate content and molecular weight were determined. The structure of SnS-2 was elucidated by chemical methods along with ^1H and ^13C NMR spectroscopy, including two-dimensional DQCOSY and H-detected ^1H, ^13C HMQC experiments. These results show that SnS-2 possesses a backbone consisting of terminal α-Galp-(1→, α-Galp-(1→6), α-Glcp-(1→6) and nonreducing end β-Fruf-(2→. The bioactive assay showed that it could inhibit the growth of Lewis pulmonary carcinoma implanted in mice.     

Supported molybdena catalysts: Characterization of oxidized,reduced, and sulfided MoO3 prepared by an adsorption method

Highly dispersed molybdena-titania catalyst can be prepared by an equilibrium adsorption method. In this method, molybdate anions adsorb onto the positively charged titania surfaces via electrostatic attraction by controlling the pH of the impregnating solution and they increase as an inverse function of the pH. ⁹⁵Mo-NMR and UV spectroscopic studies of impregnating solution show that the polymeric species like Mo₇O₂₄ ⁶-ions are adsorbed on titania in the acidic impregnating solution. XRD, Raman, and XPS data of the calcined samples show that mono-layer coverage of molybdenum oxide over-layer possesses a highly distorted MoO₆ group with a molecular geometry resembling the distorted square pyramid. The catalytic oxidation of methanol over the surface molybdate species on titania possesses higher turnover numbers and higher selectivities of partial oxidation products than the catalysts supported on alumina, silica, zirconia, or magnesia. Changes of the surface properties either after reduction and sulfiding treatment over monolayer catalyst on titania have also been investigated. The NO chemisorption and XPS studies show that two types of active sites appeared after reduction treatment: one site is active for hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene and the other site is active for metathesis of propene. A higher degree coordinative unsaturations of MO is required for hydrogenation than metathesis. After sulfiding treatments of the catalyst, hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene also requires triply coordinative unsaturation, and hydrogenolysis of thiophene requires the ensemble of doubly or triply coordinative unsaturations.     

Ruthenium-catalyzed reductive cyclization of nitroarenes with trialkylamines leading to quinolines

Nitroarenes react with trialkylamines in the presence of a catalytic amount of a ruthenium catalyst together with tin(II) chloride dihydrate at 180 °C in an aqueous medium (toluene–H₂O) to afford the corresponding quinolines in moderate to good yields. The catalytic pathway seems to be proceeded via a sequence involving initial reduction of nitroarenes to anilines, alkyl group transfer from alkylamines to anilines to form an imine, dimerization of imine, and heterocyclization.     

Disorder effects in Mn12–acetate at 83 K

The structure of hexadeca‐μ‐acetato‐tetra­aqua­dodeca‐μ₃‐oxo‐dodecamanganese bis(acetic acid) tetrahydrate, [Mn₁₂O₁₂(CH₃COO)₁₆(H₂O)₄]·2CH₃COOH·4H₂O, known as Mn₁₂–acetate, has been determined at 83 (2) K by X‐ray diffraction methods. The fourfold (S₄) molecular symmetry is disrupted by a strong hydrogen‐bonding interaction with the disordered acetic acid mol­ecule of solvation, which displaces one of the acetate ligands in the cluster. Up to six Mn₁₂ isomers are potentially present in the crystal lattice, which differ in the number and arrangement of hydrogen‐bonded acetic acid mol­ecules. These results considerably improve the structural information available on this molecular nanomagnet, which was first synthesized and characterized by Lis [Acta Cryst. (1980), B 36 , 2042–2046].     

Molecular characteristics of the inhibition of human neutrophil elastase by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs

Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs(NSAIDs) are known as clinically effective agents for treatment of inflammatory diseases. Inhibition of cyclooxygenase has been thought to be a major facet of the pharmacological mechanism of NSAIDs. However, it is difficult to ascribe the antiinflammatory effects of NSAIDs solely to the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis. Human neutrophil elastase (HNElastase; HNE, EC 3.4.21.37) has been known as a causative factor in inflammatory diseases. To investigate the specific relationship between HNElastase inhibition and specificity of molecular structure of several NSAIDs, HNElastase was purified by Ultrogel AcA54 gel filtration, CM-Sephadex ion exchange, and HPLC (with TSK 250 column) chromatography. HNElastase was inhibited by aspirin and salicylate in a competitive manner and by naproxen, ketoprofen, phenylbutazone, and oxyphenbutazone in a partial competative manner, but not by ibuprofen and tolmetin. HNElastase-phenylbutazone-complex showed strong Raman shifts at 200, 440, 1124, 1194, 1384, 1506, and 1768 cm(-1). The Raman bands 1194, 1384, and 1768 cm(-1) may represent evidences of the conformational change at -N=N-phi radical, pyrazol ring, and -C=O radical of the elastase-drug complex, respectively. Phenylbutazone might be bound to HNElastase by ionic and hydrophobic interaction, and masked the active site. Inhibition of HNElastase could be another mechanism of action of NSAIDs besides cyclooxygenase inhibition in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Different inhibition characteristics of HNE-lastase by NSAIDs such as aspirin, phenylbutazone-like drugs and ineffective drugs could be important points for drawing the criteria for appropriate drugs in clinical application.     

A new two‐dimensional CdII coordination polymer constructed by pyrazine‐2,3‐dicarboxyl­ate

In the title compound, poly[μ₅‐pyrazine‐2,3‐dicarboxyl­ato‐cadmium(II)], [Cd(C₆H₂N₂O₄)]_n or [Cd(pdc)]_n, where pdc is the pyrazine‐2,3‐dicarboxyl­ate anion, the Cd^II atom is six‐coordinated by five carboxyl­ate O atoms and one N atom from five different pdc ligands in a distorted octa­hedral CdO₅N coordination geometry. Two Cd^II atoms are bridged by carboxyl­ate groups of the pdc ligands to create a dimeric unit. The dimeric units are further connected by the pdc ligands to generate an inter­esting two‐dimensional structure.