HandaPhos: A General Ligand Enabling Sustainable ppm Levels of Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Couplings in Water at Room Temperature

The new monophosphine ligand HandaPhos has been identified such that when complexed in a 1:1 ratio with Pd(OAc)₂, enables Pd‐catalyzed cross‐couplings to be run using ≤1000 ppm of this pre‐catalyst. Applications to Suzuki–Miyaura reactions involving highly funtionalized reaction partners are demonstrated, all run using environmentally benign nanoreactors in water at ambient temperatures. Comparisons with existing state‐of‐the‐art ligands and catalysts are discussed herein.     

Aerobic Oxidation in Nanomicelles of Aryl Alkynes,in Water at Room Temperature

On the basis of the far higher solubility of oxygen gas inside the hydrocarbon core of nanomicelles, metal and peroxide free aerobic oxidation of aryl alkynes to β‐ketosulfones has been achieved in water at room temperature. Many examples are offered that illustrate broad functional group tolerance. The overall process is environmentally friendly, documented by the associated low E Factors.     

Development of a New Distyrylbenzene-Derivative Amyloid-β-aggregation and Fibril Formation Inhibitor

Several new amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregation inhibitors were synthesized according to our theory that a hydrophilic moiety could be attached to the Aβ-recognition unit for the purpose of preventing amyloid plaque formation. A distyrylbenzene-derivative, DSB(EEX)(3), which consider the Aβ recognition unit (DSB, 1,4-distyrylbenzene) and expected to bind to amyloid fibrils (β-sheet structure), was combined with the hydrophilic aggregation disrupting element (EEX) (E, Glu; X, 2-(2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethoxy)acetic acid). This DSB(EEX)(3) compound, compared to several others synthesized similarly, was found to be the most active for reducing Aβ toxicity toward IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cells. Moreover, its inhibition of Aβ-aggregation or fibril formation was directly confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. These results suggest that the Aβ aggregation inhibitor DSB(EEX)(3) disrupts clumps of Aβ protein and is a likely candidate for drug development to treat Alzheimer's disease.     

Complexation chemistry for tuning release from polymer coatings

The strategy of metal ion complexation is employed to design a delivery system for an antifouling agent (AFA) in marine paints. A poly(1-vinylimidazole-co-methyl methacrylate) copolymer (PVM), together with Cu2+ or Zn2+ formed a PVM-M2+ complex. The AFA, Medetomidine, was then coordinated into the complex. The coordination strength was investigated in solution by 1H NMR and on solid surfaces by using the Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation monitoring technique (QCM-D) and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). From the 1H NMR experiments strong interactions were observed between Cu2+ and the PVM-polymer and between Medetomidine and the PVM-Cu2+ complex. From the QCM-D and SPR measurements it was shown that Cu2+, compared to Zn2+, exhibited a larger affinity for the PVM-copolymer surface that resulted in higher degree of swelling of the polymer film. Large amounts of Medetomidine were adsorbed to the PVM-Cu2+ complex resulting in low desorption rates. However, the adsorbed amount of Medetomidine was lower to the Zn2+ doped polymer and a higher desorption rate was observed. These results indicate the possibility of tuning the release of Medetomidine by altering the coordinating metal ion, which may prove to be favorable in a paint formulation.     

Explanation through density functional theory of the unanticipated loss of CO2 and differences in mass fragmentation profiles of ritonavir and its rCYP3A4‐mediated metabolites

In the present study, the metabolism of ritonavir was explored in the presence of rCYP3A4 using a well‐established strategy involving liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) tools. A total of six metabolites were formed, of which two were new, not reported earlier as CYP3A4‐mediated metabolites. During LC–MS studies, ritonavir was found to fragment through six principal pathways, many of which involved neutral loss of CO₂, as indicated through 44‐Da difference between masses of the precursors and the product ions. This was unusual as the drug and the precursors were devoid of a terminal carboxylic acid group. Apart from the neutral loss of CO₂, marked differences were also observed among the fragmentation pathways of the drug and its metabolites having intact N‐methyl moiety as compared to those lacking N‐methyl moiety. These unusual fragmentation behaviours were successfully explained through energy distribution profiles by application of the density functional theory. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and optical and electrochemical properties of thermotropic,liquid‐crystalline,semirigid copolyesters based on 2,5‐diphenyl‐1,3,4‐thiadiazole units

Novel thermotropic liquid‐crystalline (LC) copolyesters were prepared with three disubstituted (4,4′‐, 3,4′‐, and 3,3′‐) dioxydiundecanol derivatives of terphenyl analogues of 1,3,4‐thiadiazole [2,5‐diphenyl‐1,3,4‐thiadiazole (DPTD)], and their optical and electrochemical properties were examined. Their structures were characterized with Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR spectroscopy, and elemental analyses. The thermal and mesomorphic properties of the copolyesters were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry measurements, polarized microscopy observations, and X‐ray analyses; the data suggested that these copolymers formed LC smectic or nematic phases. The mesomorphic tendency decreased in the following order: 4,4′‐DPTD and 3,4′‐DPTD copolyesters > 4,4′‐DPTD and 3,3′‐DPTD copolyesters > 3,4′‐DPTD and 3,3′‐DPTD copolyesters. Solution and solid‐state ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) and photoluminescence spectra indicated that the copolyesters displayed maximum absorbances and blue emissions according to the DPTD unit; the peak maxima of absorption and emission spectra of the copolyesters shifted to lower wavelengths in the aforementioned order for the LC properties. Cyclic voltammetry measurements indicated that the electrochemical band gaps of the polyesters estimated from the onset of reduction and oxidation processes were almost the same as the optical band gaps determined from the solid‐state UV–vis spectral data. The DPTD unit enhanced the hole‐injection barrier and improved the charge‐injection balance in these polyesters. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 1511–1525, 2005     

Electroanalytical properties of aldehyde biosensors with a hybrid-membrane composed of an enzyme film and a redox Os-polymer film.

Aldehyde biosensors were constructed by cross-linking formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FDH) or aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH) and bovine serum albumin on the surface of a redox Os-polymer-coated electrode. The prepared aldehyde biosensors responded rapidly (within 30 s) to aldehydes without the addition of a soluble mediator, because the inner redox Os-polymer film effectively mediated the electron transfer from NADH generated enzymatically into the outer enzyme film to a glassy carbon electrode. An FDH/Os-polymer electrode responded linearly over the concentration range of 2 x 10(-6)-5 x 10(-4) M for formaldehyde, while an ADH/Os-polymer electrode, though responding similarly to long chain aldehydes, such as propionaldehyde and butylaldehyde, responded linearly over the concentration range of 4 x 10(-6)-2 x 10(-4) M for acetaldehyde.     

Entropy of amorphous ice as determined by a new thermodynamic method

Abstract

The difference of the entropies of ice Ih and high-density amorphous ice and of low-density and high-density amorphous ice have been measured by a new direct method as about 2.1 and 1.1 J K^?1 mol^?1 respectively.     

Vital Sign Monitoring System for Healthcare Through IoT Based Personal Service Application

The most burning issues worldwide at present are the availability, accessibility, and affordability of the equitable healthcare services for all. It is getting more severe for developing countries due to increasing population and chronic diseases. The emerging technological interventions in the field of Internet of Things (IoT)-based healthcare systems are a promising solution to meet the general public's healthcare needs. Therefore, an IoT-enabled vital sign monitoring system has been presented in this paper. The presented system can monitor various vital signs in real-time and store the recorded trends locally. The system can also send the data into cloud for further analysis. Abnormality detection with alert notification and automatic calculation of early warning score has been implemented. An Android application is developed to store the vital signs records on a personal server to avoid the burden and maintenance cost of the central medical server. The presented system is straightforward, compact, portable and easy to operate through personal service application. Also, the presented system is compared with the most recent work available in the field.