Conjugated Azoalkenesi Part III. Synthesis of Sone Phosphorous Azoalkenes

Recently, some of us reviewed the synthes is and chemical reactions of conjugated azoalkenes.¹ Emphasis was placed on the fact that these derivatives represent at the same time interesting products and useful intermediates in organic chemistry. In fact, conjugated azoolefins undergo a wide range of 1,4-additions, (3+2)- and (4+2)-cycloadditions allowing various functionalizations of the carbon atom adjacent to the carbonyl group, and the construction of many types of interesting five - and six-membered heterocycles, such as widely substituted pyrrole and pyridazine rings. These relevant synthetic objectives appear not to be smoothly obtained by other procedures. In addition, many of the compounds produced from conjugated azoalkenes can profitably be employed in the preparation of natural, pharmaceutical, and phytopharmaceutical products.¹     

Nanoporous gold thin films synthesised via de-alloying of Au-based nanoglass for highly active SERS substrates

Nanoporous gold thin films have been fabricated through chemical de-alloying of Au-based nanoglass with a nanocolumnar structure, with composition Au₄₀Cu₂₈Ag₇Pd₅Si₂₀ (at.%), that had previously been deposited by magnetron sputtering. By varying the de-alloying conditions, gold ligaments ranging from 20 to 100?nm were obtained. The microstructure and chemical composition of the as-prepared films were characterised by various techniques. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of thin films was investigated using rhodamine 6G. The results indicate that the main microstructural features with interconnected ligaments and defects of nanoporous gold result in significant SERS enhancement.     

Native and polymeric β-cyclodextrins in performance improvement of chitosan films aimed for buccal delivery of poorly soluble drugs

β-Cyclodextrin (βCD) and its soluble polymeric derivative (EPIβCD) were used to improve the effectiveness of chitosan-based bucco-adhesive film formulations containing bupivacaine hydrochloride and triclosan as poorly-soluble model drugs. The film formulations were characterized in terms of swelling, mucoadhesion and in vitro drug release, while possible interactions between the components were investigated by DSC and FTIR analyses. For both drugs EPIβCD showed a higher solubilizing efficiency than βCD; however cyclodextrin effectiveness in improving the release rate from film formulations was influenced by their different interactions with chitosan. Free βCD acted as a channelling agent, favouring the film swelling, while EPIβCD due to interaction with chitosan caused an opposite effect. βCD was the optimal partner for bupivacaine-loaded films in terms of film swelling, mucoadhesion and drug release. Contrariwise, EPIβCD was the best partner for triclosan-loaded films, allowing the highest drug release rate increase, due to its higher solubilizing ability with respect to βCD. Addition of the suitable cyclodextrin enabled formulation of buccal films with suitable drug release properties.     

Molecular Size and Electronic Structure Combined Effects on the Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence of Sulfurated Pyrene‐Cored Dendrimers

The electrochemistry, photophysics, and electrochemically generated chemiluminescence (ECL) of a family of polysulfurated dendrimers with a pyrene core have been thoroughly investigated and complemented by theoretical calculations. The redox and luminescence properties of dendrimers are dependent on the generation number. From low to higher generation it is both easier to reduce and oxidize them and the emission efficiency increases along the family, with respect to the polysulfurated pyrene core. The analysis of such data evidences that the formation of the singlet excited state by cation–anion annihilation is an energy‐deficient process and, thus, the ECL has been justified through the triplet–triplet annihilation pathway. The study of the dynamics of the ECL emission was achieved both experimentally and theoretically by molecular mechanics and quantum chemical calculations. It has allowed rationalization of a possible mechanism and the experimental dependence of the transient ECL on the dendrimer generation. The theoretically calculated Marcus electron‐transfer rate constant compares very well with that obtained by the finite element simulation of the whole ECL mechanism. This highlights the role played by the thioether dendrons in modulating the redox and photophysical properties, responsible for the occurrence and dynamics of the electron transfer involved in the ECL. Thus, the combination of experimental and computational results allows understanding of the dendrimer size dependence of the ECL transient signal as a result of factors affecting the annihilation electron transfer.     

Profiling and quantifying polar lipids in milk by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light-scattering and mass spectrometry detection

In this work, a high-performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection method has been developed and applied for quantification of the polar content of the lipid fraction in milk samples of different origin. From a chromatographic stand-point, a 4.6-mm I.D. hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography column was employed to attain a baseline separation of major phospholipid classes contained in the various milk samples tested. Quantitative analysis was performed by the external calibration method using reference material solutions in the 5–100 mg/L concentration range. Analytical recoveries ranging from 57 to 100 %, and repeatability data lower than 8.04 % were obtained on a skimmed cow’s milk sample. The crude cow milk was the most abundant (0.04 %) in phospholipids and donkey milk was the poorest (0.004 %). Quantitative differences were determined in the phospholipid content of the milk samples tested. Finally, characterization of phospholipid profile and fatty acid composition of the different samples was carried out by an ion trap-time of flight mass spectrometer and gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization and mass spectrometry detection. A thorough screening of the polar lipid composition of milk samples of different origin is here outlined, for the first time.     

Free energy and states of fractional-order hereditariness

Complex materials, often encountered in recent engineering and material sciences applications, show no complete separations between solid and fluid phases. This aspect is reflected in the continuous relaxation time spectra recorded in cyclic load tests. As a consequence the material free energy cannot be defined in a unique manner yielding a significative lack of knowledge of the maximum recoverable work that can extracted from the material. The non-uniqueness of the free energy function is removed in the paper for power-laws relaxation/creep function by using a recently proposed mechanical analogue to fractional-order hereditariness.