Theoretical and experimental studies of the electrochemistry of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-aminophenol on a golden electrode

The geometric parameters, vibrational frequencies, and thermochemical values of p-quinonimine (p-AQ) and p-aminophenol (p-AP) were computed ab initio (IIF) and by the density functional theory (DFT) method with the 6-31G(d, p) basis set. Cyclic voltammetry with a golden electrode of p-AP solutions in phosphate buffers at pH 7.30 showed that the standard electrode potential of half reaction for p-QI and p-AP was 0.728 V. The standard electrode potentials of half reactions for p-QI and p-AP were calculated using the free energies and solvation energies of p-QI, p-AP, p-benzoquinone (p-BQ), and hydroquinone (p-HQ). The results showed that the standard electrode potential of half reaction for p-QI and p-AP was 0.743 V at the B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) level and 0.755 V at the HF/6-31G(d, p) level. The standard electrode potentials computed at the B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) and HF/6-31G(d, p) levels were close to their experimental values. The article is published in the original.     

Rational design of an “all-in-one” phototheranostic

We report here porphodilactol derivatives and their corresponding metal complexes. These systems show promise as “all-in-one” phototheranostics and are predicated on a design strategy that involves controlling the relationship between intersystem crossing (ISC) and photothermal conversion efficiency following photoexcitation. The requisite balance was achieved by tuning the aromaticity of these porphyrinoid derivatives and forming complexes with one of two lanthanide cations, namely Gd³⁺ and Lu³⁺. The net result led to a metalloporphodilactol system, Gd-trans-2, with seemingly optimal ISC efficiency, photothermal conversion efficiency and fluorescence properties, as well as good chemical stability. Encapsulation of Gd-trans-2 within mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) allowed its evaluation for tumour diagnosis and therapy. It was found to be effective as an “all-in-one” phototheranostic that allowed for NIR fluorescence/photoacoustic dual-modal imaging while providing an excellent combined PTT/PDT therapeutic efficacy in vitro and in vivo in 4T1-tumour-bearing mice.

We report here porphodilactol derivatives and their corresponding metal complexes as “all-in-one” phototheranostics by controlling the relationship between intersystem crossing (ISC) and photothermal conversion efficiency following photoexcitation.     

Self-assembled biotinylated disulfide derivative monolayer on gold electrode for immobilizing enzymes

Based on self-assembled biotinylated disulfide derivative monolayer on gold electrode, the sensors immobilized monolayer or multilayer membranes composed of avidin and biotinlabeled glucose oxidase (B.GOD) or of avidin-B.GOD complex (ABC) and B.COD were prepared. The present technique may be useful for controlling the enzyme content of the sensors in molecular level by repeating the deposition of enzyme layers. The sensors have the characteristics of shorter response time, higher sensitivity. The linear range is from 6.0 x 10(-6) - 5.0 x 10(-3) M. The sensor can be used for more than 1 month and can be reactivated. The sensor was used to determine glucose in human blood serum, and the results are satisfactory.     

The extended negative factor counting method for tridiagonal block matrices with cross links

The NFC (negative factor counting) method ws extended to solve the eigenvalue problem of tridiagonal block matrices with elements corresponding to cross links which may be derived from the quantum-chemical calculation on a native protein molecule. The mathematical proof of the necessary theorem is given in detail.     

Induced circular dichroism and structural assignment of the cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of bicyclic azoalkanes

The stoichiometries and binding constants of the host-guest complexes between the bicyclic azoalkanes 1-6 and alpha-, beta-, and gamma-cyclodextrins (CDs) and the induced circular dichroism (ICD) of the complexes were analyzed. Assisted by proximity relationships obtained from 2D ROESY NMR spectra, the signs and intensities of the ICD spectra are interpreted in terms of the solution structures (co-conformations) of the CD complexes. The ICD assignments are based on the orientation-intensity ICD rules of Harata and Kodaka, which relate the ICD signs and intensities to the relative orientation of the electric dipole transition moment of the n,pi azo chromophore to the CD axis. The influence of the size of the guest and the host is discussed and the effect of introducing an additional chromophore (either a phenyl or a second azo group) on the ICD spectra is demonstrated.     

Theoretical formalism and experimental verification of line shapes of NMR intermolecular multiple-quantum coherence spectra

Although the theories and potential applications of intermolecular multiple-quantum coherences (iMQCs) have been under active investigations for over a decade, discussion of iMQC NMR signal formation was mainly confined in the time domain. In this paper, a full line-shape theory was developed to describe iMQC signals in the frequency domain. Relevant features of the line shape, such as peak height, linewidth, and phase, were investigated in detail. Predictions based on the theory agree well with experimental and simulated results. Since radiation-damping effects always couple with iMQCs in highly polarized liquid-state NMR systems, and strongly radiation-damped signals have many spectral characteristics similar to those of iMQCs, a detailed comparison was also made between them from different spectral aspects. With detailed comparison of peak height, linewidth, and phase, this work demonstrates that the iMQC and radiation-damping phenomena result from two completely different physical mechanisms despite that both present similar signal features and coexist in highly polarized liquid-state NMR systems.     

Comparison of the column performance of narrow-bore and standard-bore columns for the chromatographic determination of alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol

A comparison of the performance of narrow-bore (2.1-mm i.d.) and standard-bore (4.6-mm i.d.) analytical silica columns having the same length is completed for the resolution of alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol. The studies are performed on high-performance liquid chromatographic equipment with minimum extracolumn contribution. Column permeabilities are 1.16 x 10(-9) and 2.48 x 10(-9) cm2 for narrow and standard bore, respectively. The narrow-bore column gives up to a 7 times increase in sensitivity compared with a standard-bore column at equivalent running times for the analytes. Approximately one-third solvent savings can be achieved with the narrow-bore column. Theoretical plates of the standard-bore column are higher than that of the narrow-bore column.     

DNAzyme amplification of molecular beacon signal

This paper reports an improved catalytic molecular beacon. Addition of the target oligonucleotide activates a DNA enzyme (DNAzyme), which, in turn, activates multiple copies of molecular beacons (MB) and gives rise to a strong fluorescence signal. In a previous design, the activated DNAzyme could oligomerize, especially dimerize, and result in inactivation of the DNAzyme. The current design avoids this problem, upon activated by the target DNA, the DNAzyme will stay constantly active. With the improved method, a detection of 10 pM DNA has been demonstrated, which is 1000 times more sensitive than the method previously reported.     

Liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry for the characterization of twenty-three flavonoids in the extract of Dalbergia odorifera

A method incorporating high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrospray ionization and tandem mass spectrometry, with parallel analysis by HPLC with UV detection using a diode-array detector, was developed for the qualitative characterization of flavonoids in D. odorifera. Twenty-three flavonoids, including six isoflavones, six neoflavones, four isoflavanones, three flavanones, two chalcones, one isoflavanonol and one pterocarpan, were unambiguously identified by comparing their retention times, UV and MS spectra with those of authentic compounds. Furthermore, the collision-induced dissociations of the [M-H]- ions were studied to clarify the MS behavior of the different types of flavonoids. In negative ion ESI-MS all the flavonoids yielded prominent [M-H]- ions in the first order mass spectra. Fragments involving losses of CH3*, H2O, CO, C2H2O, and CO2 were observed in the MS/MS spectra. Each of the seven types of flavonoid showed characteristic MS/MS fragmentation patterns. The isoflavanones, flavanones and chalcones were observed to undergo retro-Diels-Alder fragmentations. The spectra of almost all the neoflavonoids unexpectedly exhibited only [M-H-CH3]-* radical anions as base peaks without any further fragmentation. Substitution positions also remarkably influenced the fragmentation behavior, which could assist in distinction among the flavonoid isomers. The fragmentation rules deduced here could aid in the characterization of other flavonoids of these types.     

On affine scaling algorithms for nonconvex quadratic programming

We investigate the use of interior algorithms, especially the affine-scaling algorithm, to solve nonconvex — indefinite or negative definite — quadratic programming (QP) problems. Although the nonconvex QP with a polytope constraint is a hard problem, we show that the problem with an ellipsoidal constraint is easy. When the hard QP is solved by successively solving the easy QP, the sequence of points monotonically converge to a feasible point satisfying both the first and the second order optimality conditions.Research supported in part by NSF Grant DDM-8922636 and the College Summer Grant, College of Business Administration, The University of Iowa.