Strychnine-8-ammonio-2-naphthalenesulfonate-water (1/1/3.5): The first structure of a strychnine or brucine compound with a zwitterionic species

The crystal structure of the 1:1 adduct hydrate of strychnine with 1,7-Cleve's acid (8-amino-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid), namely strychnine-8-ammonio-2-naphthalenesulfonate-water (1/1/3.5) has been determined and provides a unique example of a neutral association involving strychnine and an achiral zwitterionic acid species, previously unobserved in the structures of either strychnine or brucine addition compounds. Crystals are orthorhombic, space group P2₁2₁2₁, with Z=4 in a cell with dimensions a=10.4484(8), b=30.850(3), c=9.4998(11) ?. Hydrogen bonding involving all available proton-donor and acceptor sites on all species gives rise to a three-dimensional framework polymer structure. The crystallographic literature for strychnine and brucine and their compounds is also reviewed.     

Hemoglobin as a Diagnosing Molecule for Biological Effects of Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma

The studies with proteins are necessary to understand the biological effects of atmospheric pressure plasma (APP). Among proteins, those with transient metal ions play key roles in many biological events and they are very sensitive to environmental redox states. Iron-containing hemoglobin (Hb) is investigated in this study, after APP treatments under two environmental gas conditions of pure N₂ and N₂?+?O₂ mixture. Monitoring the intensity change for absorption spectra could lead to a quantitative assessment of the effect of discharge plasma on Hb. Redox states of Hb are classified into five states including O₂-bound Hb (oxy-Hb), deoxy-Hb, met-Hb, NO-bound Hb (NO-Hb), and hemichrome. Chemically generated reactive species and some scavengers are applied to understand the chemical reactions. Our experimental results confirm the complex chemical reactions of APP and suggest the possible use of Hb as a model protein for the visualization of APP biological effects.     

Synthesis of water soluble metalloporphyrin-cored amphiphilic star block copolymer photocatalysts for an environmental application

Two series of water-soluble metalloporphyrin-cored amphiphilic star block copolymers were synthesized by controlled radical polymerizations such as atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT), which gave eight amphiphilic block copolymer arm chains consisting of poly(n-butyl acrylate-b-poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacylate) (PnBA-b-PEGMEMA, M_n,GPC = 78,000, M_w/M_n = 1.2, 70 wt% of PPEGMEMA) and poly(styrene-b-2-dimethylamino ethyl acrylate) (PS-b-PDMAEA, M_n,GPC = 83,000, M_w/M_n = 1.2, 67 wt% of PDMAEA), yielding porphyrin(Pd)-(PnBA-b-PPEGMEMA)₈ and porphyrin(Pd)-(PS-b-PDMAEA)₈, respectively. Obtained metalloporphyrin polymer photocatalysts were homogeneously solubilized in water to apply to the removal of chlorophenols in water, and was distinguished from conventional water-insoluble small molecular metalloporphyrin photocatalysts. Notably, we found that the water-soluble star block copolymers with hydrophobic–hydrophilic core–shell structures more effectively decomposed the chlorophenol, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP), in water under visible light irradiation (k = 1.39 h^?1, t_1/2 = 0.5 h) in comparison to the corresponding water-soluble star homopolymer, because the hydrophobic core near the metalloporphyrin effectively captured and decomposed the hydrophobic chlorophenols in water.     

Effect of hydrothermal aging on NOx reduction performance for Sb–V–CeO2/TiO2 catalyst

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Herein, we investigated the NOx reduction performance of Sb–V–CeO2/TiO2 (SbVCT) catalyst subjected to hydrothermal aging, where 6 vol% of H2O was...     

Physical characterization of uranium oxide pellets and powder applied in the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group Collaborative Materials Exercise 4

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Physical characterization is one of the most broad and important categories of techniques to apply in a nuclear forensic examination. Physical...     

Comparing results of X-ray diffraction, µ-Raman spectroscopy and neutron diffraction when identifying chemical phases in seized nuclear material,during a comparative nuclear forensics exercise

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - This work presents the results for identification of chemical phases obtained by several laboratories as a part of an international nuclear...     

A comparative study of Mentha arvensis L. and Mentha haplocalyx Briq. by HPLC

We have developed a new method to simultaneously determine five marker compounds in Menthae Herba via HPLC/PDA – including hesperidin (1), rosmarinic acid (2), diosmin (3), didymin (4) and buddleoside (5). The newly developed method was successfully used to analyse for two species (Mentha arvensis L. and Mentha haplocalyx Briq.) of Menthae Herba, and the satisfactory results were obtained from the validation of developed method. The pattern analysis could greatly discriminate between M. arvensis L. and M. haplocalyx Briq. In conclusion, the proposed HPLC/PDA method is suitable for quality evaluation of Menthae Herba.