1H NMR and UV-visible data fusion for determining Sudan dyes in culinary spices

Two data fusion strategies (variable and decision level) combined with a multivariate classification approach (Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis, PLS-DA) have been applied to get benefits from the synergistic effect of the information obtained from two spectroscopic techniques: UV-visible and ¹H NMR. Variable level data fusion consists of merging the spectra obtained from each spectroscopic technique in what is called “meta-spectrum” and then applying the classification technique. Decision level data fusion combines the results of individually applying the classification technique in each spectroscopic technique. Among the possible ways of combinations, we have used the fuzzy aggregation connective operators. This procedure has been applied to determine banned dyes (Sudan III and IV) in culinary spices. The results show that data fusion is an effective strategy since the classification results are better than the individual ones: between 80 and 100% for the individual techniques and between 97 and 100% with the two fusion strategies.     

Selective synthesis of 2-substituted 4-carboxy oxazoles, thiazoles and thiazolidines from serine or cysteine amino acids

The synthesis of new 4-carboxy oxazoles, thiazoles and thiazolidines by condensation of serine or cysteine with aldehydes or acids is described. Due to the optimization of a mild and selective procedure, which takes advantage of the positive effect of microwave irradiation on the MnO₂ mediated oxidation step, the 2-substituted-4-carboxy derivatives can be obtained in multi-gram scale. Examples of coordination chemistry to Ni(II) and Co(II) are described.     

NiMo 催化剂上MoS2 形貌与其DBT 加氢脱硫选择性的关系

制备了两个系列不同镍钼负载量的NiMo 催化剂,并用X 衍射、N2 物理吸附和透射电镜进行了表征。以二苯并噻吩
为模型硫化物,在高压固定床微型反应器上对该NiMo 催化剂的加氢脱硫性能进行了评价,研究了MoS2 形貌与催化剂加氢脱
硫选择性之间的关系。结果表明,镍钼负载量对MoS2 形貌有明显的影响。Mo18Ni4 催化剂(含18% MoO3 和4% NiO)上
MoS2 呈多级层状结构,具有较高的加氢脱硫活性和优异的加氢脱硫选择性。加氢选择性与催化剂上活性组分MoS2 的堆积层
数相关联呈很好的线性关系;堆积层数越多,其加氢选择性也越高。     

多金属ZSM-5催化剂的制备及其催化氨化合成2,6-二甲基吡啶

通过掺杂制备了一系列多金属改性的ZSM-5催化剂,并用于丙酮和甲醇氨化合成2,6-二甲基吡啶的反应中.在固定床反应器上筛选出催化性能良好的催化剂6%Pb-0.5%Fe-0.5%Co/ZSM-5(200),探讨了过渡金属掺杂的促进作用,并考察了反应温度、氨醇比、酮醇比、水含量和停留时间对反应性能的影响.结果表明,该催化剂...     

Molecular cloning and transgenic expression of a synthetic human erythropoietin gene in tobacco

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a hormone belonging to a group of hematopoietic growth factors that control the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow cells. It induces the production of erythrocytes, thereby increasing the amount of circulating hemoglobin and oxygen. Previous attempts to transgenically express human EPO in plants failed to succeed because the plants exhibited abnormal morphology and infertility. In the present work, we describe the generation of fertile transgenic tobacco plants able to express a synthetic version of human EPO. A 582-bp fragment of the human EPO gene was synthesized using a PCR-based method and ligated into pCR-Blunt. After sequencing, the human EPO fragment was transferred to pWUbi.tm1 and the expression cassette was then transferred to the binary vector pWBVec4a. After Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Nicotiana tabacum SR1 plants, integration of the transgene into T₀ and T₁ plant genomes was confirmed by PCR. The human EPO gene was found to be expressed in tobacco leaves at the mRNA and protein levels. Self-crossing allowed us to obtain T₁ plants exhibiting Mendelian segregation of the transgene. None of the plants presented any kind of malformation or deformity.     

Supramolecular engineering through temperature-induced chemical modification of 2H-tetraphenylporphyrin on Ag(111): flat phenyl conformation and possible dehydrogenation reactions

Scratching the surface: Formation of a monolayer of 2H-tetraphenylporphyrins (2H-TPP) on Ag(111), either by sublimation of a multilayer in the range 525-600?K or by annealing (at the same temperature) a monolayer deposited at room temperature, induces a chemical modification of the molecules. Rotation of the phenyl rings into a flat conformation is observed and tentatively explained, by using DFT calculations, as a peculiar reaction due to molecular dehydrogenation.     

Nanoparticulate Pd supported catalysts: size-dependent formation of Pd(I)/Pd(0) and their role in CO elimination

A combination of time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), hard X-ray diffraction (HXRD), diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFTS), and mass spectrometry (MS) reveals a series of size-dependent phenomena at Pd nanoparticles upon CO/(NO+O(2)) cycling conditions. The multitechnique approach and analysis show that such size-dependent phenomena are critical for understanding Pd CO elimination behavior and, particularly, that different Pd(I) and Pd(0) centers act as active species for a size estimated by XAS to be, respectively, below and above ca. 3 nm. The relative catalytic performance of these two noble metal species indicates the intrinsic higher activity of the Pd(I) species.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of the molecular anions, Li3O- and Na3O-

The molecular anions, Li(3)O(-) and Na(3)O(-) were produced by laser vaporization and studied via anion photoelectron spectroscopy. Li(3)O(-) and Na(3)O(-) are the negative ions of the super-alkali neutral molecules, Li(3)O and Na(3)O. A two-photon process involving the photodetachment of electrons from the Li(3)O(-) and Na(3)O(-) anions and the photoionization of electrons from the resulting Li(3)O and Na(3)O neutral states was observed. The assignment of the Li(3)O(-) photoelectron spectrum was based on computational results provided by Zein and Ortiz [J. Chem. Phys. 135, 164307 (2011)].     

Gaussian fluctuations in tethered DNA chains

In a recent work [Gao et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 134, 113902 (2007)], we reported a novel DNA separation method by tethering DNA chains to a solid surface and then stretching the DNA chains with an electric field. The anchor is such designed that the critical force to detach a DNA chain is independent of its length. Because the stretching force is proportional to the DNA net charge, a gradual increase of the electric field leads to size-based removal of the DNA strands from the surface and thus DNA separation. Originally proposed for separation of long double-stranded DNA chains (>10 000 bps), this method has been proven useful also for short single-stranded DNA fragments (<100 bases) for which the fluctuation force induced by the solvent becomes significant. Here we show that the fluctuation force can be approximately represented by a gaussian model for tethered DNA chains. Analytical expressions have been derived to account for the dependence of the fluctuation force on the surface confinement, the polymer chain length, and the DNA tethering potential. The theoretical predictions are found to coincide with experiment.