Moisture sorption, transport, and hydrolytic degradation in polylactide

Management of moisture penetration and hydrolytic degradation of polylactide (PLA) is extremely important during the manufacturing, shipping, storage, and end-use of PLA products. Moisture transport, crystallization, and degradation, in PLA have been measured through a variety of experimental techniques including size-exclusion chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction. Quartz crystal microbalance and dynamic vapor sorption experiments have also been used to measure moisture sorption isotherms in PLA films with varying crystallinity. A surprising result is that, within the accuracy of the experiments, crystalline and amorphous PLA films exhibit identical sorption isotherms.     

Preparation of AgBiVMoO/-Al2O3 Catalysts for the Partial Oxidation of Propane

A novel mixed sol method was developed for the preparation of supported catalysts. Analyses by means of XRD and BET show that a 40%AgBiVMoO/γ-Al2O3 catalyst prepared by this method possessed high specific surface area and high dispersion of the active phase. As a result, high acrylic acid selectivity of 8.5% was obtained when the catalyst was used in the reaction of propane partial oxidation to acrylic acid in a fixed-bed reactor.     

树脂吸附法处理水杨酸甲酯生产废水的研究

采用吸附树脂NDA—99处理水杨酸甲酯生产废水，结果表明该树脂时废水中的5磺基水杨酸及水杨酸均具有良好的吸附—脱附性能．废水经预处理和吸附处理后，CODCr由57000-59000mg／L降至6300mg／L左右，去除率接近89％．用IBV8％NaOH 3BVH2O作脱附剂，在温度为60℃、流量为IBV／h的条件下，脱附率接近100％，树脂可重复使用．高浓度脱附液经酸化、浓缩、冷却结晶，可回收5—磺基水杨酸，回收率为95％左右。纯度为78％。     

The thermodynamics of proton dissociation of adenine

The thermodynamic quantities associated with ionization of the N₁ and N₉ protons of adenine have been calorimetrically determined as a function of temperature. The H values for proton dissociation of these groups, with pK values of 4.19 and 9.92, were found to be 5.1 and 9.1 kcal/mole, respectively, at 25°C, =0.025. The C _p values for proton dissociation of these groups were estimated to be –11 and –17 cal/mole-deg. These results indicate that the large heat capacity changes observed during conformational transitions of polynucleotides are not the result of ionization of the bases.     

Synthesis of a biotinated amphiphile

The synthesis of a biotinated amphiphile assembled from d-(+)-biotin, ethylene diamine as spacer, galactaric acid and 1-dodecylamine was achieved in six steps. The key step was the synthesis of a bisacetonide protected galactaric ester, the structure of which was determined by X-ray analysis. Aminolysis, spacer attachment, coupling with biotin and deprotection led to the amphiphilic galactaramide.     

A novel synthetic route to substituted pyranoanthocyanins with unique colour properties

Anthocyanins, isolated from natural sources by countercurrent chromatography, were reacted with cinnamic acids bearing at least one electron-donating substituent at the para-position. The resulting pyranoanthocyanins obtained by this simple one-step reaction were much less susceptible to pH shifts and retained their original colour over a wide pH-range. Through reaction with p-dimethylamino cinnamic acid, synthetic malvidin- and cyanidin-based anthocyanins with a unique violet hue were prepared.     

Cellular adhesion and proliferation on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): Benefits in the electroactivity of the conducting polymer

Cell adhesion and proliferation in poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene), an electroactive polythiophene derivative generated by anodic polymerization, has been investigated. Results show that epithelial cells Hep-2 present significant activity on the surface of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) electrodeposited on stainless steel electrodes, no sign of cytotoxicity being detected for this conducting polymer. Indeed, seeded and cultured cells bound better to poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) than to uncoated stainless steel, the latter substrate being used as a control. Furthermore, the electrochemical characteristics of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) covered with cells was determined in different biological media using cyclic voltammetry experiments. Results reveal a significant increase in the electroactivity of this material when it is covered with a cellular monolayer. The overall of the results evidences not only the biocompatibility of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) with Hep-2 cells but also their electrocompatibility.     

Molecular orbital studies on the conformation of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid)

In distinction to Extended Hückel Theory which predicts as the most stable conformation of free zwitterionic GABA a totally extended form, PCILO and SCF ab initio studies show that the intrinsically preferred conformation of the isolated molecule is a highly folded one, resulting from strong interactions between the two charged ends. Computations are also carried out for hydrated GABA in the supermolecule approach allowing moreover for the flexibility of binding of some of the water molecules of the first hydration shell. They predict the coexistence in solution of a large number of conformations showing different degrees of folding (or extension), a result confirmed by recent NMR studies. This and a number of similar results show that we have to adapt our thinking on the role of conformations in pharmacological activity to this situation, which was frequently obscured by the more abundant results of X-ray crystallography yielding a single conformation.     

Five new derivatives of nonactic and homo-nonactic acids from Streptomyces globisporus

In addition to the known compounds of the type of nonactic and homononactic acids and their lactones, dilactones and tetralactones, five new compounds, namely homononactyl-nonactoate, a dilactone consisting of nonactic and homononactic acids and three cyclic trimers with nonactic and homononactic acids, were isolated from a strain of Streptomyces globisporus. Their structures, including the absolute configurations of the hydroxyl and methyl groups, were determined by extensive spectroscopic techniques such as UV, IR, MS, 1D and 2D NMR.