Relationship between experimental pKa values in aqueous solution and a gas phase bond length in bicyclo[2.2.2]octane and cubane carboxylic acids

Linear correlations were established between the calculated bond lengths and the pK_a or σ_I values for a series of 4‐substituted bicyclo[2.2.2]octane‐1‐carboxylic acid and 4‐cubane‐1‐carboxylic acid derivatives. The bond lengths have been calculated at a modest computational level, HF/6‐31G(d), both in the gas phase and with the continuum solvation model, polarisable continuum model (PCM). In general, the best correlations are obtained when the PCM model is taken into account, especially when neutral and charged molecules are considered together. The best models in each case show square correlation coefficients (R²) larger than 0.9 and indicate that they can be used as predictive tools. These results expand previous results that indicate the possibility of a relationship between gas phase bond length and pK_a values in aqueous solution and indicate that such relationships are more general than hitherto expected. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of halogen atom on electron spin polarization studied by CIDEP,using halogen substituted aromatic acyl compounds

The reaction and spin dynamics of the photocleavage reaction of 2-chloro-2′-acetylnaphthalene were studied by time-resolved FT-EPR and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. The photocleavage reaction from both singlet and triplet states was observed by TA and EPR experiments, although the radical cleavage reaction in the excited triplet state is energetically unfavourable. This feature has been explained by the ionic cleavage reaction due to the electro-negativity of the chlorine atoms. The time-resolved FT-EPR spectra were similar to those observed in the bromine substituted compound, 2-BAN, reported in a previous paper. The origin of the electron spin polarization was assigned to the radical triplet pair mechanism (RTPM) and free radical pair mechanism (F-pair RPM) from analysis of the time profiles of the spin polarization.     

高压下制备的累托石/酚醛树脂复合材料微结构和热性能研究

 采用物理方法在高压下制备了酚醛树脂（PF）/累托石（REC）纳米复合材料,用X射线衍射（XRD）、透射电子显微镜（TEM）及热分析（DSC/TGA）等方法,研究了复合材料的物相、显微结构以及热学性能。结果表明,不通过层间高分子聚合反应,不预先对累托石进行有机化处理,在高压下,由聚合物分子插入粘土层间,可以形成剥离型树脂/粘土纳米复合材料,并且其热学性能发生了较大的改变。     

以光散射技术研究啶虫脒的测定及其与DNA的相互作用

研究了啶虫脒与脱氧核糖核酸(DNA)之间的共振光散射(RLS)增强作用。加入啶虫脒导致DNA的共振光散射增强,在316.0 nm处,存在一处共振光散射增强峰。由此建立了一种以DNA为探针检测农药啶虫脒的新方法。体系的最佳条件为,实验选择了pH 1.73为适宜酸度;加入10 μg·mL-1浓度的DNA溶液的体积为 2 mL;在室温条件下,体系的反应需要30 min达到稳定;“啶虫脒-DNA-H₂SO₄”的加药顺序为最佳。该方法适用的线性范围为0～2.25 μg·mL-1,检出限为0.2 μg·mL-1,啶虫脒在河水样品中的回收率为98.0%～102.0%,并探讨了DNA与啶虫脒的相互作用机理：啶虫脒与核酸间的相互作用包含有静电引力,啶虫脒的吡啶基与DNA碱基之间的π—π堆积作用。     

Hepatic lipid composition analysis using 3.0-T MR spectroscopy in a steatotic rat model

Purpose

To investigate the feasibility of in vivo assessment of hepatic lipid composition using 3.0-T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) in a steatotic rat model and compare it to histopathological and biochemical assessment.

Materials and Methods

Hepatic steatosis was induced by feeding rats with a methionine/choline-deficient (MCD) diet for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 weeks (n=5 per group). At the end of the diet period, ¹H-MRS of the liver was performed, and rats were sacrificed for histopathological and biochemical assessment of the liver. Spectra were acquired in a single voxel (1.2 cc) using a point-resolved spectroscopic sequence with TE/TR=35/2000 ms and 64 signal acquisitions. From the MR spectra, peak area ratios were calculated to estimate hepatic lipid composition.

Results

During MCD diet periods, hepatic steatosis significantly increased on histopathology (P<.001). The ¹H-MRS measurements of total hepatic fat content [1.3/(1.3+4.65) ppm] correlated strongly with histological macrovesicular hepatic steatosis (r=0.93, P<.001) and with the biochemical total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.94, P<.001). Total unsaturated fatty acids [TUFA, 5.4/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical unsaturated fatty acids (r=0.90, P<.001). Polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA, 2.8/(1.3+4.65) ppm] estimated with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with biochemical PUFA (r=0.91, P<.001). The proportion of total unsaturated fatty acids relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rTUFA, 5.4/1.3ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS strongly correlated with the biochemical amount of unsaturated relative to total hepatic fatty acids (r=0.81, P<.001). The proportion of PUFA relative to the amount of total fatty acids (rPUFA, 2.8/1.3 ppm) measured with ¹H-MRS correlated with the biochemical amount of PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.59, P=0.005,) and with the biochemical amount of omega-6 PUFA relative to total fatty acids (r=0.73, P<.001).PUFA at ¹H-MRS correlated with the histopathologically assessed degree of lobular inflammation in the liver (r=0.57, P=.001).

Conclusion

3.0T ¹H-MRS is able to measure poly- and unsaturated hepatic fatty acids and this strongly correlates with biochemical assessment. This study provides evidence that 3.0-T ¹H-MRS is a noninvasive technique to assess hepatic lipid composition.     

Ultrasound irradiation promoted enzymatic alcoholysis for synthesis of monoglyceryl phenolic acids in a solvent-free system

Monoglyceryl phenolic acids (MPAs) were known as the natural hydrophilic antioxidants which could be used in different fields such as food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic etc. A novel enzymatic route of MPAs synthesis by the alcoholysis of phenolic acid ethyl esters with glycerol under ultrasound irradiation in solvent free system was developed. Optimization of reaction parameters shows that a high conversion of above 97.4% can be obtained under the following conditions: phenolic acid ethyl esters to glycerol molar ratio of 1:10, with 6% catalyst (Novozym 435), at 60 °C and 200 rpm, with ultrasound input of 250 W, at 20 kHz frequency. Compared to the conventional stirring method, the activation energy for phenolic acid ethyl esters conversion was decreased from 65.0 kJ/mol to 32.1 kJ/mol under ultrasound promotion; the apparent kinetic constant (V_m/K_m) increased above 1.2-folds; the lipase amount decreased to 50%; the time required for the maximum conversion reduced up to 3-folds without damaging the lipase activity, which is the fastest report for enzymatic synthesis of MPAs.     

Partial molar adiabatic compressibilities of transfer of some amino acids from water to aqueous lactose solutions at different temperatures

Apparent molar adiabatic compressibilities (K_{?, s}) of glycine, L-alanine, L-valine, and L-leucine have been determined in aqueous and mixed aqueous solutions of lactose (2 to 6 mass%) at T = (293.15, 298.15, 303.15, and 308.15) K. From these data partial molar adiabatic compressibilities at infinite dilution (K_{?, s}⁰) have been evaluated to calculate corresponding transfer function. The transfer partial molar adiabatic compressibilities at infinite dilution (ΔK_{?, s}⁰) are found to be positive. The decrease in the magnitude of transfer partial molar adiabatic compressibilities from glycine to L-leucine indicates the dominance of hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions between the increasing side chains of amino acids. Also, the contributions of NH₃⁺COO⁻ , and CH₂ groups have been calculated by the linear correlation of K_{?, s}⁰ with number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain of amino acids.     

Ultrasound assisted enzyme catalyzed hydrolysis of waste cooking oil under solvent free condition

The present work demonstrates the hydrolysis of waste cooking oil (WCO) under solvent free condition using commercial available immobilized lipase (Novozyme 435) under the influence of ultrasound irradiation. The process parameters were optimized using a sequence of experimental protocol to evaluate the effects of temperature, molar ratios of substrates, enzyme loading, duty cycle and ultrasound intensity. It has been observed that ultrasound-assisted lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of WCO would be a promising alternative for conventional methods. A maximum conversion of 75.19% was obtained at mild operating parameters: molar ratio of oil to water (buffer pH 7) 3:1, catalyst loading of 1.25% (w/w), lower ultrasound power 100 W (ultrasound intensity – 7356.68 W m⁻²), duty cycle 50% and temperature (50 °C) in a relatively short reaction time (2 h). The activation energy and thermodynamic study shows that the hydrolysis reaction is more feasible when ultrasound is combined with mechanical agitation as compared with the ultrasound alone and simple conventional stirring technique. Application of ultrasound considerably reduced the reaction time as compared to conventional reaction. The successive use of the catalyst for repetitive cycles under the optimum experimental conditions resulted in a loss of enzymatic activity and also minimized the product conversion.     

基于氨基酸位置特异性的蛋白质Loop区结构预测改进方法

蛋白质loop区的结构预测是理解蛋白质功能的重要一环,而长loop区的结构预测至今还是生物信息学中的难题.目前己经出现了多种loop结构的算法,其中LEAP是预测精度最高的算法之一,但它在长loop区初始主链构象采样上仍有较大的改进余地.本文中我们将蛋白质二级结构预测算法SPINE X与LEAP算法结合起来,构建了新的主链扭转角分布图(拉氏图),在主链初始构象采样中引入氨基酸在蛋白序列中的位置特异性信息,使得初始构象的采样更具针对性,对取自CASP10单链蛋白的loop测试集的分析表明,对长度为10,11,12个氨基酸的长loop区,改进后算法都比原始LEAP算法的预测精度有显著提升.这种引入氨基酸位置特异性从而提高预测精度的思路有望进一步推广至loop结构预测的其他算法.     

温度对奶粉荧光光谱的影响

采用荧光光谱和荧光寿命技术研究了温度对奶粉荧光特征的影响.通过比较奶粉与酪蛋白、乳糖及维生素的荧光光谱,确定了奶粉的荧光主要来自酪蛋白的贡献.随着温度的升高,奶粉和酪蛋白的荧光强度减小,其中幼儿配方奶粉和成人普通奶粉的荧光强度随温度升高减小的趋势基本相同,而婴儿配方奶粉的荧光强度随温度的升高出现了一个相对变化缓慢的平台区,酪蛋白的荧光强度随温度升高呈缓慢下降的趋势,下降的速度比奶粉的要缓.酪蛋白加热到90℃然后冷却至25℃,荧光强度部分恢复,说明一部分蛋白质的结构变化或者荧光基团的活性变化是可逆的.测量了不同温度下奶粉和酪蛋白的荧光寿命.奶粉和酪蛋白的荧光寿命曲线在双指数拟合之后,都有两个寿命,这两个寿命可能来自于色氨酸和苯丙氨酸.随着温度的升高,奶粉和酪蛋白的两个荧光寿命都减小.