Determination of minor conformational changes of a doxorubicin-peptide conjugate under chromatographic conditions

Thermodynamic analysis of the reversed-phase retention behavior of a doxorubicin-peptide conjugate demonstrated that the degree of non-linearity observed in Van't Hoff plots was impacted by mobile phase acetonitrile content over the 25-38% acetonitrile (v/v) range tested. Small decreases in the non-polar surface area of the doxorubicin-peptide conjugate as a function of temperature were estimated from these data using linear solvent strength relationships, suggesting that the retention behavior may be the result of minor analyte conformational changes during the chromatographic experiment. This hypothesis was supported via circular dichroism (CD), Raman and 1H NMR spectroscopic studies of the doxorubicin-peptide conjugate in selected chromatographic mobile phase compositions. The CD and Raman data indicated small changes to the apparent analyte microenvironment as a function of temperature and bulk solvent environment, while 1H NMR studies specifically demonstrated the environmental sensitivity of protons on three non-polar peptide residues and the proximal aromatic region of the analyte. Together, these data suggest that minor changes to the conformational order of the essentially random structure of the doxorubicin-peptide conjugate are sufficient to impact chromatographic performance.     

Gas chromatographic analysis of the thermally unstable dimethyl methylphosphonate carbanion via trimethylsilyl derivatization

An HPLC method to quantitate phytometallophores (phytosiderophores) exuded from roots of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) growing in nutrient solution culture was developed. 9-Fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC) derivatives of phytometallophores were separated on a C18 reverse-phase column using a sodium acetate (pH 7.2) and acetonitrile-methanol gradient over 20 min followed by fluorescence detection. Detection limits ranged from 15 to 370 pmol depending on the particular phytometallophore. The effectiveness of this method was demonstrated using the response of barley seedlings to Fe-sufficient and Fe-deficient nutrient solution conditions. Phytometallophores collected in root washings of Fe-deficient barley seedlings increased with plant age while phytometallophore release from Fe-adequate roots was negligible.     

Enhancement of the SHG efficiency in a doubly resonant 2D-photonic crystal microcavity

In this paper we discuss the conditions to obtain the enhancement of second harmonic generation in a two-dimensional circular photonic crystal AlGaAs cavity. The photonic crystal circular cavity offers the possibility of having high-Q resonance modes with respect to those obtained with other types of photonic crystal lattices. The crystallographic cut of the AlGaAs provides a strong nonlinear coupling between a transverse-magnetic (TM) polarized resonant mode at the fundamental wavelength and a transverse-electric (TE) polarized resonant mode at second harmonic wavelength. The double resonance condition leads to a strong improvement of the second harmonic generation process. A preliminary linear analysis has been performed by using the finite-difference time-domain method, which includes the dispersive response of the material, modeled using the well-known one-pole pair Lorentzian function.     

Pt dendrimer nanocomposites for oxygen reduction reaction in direct methanol fuel cells

Dendrimer-encapsulated Pt nanoparticles (G4OHPt) were prepared by chemical reduction at room temperature. The G4OHPt, with average diameters of ca. 2.7 nm, were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Electrocatalytic behavior for oxygen reduction reaction was investigated using a rotating disk electrode configuration in an acidic medium, with and without the presence of methanol (0.01, 0.1, and 1 M). Kinetic studies showed that electrodes based on Pt nanoparticles encapsulated inside the dendrimer display a higher selectivity for ORR in the presence of methanol than electrodes based on commercial Pt black catalysts. Also, the dendritic polymer confers a protective effect on the Pt in the presence of methanol, which allows its use as a cathode in a direct methanol fuel cell operating at different temperatures. Good performance was obtained at 90 °C and 2 bar of pressure with a low platinum loading on the electrode surface.     

The 5v 3 bands of 18O enriched ozone: line positions of 16O16O18O, 16O18O16O, 16O18O18O and 18O16O18O

The four 5v ₃ bands of ¹⁸O enriched ozone have been observed and analysed for the first time. Two species (¹⁶O¹⁸O¹⁶O and ¹⁸O¹⁶O¹⁸O) belong to the C_2v symmetry group and two other (¹⁸O¹⁸O¹⁶O and ¹⁶O¹⁶O¹⁸O) to the C_s symmetry group. They have been recorded at a resolution of 0.008 cm^?1 with a pathlength of 32.16 m. Despite the very weak absorptions observed, almost 250 energy levels have been derived for each of the 4 species, with J ? 35 and K _a ? 13, and suitable sets of Hamiltonian parameters have been determined. For 3 species it has been necessary to account for the resonance between the (005) and (311) states to correctly reproduce the spectra observed. These resonances, anharmonic for C_2v, and hybrid (both anhar-monic and Coriolis) for C_s symmetry confirm the accidentally extremely strong coupling between the (005) and (311) states for ¹⁶O₃, due in that case to the very close distance between unperturbed energy levels. This work also confirms the excellent prediction of band centres of these four species derived from the recently determined isotopically invariant molecular potential function.     

Effect of the segmental mobility restriction on the thermoset chemical kinetics

The cure kinetics of an epoxy–amine commercial thermoset system have been investigated with the isothermal differential scanning calorimetry technique. In particular, a kinetic study has been performed in the glass–transition zone, in which diffusion phenomena compete with the chemical transformations and the overall reaction rate is partially slowed by the reduced segmental chain mobility. A generalized form of the Vogel equation has been formulated to account for the effect of the increasing glass–transition temperature on the chain mobility and, therefore, on the overall reaction rate. The kinetic model has been expressed with two factors representing the chemical reaction rate and the segmental mobility reduction. As the main result, the activation energy relative to the diffusion phenomena has been found to be very low, having a value of 42.5 K ≈ 0.356 kJ/mol, which is compatible only with the small‐angle rotation of the reactive unit. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 3757–3770, 2002     

Investigation of a Pt–Fe/C catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in direct ethanol fuel cells

Three cathode catalysts (60% Pt/C, 30% Pt/C and 60% Pt–Fe/C), with a particle size of about 2–3 nm, were prepared to investigate the effect of ethanol cross-over on cathode surfaces. All samples were studied in terms of structure and morphology by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses. Their electrocatalytic behavior in terms of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was investigated and compared using a rotating disk electrode (RDE). The tolerance of cathode catalysts in the presence of ethanol was evaluated. The Pt–Fe/C catalyst showed both higher ORR activity and tolerance to ethanol cross-over than Pt/C catalysts. Moreover, the more promising catalysts were tested in 5 cm² DEFC single cells at 60 and 80 °C. An improvement in single cell performance was observed in the presence of the Pt–Fe catalyst, due to an enhancement in the oxygen reduction kinetics. The maximum power density was 53 mW cm⁻² at 2 bar rel. cathode pressure and 80 °C.     

Molecular structure of silsesquioxanes determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used to deduce the three-dimensional structure of a complex silsesquioxane polymer. Four distinct levels of structure were observed in the mass spectrum. The overall shape of the peak distribution was typical of polymers formed by condensation reactions. The mass separation between major clusters of peaks, each major cluster corresponding to an oligomer with a unique number of repeat units, confirmed that the synthesis proceeded as expected with no side reactions. The mass separation between peaks within a major cluster showed that intramolecular reactions during synthesis resulted in the elimination of water. The loss of water was ascribed to the formation of closed loops in the polymer structure. A simple arithmetic algorithm is presented for identifying these peaks. Autocorrelation techniques were used to determine the number and distribution of intramolecular closed loops per oligomer. This knowledge was used to deduce whether a particular oligomer is branched-linear, ladder, polyhedral, or some combination of these. The single-oligomer isotopic distribution was used to determine that cationization was present from both sodium and potassium ions.