Experimental analysis, modeling, and theoretical design of McMaster pore-filled nanofiltration membranes

A side-by-side comparison of the performance of McMaster pore-filled (MacPF) and commercial nanofiltration (NF) membranes is presented here. The single-salt and multi-component performance of these membranes is studied using experimental data and using a mathematical model. The pseudo two-dimensional model is based on the extended Nernst–Planck equation, a modified Poisson–Boltzmann equation, and hydrodynamic calculations. The model includes four structural properties of the membrane: pore radius, pure water permeability, surface charge density and the ratio of effective membrane thickness to water content. The analysis demonstrates that the rejection and transport mechanisms are the same in the commercial and MacPF membranes with different contributions from each type of mechanism (convection, diffusion and electromigration). Solute rejection in NF membranes is determined primarily by a combination of steric and electrostatic effects. The selectivity of MacPF membranes is primarily determined by electrostatic effects with a significantly smaller contribution of steric effects compared to commercial membranes. Hence, these membranes have the ability to reject ions while remaining highly permeable to low molecular weight organics. Additionally, a new theoretical membrane design approach is presented. This design procedure potentially offers the optimization of NF membrane performance by tailoring the membrane structure and operating variables to the specific process, simultaneously. The procedure is validated at the laboratory scale.     

The role of myeloperoxidase and superoxide anion in the luminol- and lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence of human neutrophils

The amount of chemiluminescence (CL) or light that is emitted from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) during phagocytosis or activation by soluble stimuli is dependent on the emission of photons from the oxidation of particulate or bystander molecules. Because the compounds luminol and lucigenin yield photons with high quantum efficiency these agents have been introduced to sensitively assess PMN-CL. Since there is limited information about the pathways involved in the chemiluminescence of these compounds, we investigated the role of both myeloperoxidase (MPO) and superoxide anion (· O₂^?) in luminol-and lucigenin-PMN-CL. We compared the CL between normal and MPO- deficient PMN using zymosan for phagocytosis and N-formylmethionyleucylphenylalanine (FMLP) as a soluble stimulus. Our data demonstrated that luminol-CL was dependent on the presence of MPO and independent of · O₂^? generation during phagocytosis but independent of MPO during FMLP activation. In contrast lucigenin-CL was independent of MPO during both phagocytosis and FMLP activation and appeared to reflect · O₂^? production. Consequently, dependent on the type of activation, it appears that luminol- and lucigenin-CL are generated via different oxidative pathways and may serve as potentially useful tools to differentiate the redox activity of phagocytic cells.     

The formation of dimetallocycles from reactions of alkynes with (η-C5Me5)2Rh2(CO)2; X-ray structure of [(η-C5Me5)2Rh2(η-CO) {μ-η2,η2-C(O)C2-(CF3)2}]

The complexes (η-C₅Me₅)₂Rh₂(μ-CO) {μ-η²,η²-C(O)CRCR} are obtained from reactions between (η-C₅Me₅)₂Rh₂(CO)₂ and the alkynes RCCR (R  CF₃, CO₂Me, or Ph) at 25°C. The molecular geometry of the complex with R  CF₃ has been established by X-ray diffraction; the bridging 'ene-one' unit adopts a μ-η²,η² conformation. Other complexes isolated from these reactions include (η-C₅Me₅)Rh(C₆R₆) (R  CF₃, CO₂Me), (η-C₅Me)₂Rh₂(C₄R₄) (R  CO₂Me) and (η-C₅Me₅)₂Rh₂(CO₂C₂R₂) (R  Ph). The reaction between (η-C₅Me₅)₂Rh₂(CO)₂ and C₆F₅CCC₆F₅ gives (η-C₅Me₅)₂Rh₂(CO)₂(C₆F₅C₂C₆F₅). Mononuclear complexes such as (η-C₅Me₅)Co(C₄R₄CO) are the major products isolated from reactions between (η-C₅Me₅)₂CO₂(CO)₂ and alkynes at 25°C.     

Reaction barrier heights from an exact-exchange-based density-functional correlation model

A recent exact-exchange-based density-functional model of nondynamical and dynamical correlation [A.D. Becke, J. Chem. Phys. 122, 064101 (2005)] is tested on 70 barrier heights for a variety of reaction types: hydrogen transfer reactions, heavy-atom transfer reactions, nucleophilic substitutions, association reactions, and unimolecular rearrangements, including both even- and odd-electron systems. The mean absolute error with respect to accurate reference data is 1.4 kcal/mol. This is achieved without any refitting of the parameters of the model to the barrier height data.