Can a Procedure for the Growth of Single-layer Graphene on Copper be used in Different Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactors?

In the last decade, catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been intensively explored for the growth of single-layer graphene (SLG). Despite the scattering of guidelines and procedures, variables such as the surface texture/chemistry of catalyst metal foils, carbon feedstock, and growth process parameters have been well-scrutinized. Still, questions remain on how best to standardize the growth procedure. The possible correlation of procedures between different CVD setups is an example. Here, two thermal CVD reactors were explored to grow graphene on Cu foil. The design of these setups was entirely distinct, one being a “showerhead” cold-wall type, whereas the other represented the popular “tubular” hot-wall type. Upon standardizing the Cu foil surface, it was possible to develop a procedure for cm²-scale SLG growth that differed only by the carrier gas flow rate used in the two reactors.     

Determination of amides

A method has been developed for the quantitative determination of amides. The compound is saponified with a large excess of alkali and the resulting solution passed through a heated cationexchange resin in the hydrogen form. The resin neutralizes the excess sodium hydroxide and converts the carboxylic salt to the free acid which is then titrated directly in the effluent with standard alkaline solution. The time required for a determination is less than one hour.     

Cymodienol and cymodiene: new cytotoxic diarylheptanoids from the sea grass Cymodocea nodosa

The two new diarylheptanoids, cymodienol (1), and cymodiene (2), obtained from specimens of the sea grass Cymodocea nodosa, collected from the coastal areas of central Greece, are the first members of this class isolated from marine organisms. The chemical structures of the two metabolites were assigned on the basis of their NMR and MS spectroscopic data, including information obtained by 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments. Metabolite 2 possesses an unprecedented skeleton that might be biosynthetically related to metabolite 1. Cymodienol (1) was found to exhibit significant cytotoxic activity against two lung cancer cell lines.     

Flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of chloramben

Abstract

A method for the dechlorination of PCB mixtures (Aroclor formulations) to biphenyl was extended to soils. The contaminated sample was mixed with magnesium flakes, potassium hexachloropalladiate (K₂PdCl₆), propan-2-ol and water then permitted to react for up to six hours. Biphenyl, recovered by extraction into hexane, was quantified by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. The reaction was very efficient in propan-2-ol / water (～95%), surfactant emulsion or sand mixture and virtually complete in soil provided that excess magnesium (2 g) and the K₂PdCl₆ were added to the sample prior to the addition of water. Higher PCB loadings were readily determined in field contaminated soils either by direct determination within the matrix or by standard additions. However, analyte concentrations were appreciably over-estimated in Soxhlet or sonication extracts of a certified reference material that contained sub-ppm levels of analyte. The over-estimation is considered to result from the conversion in part of natural organic matter to biphenyl.     

The Synthesis and Mechanistic Considerations of a Series of Ammonium Monosubstituted H-Phosphonate Salts

A series of ammonium monosubstituted H-phosphonate salts were synthesized by combining H-phosphonate diesters with amines in the absence of solvent at 80 °C. Variation of the ester substituent and amine produced a range of ionic liquids with low melting points. The products and by-products were analyzed by spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques in order to get a better mechanistic picture of the dealkylation and formal dearylation observed. For dialkyl H-phosphonate diesters, (RO)₂P(O)H (R=alkyl), the reaction proceeds via direct dealkylation with the reactivity increasing in the order R=iPr<Et<Me corresponding to DFT calculated activation enthalpies of 22.6, 20.8, and 17.9 kcal mol⁻¹. For the diphenyl H-phosphonate diesters, (PhO)₂P(O)H, the dearylation was found to proceed via phenol-assisted formation of a 5-coordinate intermediate, (PhO)₃PH(OH), from which P(OPh)₃ and water were eliminated. The presence of an equivalent of water then facilitated the formation of P(OH)₂OPh and the amine, R'NH₂, subsequently abstracted a proton from it to yield [(PhO)PH(O)O]^-[R'NH₃]⁺.     

Spectrophotometric method for determination of atrazine and its application to commercial formulations and real samples

A simple sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of atrazine in herbicide formulations and real samples. The method was based on the reaction of atrazine with pyridine to form a quaternary halide which in the presence of alkali forms a carbinol base. The heterocyclic ring of the carbinol base breaks and forms the glutaconic dialdehyde. The glutaconic dialdehyde group was coupled with sulfanilic acid to form a yellow coloured product having λ _max 450 nm or coupled with aniline to form a orange red coloured product having λ _max 480 nm. The Beer's law was obeyed over the range from 0.1 to 25 µg mL^?1 and molar absorptivity 1.5 × 10⁴ L mol^?1 cm^?1 for sulfanilic acid, and from 0.08 to 12 µg mL^?1 and molar absorptivity 1.3 × 10⁴ L mol^?1 cm^?1 for aniline were observed. The reaction conditions and other analytical parameters were optimised. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the analysis of commercial formulations and real samples.     

Selective Uptake of Cylindrical Poly(2‐Oxazoline) Brush‐AntiDEC205 Antibody‐OVA Antigen Conjugates into DEC‐Positive Dendritic Cells and Subsequent T‐Cell Activation

To achieve specific cell targeting by various receptors for oligosaccharides or antibodies, a carrier must not be taken up by any of the very many different cells and needs functional groups prone to clean conjugation chemistry to derive well‐defined structures with a high biological specificity. A polymeric nanocarrier is presented that consists of a cylindrical brush polymer with poly‐2‐oxazoline side chains carrying an azide functional group on each of the many side chain ends. After click conjugation of dye and an anti‐DEC205 antibody to the periphery of the cylindrical brush polymer, antibody‐mediated specific binding and uptake into DEC205⁺‐positive mouse bone marrow‐derived dendritic cells (BMDC) was observed, whereas binding and uptake by DEC205^? negative BMDC and non‐DC was essentially absent. Additional conjugation of an antigen peptide yielded a multifunctional polymer structure with a much stronger antigen‐specific T‐cell stimulatory capacity of pretreated BMDC than application of antigen or polymer–antigen conjugate.     

Mechanism of Host–Guest Complex Formation and Identification of Intermediates through NMR Titration and Diffusion NMR Spectroscopy

The formation of host–guest (H‐G) complexes between 1,8‐bis[(diethylgallanyl)ethynyl]anthracene (H) and the N‐heterocycles pyridine and pyrimidine (G) was studied in solution using a combination of NMR titration and diffusion NMR experiments. For the latter, diffusion coefficients of potential host–guest structures in solution were compared with those of tailor‐made reference compounds of similar shape (synthesized and characterized by NMR, HRMS, and in part XRD). Highly dynamic behavior was observed in both cases, but with different host–guest species and equilibria. With increasing concentrations of the pyridine guest, the equilibrium H₂?H₂κ¹‐G₁?HG₂ is observed (in the second step a host dimer coordinates one guest molecule); for pyrimidine the equilibrium H₂→H₁κ²‐G₁?HG₂ is observed (the formation of a 1:1 aggregate is the second step).     

Recognition of Dimethylarginine Analogues by Tandem Tudor Domain Protein Spindlin1

Epigenetic readout of the combinatorial posttranslational modification comprised of trimethyllysine and asymmetric dimethylarginine (H3K4me3R8me2a) takes place via biomolecular recognition of tandem Tudor-domain-containing protein Spindlin1. Through comparative thermodynamic data and molecular dynamics simulations, we sought to explore the binding scope of asymmetric dimethylarginine mimics by Spindlin1. Herein, we provide evidence that the biomolecular recognition of H3K4me2R8me2a is not significantly affected when R8me2a is replaced by dimethylarginine analogues, implying that the binding of K4me3 provides the major binding contribution. High-energy water molecules inside both aromatic cages of the ligand binding sites contribute to the reader–histone association upon displacement by histone peptide, with the K4me3 hydration site being lower in free energy due to a flip of Trp151.