Formation of Supramolecular Nanostructures through in Situ Self-Assembly and Post-Assembly Modification of a Biocatalytically Constructed Dipeptide Hydrazide**

Aqueous self-assembly of short peptides has attracted growing attention for the construction of supramolecular materials for various bioapplications. Herein, we describe how the thermolysin-assisted biocatalytic construction of a dipeptide hydrazide from an N-protected amino acid and an amino acid hydrazide leads to the formation of thermally stable supramolecular hydrogels. In addition, we demonstrate the post-assembly modification of the supramolecular architectures constructed in situ tethering hydrazide groups as a chemical handle by means of fluorescence imaging.     

Rapid and sensitive determination of the conversion of UV-cured acrylic ester resins by pyrolysis-gas chromatography in the presence of an organic alkali.

The double-bond conversion of UV-cured resins prepared from pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETA) was determined by pyrolysis-gas chromatography in the presence of an organic alkali, tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The pyrogram of the uncured prepolymer compound, consisting of PETA and a photoinitiator, 2,2-dimethoxy-2-phenylacetophenone, contained specific products reflecting the original acrylate structure, such as methyl acrylate (MA) and methyl ethers of pentaerithritol. Meanwhile, in pyrograms of the UV-cured PETA, the yields of MA considerably decreased. The double-bond conversions of the cured resins, irradiated with various UV dosages, were calculated based on the relative yields of MA among specific products in the pyrograms. The conversions determined by this approach were analyzed by comparing them with those estimated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.     

Syntheses and characterization of 16‐arm star and star diblock copolymer and AB8 9‐miktoarm star copolymer via NMRP and ROP from dendritic multifunctional macroinitiators

A dendritic macroinitiator having 16 TEMPO‐based alkoxyamines, Star‐16 , was prepared by the reaction of a dendritic macroinitiator having eight TEMPO‐based alkoxyamines, [G‐3]‐OH , with 4,4′‐bis(chlorocarbonyl)biphenyl. The nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) of styrene (St) from Star‐16 gave 16‐arm star polymers with PDI of 1.19–1.47, and NMPR of 4‐vinylpyridine from the 16‐arm star polymer gave 16‐arm star diblock copolymers with PDI of 1.30–1.43. The ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone from [G‐3]‐OH and the subsequent NMRP of St gave AB₈ 9‐miktoarm star copolymers with PDI of 1.30–1.38. The benzyl ether linkages of the 16‐arm star polymers and the AB₈ 9‐miktoarm star copolymers were cleaved by treating with Me₃SiI, and the resultant poly(St) arms were investigated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The SEC results showed PDIs of 1.23–1.28 and 1.18–1.22 for the star polymers and miktoarm stars copolymers, respectively, showing that they have well‐controlled poly(St) arms. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1159–1169, 2007.     

Calculation of heat transfer and uniformity of chemical amplification during post-exposure bake

Heat transfer in a resist-coated silicon wafer using a bake process is theoretically evaluated by modeling the three-dimensional diffusion process, focusing on the controllability of the lithographic performance of chemically amplified resists. Six models of various ambient conditions are used. The proximity gap between the hotplate and the wafer is found to have a dominant influence on the heat transfer process for the whole system. Because the atmosphere near the wafer acts as a thermal diffusion buffer layer, no temperature gradient occurs in the resist, even when it is subjected to convective heat transfer from the resist surface. Experimental results obtained by X-ray lithography confirm the calculation results.     

Phase Measurement Algorithm in Wavelength Scanned Fizeau Interferometer

Wavelength scanned interferometry allows the simultaneous measurement of top surface shape and optical thickness variation of a transparent object consisting of several parallel surfaces. Interference signals from these surfaces can be separated in frequency space, and their phases are detected by discrete Fourier analysis. However, these signal frequencies are shifted from the detection frequency by the refractive index dispersion of the object and a nonlinearity of the wavelength scanning. The Fourier analysis is sensitive to the detuning of the signal frequency and suffers from the multiple-beam interference noise. Conventional error-compensating algorithms cannot be applied to an object consisting of more than three reflecting surfaces. We derive a new 2N-1 sample error-compensating algorithm, which allows the phase detection of any order of harmonic frequency among the interference signals. The new algorithm suppresses the effect of signal frequency detuning as well as the multiple-beam interference noise and can be applied to the measurement of complex objects consisting of more than three reflecting surfaces.     

Simple and rapid determination of trace amounts of gold(III), palladium(II), and platinum(IV) in industrial waste solutions after recovery of noble metals by combined use of GFAAS and anion-exchange separation.

A simple and rapid method for the analysis of trace amounts of gold(III), palladium(II), and platinum(IV) by the combined use of graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and anion-exchange separation was proposed, and successfully applied to the rapid determination of metals in industrial waste solutions obtained from the final process of noble-metal recovery factories, because noble metals can be selectively and quantitatively separated to a high degree by using a small column containing only a 0.7 g-portion of a common anion-exchange resin and a dilute thiourea solution.     

Synthesis of spherical and hemispherical sugar‐containing poly(ornithine) dendrimers

A novel sugar‐containing poly(ornithine) dendrimer is synthesized for possible antigen delivery and related applications. The dendrimer contains an ornithine dendron as interior scaffolding and oligosaccharides on the periphery, which provide an attachment site for a peptide antigen. Maltose or lactose is bound to both hemispherical and spherical poly(ornithine) dendrimer generation 3 (G3) by reductive amination between its reducing end and the peripheral amino group of the dendrimer using a borane‐pyridine complex in a buffer solution at 50 °C. The degree of substitution of sugar is changed by varying the molar ratio of sugar to dendrimer. When the surface of spherical poly(ornithine) dendrimer G3 is modified by binding β‐alanine to the 16 amino groups, highly substituted maltose‐ or lactose‐β‐alanine‐poly(ornithine) dendrimer G3 is obtained in high yield after 7 days of reaction. The structures of these sugar‐containing dendrimers are characterized by NMR and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry analyses. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1400–1414, 2004     

Simple and rapid spectrophotometric determination of iron after preconcentration as its 1,10-phenanthroline complex on the natural polymer "chitin"

Preconcentration by collection of metal complexes on chitin has been applied to the spectrophotometric determination of iron in water. The iron is collected as its 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) complex on a column of chitin in the presence of tetraphenylborate as counter-ion. The iron(II)-phen complex retained on the chitin is eluted with an acetone-1M acetic acid mixture (8:2 v/v), and the absorbance of the eluate is measured at 512 nm. Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range 1.1-11.2 mug of iron in 10 ml of eluate. In the presence of EDTA as masking agent, Ca, Mg, Al, Mn, Zn, Cd and Pb do not interfere in concentrations up to 100 times that of iron(II) and Co, Ni and Cu do not interfere in concentrations up to 20 times that of iron(II). Common inorganic anions do not interfere in concentrations up to 10,000 times that of iron(II). The proposed method has been applied to determination of iron in tap water.