Distributions of major-to-ultratrace elements among the particulate and dissolved fractions in natural water as studied by ICP-AES and ICP-MS after sequential fractionation.

In order to elucidate the distributions of the elements among the particulate and dissolved fractions in pond water, major-to-ultratrace elements in different sizes of particles as well as in the filtrate passed through the 0.05 microm filter were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The different sizes of particle samples (ca. 100-300 microg each) were collected on the membrane filters with pore sizes of 10, 3.0, 1.2, 0.4, 0.2 and 0.05 microm, respectively, by sequential fractionation. As a result, about 40 elements in different sizes of particles could be determined by ICP-AES and ICP-MS, after acid digestion using HNO3/HF/HClO4. Then, the fractional distribution factors of major-to-ultratrace elements among the particulate and dissolved fractions were estimated from the analytical results. The total contents of Al, Fe, Ti, REEs (rare earth elements), Bi, Pb and Ag in the particulate fractions (larger than 0.05 microm) were more than 80-90%, while those of Ca, Sr, Cs, W, Ba, Mn and Co in the dissolved fraction, which corresponded to the filtrate passed through the 0.05 microm membrane filter, were more than 80%. It was further found that the fractional distributions of Cu and Zn in the dissolved fraction were ca. 50%. In addition, the enrichment factors (EFs) of the elements in the particulate fractions with particle sizes of 3.0-10 microm and 0.05-0.2 microm were estimated to elucidate their geochemical characteristics in natural water.     

Utilization of carbohydrates by radiation processing

Upgrading and utilization of carbohydrates such as chitosan, sodium alginate, carrageenan, cellulose, pectin have been investigated for recycling these bio-resources and reducing the environmental pollution. These carbohydrates were easily degraded by irradiation and various kinds of biological activities such as anti-microbial activity, promotion of plant growth, suppression of heavy metal stress, phytoalexins induction, etc. were induced. On the other hand, some carbohydrate derivatives, carboxymethylcellulose and carboxymethylstarch, could be crosslinked under certain radiation condition and produce the biodegradable hydrogel for medical and agricultural use.     

Development of novel chiral urea catalysts for the hetero-Michael reaction

Chiral urea compounds 10a-g were synthesized as catalysts for conjugate addition of pyrrolidine (2) to gamma-crotonolactone (3). In the presence of a catalytic amount of the chiral ureas, this hetero-Michael reaction was greatly accelerated. Asymmetric induction was observed with the catalysts 10e, 10f, and 10g.     

Distribution of pirarubicin in human blood.

We investigated the distribution and stability of pirarubicin in human blood obtained from 12 healthy volunteers. The distribution of pirarubicin into blood cells showed marked temperature- and concentration-dependencies and the Arrhenius plot for pirarubicin uptake in blood was biphasic. Therefore, pirarubicin appears to be taken up into blood cells by a carrier-mediated system. Pirarubicin was mainly enzymatically metabolized to pirarubicinol in blood cells, but pirarubicin was not metabolized into doxorubicin in either blood or plasma. On the other hand, in plasma, pirarubicin was degraded to unknown inactive compounds instead of pirarubicinol. It is therefore suggested that blood cells serve to protect against the degradation of pirarubicin into inactive compounds in blood. Accordingly, when the monitoring of pirarubicin and its active metabolites is carried out in patients, both blood and plasma must be frozen immediately after blood collection.     

Thermochromism in nickel(II) complexes: thermal, solid state H NMR and single crystal X-ray analysis of bis-(N,N-dimethyl-1,2-ethanediamine) nickel(II) perchlorate

The complex bis-(N,N-dimethyl-1,2-ethanediamine) nickel(II) perchlorate undergoes a first-order thermochromic phase transition at ca. 476 K, changing its color from orange to red. The room temperature X-ray crystal structure determination showed that the nickel ion possesses a square-planar geometry with two five membered chelate rings, in the δλ conformation, forming the NiN₄ chromophore. The broad-line ¹H NMR indicates the onset of a dynamic disorder of diamine chelate rings at the phase transition temperature region, while T₁ measurement of ¹H affords the activation energy of the puckering metal chelate rings to be 26 kJ mol⁻¹. The electronic spectrum revealed that a weakening of ligand field around the nickel is associated with the phase transition.     

Pd.H-C Interactions. Preparation and Structure of Orthometalated Tetranuclear Complexes of Palladium(II) and Platinum(II)

The reaction of 2-(1-naphthyl)benzothiazoline with palladium(II) acetate leads to helical mononuclear and orthometalated tetranuclear products. The molecular structures of mononuclear palladium(II) [Pd(H1-nabz)(2)] (1) (H(2)1-nabz = 2-N-(1-naphthylmethylideneamino)benzenethiolate), tetranuclear palladium(II) [Pd(4)(1-nabz)(4)] (2) and tetranuclear platinum(II) [Pt(4)(1-nabz)(4)] (3) have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction method. Crystal data for complex 1 are as follows: a = 14.208(3) ?, b = 18.227(4) ?, c = 14.398(8) ?; beta = 94.55(3) degrees; V = 3717.0(23) ?(3); space group = P2(1)/n, Z = 4. Crystal data for the complex 2 are as follows: a = b = 15.798(3) ?, c = 23.728(4) ?; V = 5921.7(20) ?(3); space group = I4(1)/a, Z = 16 for the Pd(1-nabz) unit. Crystal data for the complex 3 are as follows: a = b = 15.496(2) ?, c = 24.348(3) ?; V = 5846.3(20) ?(3); space group = I4(1)/a, Z = 16 for the Pt(1-nabz) unit. The mononuclear palladium(II) complex reveals short ortho-hydrogen.palladium distances of 2.66(7) and 2.48(7) ?. These short distances and (1)H NMR studies provide a M.H-C interaction which can be regarded as a three-center four-electron interaction. The molecular structures of 2 and 3 confirm the formation of unusual tetranuclear compounds featuring a rare C,N,S-tridentate ligand derived from orthometalation of pendant side arm. The structural and chemical properties of the mononuclear palladium(II) complex 1 clearly suggest that 1 is a potential intermediate in the formation of the tetranuclear complex 2 by orthometalation reactions.     

Development of a new file search system for nuclear magnetic resonance spectra: Production of an Enlarged Data Base and Search Test

A practical search system for proton n.m.r. spectra is reported. The coding rules and search algorithms are described in detail. Data for 8000 spectra have been converted into a computer-readable file from printed charts. Several search tests are used to evaluate the usefulness of the search system, and various effects of experimental conditions such as different instruments, frequencies and solvents on recall efficiency are described. The results presented indicate that the system should be applicable to routine analytical work.     

Synthesis of marine guanidine alkaloids and their application as chemical/biological tools

Ptilomycalin A and crambescidins, novel marine guanidine alkaloids, have a unique pentacyclic guanidine structure, and exhibit a considerable array of biological activities. The first method developed for the synthesis of the pentacyclic guanidine core structure involved successive 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions and resulted in the first total synthesis of crambescidin 359. The synthesis of other pentacyclic guanidine derivatives has been based on this methodology and applied as tools for studying biological activities, and as chemical reaction catalysts.     

Excitation-energy migration in self-assembled cyclic zinc(II)-porphyrin arrays: a close mimicry of a natural light-harvesting system

The excitation-energy-hopping (EEH) times within two-dimensional cyclic zinc(II)-porphyrin arrays 5 and 6, which were prepared by intermolecular coordination and ring-closing metathesis reaction of olefins, were deduced by modeling the EEH process based on the anisotropy depolarization as well as the exciton-exciton annihilation dynamics. Assuming the number of energy-hopping sites N = 5 and 6, the two different experimental observables, that is, anisotropy depolarization and exciton-excition annihilation times, consistently give the EEH times of 8.0 +/- 0.5 and 5.3 +/- 0.6 ps through the 1,3-phenylene linkages of 5 and 6, respectively. Accordingly, the self-assembled cyclic porphyrin arrays have proven to be well-defined two-dimensional models for natural light-harvesting complexes.