N-Acylated α-aminonitriles and their conversion into 5-aminooxazole, 5(4h)-oxazolone and 4(5h)-imidazolone derivatives

In contrast with the reaction of α-aminonitriles $\text{1}$a, the corresponding $\text{N}$-acylated α-aminonitriles $\text{1}$b-f and oxalyl chloride do not yield pyrazinone derivatives, but 5-aminooxazoles $\text{9}$-$\text{11}$ or 4(5$\text{H}$)-imidazolones $\text{12}$, the latter being converted in some cases into imidazo [2,1-$\text{a}$]isoquinoline-2,5,6(3$\text{H}$)-triones. Reactions of compounds $\text{1}$b-f and ethyl chlorooxoacetate provide evidence for a 5(4$\text{H}$)-iminooxazole intermediate $\text{7}$, which aromatizes to yield 5-aminooxazoles $\text{9}$-$\text{11}$; however, unaromatizable īntermediates of type $\text{7}$ - isolable as 5(4$\text{H}$)y-oxazolones $\text{13}$ after hydrolysis - undergo a catalyzed Dimroth-type rearrangement to give imidazolone derivatives $\text{12}$.     

Experimental and Computational Study of the Thermal Decomposition of 3‐Methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol in m‐Xylene Solution

An experimental study of the thermal decomposition of a β‐hydroxy alkene, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution, has been carried out at five different temperatures in the range of 513.15–563.15 K. The temperature dependence of the rate constants for the decomposition of this compound in the corresponding Arrhenius equation is given by ln k (s^?1) = (25.65 ± 1.52) ? (17,944 ± 814) (kJ·mol^?1)·T^?1. A computational study has been carried out at the M05–2X/6–31+G(d,p) level of theory to calculate the rate constants and the activation parameters by the classical transition state theory. There is a good agreement between the experimental and calculated rate constants and activation Gibbs energies. The bonding characteristics of reactant, transition state, and products have been investigated by the natural bond orbital analysis, which provides the natural atomic charges and the Wiberg bond indices. Based on the results obtained, the mechanism proposed is a one‐step process proceeding through a six‐membered cyclic transition state, being a concerted and slightly asynchronous process. The results have been compared with those obtained previously by us (Struct Chem 2013, 24, 1811–1816) for the thermal decomposition of 3‐buten‐1‐ol, in m‐xylene solution. We can conclude that in the compound studied in this work, 3‐methyl‐3‐buten‐1‐ol, the effect of substitution at position 3 by a weakly activating CH₃ group is the stabilization of the transition state formed in the reaction and therefore a small increase in the rate of thermal decomposition.     

Structural and Kinetic Aspects of Blood Plasma Protein Adsorption on the Surface of Hydrophobic Polymers

Abstract

Due to the wide use of polymers in medicine, researchers are required to solve a very important problem–to understand the interaction between materials of nonphysiological origin and the surrounding biological liquids, and tissues, particularly blood.     

Spatially resolved (semi)quantitative determination of iron (Fe) in plants by means of synchrotron micro X-ray fluorescence

Iron (Fe) is an essential element for plant growth and development; hence determining Fe distribution and concentration inside plant organs at the microscopic level is of great relevance to better understand its metabolism and bioavailability through the food chain. Among the available microanalytical techniques, synchrotron μ-XRF methods can provide a powerful and versatile array of analytical tools to study Fe distribution within plant samples. In the last years, the implementation of new algorithms and detection technologies has opened the way to more accurate (semi)quantitative analyses of complex matrices like plant materials. In this paper, for the first time the distribution of Fe within tomato roots has been imaged and quantified by means of confocal μ-XRF and exploiting a recently developed fundamental parameter-based algorithm. With this approach, Fe concentrations ranging from few hundreds of ppb to several hundreds of ppm can be determined at the microscopic level without cutting sections. Furthermore, Fe (semi)quantitative distribution maps were obtained for the first time by using two opposing detectors to collect simultaneously the XRF radiation emerging from both sides of an intact cucumber leaf.

Hard X-ray nanoprobe investigations of the subtissue metal distributions within Daphnia magna

The unique potential of nanoscale elemental imaging of major/minor and trace-level elemental distributions within thin biological tissue sections of the ecotoxicological model organism Daphnia magna is demonstrated by synchrotron radiation nano-X-ray fluorescence (nano-XRF). The applied highly specialized sample preparation method, coupled with the high spatial resolution (～180 nm) and high X-ray photon flux (6?×?10¹¹ photons/s) available at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) ID22NI beamline proved to be critical for the high-quality visualization of (trace-)metal distributions on the submicron level within the target structures of interest. These include the branchial sacs on the thoracic appendages (epipodites) of D. magna, which are osmoregulatory regions where ion exchange occurs. For the main element of interest (Zn), detection limits of 0.7 ppm (3 ag) was reached in fast-scanning mode using an acquisition time of 0.3 s/pixel. As demonstrated, synchrotron radiation nano-XRF revealed the elemental distributions of Ca, Fe, and Zn within this osmoregulatory region on the submicron scale, aiding the exploration of possible detoxification mechanisms of Zn within D. magna at the subtissue level.     

False Results Caused by Solvent Impurity in Tetrahydrofuran for MALDI TOF MS Analysis of Amines

Tetrahydrofuran (THF) is one of the most frequently used solvents in the MALDI TOF MS analysis of synthetic compounds. However, it should be used with caution because a trace amount of 4-hydroxybutanal (HBA) might be generated and accumulated in THF during storage. Since only a tiny amount of analytes is required in MALDI MS measurements, a trace amount of HBA might have a significant effect on the MS results. It was found that HBA will quickly react with primary and secondary amino compounds, leading to false results about the sample composition with an extra series of ions with additional mass of 70 Da in between. The formation of HBA can be inhibited by butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) antioxidant. Therefore, when THF is required as the solvent for sample preparation, it is strongly recommended to use a BHT-stabilized one, at least for the analysis of compounds with amino groups.

Facile synthesis of a chiral polymeric helix; folding by intramolecular hydrogen bonding

In a single condensation step, a poly-ureidophthalimide is synthesized, which folds into a chiral, helical architecture according to circular dichroism spectroscopy.     

Approximation and Prediction of the Numerical Solution of Some Burgers Problems

The Aitken's ²-prediction of Brezinski has already been used by Morandi Cecchi et al. in order to compute a numerical approximation of the solution of a parabolic initial-boundary value problem. This method consists in two consecutive steps: the first one is the approximation with a finite elements method, where the solution of the involved nonlinear system is computed by Gauss–Seidel method; the second one is a prediction of further terms with Aitken's ²-process. By comparison with this method, we use other methods of prediction in another way. First, we consider a generalization of ²-prediction, the so-called -prediction. In this paper, we only use vector prediction which is more stable than the scalar one. Then, the methods of prediction presented can be used in order to predict the starting vector of the Gauss–Seidel method.