1,8-Naphthyridines. Part III. Synthesis of some 6-substituted-1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)ones

The syntheses of some 1,8-naphthyridines substituted in the 6-position with heterocyclic groups are described. A synthetic route to 6-amino-5,7-dimethyl-1,8-naphthyridin-2(1H)one is also presented.     

Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles for CO2 Adsorption at Standard Temperature and Pressure

(1) Background: Due to human activities, greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere are constantly rising, causing the greenhouse effect. Among GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO₂) is responsible for about two-thirds of the total energy imbalance which is the origin of the increase in the Earth’s temperature. (2) Methods: In this field, we describe the development of periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (PMO NPs) used to capture and store CO₂ present in the atmosphere. Several types of PMO NP (bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTEE) as matrix, co-condensed with trialkoxysilylated aminopyridine (py) and trialkoxysilylated bipyridine (Etbipy and iPrbipy)) were synthesized by means of the sol-gel procedure, then characterized with different techniques (DLS, TEM, FTIR, BET). A systematic evaluation of CO₂ adsorption was carried out at 298 K and 273 K, at low pressure. (3) Results: The best values of CO₂ adsorption were obtained with 6% bipyridine: 1.045 mmol·g⁻¹ at 298 K and 2.26 mmol·g⁻¹ at 273 K. (4) Conclusions: The synthetized BTEE/aminopyridine or bipyridine PMO NPs showed significant results and could be promising for carbon capture and storage (CCS) application.     

Challenges and strategies in the preparation of large‐volume polymer‐based monolithic chromatography adsorbents

To date, the number of published reports on the large‐volume preparation of polymer‐based monolithic chromatography adsorbents is still lacking and is of great importance. Many critical factors need to be considered when manufacturing a large‐volume polymer‐based monolith for chromatographic applications. Structural integrity, validity, and repeatability are thought to be the key factors determining the usability of a large‐volume monolith in a separation process. In this review, we focus on problems and solutions pertaining to heat dissipation, pore size distribution, “wall channel” effect, and mechanical strength in monolith preparation. A template‐based method comprising sacrificial and nonsacrificial techniques is possibly the method of choice due to its precise control over the porous structure. However, additional expensive steps are usually required for the template removal. Other strategies in monolith preparation are also discussed.     

An Organotrifluoroborate for Broadly Applicable One‐Step 18F‐Labeling

A new zwitterionic organotrifluoroborate is appended to three radiosynthons that afford undergo facile bioconjugation to several clinically relevant peptides and one enzyme inhibitor. Molecularly complex bioconjugates are ¹⁸F‐labeled in a single aqueous step in rapid time (<15 min) without HPLC purification to afford tracers in good yields (>200 mCi, 20–40 %) at high specific activity (≥3 Ci/μmol) and at >98 % purity. PET imaging shows in vivo stability and tumor uptake.     

Stress-enhanced transport of toluene in poly aryl ether ether ketone (PEEK)

The transport of fluids in the semicrystalline polymer, poly(aryl ether ether ketone) (PEEK), was investigated. Both solubility and rate of penetration of toluene into PEEK are markedly increased by the application of an external stress. The induction period (i.e., the time for the sorption to begin) is a function of applied stress as well as temperature and crystallinity. At 22°C in 29% crystalline PEEK the induction period was reduced from more than 2000 h to approximately 10 h whereas the solubility of toluene was increased from 9 to 44 wt % upon the application of an external tensile stress of 30 MPa. A critical stress (i.e., a stress value below which the stress-enhanced effects are not observed) was determined. The critical stress is a strong function of crystallinity and temperature. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The application of quantum chemistry and condensed matter theory in studying amino-acids, protein folding and anticancer drug technology

The adaptation of methods from quantum chemistry and condensed matter theory for studying biological molecules has proved fruitful in developing our understanding of the electronic and conformational structure and thereby the functionality of amino-acids and proteins. Professor Suhai has been at the forefront of these developments and has made contributions in many areas of this vast field of research. In this article, we focus on three such areas, namely, (1) amino acids, (2) bacteriorhodopsin and (3) anti-cancer drugs involving especially Ru and Rh. We show how advances in density functional theory (DFT) have been used to calculate the electronic structure and density in amino-acids so that they can be compared with X-ray diffraction studies. We also demonstrate how ideas from the theory of phase transitions in condensed matter may be applied for studying phase transitions in bacteriorhodopsin, DNA and proteins. Finally, we highlight some of the recent work done in bringing DFT together with quantum chemistry modelling in studying metallopharmaceutical complexes and conformations of peptides.     

Synthesis of a new hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol)-ionic liquid and its application in peptide synthesis

The synthesis of a new hydrophilic ammonium-based poly(ethylene glycol)-ionic liquid (PEG-IL) is reported; the structure was assigned by NMR ((1)H, (13)C) and MALDI mass spectrometry. The viscosity and thermal stability were also studied, as well as its polarity. Its application as an alternative solvent in the synthesis of dipeptides under microwave irradiation is also described.     

Solvent-induced crystallinity in poly(aryl-ether-ether-ketone) [PEEK]

The amount and structure of the crystals formed by the solvent-induced crystallization (SIC) following a sorption-desorption cycle of five fluids (benzene, toluene, chloroform, methylene chloride, and carbon disulfide) in amorphous PEEK was determined by wideangle x-ray scattering (WAXS). The SIC crystal structure was compared with that produced by thermal methods, both those formed at low temperature by heating the amorphous material 10–20°C above T_g or by cooling from the melt. Although smaller in size, the SIC crystals are tighter and more organized than those produced thermally. The WAXS data indicates that all five fluids produce approximately 35% crystallinity in PEEK. Gravimetric data suggest that a low-density region, consisting of either microvoids or highly disordered amorphous region, surrounds the crystals.     

A review on immobilised aptamers for high throughput biomolecular detection and screening

The discovery of Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) assay has led to the generation of aptamers from libraries of nucleic acids. Concomitantly, aptamer-target recognition and its potential biomedical applications have become a major research endeavour. Aptamers possess unique properties that make them superior biological receptors to antibodies with a plethora of target molecules. Some specific areas of opportunities explored for aptamer-target interactions include biochemical analysis, cell signalling and targeting, biomolecular purification processes, pathogen detection and, clinical diagnosis and therapy. Most of these potential applications rely on the effective immobilisation of aptamers on support systems to probe target species. Hence, recent research focus is geared towards immobilising aptamers as oligosorbents for biodetection and bioscreening. This article seeks to review advances in immobilised aptameric binding with associated successful milestones and respective limitations. A proposal for high throughput bioscreening using continuous polymeric adsorbents is also presented.     

Reduced-order models for control of fluids using the eigensystem realization algorithm

As sensors and flow control actuators become smaller, cheaper, and more pervasive, the use of feedback control to manipulate the details of fluid flows becomes increasingly attractive. One of the challenges is to develop mathematical models that describe the fluid physics relevant to the task at hand, while neglecting irrelevant details of the flow in order to remain computationally tractable. A number of techniques are presently used to develop such reduced-order models, such as proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), and approximate snapshot-based balanced truncation, also known as balanced POD. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses: for instance, POD models can behave unpredictably and perform poorly, but they can be computed directly from experimental data; approximate balanced truncation often produces vastly superior models to POD, but requires data from adjoint simulations, and thus cannot be applied to experimental data. In this article, we show that using the Eigensystem Realization Algorithm (ERA) (Juang and Pappa, J Guid Control Dyn 8(5):620?C627, 1985) one can theoretically obtain exactly the same reduced-order models as by balanced POD. Moreover, the models can be obtained directly from experimental data, without the use of adjoint information. The algorithm can also substantially improve computational efficiency when forming reduced-order models from simulation data. If adjoint information is available, then balanced POD has some advantages over ERA: for instance, it produces modes that are useful for multiple purposes, and the method has been generalized to unstable systems. We also present a modified ERA procedure that produces modes without adjoint information, but for this procedure, the resulting models are not balanced, and do not perform as well in examples. We present a detailed comparison of the methods, and illustrate them on an example of the flow past an inclined flat plate at a low Reynolds number.