Microwave synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles used as a precursor of nanocomposites and ferrofluids

Methods to synthesize magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and to modify the surface of particles are presented in the present investigation. Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by the co-precipitation of Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺, NH₃·H₂O was used as the precipitating agent to adjust the pH value, and the aging of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles was accelerated by microwave (MW) irradiation. The obtained Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The average size of Fe₃O₄ crystallites was found to be around 8–9 nm. Thereafter, the surface of Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles was modified by stearic acid. The resultant sample was characterized by FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, lipophilic degree (LD) and sedimentation test. The FT-IR results indicated that a covalent bond was formed by chemical reaction between the hydroxyl groups on the surface of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and carboxyl groups of stearic acid, which changed the polarity of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The dispersion of Fe₃O₄ in organic solvent was greatly improved. Effects of reaction time, reaction temperature and concentration of stearic acid on particle surface modification were investigated. In addition, Fe₃O₄/polystyrene (PS) nanocomposite was synthesized by adding surface modified Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles into styrene monomer, followed by the radical polymerization. The obtained nanocomposite was tested by thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and XRD. Results revealed that the thermal stability of PS was not significantly changed after adding Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. The Fe₃O₄ magnetic fluid was characterized using UV–vis spectrophotometer, Gouy magnetic balance and laser particle-size analyzer. The testing results showed that the magnetic fluid had excellent stability, and had susceptibility of 4.46×10⁻⁸ and saturated magnetization of 6.56 emu/g. In addition, the mean size d (0.99) of magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles in the fluid was 36.19 nm.     

影响海洋微藻生产麻痹性贝类毒素的重要生态因素

麻痹性贝类毒素是有害赤潮海洋微藻生产的重要毒素种类，本文综述了影响该类毒素的主要生态因素有光，温度，盐度和营养盐4类；弱光对毒素合成有抑制作用。低温下PSP毒素产量高，通过对营养盐吸收机制的离子效应，盐度可影响毒素的生命合成，不同种类和株系对N、P限制的反应有极大差异。     

Oxazinins from toxic mussels: isolation of a novel oxazinin and reassignment of the C-2 configuration of oxazinin-1 and -2 on the basis of synthetic models

The analysis of a batch of toxic mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from the Northern Adriatic Sea led to the isolation of a novel oxazinin, oxazinin-4. Its structure including the relative stereochemistry has been elucidated through extensive NMR analysis. A synthetic route to oxazinins has been crucial in establishing the absolute stereochemistry of oxazinin-4 and for reassigning the absolute C-2 configuration of oxazinin-1 and -2 previously isolated from toxic shellfish and stereostructurally characterized.     

Macromolecular crystallography research at Trombay

Neutron diffraction studies of hydrogen positions in small molecules of biological interest at Trombay have provided valuable information that has been used in protein and enzyme structure model-building and in developing hydrogen bond potential functions. The new R-5 reactor is expected to provide higher neutron fluxes and also make possible smallangle neutron scattering studies of large biomolecules and bio-aggregates. In the last few years infrastructure facilities have also been established for macromolecular x-ray crystallography research. Meanwhile, the refinement of carbonic hydrases’ and lysozyme structures have been carried out and interesting results obtained on protein dynamics and structure-function relationships. Some interesting presynaptic toxin phospholipases have also been taken up for study.     

Effect of nature of support and impregnating agent on lipophilicity determination for nonionic surfactants by reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography

Summary The retention of 9 nonylphenyl ethylene oxide oligomers was determined in 15 reversed-phase chromatographic systems using silicone oils of various molecular mass as impregnating agents and silica, cellulose and alumina supports. The data were evaluated with principal component analysis carried out on the covariance and the correlation matrices. The R_M values did not follow the additivity rule and they did not change linearly with increasing length of the ethylene oxide chain. This is probably due to the folded state of the chain in the eluent. The molecular mass of the silicone oils had a negligible effect on the retention whereas the retention increased with increasing level of impregnation. The support considerably influenced the lipophilicity values of these nonionic surfactants and cellulose seemed to be the most appropriate support. Calculations proved that the application of a correlation matrix may cause data distortion; therefore, the use of a covariance matrix is strongly proposed.     

Analysis of cyanobacterial toxins (anatoxin-a, cylindrospermopsin, microcystin-LR) by capillary electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) were applied to the simultaneous separation of cyanobacterial toxins (anatoxin-a, microcystin-LR, cylindrospermopsin). The analytical performance data of both methods, optimized for the three toxins, were similar with a precision of migration times smaller than 0.8 RSD% and a detection limit in the range of 1-4 microg/mL, using spectrophotometric detection at 230 nm. Both methods were applied to an analysis of cyanotoxins in water bloom samples and crude cyanobacterial extracts. The results obtained indicate that, for complex matrices, the sequential application of CZE and MEKC is necessary. It is recommended to use both CE techniques for the analysis of the same sample in order to confirm the results by an orthogonal approach.     

Effect of solvent upon competitive liquid-liquid extraction of alkali metal cations by isomeric dibenzo-16-crown-5-oxyacetic acids

The selectivity and efficiency of competitive liquid-liquid extraction of alkali metal cations into organic solvents containingsym-(octyl)dibenzo-16-crown-5-oxyacetic acid (2) andsym-bis[4(5)-tert-butylbenzo]-16-crown-5-oxyacetic acid (3) have been determined. Solvents examined include: dichloromethane, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, benzene, toluene,p-xylene, chlorobenzene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene. The Na⁺/K⁺ and Na⁺/Li⁺ extraction ratios are highest in chloroform. The extraction selectivity is found to correlate with the diluent parameter (DP) of the organic solvent.This paper is dedicated to the memory of the late Dr C. J. Pedersen.     

Characterisation of botulinum toxins type C, D, E, and F by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation and electrospray mass spectrometry

In a follow-up of the earlier characterisation of botulinum toxins type A and B (BTxA and BTxB) by mass spectrometry (MS), types C, D, E, and F (BTxC, BTxD, BTxE, BTxF) were now investigated. Botulinum toxins are extremely neurotoxic bacterial toxins, likely to be used as biological warfare agent. Biologically active BTxC, BTxD, BTxE, and BTxF are comprised of a protein complex of the respective neurotoxins with non-toxic non-haemagglutinin (NTNH) and, sometimes, specific haemagglutinins (HA). These protein complexes were observed in mass spectrometric identification. The BTxC complex, from Clostridium botulinum strain 003-9, consisted of a 'type C1 and D mosaic' toxin similar to that of type C strain 6813, a non-toxic non-hemagglutinating and a 33 kDa hemagglutinating (HA-33) component similar to those of strain C-Stockholm, and an exoenzyme C3 of which the sequence was in full agreement with the known genetic sequence of strain 003-9. The BTxD complex, from C. botulinum strain CB-16, consisted of a neurotoxin with the observed sequence identical with that of type D strain BVD/-3 and of an NTNH with the observed sequence identical with that of type C strain C-Yoichi. Remarkably, the observed protein sequence of CB-16 NTNH differed by one amino acid from the known gene sequence: L859 instead of F859. The BTxE complex, from a C. botulinum isolated from herring sprats, consisted of the neurotoxin with an observed sequence identical with that from strain NCTC 11219 and an NTNH similar to that from type E strain Mashike (1 amino acid difference with observed sequence). BTxF, from C. botulinum strain Langeland (NCTC 10281), consisted of the neurotoxin and an NTNH; observed sequences from both proteins were in agreement with the gene sequence known from strain Langeland. As with BTxA and BTxB, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation (MALDI) MS provided provisional identification from trypsin digest peptide maps and liquid chromatography-electrospray (tandem) mass spectrometry (LC-ES MS) afforded unequivocal identification from amino acid sequence information of digest peptides obtained in trypsin digestion.     

Iterative synthesis of the ABCDEF-ring system of yessotoxin and adriatoxin

A stereocontrolled linear synthesis of the ABCDEF-ring system of yessotoxin and adriatoxin, diarrhetic shellfish toxins, is described. Iterative application of a tetrahydropyran synthesis by reaction of the alkylation of a sulfonyl-stabilized oxiranyl anion followed by 6-endo cyclization of a 4,5-epoxy alcohol led to the synthesis of the trans-fused hexacyclic ether system, and the seven-membered E ring was constructed by ring expansion reaction.     

Macrocyclic Polyethers as Enolate Activators in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Systems

Abstract

The ability of macrocyclic polyethers to activate enolates has been studied in the alkylation of de-oxybenzoin (1) with butyl derivatives nBuY (Y = Br, I, OMes) catalyzed by crown ether PHDB18C6 (7) or cryptand [2.2.2,C10] (8) under phase-transfer catalysis (PTC) and homogeneous (chlorobenzene) conditions. The enolate reactivity is mainly determined by the ligand (cryptand > crown ether) and solvent (increasing with the polarity, in the order: toluene < chlorobenzene < 1,2dichlorobenzene). Regioselectivity of the reaction is also remarkably affected by ligand and alkylating agent.