We review the evolution of electrochemical studies of conducting polymers into the current state-of-the-art based primarily on our work. While conventional electrochemical experiments sufficed for the needs in the phase of studies of both electrochemical synthesis and characterization of conducting polymers, developments of various new experimental techniques have led to their introduction to this field for more refined information. As a result, the conventional electrochemical, spectroelectrochemical, electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, impedance, and morphological as well as electrical characterization studies all made important contributions to a better understanding of the polymerization mechanisms and the conductive properties of these classes of polymers. From this review, we hereby expect that the electrochemical techniques will continue to play important roles in bringing this field to the practical applications such as nanoscale electronic devices.

A novel 2-amino-4-(8-quinolinol-5-yl)-1- (p-tolyl)-pyrrole-3-cabonitrile (2) was obtained by the reaction of 2-[2-bromo-1-(8-hydroxyquinolin-5-yl)-ethylidene]-malononitrile (1) with p-toluidene. The new synthon compound (2) could be annelated to the corresponding pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines (4, 6, 7, 26-28), triazolo[1,5-c]pyrrolo[3,2-e]pyrimidines (10, 29, 30), pyrrolo[2,3-c]pyrazoles (11-15), pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrrolo[3,2-e] pyrimidine (17) and imidazo[1,2-c]pyrrolo[3,2-e]pyrimidines (18-25) via the reaction with some reagents such as acetic anhydride, formamide, triethyl orthoformate, hydrazine hydrate, hydroxylamine, ethylenediamine, carbon disulfide and phosphorus oxychloride. Chemical and spectroscopic evidences for the structures of these compounds are presented. The antifungal and antibacterial activity of the newly synthesized comounds were evaluated.

A sensitive and selective method for quantitation of sofalcone and its active metabolite in human plasma has been established using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS/MS). Plasma samples were transferred into 96-well plate using an automated sample handling system and spiked with 10 $\mu$L of 2 $\mu$g/mL $d_3$-sofalcone and $d_3$-sofalcone metabolite solutions (internal standard), respectively. After adding 0.5 mL of acetonitrile to the 96-well plate, the plasma samples were then vortexed for 30 sec. After centrifugation, the supernatant was transferred into another 96-well plate and completely evaporated at 40 ${^{\circ}C}$ under a stream of nitrogen. Dry residues were reconstituted with mobile phase and were injected into a $C_{18}$ reversed-phase column. The limit of quantitation of sofalcone and its metabolite was 2 ng/mL, using a sample volume of 0.2 mL for analysis. The reproducibility of the method was evaluated by analyzing 10 replicates over the concentration range of 2 ng/mL to 1000 ng/mL. The validation experiments of the method have shown that the assay has good precision and accuracy. Sofalcone and its metabolite produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H]$^+$) of m/z 451 and 453, and a corresponding product ion of m/z 315 and 317, respectively. Internal standard ($d_3$-sofalcone and $d_3$-sofalcone metabolite) produced a protonated precursor ion ([M+H]$^+$) of m/z 454 and 456 and a corresponding product ion of m/z 315 and 317, respectively. The method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of sofalcone and its active metabolite in human plasma.

Presented is a voltammetric study of co-adsorption of irreversibly adsorbing Sb and Te on Pt(111). When a layer of Sb and Te was formed via simultaneous adsorption, the reduction peak of Te was observed at 0.30 V in the initial cathodic scan. In contrast, sequential adsorption of Sb followed by Te adsorption led to a Te reduction peak at 0.50 V in the initial scan. As the voltammetric scan was continued, in addition, the voltammogram of the simultaneously co-adsorbed layer changed, while that of the sequentially co-adsorbed layer did not. These observations are discussed in terms of formation of a homogeneously mixed layer and a layer consisting of heterogeneously separated domains of Sb and Te. Also, the difference in the adsorption strength of Sb and Te was observed.

In this article, we report the tandem mass spectrometry investigations for the electron capture efficiencies of the protons belonging to the different locations (generations) in a poly(propylene imine) dendrimer with three layers of a repeat unit (named as the third generation dendrimer). The employed tandem mass spectrometry methods include SORI-CAD (sustained off-resonance irradiation collisional activation dissociation) and ECD(electron capture dissociation) mass spectrometry. We obtained SORI-CAD spectra for the dendrimer ions in the different charge states, ranging from 2+ to 4+. The analysis of fragmentation sites provides the information as to where the protons are distributed among various generations of the dendrimer. Based upon this, a new strategy to study the electron capture efficiencies of the protons is utilized to examine a new type of triplycharged ions by SORI-CAD, i.e., the 3+ ions generated from the charge reduction of the native 4+ ions by ECD: (M+4H)$^{4+}\;+\;e^-\;{\rightarrow}$ (M+4H)$^{3+\bullet}$ ${\rightarrow}\;({H^{\bullet}}_{ejected}$) + (M+3H)$^{3+}\;\rightarrow$ CAD. Interestingly, comparison of these four SORICAD spectra indicates that the proton distribution in the charge-reduced 3+ ions is very close to that in the native 4+ ions. It further suggests that in this synthetic polymer ($\sim$1.7 kDa) with an artificial architecture, the electron capture efficiencies of the protons are actually insensitive to where they are located in the molecule. This is somewhat contradictory to common expectations that the protons in the inner generations may not be well exposed to the incoming electron irradiation as much as the outer ones are, thus may be less efficient for electron capture. This finding may carry some implications for the case of medium sized peptide ions with similar masses, which are known to show no obvious site-specific fragmentations in ECD MS.

Liquid chromatographic methods with UV and fluorescence detection have been used to determine the levels of (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (-)-epicatechin gallate, and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate in Korean green tea infusions. The extracts of Korean green tea leaves or powders in water at various temperatures (100 ${^{\circ}C}$, 80 ${^{\circ}C}$, 60 ${^{\circ}C}$) and time, were washed with chloroform and re-extracted to ethyl acetate. The ethyl acetate phase was dried and re-dissolved in methanol and analyzed. Five catechin compounds were separated by gradient elution. The flavonoids were found decomposed on prolonged extraction, thus exhaustive extraction by a Soxhlet apparatus was found useless for green tea. Some unknown components were found in the extracts at 100 ${^{\circ}C}$. When the green tea was filtered and re-extracted with new fresh water, still some flavonoids were extracted. However, the contents of flavonoids in the third extract were found negligible. The flavonoid extraction rate of green tea powders was higher than that of green tea leaves, but flavonoid decomposition of green tea powders was also faster than that of green tea leaves. The traditional way of drinking green tea was found appropriate in view of flavonoids intake.

A series of catalysts, NiO/$CeO_2-ZrO_2/WO_3$, for ethylene dimerization was prepared by the precipitation and impregnation methods. For NiO/$CeO_2-ZrO_2/WO_3$ sample, no diffraction line of nickel oxide was observed up to 40 wt%, indicating good dispersion of nickel oxide on the surface of catalyst. The hexagonal and monoclinic phases of $WO_3$ up to the calcination temperature of 500 ${^{\circ}C}$ were observed, whereas the hexagonal phase of WO3 completely was transformed into monoclinic phase of $WO_3$ at 600 ${^{\circ}C}$ and above. The role of $CeO_2$ in the catalysts was to form a thermally stable solid solution with zirconia and consequently to give high surface area and acidity. The catalytic activities for ethylene dimerization were correlated with the acidity of catalysts measured by the ammonia chemisorption method. 25-NiO/5-$CeO_2-ZrO_2/15-WO_3$ containing 25 wt% NiO, 15 wt% $WO_3$ and 5 mol% $CeO_2$, and calcined at 400 ${^{\circ}C}$ exhibited a maximum catalytic activity due to the effects of $WO_3$ modifying and $CeO_2$ doping.

An improved tandem time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometer for the photodissociation (PD) study of ions generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI), MALDI-TOF-PD-TOF, has been designed and constructed. Recording a full spectrum with better than unit mass resolution even in low mass range has been achieved without reflectron voltage stepping which was needed in the previous version. Other aspects of the improvement, such as those in the data system which now allow 10-100 times faster spectral acquisition than with the previous instrument, are described. Rationale for the ideas which have led to the improvements is presented also.

An efficiency of Monte Carlo (MC) docking simulations was examined for the prediction of chiral discrimination by cyclodextrins. Docking simulations were performed with various computational parameters for the chiral discrimination of a series of 17 enantiomers by $\beta$-cyclodextrin ($\beta$-CD) or by 6-amino-6-deoxy-$\beta$-cyclodextrin (am-$\beta$-CD). A total of 30 sets of enantiomeric complexes were tested to find the optimal simulation parameters for accurate predictions. Rigid-body MC docking simulations gave more accurate predictions than flexible docking simulations. The accuracy was also affected by both the simulation temperature and the kind of force field. The prediction rate of chiral preference was improved by as much as 76.7% when rigid-body MC docking simulations were performed at low-temperatures (100 K) with a sugar22 parameter set in the CHARMM force field. Our approach for MC docking simulations suggested that the conformational rigidity of both the host and guest molecule, due to either the low-temperature or rigid-body docking condition, contributed greatly to the prediction of chiral discrimination.

The kinetic studies of the reactions of $\alpha$-chloroacetanilides $(YC_6H_4NRC(=O)CH_2Cl;\;R=H\;(4)\;and\;CH_3$ (5)) with pyridines have been carried out in dimethyl sulfoxide at 95 ${^{\circ}C}$. The pyridinolysis rates are faster with 4 than with 5 whereas the aminolysis rates with benzylamines are faster with 5 than with 4. The Brønsted ${\beta}_X$ values are in the range from 0.30 to 0.32 and the cross-interaction constants, $\rho_{XY}$, are small negative values; $\rho_{XY}$ = -0.06 and -0.10 for 4 and 5, respectively. Based on these and other results, the pyridinolyses of $\alpha$-chloroacetanilides are proposed to proceed via a stepwise mechanism with rate-limiting addition of the nucleophile to the carbonyl group to form zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate ($T^{\pm}$) followed by a bridged type transition state to expel the leaving group.

A fast and reliable method for the selective separation and preconcentration of $Cu^{2+}$ ions using homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction was developed. A new $\alpha$-dioxime derivative (2H-1,4-benzothioazine-2,3(4H)dionedioxime, Dioxime I) was synthesized and investigated as a suitable selective complexing ligand for $Cu^{2+}$ ions. Zonyl FSA (FSA) was applied as a phase-separator agent under the slightly acidic pH conditions. Under the optimal experimental conditions ([FSA] = 3.2% w/v, [THF] = 19.5% v/v, [Dioxime I] = 1.9 ${\times}\;10^{-3}$ M, and pH = 4.7), 10 ${\mu}g\;of\;Cu^{2+}$ in 5.2 mL aqueous phase could be extracted quantitatively into 80 $\mu$L of the sedimented phase. The maximum concentration factor was 65-fold. The limit of detection of the proposed method was 0.005 ng $mL^{-1}$. The reproducibility of the proposed method, on the 10 replicate measurements, was 1.3%. The influence of the pH, type and volume of the water-miscible organic solvent, concentration of FSA, concentration of the complexing ligand and the effect of different diverse ions on the extraction and determination of $Cu^{2+}$ ions were investigated. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of $Cu^{2+}$ ion in different synthetic and natural water samples.

A new ternary strontium germanium nitride, ${\beta}-Sr_2GeN_2$, was obtained as single crystal from constituent elements in molten Na. It crystallizes in space group Cmca (No. 64) with a = 5.441(1) $\AA$, b = 11.377(2) $\AA$, c = 12.229(2) $\AA$, and Z = 8. Its crystal structure is closely related to that of polymorphic companion, ${\alpha}-Sr_2GeN_2$, both of which contain isolated bent anions of ${GeN_2}^{4-}$.

A visible photochemistry of maleic to fumaric acid adsorbed on silver nanoparticle surfaces was investigated as probed by SERS using a simple flow method. Photoisomerization of maleic to fumaric acid was consecutively observed in the condition of various flow rates, which varied the exposure time of laser beam. The sequential SERS spectra of maleic acid indicated that the photochemical isomerization and desorption took place simultaneously on silver nanoparticle surfaces as a function of laser fluency and wavelength. For 530.9nm laser line excitation, the rate constant coefficients were obtained with a = 5.9 $sec^{-1}$ mW for isomerization and b = 13.9 $sec^{-1}$ mW for desorption, which $k_1\;=\;aI^n\;and\;k_2\;=\;bI^m$. Both reactions were one photon process (n = 1, m = 1) of a visible light and relatively fast process whose decay time was in the range of milli-second for 50 mW laser power. The rate of photochemical reaction increased on going toward the blue and photodesorption was a dominant process. A simple flow method used in this study was very useful to study a relatively fast photochemical reaction of molecules adsorbed on silver nanoparticle surfaces.

New PPV derivatives which contain electron-withdrawing trifluoromethyl ($CF_3$) group, poly[2-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-5-(4-trifluoro methylphenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (EH$CF_3$P-PPV), and poly[2-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-5-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)-phenyl)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (EHB$CF_3$P-PPV), have been synthesized by GILCH polymerization. As the result of the introduction of the electron-withdrawing $CF_3$ group to the phenyl substituent, the LUMO and HOMO energy levels of EH$CF_3$P-PPV (2.8, 5.1 eV) and EHB$CF_3$P-PPV (3.0, 5.3 eV) were lower than those of known poly[2-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-5-phenyl-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (EHP-PPV) (2.6, 4.9 eV). These polymers have been used as the electroluminescent (EL) layers in double layer lightemitting diodes (LEDs) (ITO/PEDOT/polymer/Al). EH$CF_3$P-PPV, and EHB$CF_3$P-PPV show maximum photoluminescence (PL) peaks at ${\lambda}_{max}$ = 550, 539 nm, and maximum EL peak at ${\lambda}_{max}$ = 545, 540 nm, respectively. The current-voltage-luminance (I-V-L) characteristics of the polymers show that turn-on voltages of EH$CF_3$P-PPV and EHB$CF_3$P-PPV are around 4.0 and 3.5 V, respectively.