Synthetic route has been developed for the synthesis of new (Z)-5-[4-(2-chloroquinolin-3-yl) methoxy]benzyl-idinethiazolidine-2,4-diones (6a-h) starting from 2-chloro-3-hydroxymethyl quinolines (2a-h). The hydroxy methyl quinolines on tosylation yielded (3a-h). Condensation of the tosyl intermediates with 4-hydroxy benzaldehydes has been carried in DMF in presence of $K_2CO_3$ and obtained 4-quinolinyl methoxy benzaldehydes (4a-h). Conveniently Knoevenagel condensation of quinolinyl methoxy benzaldehydes (4a-h) and 2, 4-thiazolidinedione (5) has been carried in PEG-400 in presence of L-proline and obtained better yields of the titled compounds (6a-h).

Recently, the synthesis of ordered macroporous materials has received much attention due to its potential use as photonic band gap materials.$^1$ In this study, we have used the three-dimensional (3D) latex array template impregnated with benzenesulfonic acid (BSA), which is capable of catalyzing the reaction using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as a precursor and distilled water. The polystyrene (PS) templates were reacted with TEOS in $scCO_2$ at 40 $^{\circ}C$ and at 80 bar. In the reactor, TEOS was filtrated into the PS particle lattice. After the reaction, porous silica materials were obtained by calcinations of the template. The stability test of the PS template in pure $CO_2$ was conducted before the main experiment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the reaction in $scCO_2$ takes place only on the particle surface. This new method using $scCO_2$ has advantages over conventional sol-gel processes in its capability to control the fluid properties such as viscosity and interfacial tension. It has been found that the reaction in $scCO_2$ occurs only on the particle surface, making the proposed technique as more rapid and sustainable method of synthesizing inverse opal materials than conventional coating processes in the liquid phase and in the vapor phase.

A series of pyrimidoquinoline derivatives was synthesized in good yield and short reaction times by reaction of 3-arylaminoisoxazol-5(2H)-ones with derivatives of 2-chloro-3-formylquinoline in toluene under reflux conditions.

Hydrogen peroxide plays a key role as a second messenger in the normal cellular signaling but its overproduction has been implicated in various life-threatening diseases. Peroxalate chemiluminescence is the light emission from a three component reaction between peroxalate, hydrogen peroxide and fluorophores. It has proven great potential as a methodology to detect hydrogen peroxide in physiological environments because of its excellent sensitivity and specificity to hydrogen peroxide. We developed chemiluminescent micelles composed of amphiphilic polymers, peroxalate and fluorescent dyes to detect hydrogen peroxide at physiological concentrations. In this work, we studied the relationship between the chemiluminescence reactivity and stability of peroxalate by varying the substitutes on the aryl rings of peroxalate. Alkyl substitutes on the aryl ring of peroxalate increased the stability against water hydrolysis, but diminished the reactivity to hydrogen peroxide. Chemiluminescent micelles encapsulating diphenyl peroxalate showed significantly higher chemiluminescence intensity than the counterpart encapsulating dimethylphenyl or dipropylphenyl peroxalate. Diphenyl peroxalate-encapsulated micelles could detect hydrogen peroxide generated from macrophage cells stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and image hydrogen peroxide generated during LPS-induced inflammatory responses in a mouse.

We prepared polycatenar 1H-imidazole amphiphiles having a structure in which a 1H-imidazole head was connected through a benzene ring to a pheny group having two or three oligo(ethylene glycol) chains and studied their supramolecular assembly by fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). When the aqueous solutions of the amphiphiles ($5{\times}10^{-5}M{\sim}10^{-3}M$) were deposited onto a carbon-coated copper grid and dried, twisted structures with diameters of ~200-300 nm were imaged by TEM and AFM. We presume that the structures comprised a chain of the amphiphile dimers formed via successive hydrogen bonding between the 1H of the imidazole group and 3N of the neighboring one. In a solution of pH 4, entangled fibers with diameters of several nanometers were observed by TEM. In a pH 10 solution, film-like aggregates formed exclusively. The 1H-imidazole amphiphiles hydrolyzed tetraethoxysilane to induce gelation to form fibrous and spherical silica structures at neutral pH in aqueous solutions. No silica was formed when imidazole was used instead of the amphiphiles, suggesting that the selfassembled aggregates of the amphiphiles were responsible for the gelation.

The electronic properties of altretamine(2,4,6-tris [dimethylamino]-1,3,5-triazine) adsorbed on epitaxial graphene (EG) were investigated by core-level photoemission spectroscopy (CLPES) in conjunction with low energy electron diffraction (LEED). We found that altretamine molecule adsorbed onto interface layer (S1) of graphene as we confirm decrement of S1 peak using CLPES and haziness of LEED pattern. Moreover, the measured work function changes verified that increased adsorption of the altretamine on graphene layer showed n-type doping characteristics due to charge transfer from altretamine to graphene through the nitrogens. Two distinct nitrogen bonding feature associated with the N 1s peak was clearly observed in the core-level spectra indicating two different chemical environments.

A mild and efficient procedure has been developed for the one-pot, three-component reaction of aldehydes, benzyl carbamate and allyltrimethylsilane in the presence of 3 mol % of magnesium bistrifluoromethanesulfonimide at room temperature to afford the corresponding protected homoallylic amines in high yields.

Colloidal cadmium telluride (CdTe) quantum dots (QDs) and their nanoparticles have been synthesized by one pot sonochemical reactions under multibubble sonoluminescence (MBSL) conditions, which are quite mild and facile compared to other typical high temperature solution-based methods. For a typical reaction, $CdCl_2$ and tellurium powder with hexadecylamine and trioctylphosphine/trioctylphosphineoxide (TOP/TOPO) as a dispersant were sonicated in toluene solvent at 20 KHz and a power of 220W for 5-40 min at 60 $^{\circ}C$. The sizes of CdTe particles, in a very wide size range from 2 nm-30 ${\mu}m$, were controllable by varying the sonicating and thermal heating conditions. The prepared CdTe QDs show different colors from pale yellow to dark brown and corresponding photoluminescence properties due mainly to the quantum confinement effect. The CdTe nanoparticles of about 20 nm in average were found to have band gap of 1.53 eV, which is the most optimally matched band gap to solar spectrum.

An ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction method has been successfully applied to the effective extraction of phenolic compounds from Laminaria japonica Aresch. Three kinds of 1-alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium with different cations and anions were evaluated for extraction efficiency. The results showed that both the characteristics of anions and cations have remarkable effects on the extraction efficiency. In addition, the ionic liquid-based ultrasonic-assisted extraction procedure was also optimized on some extraction parameters, such as ultrasonic power, extraction time and solid-liquid ratio. Compared with the conventional solvent, the optimum approach gained the highest extraction efficiency within the shortest extraction time. Average recoveries of phenolic compounds were from 75.5% to 88.3% at three concentration levels.

We investigated the selective deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) adsorption on layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanoparticles via studying the interaction between positively charged LDH nanoparticle as adsorbent and negatively charged adsorbates such as methyl orange (MO), fluorescein (FL), and DNA strands. The size controlled LDH $(Mg_{0.78}Al_{0.22}(OH)_2(CO_3)_{0.11}{\cdot}mH_2O)$ was prepared by conventional coprecipitation method, followed by the hydrothermal treatment. According to the adsorption isotherms, the adsorbed amounts of MO and FL were similar, however, that of DNA were much larger. The adsorption behaviors were well fitted to Freundlich adsorption model. The concentration dependent adsorption behavior on LDH surface was described in order to verify the selective DNA separation ability. The result showed that the LDH has advantages in selective adsorption of DNA competing with single molecular anions.

Amylase is a digestive enzyme that catalyses the starch into sugar. It has been reported that the green tea flavonoid (or polyphenols) (-)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits human salivary ${\alpha}$-amylase (HSA) and induced anti-nutritional effects. In this study, we performed docking study for seven EGCG-like flavonoids and HSA to understand the interaction mechanism of HSA and EGCG and suggest new possible flavonoid inhibitors of HSA. As a result, EGCG and (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG) bind to HSA with complex hydrogen bonding interactions. These hydrogen bonding interactions are important for inhibitory activity of EGCG against HSA. We suggested that ECG can be a potent inhibitor of HSA. This study will be helpful to understand the mechanism of inhibition of HSA by EGCG and give insights to develop therapeutic strategies against diabetes.

The new metrology, Advanced Poly-silicon Ultra-Trace Profiling (APUTP), was developed for measuring bulk Cu and Ni in heavily boron-doped silicon wafers. A Ni recovery yield of 98.8% and a Cu recovery yield of 96.0% were achieved by optimizing the vapor phase etching and the wafer surface scanning conditions, following capture of Cu and Ni by the poly-silicon layer. A lower limit of detection (LOD) than previous techniques could be achieved using the mixture vapor etching method. This method can be used to indicate the amount of Cu and Ni resulting from bulk contamination in heavily boron-doped silicon wafers during wafer manufacturing. It was found that a higher degree of bulk Ni contamination arose during alkaline etching of heavily boron-doped silicon wafers compared with lightly boron-doped silicon wafers. In addition, it was proven that bulk Cu contamination was easily introduced in the heavily boron-doped silicon wafer by polishing the wafer with a slurry containing Cu in the presence of amine additives.

We evaluate quantum-mechanical velocity autocorrelation functions from classical molecular dynamics simulations using quantum correction approaches. We apply recently developed approaches to supercritical argon and liquid neon. The results show that the methods provide a solution more efficient than previous methods to investigate quantum-mechanical dynamic behavior in condensed phases. Our numerical results are found to be in excellent agreement with the previous quantum-mechanical results.

Anomalous scaling behaviors such as significantly large growth exponent (${\beta}$) and small reciprocal of dynamic exponent (1/z) values for many molecular crystalline thin films have been reported. In this study, the variation of scaling exponent values and consequent growth behaviors of molecular thin films were more quantitatively analysed using a (1+1)-dimensional surface lateral diffusion model. From these simulations, influence of step edge barriers and grain boundaries of molecular thin films on the various scaling exponent values were elucidated. The simulation results for the scaling exponents were also well consistent with the experimental data for previously reported molecular thin film systems.

Carbon-based solid acid catalyst was found to be highly efficient, eco-friendly and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the multicomponent reaction of dimedone, aromatic aldehydes, and a nitrogen source (ammonium acetate or aromatic amines) under solvent-free conditions, giving rise to 1,8-dioxodecahydroacridines in high yields. The present methodology offers several advantages, such as a simple procedure with an easy work-up, short reaction times, high yields, and the absence of any volatile and hazardous organic solvents.

Two new carborane complexes containing closo- or nido-carborane diphosphine ligands with the formula: complex $[Hg(7,8-(PPh_2)_2-7,8-C_2B_9H_{10})_2]$ $CH_2Cl_2$ (1) and $[Ag_2({\mu}-Cl)_2(1,2-(P^iPr_2)_2-1,2-C_2B_{10}H_{10})_2]$ (2) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and X-ray structure determination. The X-ray structure analyses revealed that the carborane diphosphine ligand was degraded from closo-1,2-$(PPh_2)_2-1,2-C_2B_{10}H_{10}$ to nido-[$7,8-(PPh_2)_2-7,8-C_2B_9H_{10}]^-$ in complex 1, while the closo nature of the starting ligand $1,2-(P^iPr_2)_2-1,2-C_2B_{10}H_{10}$ was retained in complex 2. In either of the two complexes, the carborane diphosphine ligand was coordinated bidentately to the Hg(II) or Ag(I) center through its two phosphorus atoms, therefore forming a five-member cheating ring between the carborane ligand and the metal center. The coordination geometry of the metal atom is distorted tetrahedron formed by $P_4$ unit in complex 1 and $P_2Cl_2$ unit in complex 2, respectively.

The self-assembly of one novel organic complex based on chlorogenic acid (HCA) and 2,2'-bipyridine (2,2'-bipy) has been synthesized and characterized. The complex achieved by hydrogen-bonding interactions, adopted a 1:1 stoichiometry in a solid state. The proton transfer occurred from the carboxyl oxygen to the aromatic nitrogen atom to form salts CA${\cdot}$(2,2'-Hbipy), the 2,2'-Hbipy molecule individually occupies the pseudo-tetragonum that is formed with CA. In this paper, the interactions of CA${\cdot}$(2,2'-Hbipy) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were studied by fluorescence spectrometry. For CA${\cdot}$(2,2'-Hbipy), HCA and 2,2'-bipy, the average quenching constants for BSA were $2.4384{\times}10^4$, $4.653{\times}10^3$, and $3.059{\times}10^3\;L{\cdot}mol^{-1}$, respectively. The mechanism for protein fluorescence quenching is apparently governed by a static quenching process. The Stern-Volmer quenching constants and corresponding thermodynamic parameters ${\Delta}$H, ${\Delta}$G and ${\Delta}$S were calculated. The binding constants and the number of binding sites were also investigated. The conformational changes of BSA were observed from synchronous fluorescence spectra.

4-Chlorotetrazolo[1,5-a]quinoxaline (III) was synthesized by azide (2+3) cycloaddition of 2,3-dichloroquinoxaline (II). Compound (III) on further refluxing with hydrazine hydrate furnished 4-hydrazinotetrazolo[1,5-a]quinoxaline (IV). Further refluxing of (IV) with different aromatic aldehydes in methanol yielded corresponding Schiff's bases V(a-j). Various 4-aminotetrazolo[1,5-a]quinoxaline based azetidinones VII(a-j) were synthesized by stirring the compounds V(a-j), at low temperature, with equimolar mixture of chloroacetylchloride & triethylamine in dry benzene, while 4-aminotetrazolo[1,5-a]quinoxaline based thiazolidinones VIII(a-j) were synthesized by refluxing Schiff's bases V(a-j) with thioglycolic acid in oil-bath. The structures of all the compounds were confirmed on the basis of $^1H$-NMR & FT-IR spectral data. All the newly synthesized compounds were screened for in-vitro antimicrobial activity against E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae & P. aeruginosa & antifungal activity against C. albicans. Few of them have exhibited the promising activity.

A novel energetic material, 1-amino-1-(2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazinyl)-2,2-dinitroethylene (APHDNE), was synthesized by the reaction of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) and 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in N-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) at 110 $^{\circ}C$. The theoretical investigation on APHDNE was curried out by B3LYP/6-311+$G^*$ method. The IR frequencies analysis and NMR chemical shifts were performed and compared with the experimental results. The thermal behavior of APHDNE was studied by DSC and TG/DTG methods, and can be divided into two crystal phase transition processes and three exothermic decomposition processes. The enthalpy, apparent activation energy and pre-exponential factor of the first exothermic decomposition reaction were obtained as -525.3 kJ $mol^{-1}$, 276.85 kJ $mol^{-1}$ and $10^{26.22}s^{-1}$, respectively. The critical temperature of thermal explosion of APHDNE is 237.7 $^{\circ}C$. The specific heat capacity of APHDNE was determined with micro-DSC method and theoretical calculation method, and the molar heat capacity is 363.67 J $mol^{-1}K^{-1}$ at 298.15 K. The adiabatic time-to-explosion of APHDNE was also calculated to be a certain value between 253.2-309.4 s. APHDNE has higher thermal stability than FOX-7.

Verapamil is a calcium channel blocker and is classified as a class IV anti-arrhythmic agent. It is used in the control of supra ventricular tachyarrhythmias, and in the management of classical and variant angina pectoris. It is also used in the treatment of hypertension and used as an important therapeutic agent for angina pectoris, ischemic heart disease, hypertension and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Verapamil commonly co-administered with NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) i.e. diclofenac sodium, flurbiprofen, Ibuprofen, mefanamic acid and meloxicam. A simple and rapid RP-HPLC method for simultaneous determination and quantification of verapamil and NSAIDs was developed and validated. The mobile phase constituted of acetonitrile: water (55:45) whose pH was adjusted at 2.7 and pumped at a flow rate of 2.0 mL $min^{-1}$ at 230 nm. The proposed method is simple, precise, accurate, low cost and least time consuming for the simultaneous determination of verapamil and NSAIDs which can be effectively applied for the analysis of human serum.

The geometries, electronic structures and absorption spectra of the two organic triphenylamine-based dyes TA-St-CA and TA-DM-CA, containing identical electron donors and acceptors but the different conjugated bridges, were studied by density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP and PBE1PBE levels, respectively. The influence of para-orientating methoxyl units on the electronic structures and light absorption properties of the dyes and the consequent photovoltaic performance of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were investigated in detail. The results indicate that the introduction of the para-orientating methoxyl units into the conjugated bridge induces the increased absorption wavelength as well as the more negative EHOMO corresponding to the bigger driving force $(E_{I^-/I^-_3}-E_{HOMO})$ for dye reduction, which together improve the photovoltaic performance of TA-DM-CA, although there is a decline of the open circuit voltage caused by the more negative $E_{LUMO}$.

We synthesized eight G8 molecular transporters (MTs) based on 4 different monosaccharide scaffolds, and studied their biological properties with a special focus on possible mitochondrial targeting and tissue selectivity. The mitochondrial affinity of these MTs was found to be clearly related to the scaffold stereochemistry and also tenuously with the lipophilicity. It may be suggested that in the practical delivery strategy of drugs for the brain and mitochondrial diseases the BBB permeability and mitochondrial affinity should be considered as key parameters, and that an enhanced mitochondrial affinity appears possible by further research on the structure-property relationship of guanidine-rich molecular transporters.

The potential energy surface (PES) for the loss of HCN or HNC from the pyrazine molecular ion was determined based on quantum chemical calculations using the G3//B3LYP method. Four possible dissociation pathways to form four $C_3H_3N^{+{{\bullet}}$ isomers were examined. A Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus quasi-equilibrium theory model calculation was performed to predict the dissociation rate constant and the product branching ratio on the basis of the obtained PES. The resultant rate constant for the HCN loss agreed with the previous experimental result. The kinetic analysis predicted that the formation of $CH=CHN{\equiv}CH^{+{\bullet}}+HCN$ was predominant, which occurred by three consecutive steps, a C-C bond cleavage to form a linear intermediate, a rearrangement to form an H-bridged intermediate, and elimination of HCN.

The nucleophilic substitution reactions of diethyl thiophosphinic chloride with substituted anilines ($XC_6H_4NH_2$) and deuterated anilines ($XC_6H_4ND_2$) are investigated kinetically in acetonitrile at 55.0 $^{\circ}C$. The values of deuterium kinetic isotope effects (DKIEs; $k_H/k_D$) invariably increase from secondary inverse ($k_H/k_D$ < 1) to primary normal (kH/kD > 1) as the nucleophiles change from the strongly basic to weakly basic anilines. The secondary inverse with the strongly basic anilines and primary normal DKIEs with the weakly basic anilines are rationalized by the gradual transition state (TS) variation from a predominant backside attack, via invariably increasing the fraction of a frontside attack, to a predominant frontside attack, in which the reaction mechanism is a concerted $S_N2$ pathway. A frontside attack involving a hydrogen bonded, four-center-type TS is substantiated by the primary normal DKIEs.

Alumina supported polyphosphoric acid (PPA/$Al_2O_3$) was successfully prepared by impregnation of alumina support by polyphosphoric acid and characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, the $N_2$ adsorption/desorption analysis (BET), thermal analysis (TG/DTG), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The catalytic behavior of this new solid acid supported heterogeneous catalyst was checked in the synthesis of 14-aryl-14H-dibenzo[a, j]xanthenes by cyclocondensation reaction of ${\beta}$-naphthol and aryl aldehydes under solvent-free conditions. The results showed that the novel catalyst has high activity and the desired products were obtained in very short reaction times with high yields. Moreover, the catalyst can be easily recovered by filtration and reused at least three times with only slight reduction in its catalytic activity.

A novel technology has been developed for the synthesis of thioglycolic acid (TGA)-capped CdSe quantum dots (QDs) in aqueous medium. The reaction was carried out in air atmosphere with one-pot by using $SeO_2$ to replace Se or $Na_2Se$. The technological parameters including refluxing time, pH values and molar ratios of selenium to cadmium had significant influence on the luminescence properties of CdSe QDs. Furthermore, the obtained QDs were characterized by fluorescent spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), respectively. The results demonstrated that the CdSe QDs were of zinc-blended crystal structure in a sphere-like shape.

Molecular structures and chemical properties of 1-aminoimidazole derivatives have been investigated at high levels of density functional theories. Heat of formation, density, explosive performances and impact sensitivities have been estimated at the global minimum of potential energy surface. As more nitro groups are introduced, the explosive performances of 1-aminoimidazole derivatives are enhanced, while the impact sensitivity becomes more sensitive. A two-dimensional plot between explosive performance and impact sensitivity has been utilized to comprehend the technical status of new explosive candidates. Based on locations in the two-dimensional plot, 1-aminodinitroimidzole isomers appears to have a potential to be good candidates for insensitive explosives, and 1-aminotrinitroimidazole may become a powerful explosive molecule whose behavior is quite close to HMX.

Human CDX1 and CDX2 genes play important roles in the regulation of cell proliferation and differentiation in the intestine. Hox genes clustered on four chromosomal regions (A-D) specify positional signaling along the anterior-posterior body axis, including intestinal development. Using glutathione S-transferase (GST) pulldown assays, molecular interaction measurements, and fluorescence measurements, we found that the homeodomains (HDs) of CDX1 and CDX2 directly interact with that of HOXD8 in vitro. CDX1 showed significant affinity for HOXD8, but CDX2 showed weak affinity for HOXD8. Thus far, three-dimensional structures of CDX1/2 and HOXD8 have not been determined. In this study, we developed a molecular docking model by homology modeling based on the structures of other HD members. Proteins with mutations in the HD of CDX1 (S185A, N190A, T194A, and V212A) also bound to the HD of HOXD8. Our study suggests that the HDs of CDX1/2 resemble those of HOXD8, and we provide the first insight into the interaction between the HDs of CDX1/2 proteins and those of HOXD8.

In this study, we proposed a new promising idea of utilizing moving window principal component analysis (MWPCA) as a sensitive diagnostic tool to detect the presence of peak position shift. In this approach, the moving window is constructed from a small data segment along the wavenumber axis. For each window bound by a narrow wavenumber region, separate PCA analysis was applied. Simulated spectra with complex spectral feature variations were analyzed to explore the possibility of MWPCA technique. This MWPCA-based detection of the peak shift, potentially coupled with 2D correlation analysis to provide additional verification, may offer an attractive solution.

Kinetic studies for the reactions of O,O-dimethyl Z-S-aryl phosphorothioates with X-pyridines have been carried out in dimethyl sulfoxide at 85.0 $^{\circ}C$. The Hammett and Br$\"{o}$nsted plots for substituent X variations in the nucleophiles are biphasic concave upwards with a break point at X = H, while those for substituent Z variations in the leaving groups are linear. The negative sign of the cross-interaction constant (${\rho}_{XZ}$) implies that the reaction proceeds through a concerted mechanism for both the strongly and weakly basic pyridines. The magnitude of ${\rho}_{XZ}$ (= -0.35) for the strongly basic pyridines is greater than that (${\rho}_{XZ}$ = -0.15) for the weakly basic pyridines, indicating a change of the nucleophilic attacking direction from frontside for the strongly basic pyridines to backside for the weakly basic pyridines. The early transition state is proposed on the basis of the absence of positive deviations from both the Hammett and Br$\"{o}$nsted plots for the strong ${\pi}$-acceptor, X = 4-Ac, and small values of ${\rho}_{XZ}$ and ${\beta}_X$.

Variable temperature high-resolution $^{19}F$ magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize fluorocarbon (FKM) rubbers. The high-resolution spectra of copolymers made from two monomers, vinylidene fluoride and hexafluoropropene, and terpolymers composed of vinylidene fluoride, hexafluoropropene, and tetrafluoroethylene, were obtained using MAS speeds of up to 18 kHz combined with high temperatures of up to 200 $^{\circ}C$ at a magnetic field strength of 9.4 Tesla. From these high resolution solid-state NMR spectra, we were able to assign the spectral peaks and differentiate the copolymer FKM from the terpolymer FKM. We also determined quantitatively the monomer compositions of each FKM rubber.

Three new metal-organic copper(II) complexes, $[Cu(H_2PZTC)_2]_n{\cdot}2nH_2O$ (1), $[Cu(HPZTC){\cdot}2H_2O]_n{\cdot}2nH_2O$ (2), and $Cu_2[(PZHD)(OH)(H_2O)_2]_n$ (3) ($H_3PZTC$ = pyrazine-2,3,5-tricarboxylic acid, $PZHD^{3-}$ = 2-hydroxypyrazine-3,5-dicarboxylate), have been synthesized from $Cu(II)/H_3PZTC$ system under different synthetic conditions, and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. In complexes 1 and 2, $H_3PZTC$ ligands loose one and two protons, which were transformed into $H_2PZTC^-$ anion and $HPZTC^{2-}$ dianion under different preparation condition, respectively. Furthermore, two ligands coordinate with Cu(II) cations in different modes, leading to the formation of the different chain structures. In complex 3, $H_3PZTC$ ligand was converted into a new ligand-PZHD by in situ decarboxylation and hydroxylation under a higher pH value than that for complexes 1 and 2. PZHD ligands link the Cu(II) cations to form a 2D layer structure. These results demonstrate that the preparation conditions, including pH value and reaction temperature etc, play an important role in the construction of complexes based on $H_3PZTC$ ligand.

Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations, employing the B3LYP method and the LANL2DZ, 6-31G$^*$(LANL2DZ for Tc), 6-31G$^*$(cc-pVDZ-pp for Tc) and DGDZVP basis sets, have been performed to investigate the electronic structures and absorption spectra of the technetium-99m-labeled methylenediphosphonate ($^{99m}Tc$-MDP) complex of the simplest diphosphonate ligand. The bonding situations and natural bond orbital compositions were studied by the Mulliken population analysis (MPA) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. The results indicate that the ${\sigma}$ and ${\pi}$ contributions to the Tc-O bonds are strongly polarized towards the oxygen atoms and the ionic contribution to the Tc-O bonding is larger than the covalent contribution. The electronic transitions investigated by TDDFT calculations and molecular orbital analyses show that the origin of all absorption bands is ascribed to the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) character. The solvent effect on the electronic structures and absorption spectra has also been studied by performing DFT and TDDFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G$^*$(cc-pVDZ-pp for Tc) level with the integral equation formalism polarized continuum model (IEFPCM) in different media. It is found that the absorption spectra display blue shift in different extents with the increase of solvent polarity.

Effect of heat treatment of carbon nanofibers (CNF) on electrical properties and crystallization behavior of polypropylene was reported. Two types of CNFs (untreated and heat treated at 2300 $^{\circ}C$) were incorporated into polypropylene (PP) using intensive mixing. A significant drop in volume resistivity was observed with composites containing untreated 5 wt % and heat treated 3 wt % CNF. In non-isothermal crystallization studies, both untreated and heat treated CNFs acted as nucleating agents. Composites with heat treated CNFs showed a higher crystallization temperature than composites with untreated CNFs did. TEM results of CNF revealed that an irregular structure of CNFs can be converted into the continuous graphitic structure after heat treatment. Furthermore, STM showed that the higher carbonization temperature leads to the higher graphite degree which presents the larger carbon network size, suggesting that a more graphitic structure of CNFs led to a higher crystallization temperature of PP.

Azo-acenaphthylene oligomers with repeating acenaphthylene units "n" up to 4, 5, 7, 17 and 19 have been prepared successfully using nitroxide mediated Stable Free Radical Polymerization (SFRP). Azo-acenaphthylene oligomers, reversibly end-capped by the stable nitroxide 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinoxyl (TEMPO), were further reacted via radical addition to 4-(naphthalenemethoxy)styrene monomer for diblock co-polymer formation. Characterization of the oligomers and diblock co-polymers was accomplished using MALDI-MS supported by GPC (Gel Permeation Chromatography) and $^1H$ NMR spectrometry. MALDI-MS afforded definitive results by providing an inter-peak interval of 152 (m/z), corresponding to acenaphthylene monomer, and inter-peak interval of 260 (m/z) for the naphthalenemethoxystyrene monomer unit in block copolymers. Our study opens the way to control the number of repeat units in the oligomers. Further these oligomers can be tailored with various monomers for the formation of block copolymers.

Preparation of ammonium dihydrogenphosphate supported on alumina ($NH_4H_2PO_4/Al_2O_3$) and its primary application as a solid acid supported heterogeneous catalyst to the synthesis of 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazoles by a one-pot, four-component condensation of benzil, aromatic aldehydes, primary amines, and ammonium acetate under thermal solvent-free conditions were described. The results showed that the novel catalyst has high activity and the desired products were obtained in high yields. Furthermore, the products could be separated simply from the catalyst, and the catalyst could be recycled and reused with only slight reduction in its catalytic activity. Characterization of the catalyst was performed by FT-IR spectroscopy, the $N_2$ adsorption/desorption analysis (BET), thermal analysis (TG/DTG), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques.

Benzonaphthofurandiones containing four coplanar fused aromatic rings were synthesized and evaluated for their cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines, and their inhibitory activity on topoisomerases. These benzonaphthofurandiones were prepared by condensation of 2,3-dichloronaphthoquinone and three aromatic diols with base catalysts in alcohol. The synthesized compounds were o-alkylated with six dialkylaminoalkyl halides. The hydroxy derivatives (8a-8g) exhibited relatively potent cytotoxicity among the prepared compounds. These compounds were evaluated as excellent inhibitors against topoisomerase II (topo II). Especially, the hydroxy analogue with branched methyl side chain (8e) showed high cytotoxicity against cancer cell lines and good inhibitory activity on topo II.

Variable selection k nearest neighbor QSAR modeling approach was applied to a data set of 80 3-arylisoquinolines exhibiting cytotoxicity against human lung tumor cell line (A-549). All compounds were characterized with molecular topology descriptors calculated with the MolconnZ program. Seven compounds were randomly selected from the original dataset and used as an external validation set. The remaining subset of 73 compounds was divided into multiple training (56 to 61 compounds) and test (17 to 12 compounds) sets using a chemical diversity sampling method developed in this group. Highly predictive models characterized by the leave-one out cross-validated $R^2$ ($q^2$) values greater than 0.8 for the training sets and $R^2$ values greater than 0.7 for the test sets have been obtained. The robustness of models was confirmed by the Y-randomization test: all models built using training sets with randomly shuffled activities were characterized by low $q^2{\leq}0.26$ and $R^2{\leq}0.22$ for training and test sets, respectively. Twelve best models (with the highest values of both $q^2$ and $R^2$) predicted the activities of the external validation set of seven compounds with $R^2$ ranging from 0.71 to 0.93.

The psychrophilic bacteria Psychromonas arctica survives at subzero temperatures by having adapted several protective mechanisms against freezing and oxidative stresses. Many reactive oxygen species are likely generated in P. arctica as a result of reduced metabolic turnover rates. A previous study identified the pasod gene for superoxide dismutase from P. arctica using a series of PCR amplifications. Here, upon cloning into a His-tag fused plasmid, the sod gene from P. arctica (pasod) was successfully expressed by IPTG induction. His-tagged PaSOD was subsequently purified by $Ni^{2+}$-NTA affinity chromatography. The purified PaSOD exhibited a higher SOD activity than that of Escherichia coli (EcSOD) at all temperatures. The difference in activity between PaSOD and EcSOD becomes even more significant at 4$^{\circ}C$, indicating that PaSOD plays a functional role in the cold adaptation of P. arctica in the Arctic.

Using a single step chemical synthesis, we synthesized the potential tumor imaging agent $^{99m}Tc$-diglucose-diethylenetriamine (DGTA) from diethylenetriamine and natural D-glucose. 10 min Incubation of 10 mg of precursor with 50 ${\mu}g$ of $SnCl_2{\cdot}2H_2O$ at room temperature yielded over 95% of $^{99m}Tc$ labeling. The stability for 6 hours in saline or human plasma was over 90%. In vitro tumor cell uptake assays using the SNU-C5 and 9 L cell lines showed that, in 0-400 mg/dL glucose medium, cell uptake of $^{99m}Tc$-DGTA was 1.5-8 times higher than that of [$^{18}F$]FDG. Moreover, [$^{18}F$]FDG uptake was dependent on glucose concentration in the medium, whereas cellular uptake of $^{99m}Tc$-DGTA was not dependent on glucose concentration, suggesting that the two compounds have different uptake mechanisms by tumor cells.

The specific rates of solvolysis of 1- naphthyl chloroformate (1-NaphOCOCl, 1) and 2-naphthyl chloroformate (2-NaphOCOCl, 2) have been determined in a wide range of solvents at 2.0 and 10.0$^{\circ}C$. These give a satisfactory correlation over the full range of solvents when the extended (two-term) Grunwald-Winstein equation is applied. The sensitivities (l and m-values) to changes in solvent nucleophilicity ($N_T$) and solvent ionizing power ($Y_{Cl}$) are similar to those reported previously for solvolysis of phenyl chloroformate, which has been suggested to proceed through an addition-elimination mechanism with the addition step being rate determining. For four representative solvents, studies were made at several temperatures and activation parameters determined. These observations were also compared with those previously reported for phenyl chloroformates and naphthoyl chlorides.

The enantiomeric separation of lactic acid for its absolute configuration has become important task for understanding its biological origin and metabolic process involved in the formation of lactic acid. It involves the conversion of enantiomers as diastereomeric O-pentafluoropropionylated (S)-(+)-3-methyl-2-butyl ester and the direct separation by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on a achiral capillary column. The (R)- and (S)-lactic acids were completely separated with a high resolution of 1.9. The newly developed method showed good linearity (r ${\geq}$ 0.999), precision (% relative standard deviation = 3.4-6.2), and accuracy (% relative error = -7.7-1.4) with the detection limit of 0.011 ${\mu}g/mL$. When the method was applied to determine the absolute configuration of lactic acid in Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis 304 (LAB 304), the composition (%) of (R)-lactic acid in the cell pellet and in the culture medium were $89.0{\pm}0.1$ and $78.2{\pm}0.4$, respectively. Thus, it was verified that the present method is useful for the identification and composition test of lactic enantiomers in microorganisms.

Pseudo-first-order rate constants ($k_{obsd}$) have been measured spectrophotometrically for nucleophilic substitution reactions of 3,4-dinitrophenyl diphenylphosphinothioate 9 with alkali metal ethoxides (EtOM, M = Li, Na, K) in anhydrous ethanol at $25.0{\pm}0.1^{\circ}C$. The plot of $k_{obsd}$ vs. [EtOM] is linear for the reaction of 9 with EtOK. However, the plot curves downwardly for those with EtOLi and EtONa while it curves upwardly for the one with EtOK in the presence of 18-crown-6-ether (18C6). Dissection of $k_{obsd}$ into $k_{EtO^-}$ and $k_{EtOM}$ (i.e., the second-order rate constant for the reaction with dissociated $EtO^-$ and ion-paired EtOM, respectively) has revealed that the reactivity increases in the order $k_{EtOLi}$ < $k_{EtONa}$ < $k_{EtO^-}$ ${\approx}$ $k_{EtOK}$ < $k_{EtOK/18C6}$, indicating that the reaction is inhibited by $Li^+$ and $Na^+$ ions but is catalyzed by 18C6-crowned $K^+$ ion. The reactivity order found for the reactions of 9 contrasts to that reported previously for the corresponding reactions of 1, i.e., $k_{EtOLi}$ > $k_{EtONa}$ > $E_{EtOK}$ > $k_{EtO^-}$ ${\approx}$ $k_{EtOK/18C6}$, indicating that the effect of changing the electrophilic center from P=O to P=S on the role of $M^+$ ions is significant. A four-membered cyclic transition-state has been proposed to account for the $M^+$ ion effects found in this study, e.g., the polarizable sulfur atom of the P=S bond in 9 interacts strongly with the soft 18C6-crowned $K^+$ ion while it interacts weakly with the hard $Li^+$ and $Na^+$ ions.

A series of new 4-aryl-6,8-dimethylpyrimido[4,5-c]pyridazine-5,7(6H,8H)-diones have been synthesized via three component reaction of 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid with arylglyoxals in the presence of hydrazinium dihydrochloride in ethanol. All of these derivatives may act as potential monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

The three dimensional quantitative structure activity relationship (3D QSAR) models were developed using Comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA), comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) and docking studies. The fit of Quinazolinone antifolates inside the active site of modeled bovine dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) was assessed. Both ligand based (LB) and receptor based (RB) QSAR models were generated, these models showed good internal and external statistical reliability that is evident from the $q^2_{loo}$, $r^2_{ncv}$ and $r^2_{pred}$. The identified key features enabled us to design new Quinazolinone analogues as DHFR inhibitors. This study is a building bridge between docking studies of homology modeled bovine DHFR protein as well as ligand and target based 3D QSAR techniques of CoMFA and CoMSIA approaches.