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Probe Molecules (probe + molecule)
Selected AbstractsBreakdown kinetics of aggregates from poly(ethylene glycol- bl -propylene sulfide) di- and triblock copolymers induced by a non-ionic surfactantJOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 7 2008Simona Cerritelli Abstract We explored the effects of addition of the nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 on the stability of aggregates of poly(ethylene glycol- bl -propylene sulfide) di- and triblock copolymers. Fluorescence spectra of pyrene, used as a probe molecule, elucidated the various stages of transformation from pure copolymeric micelles to surfactant-rich micelles. Turbidity measurements yielded insight into the mechanism of the interaction, the hydrophobicity of the copolymer driving the process. Triton X-100 tends to strongly interact with highly hydrophobic copolymers by inserting into the core of the micellar aggregates. On the other hand, Triton X-100 tends to interact with the corona of micelles formed by less hydrophobic copolymers which, for this reason, are more stable upon addition of this destabilizing agent. Kinetic data give evidence that only monomers, not micelles of surfactant, interact with the copolymer micelles. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 2477,2487, 2008 [source] Protein Diffusion Probed by the Transient Grating Method with a New Type of Photochromic Molecule,PHOTOCHEMISTRY & PHOTOBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2008Takeshi Eitoku A new type of photochromic molecule that can be used for diffusion coefficient (D) measurements of various proteins in solution is described. The absorption spectrum of this molecule is changed upon photoexcitation by the trans,cis isomerization reaction. Target proteins were labeled by this photochromic molecule in the dark and the translational motion of the proteins was detected by the transient grating (TG) method. The TG signal was simple enough to determine D accurately and was stable even for long-time irradiation by the laser light. The TG method using this probe molecule improves many drawbacks of the other techniques. [source] Acquisition of desiccation tolerance in developing wheat embryos correlates with appearance of a fluid phase in membranesPLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 11 2003E. A. GOLOVINA ABSTRACT Membrane behaviour in developing wheat (Triticum aestivum cv Priokskaya) embryos was studied in relation to the acquisition of desiccation tolerance, using spin probe techniques. Fresh embryos were able to develop into seedlings at day 15 after anthesis, but it took 18 d before fast-dried, isolated embryos could germinate. On the basis of membrane integrity measurements it was estimated that between 14 and 18 d after anthesis the proportion of embryonic cells surviving fast drying increased and the critical moisture content, to which embryonic cells could be dehydrated, decreased. Apparently, embryonic cells do not acquire the same level of desiccation tolerance simultaneously. Only when all cells had become desiccation tolerant was germination of air-dried embryos possible. Using 5-doxylstearic acid as the probe molecule, an approximately similar lipid,water interface ordering of membranes was observed in all hydrated embryos, irrespective of age. Dehydration had a dual effect on the lipid interface: further ordering of the major part of the interface and the appearance of additional, disturbed regions. The proportion of these regions correlated with the proportion of desiccation-tolerant cells. We propose that the membrane surface disturbance be caused by endogenous amphiphiles that partition from the cytoplasm into membranes during drying. The absence of such disturbed regions in dried, desiccation-sensitive embryos might reflect a lack of sufficient amphiphiles. The relevance of membrane surface disturbance for desiccation tolerance is discussed. [source] Understanding Adsorption and Interactions of Alkane Isomer Mixtures in Isoreticular Metal,Organic FrameworksCHEMISTRY - A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, Issue 22 2007Li Zhang Dr. Abstract Novel metal,organic frameworks (MOFs) may lead to advances in adsorption and catalysis owing to their superior properties compared to traditional nanoporous materials. A combination of the grand canonical Monte Carlo method and configurational-bias Monte Carlo simulation was used to evaluate the adsorption isotherms of C4,C6 alkane isomer mixtures in IRMOF-1 and IRMOF-6. The amounts of adsorbed linear and branched alkanes increase with increasing pressure, and the amount of branched alkanes is larger than that of the linear ones. The locations of the alkane isomer reveal that the Zn4O clusters of the IRMOFs are the preferential adsorption sites for the adsorbate molecules. The interaction energy between the Zn4O cluster and the adsorbate is larger than that between the organic linker and the adsorbate. It was further confirmed that the Zn4O cluster plays a much more important role in adsorption by pushing a probe molecule into the pore at positions closer to the Zn4O cluster. It is difficult for branched alkane molecules to approach the Zn4O cluster of IRMOF-6 closely owing to strong spatial hindrance. In addition, the adsorption selectivity is discussed from the viewpoints of thermodynamics and kinetics, and the diffusion behavior of n -butane and 2-methylpropane were investigated to illustrate the relationship between diffusion and adsorption. [source] Highly Stable Au Nanoparticles with Tunable Spacing and Their Potential Application in Surface Plasmon Resonance BiosensorsADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, Issue 1 2010Shuyan Gao Abstract Colloidal Au-amplified surface plasmon resonance (SPR), like traditional SPR, is typically used to detect binding events on a thin noble metal film. The two major concerns in developing colloidal Au-amplified SPR lie in 1) the instability, manifested as a change in morphology following immersion in organic solvents and aqueous solutions, and 2) the uncontrollable interparticle distance, determining probe spacing and inducing steric hindrance between neighboring probe molecules. This may introduce uncertainties into such detecting techniques, degrade the sensitivity, and become the barricade hampering colloidal Au-based transducers from applications in sensing. In this paper, colloidal Au-amplified SPR transducers are produced by using ultrathin Au/Al2O3 nanocomposite films via a radio frequency magnetron co-sputtering method. Deposited Au/Al2O3 nanocomposite films exhibit superior stability, and average interparticle distances between Au nanoparticles with similar average sizes can be tuned by changing surface coverage. These characteristics are ascribed to the spacer function and rim confinement of dielectric Al2O3 and highlight their advantages for application in optimal nanoparticle-amplified SPR, especially when the probe size is smaller than the target molecule size. This importance is demonstrated here for the binding of protein (streptavidin) targets to the probe (biotin) surface. In this case, the dielectric matrix Al2O3 is a main contributor, behaving as a spacer, tuning the concentration of Au nanoparticles, and manipulating the average interparticle distance, and thus guaranteeing an appropriate number of biotin molecules and expected near-field coupling to obtain optimal sensing performance. [source] Improved SERS Performance from Au Nanopillar Arrays by Abridging the Pillar Tip Spacing by Ag SputteringADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 37 2010Zhulin Huang Ag-capped Au nanopillar arrays on a resin supporter (see left upper figure), with a typical adjacent pillar tip gap of 10 nm, show obviously higher surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensitivity (right column in red) than that of the bare Au nanopillar array while using 10 nM R6G as probe molecules. The large-area Ag-capped Au nanopillar array has potential in trace detection of special chemicals. [source] Effects of unidirectional and mutual interactions between microstructures and azo dyes as "kinetic" probe molecules on cis,trans isomerization rate constants in aqueous P85 and F88 triblock copolymer solutionsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL KINETICS, Issue 2 2008Helmut Knoll Rate constants of the thermal cis , trans isomerization of azo dyes have been studied in aqueous P85 and F88 triblock copolymer solutions by means of microsecond flash photolysis. Inflection points or maxima of the nonlinear Arrhenius plots indicate microstructure changes around the "kinetic" probe molecules. Unidirectional interactions of micelle formation on reactivity are reflected by discontinuous change of rate constants at temperatures near the critical micellization temperatures (cmT) determined by means of probe-free methods. Mutual interactions have been identified by means of significant differences between cmT and temperatures, where rate constants change discontinuously. The type of interactions depends on the properties of probe molecules and amphiphiles. Systems as studied in this work might be models of more complex biological reaction systems with temperature-dependent microstructure changes. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 40: 59,65, 2007 [source] Properties of methanol bound to a defect of zeolitic structureINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 2 2005Nikolai F. Stepanov Abstract Different mechanisms of Brønsted acidity formation upon the adsorption of a methanol molecule on a model Lewis acid site within zeolitic structure are evaluated by means of density functional theory in cluster approximation. The properties of the Brønsted acid sites formed are examined through studying their interaction with such probe molecules as methanol, ammonia, and ethylene. The results obtained are used to comment on a possible role of Lewis acid sites in methanol reactions catalyzed by zeolites. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005 [source] Preparation and study of cellulose acetate membranes modified with linear polymers covalently bonded to Starburst polyamidoamine dendrimersJOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE, Issue 5 2008J. Ledesma-García Abstract Novel ion-selective membranes were prepared by means of the noncovalent modification of a cellulose acetate (CA) polymer with either poly(ethylene- alt -maleic anhydride) or poly(allylamine hydrochloride) chains covalently linked to Starburst amine-terminated polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers generations 4 and 3.5, respectively. Linear polymer incorporation within the porous CA membrane was performed with mechanical forces, which resulted in modified substrates susceptible to covalent adsorption of the relevant dendritic materials via the formation of amide bonds with a carbodiimide activation agent. The membranes thus prepared were characterized by chemical, physical, and spectroscopic measurements, and the results indicate that the dendrimer peripheral functional groups were the species that participated in the ion-exchange events. The prepared materials were also evaluated for their ion-exchange permeability with sampled current voltammetry experiments involving cationic and anionic species {[Ru(NH3)6]3+ and [Fe(CN6)]3,, respectively} as redox probe molecules under different pH conditions. As expected, although permeability was favored by opposite charges between the dendrimer and the electroactive probe, a clear blocking effect took place when the charge in the dendritic polymer and the electroactive complex was the same. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements, on the other hand, showed that the PAMAM-modified membranes were characterized by good selectivity and low resistance values for multivalent ions compared to a couple of commercial ion-exchange membranes. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008 [source] Capacity of activated carbon derived from pistachio shells by H3PO4 in the removal of dyes and phenolicsJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 6 2003Amina A Attia Abstract Two activated carbons were obtained from pistachio shells by impregnation with H3PO4 under standard conditions of acid concentration (50 wt%) and heat treatment at 773 K for 2 h. The soaking time was 24 and 72 h for the two samples before thermal pyrolysis. Analysis of the N2/77 K adsorption isotherms proved that both were highly adsorbing carbons with considerable microporosity, and that the prolonged contact with activant enhanced total porosity (surface area and pore volume) and increased the amount of mesoporosity. Adsorption isotherms of probe molecules, viz methylene blue (MB), rhodamine B (RB), phenol (P) and p -nitrophenol (PNP), were determined at room temperature, from aqueous solutions. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich model adsorption equations show satisfactory fit to experimental data. Both carbons exhibit similar adsorption parameters irrespective of their porosity characteristics. The sequence of uptake per unit weight was: PNP > MB > RB > P. Low affinity towards phenol may be associated with its competition with water molecules which are more favourably attracted to the acid surface which has a high oxygen functionality. Preferred adsorption in the order PNP > MB > RB is proposed to be a function of carbon porosity, related to the increased molecular dimensions of the solutes. Adsorption from a binary mixture of equal concentrations of MB and RB showed reduced uptake for both sorbates in comparison to the single component experiments. RB removal surpasses that of MB in the binary test and may be attributed to lower water solubility and higher molecular dimensions. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Surface-enhanced Raman scattering from gold-coated germanium oxide nanowiresJOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 7 2008Muhammad A. Khan Abstract We utilized bulk-synthesized nanowires (NWs) of germanium dioxide as nanoscale structures that can be coated with noble metals to allow the excitation of surface plasmons over a broad frequency range. The NWs were synthesized on substrates of silicon using gold-catalyst-assisted vapor,liquid,solid (VLS) growth mechanism in a simple quartz tube furnace setup. The resulting NWs have diameters of ,100,200 nm, with lengths averaging ,10,40 µm and randomly distributed on the substrate. The NWs are subsequently coated with thin films of gold, which provide a surface-plasmon-active surface. Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) studies with near-infrared (NIR) excitation at 785 nm show significant enhancement (average enhancement > 106) with good uniformity to detect submonolayer concentrations of 4-methylbenzenethiol (4-MBT), trans -1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene (BPE), and 1,2-benzendithiol (1,2-BDT) probe molecules. We also observed an intense, broad continuum in the Raman spectrum of NWs after metal coating, which tended to diminish with the analyte monolayer formation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Systematic Approach for Dispersion of Silicon Nitride Powder in Organic Media: I, Surface Chemistry of the PowderJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 4 2000Liwu Wang To develop novel dispersants for submicrometer-sized Si3N4 powder, the surface chemistry of a powder has been investigated using thermodesorption, carrier-gas heat extraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and zeta potential measurements. This study indicates that the powder surface is composed mainly of silanol groups and exhibits acidic behavior. Furthermore, the interaction affinity of various surface probe molecules with the powder surface has been studied using adsorption isotherms. The detailed description of the surface chemistry can be used as a guide for designing efficient dispersants, as will be presented in part II. [source] Pulsed field gradient NMR investigation of solubilization equilibria in amino acid and dipeptide terminated micellar and polymeric surfactant solutionsMAGNETIC RESONANCE IN CHEMISTRY, Issue 12 2002Robin S. Hickok Abstract Pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy was used to investigate the association of toluene, chlorobenzene and benzyl alcohol with amino acid and dipeptide terminated polymerized surfactants (PS). The diffusion coefficient for each probe was measured in the presence and absence of the polymers and the mole fraction of bound probe molecules, fb, was calculated. For all solutions investigated, the probes associated more strongly with unpolymerized surfactant micelles than with corresponding PS. For example, the toluene fb values for association with sodium undecanoyl valinate micelles and the PS poly(sodium undecanoyl valinate) were 0.88 and 0.15, respectively. The relatively weak probe,polymer association was attributed to the polarity and fluidity of the polymers' hydrocarbon cores and to the fact that these PS have smaller aggregation numbers than the corresponding unpolymerized surfactant micelles. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Mapping the Druggable Allosteric Space of G-Protein Coupled Receptors: a Fragment-Based Molecular Dynamics ApproachCHEMICAL BIOLOGY & DRUG DESIGN, Issue 3 2010Anthony Ivetac To address the problem of specificity in G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) drug discovery, there has been tremendous recent interest in allosteric drugs that bind at sites topographically distinct from the orthosteric site. Unfortunately, structure-based drug design of allosteric GPCR ligands has been frustrated by the paucity of structural data for allosteric binding sites, making a strong case for predictive computational methods. In this work, we map the surfaces of the ,1 (,1AR) and ,2 (,2AR) adrenergic receptor structures to detect a series of five potentially druggable allosteric sites. We employ the FTMAP algorithm to identify ,hot spots' with affinity for a variety of organic probe molecules corresponding to drug fragments. Our work is distinguished by an ensemble-based approach, whereby we map diverse receptor conformations taken from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations totaling approximately 0.5 ,s. Our results reveal distinct pockets formed at both solvent-exposed and lipid-exposed cavities, which we interpret in light of experimental data and which may constitute novel targets for GPCR drug discovery. This mapping data can now serve to drive a combination of fragment-based and virtual screening approaches for the discovery of small molecules that bind at these sites and which may offer highly selective therapies. [source] Molecular Arrangement of Fatty Acids at the Solid,Liquid Interface Visualized by Chemical DecorationCHEMPHYSCHEM, Issue 5 2003Stephanie Hoeppener Dr. Finding finely formed fat: A method to visualize the carboxylic groups of a highly ordered fatty acid template layer (see picture) by utilizing small probe molecules is demonstrated. STM investigations of the decorated surface strongly indicate a head-to-head arrangement of the fatty acid molecules at the solid,liquid interface. [source] | ||||||||||||||||