Studies on chitin 3—effect of coagulants and annealing on the preparation and the properties of chitin membrane

Chitin membrane was prepared by casting a N,N-dimethyl acetamide, N-methyl 2-pyrrolidone and lithium chloride (DMA-NMP-LiCl)solution of chitin and coagulating with several media. The effect of the coagulants on membrane formation was studied. 2-Propanol was found to be more favourable than methanol, ethanol, acetone and mixtures of 2-propanol and water. The membrane obtained in 2-propanol was subjected to annealing. Annealing made the membrane dense and strong. The tensile strength of the membrane annealed at 145°C for 2hr was about twice that of an unannealed membrane. The solute permeability of the annealed membranes was lower than that of the original one. These phenomena could be clearly interpreted in terms of crystallinity.     

The reaction of polypropylene with maleic anhydride

An addition reaction of maleic anhydride with polypropylene takes place in the presence of radical reagents or sunlight. The initial rate of the reaction was proportional to the concentration of polypropylene and maleic anhydride, and one-half power of the concentration of the radical reagents. The increase in the temperature from 80 to 120°C increased the rate of the reaction and di-cumyl peroxide was effective as a radical reagent for this reaction. Ionic crosslinked rubber-like polymers were obtained from the reaction of maleic polypropylene with some alkali metal compounds. They showed the characteristic absorption band due to ? COO^? in their infrared spectra.     

Stabilizing effect of the cyclodextrins additive to spray-dried particles of curcumin/polyvinylpyrrolidone on the supersaturated state of curcumin

Although curcumin is considered to have various therapeutic effects, its use as a functional food or supplement is restricted owing to its low water solubility and bioavailability. To increase the solubility of curcumin in water, the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and vinylpyrrolidone-vinyl acetate copolymers with a pyrrolidone skeleton was noted to be promising. In particular, the bi-component formulations of curcumin/PVP prepared through spray drying exhibited an amorphous state in powder X-ray diffraction observations and temporally increased the apparent solubility of curcumin to over 5000 times that of untreated curcumin; nevertheless, after 24 h, the solubility decreased owing to the unstable supersaturated state of curcumin. The addition of α-cyclodextrin (α-CyD) in the bi-component curcumin/PVP formulation helped maintain the supersaturated state of curcumin, whereas the addition of β- and γ-CyD led to the collapse of the supersaturated state. The addition of α-CyD can likely help inhibit the nucleation and crystal growth of curcumin, through the interaction among the solubilized units of curcumin/PVP and α-CyD.     

Effects of processing and cooking on the levels of pesticide residues in soybean samples

The effects of processing and cooking on the levels of pesticide residues in soybean samples were investigated for 14 pesticides in pre-harvest samples. On soaking, the transfer ratios (%, total pesticide residue amount in product/that in soybean) of soaked soybean were greater than 60% for most of the pesticides investigated. The transfer ratio of soymilk ranged from 37% to 92%, and that of tofu ranged from 7% to 63%. The processing factor (Pf, the concentration (mg/kg) of pesticide in product/that in soybean) of tofu ranged from 0.026 to 0.28. These values varied among pesticides. There was a high correlation between the log P(ow) and the transfer ratio of tofu. The test described here should be useful to obtain the transfer ratios of pesticide residues in processing and/or cooking steps.     

Application of electron beam for the reduction of PCDD/F emission from municipal solid waste incinerators

The electron-beam technology was applied to reduce the emission of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF) in a flue gas of 1000 m(3)N/h from the municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) at a temperature of 200 degrees C. More than 90% decomposition of PCDD/Fs was obtained using an electron accelerator at a dose of 14 kGy. The decomposition was initiated through reactions with OH radicals produced by the irradiation of flue gases, followed by oxidation such as the ring cleavage of the aromatic ring, the dissociation of ether bond, and dechlorination. The cost analysis estimated that the electron-beam system can cut the annualized cost by approximately 50% for the treatment of PCDD/Fs in a pre-dusted MSWI flue gas as compared with a bag-filter system when operating on electricity generated from an incineration. Electron-beam technology is an economically and technologically useful method for reducing PCDD/Fs in an incineration flue gas.     

Numerical prediction of fraction of eutectic phase in Sn−Ag−Cu soldring using the phase-field method

A combination of macroscale solidification simulation and phase-field calculation is employed to predict the volume fraction of the eutectic phase in Sn-4.0 mass% Ag-XCu solder alloys (X=0.5–1.1 mass%). The solidification simulation incorporates the cooling rate in the phase-field simulation. We assume the residual liquid solidifies as eutectic phase when the driving force for the nucleation of Cu₆Sn₅ amounts to a critical value, which is determined based on the experimental data. Though the calculation results depend on the experimental data, the obtained fractions are about 40% for 0.5 mass% Cu and more than 90% for 1.1 mass% Cu alloy, which shows good agreement with the experimental data.     

Directional permeability of asymmetrically oxidized poly(L-methionine) film to oxygen dissolved in water

The permeability of an asymmetrically oxidized poly(L-methionine) film to oxygen dissolved in water was examined. It was recognized that the permeability along an increasing gradient of oxidized methionine composition is higher than the gradient is reversed. A qualitative analysis of this result was presented in terms of the oxygen solubilities into the film and water absorbed in the film.     

Asymmetric oxidation of poly(vinyl sulfides) with percamphoric acid,aspergillus niger,and penicillium notatum

The asymmetric oxidation of poly(phenylvinyl sulfide) (poly-Ph VS) and poly(t-butylvinyl sulfide) (poly-t-BuVS) was carried out with optically active percamphoric acid, and the optically active polysulfoxides were obtained. The values of the specific rotation for the oxidation products of poly-PhVS and poly-t-BuVS were + 1.0 (having 56% of sulfoxide unit contents) and +9.1 (49%), respectively. The specific rotation of the product increased with increasing the contents of sulfoxide units. The optical rotatory dispersion curves of the oxidation products of poly-PhVS and poly-t-BuVS were positive curves and were found to fit the simple Drude equation. The λ_c values of the oxidation products (poly-PhVS, 271 mμ; poly-t-BuVS, 212 mμ) suggested that the chromophore which caused optically activity was the sulfoxide group. Similarly, the asymmetric oxidation of t-BuVS–MMA copolymer, t-BuVS–styrene copolymer, and PhVS–MMA copolymer was carried out, and the optically active copolysulfoxides were obtained. Furthermore, the biosynthetic oxidation of poly-PhVS and PhVS–maleic anhydride copolymer treated with aqueous KOH was carried out using Aspergillus niger or Penicillium notatum in Czapeck solution, and the optically active polymers were obtained.     

Asymmetric addition of thiol to diene polymer in the presence of optically active amines as catalyst

The asymmetric addition reaction of thiolacetic acid or benzylmercaptan to diene polymer (natural rubber, cis- and trans-1,4-polyisoprene, _cis-1,4-polybutadiene, various styrenebutadiene copolymers and alternating acrylonitrile-butadiene copolymer) by optically active catalysts such as d-bornylamine ([α]d?45.2°), l-aspartic diethyl ester (?11.2°), l-aspartic dibutyl ester (?5.3°) were carried out in benzene at room temperature to 90°C. The optically active polymers were obtained from natural rubber and cis-1,4- and trans-1,4-polyisoprene, but were not obtained from cis-1,4-polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene copolymers, and butadiene-acrylonitrile copolymer. The [α]²⁵_D value of optically active derivatives was ?0.1° ～ ?1.0° (in benzene), and the optical rotatory dispersion curves were found to fit the simple Drude equation.     

Synthetic potential of molluscan sulfatases for the library synthesis of regioselectively O-sulfonated D-galacto-sugars

The substrate specificities of three molluscan sulfatases (E.C. 3.1.6.1; snail, abalone, and limpet origins) were investigated with assorted p-nitrophenyl (pNP) di-O-sulfonated beta-D-galactopyranosides and beta-lactosides [3,6-SO(3) Gal (1), 3',6'-SO(3) Lac (2), 4, 6SO(3) Gal (3), 2,6-SO(3) Gal (4), 3,4-SO(3) Gal (5), and 3,6-SO(3) GalNAc (6); Ac, acetyl; Gal, galactose; Lac, lactose] together with mono-O-sulfonated beta-D-galactopyranoside [pNP 3SO(3)-Gal (7)] and tri-O-sulfonated alpha-D-galactopyranoside [2,3,6-SO(3)-alpha-Gal (11)]. Some notable differences between the substrate specificity of the three sulfatases were disclosed; snail sulfatase hydrolyzed the 3O- and 2O-sulfo groups of 1 and 4, respectively, to afford 6SO(3) Gal (9) in high yields, while the abalone enzyme did not act on 4. Only the limpet enzyme could cleave the 3O-sulfo groups of 7 to give pNP beta-galactoside. In contrast, every enzyme could utilize 11 as a good substrate to afford a mixture of 6SO(3)-alpha-Gal (13) and 2,6-SO(3) alpha-Gal (12). None of the enzymes could cleave the O-sulfo groups of 5 and 6, which indicates that a primary 6O-sulfo group tends to promote the enzymatic hydrolysis of O-sulfo groups at the secondary positions.