Institute Of Chemistry Research Articles

Illuminating Biology with Visible‐Light‐induced Biocompatible Reactions

AbstractYiyun Chen is a Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Science, a member of the State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Products Chemistry of China, and a joint Professor at ShanghaiTech University. He is a current member of the ChemPhotoChem Editorial Board.

THE 70-TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CENTRAL SCIENTIFIC LIBRARY OF THE IRKUTSK SCIENTIFIC CENTER OF THE SB RAS

In 2019, the Central Scientific Library of the Irkutsk Scientific Center of SB RAS (CSL ISC) celebrated its 70th anniversary. The library history began with the creation of the East Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (ESB or Branch) in Irkutsk in February 1949. Immediately the aim of information support for×scientific research arouse. One room was allotted on the second floor of the building on the Red Star street, 18 (now – Sukhe-Bator St.). The first 600 books were purchased at the local library collector. Anna Sergeevna Chumicheva, having at that time rich work experience in various types of libraries: trade-union library, NKVD club, and university library, was appointed director of ESB scientific library.The library acquisition profile was determined in accordance with research directions of institutions that were part of the Branch at the very beginning of its activities: Institute of Geology, Institute of Energy and Chemistry, Biological Sector and Geographic and Economic Sector. Much attention was paid to bibliographic activities: in the 1960-1980s. the staff of ESB scientific library created a series of indexes on hydrogeology, seismicity and engineering geology of Siberia and the Far East, on Lake Baikal.Currently, the Central Library is a methodological center for scientific libraries of academic institutes in Irkutsk and the Irkutsk region. The library has more than 366 thousand documents (books, brochures, journals), including 1000 documents on electronic media, about 4 thousand readers (scientists, graduate students, students), including 1260 online. CSL creates resources of own generation – the electronic database “Lake Baikal”, the database “Abstracts and Dissertations”, etc. In terms of popularizing science, the library has published a series of booklets about scientists and a documentary essay, “Irkutsk Academic-city: milestones in history” (Irkutsk, 2019). Since July 2017, the director of the Central Scientific Library is a young scientist Ivan Leonidovich Trofimov. From 1968 to the present day, the library is located in the building of the Institute of the Earth’s Crust of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1992 – SB RAS).

STANDARDIZATION OF DRY EXTRACT OF ZIZIPHUS JUJUBA MILL. FRUITS

Ziziphus jujuba Mill. (jujube) fruits have been used in folk medicine for a long time as a drug to treat arterial hypertension. Scientists in A. Sultanov Uzbek Research Institute for Chemistry and Pharmaceutics have developed a technology that permits to obtain dry extract named «Unabin» with hypotensive effect.
 The aim of research: to develop quality control and standardization methods for dry extract of jujube fruits.
 Jujube dry extract was described as a brown powder with sweet taste and specific odor. Water content in samples was 3.1–4.8% (measured according to State Pharmacopoeia of Russian Federation XI).
 We studied 5 series of dry extract. It was revealed that 1 g of dry extract contains 106 of aerobic bacteria, 103 of yeasts and mold fungi altogether, 102 of enterobacteria and other gram-negative bacteria in average. Esherichia coli, Salmonella, Pseudomоnаs aeruginosa и Staphylococcus aureus were not detected. Therefore, the studied pharmaceutical meets the standard of microbiological cleanliness.
 The optimal content of the following substances was determined: flavonoids (in rutin equivalent; no less than 0.2%), polysaccharides (no less than 1.8%), organic acids (in malic acid equivalent; no less than 1.5%), tanning agents (in tannin equivalent; no less than 5.0%). The proposed permissible content of heavy metals (Pb, Cd) is 0.01% or less.
 The shelf life of jujube dry extract is 2 years and more (assessed in natural conditions according to Branch Standard 42-2-70). The project of Pharmacopoeia article was prepared on the basis of conducted reseach.

K.V. Chmutov’s Legacy in Developing the Fundamental Concepts of the Radioactive Elements Chromatography

A review is presented of the work performed from the early 1950s to the present at the Laboratory of Radioelement Chromatography of the USSR Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physical Chemistry (the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry). The works in the field of studying the patterns of sorption and dynamics of chromatography for systems of chelate displacement chromatography (CDC), the chromatographic separation of elements under conditions of ionizing radiation, and the chromatographic separation of radionuclides with the use of separating ions are described. The separation of 137Cs radionuclide from irradiated nuclear fuel (INF) reprocessing solutions using ferrocyanide sorbents, the use of ion-exchange resins for the recovery of rare-earth elements (REEs) and actinides from solutions of different composition, and advances in the field of the sorption purification of liquid radioactive wastes of different chemical and radionuclide composition are also considered. The means developed at the Laboratory provided the basis for the technologies of the separation of radioactive elements from INF reprocessing solutions and the purification of liquid radioactive wastes. These technologies are used today at enterprises of the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation, nuclear power stations, and other facilities of the nuclear industry.

Studies of Electrocrystallization Processes Performed at the Laboratory of the Structure of Surface Layers of Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry

A review is presented of studies performed at the Laboratory of the Structure of Surface Layers of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, beginning from the establishment of the Laboratory. The studies are aimed at investigating the deposition of metals and alloys both via electrodeposition and catalytic chemical reduction; developing the physicochemical foundations of the production of composite, nanostructured, and nanosized deposits and materials; and determining their physicochemical, mechanical, and catalytic properties.

Physicochemical Aspects of Metal Corrosion Inhibition

Key achievements of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in developing fundamental scientific principles underlying the passivation and inhibition of metal and alloy corrosion are discussed.

Molecular Statistical Modeling for the Identification of Unknown Compounds

A technique of molecular statistical calculations, developed and improved with the active participation of workers at the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, allows the accurate estimation of the chromatographic retention of analytes. The resulting version of molecular statistical method (with regard to conformational non-rigidity) is used to predict the values of alkylbenzene retention under conditions of gas adsorption chromatography. The accuracy of estimating the retention indices is compared to results from current machine learning approaches of predicting retention (for gas-liquid chromatography). The effectiveness of separating structural hydrocarbon isomers on different columns is also compared.

Physicochemical and Electrochemical Aspects of the Functioning of Biological Membranes

A review is presented of the most important scientific achievements in the field of physicochemical biology of cell membranes obtained throughout the years by the Laboratory of Bioelectrochemistry at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry that have received wide international recognition, along with the prospects for development in this scientific field. Research conducted at the Laboratory focuses on developing theoretical, physicochemical, and electrochemical ways and means of studying biological membranes. These works have made important advances in understanding the thermodynamics, mechanics, and electrostatics of membranes; the organized transport of different substances through cell membranes; phase equilibrium and lateral organization in the presence of membrane-active ions; macromolecules and proteins; and mechanisms of the topological rearrangement and behavior of excitable media. The Laboratory’s staff have proposed fundamentally new theoretical models and experimental techniques, making a substantial contribution to the development of physicochemical approaches in the relevant sections of membrane biophysics.

Electrochemistry at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry

The history of electrochemical studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry is described.

Enhanced CO2 Separation Achieved by Fluorinated Membranes

Download : Download high-res image (299KB) Download : Download full-size image Dr. Zhenzhen Yang earned her PhD in 2013 from Nankai University under the advisement of Professor Liang-Nian He. Then she joined Professor Zhimin Liu’s group at the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where she worked for 5 years. She currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in the lab of Professor Sheng Dai. Her research is mainly focused on the design of novel nanoporous materials for efficient adsorption, separation, activation, and transformation of small gas molecules.

Validation of Method for Mercury Impurities Determination in Protamine Sulfate by Stripping Voltammetry

Introduction. The article presents the results of the validation of our developed method – stripping voltammetry (SVA) used for mercury impurities determination in protamine sulfate. Procedure was validated in terms of specificity, accuracy, precision (repetability and intermediate precision), and LLOQ. To confirm the results of the SVA method, we choose as comparative analyzes for mercury content determination in protamine sulfate generally accepted methods: atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and the pharmacopeia method according to the European Pharmacopoeia.Aim. Validation of method developed for mercury impurities determination in protamine sulphate by stripping voltammetry.Materials and methods. Protamine sulfate solution for injection 10 mg/mL (Novosibhimpharm», Novosibirsk, Russia) was used as a study object. The method of stripping voltammetry was performed at TA-4 semi-automatic analyzer (Tomanalit, Tomsk) with VALabTx software included. At the A. V. Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry (Institute of Inorganic Chemistry SB RAS) atomic absorption spectroscopy was perfomed. At the Pacific State University was carried out X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. We carried out the pharmacopeia method in conjunction with «Novosibhimpharm» factory.Results and discussion. We validated the developed method for accuracy and precision. We evaluated the repetability by 10 measurements; the coefficient of variation was 7.8. We tested the intermediate precision for six measurements; the coefficient of variation was 7.9 and 7.4 for analyst № 1 and analyst № 2, respectively. According to our methodology, the mercury impurities content in protamine sulfate is 0.03 ppm. We compared our results with other generally accepted methods for the mercury determination in organic objects. When determining mercury by the AAS method, the result was ≤0.5 ppm, with XRF – 0.1 ppm. Pharmacopeia method results cannot be reliable due to the lack of repeatability.Conclusion. We validated the previously developed method for mercury impurities determination in protamine sulfate by stripping voltammetry. The results of our method are comparable with the results of other methods, such as AAS and XRF. That Therefore stripping voltammetry can be used in quality control of protamine drug products.

Evaluating different methods for elevation calibration of MAX-DOAS (Multi AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) instruments during the CINDI-2 campaign

Abstract. We present different methods for in-field elevation calibration of MAX-DOAS (Multi AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy) instruments that were applied and inter-compared during the second Cabauw Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI-2). One necessary prerequisite of consistent MAX-DOAS retrievals is a precise and accurate calibration of the elevation angles of the different measuring systems. Therefore, different methods for this calibration were applied to several instruments during the campaign, and the results were inter-compared. This work first introduces and explains the different methods, namely far- and near-lamp measurements, white-stripe scans, horizon scans and sun scans, using data and results for only one (mainly the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry) instrument. In the second part, the far-lamp measurements and the horizon scans are examined for all participating groups. Here, the results for both methods are first inter-compared for the different instruments; secondly, the two methods are compared amongst each other. All methods turned out to be well-suited for the calibration of the elevation angles of MAX-DOAS systems, with each of them having individual advantages and drawbacks. Considering the results of this study, the systematic uncertainties of the methods can be estimated as ±0.05∘ for the far-lamp measurements and the sun scans, ±0.25∘ for the horizon scans, and around ±0.1∘ for the white-stripe and near-lamp measurements. When comparing the results of far-lamp and horizon-scan measurements, a spread of around 0.9∘ in the elevation calibrations is found between the participating instruments for both methods. This spread is of the order of a typical field of view (FOV) of a MAX-DOAS instrument and therefore affecting the retrieval results. Further, consistent (wavelength dependent) offsets of 0.32∘ and 0.40∘ between far-lamp measurements and horizon scans are found, which can be explained by the fact that, despite the flat topography around the measurement site, obstacles such as trees might mark the visible horizon during daytime. The observed wavelength dependence can be explained by surface albedo effects. Lastly, the results are discussed and recommendations for future campaigns are given.

Peter Dunn Award to Frank Gupton; call for 2020 nominations

B. Frank Gupton, the Floyd D. Gottwald Jr. Chair in Pharmaceutical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University, is the recipient of the 2019 Peter J. Dunn Award for Green Chemistry and Engineering Impact in the Pharmaceutical Industry. The award, presented by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable, recognizes excellence in the research, development, and execution of pharmaceutical green chemistry technologies. Nominations are being accepted for the 2020 Peter J. Dunn Award. Submissions should highlight impact relative to the principles of green chemistry. The award will be presented at the 24th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference in Seattle, June 16–18, where the recipient will give an oral presentation. The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. (EST) on Jan. 31. For details, visit bit.ly/36ReQAe.

Call for papers: Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference

Abstracts are being accepted for the 24th Annual Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference, which will take place in Seattle June 16–18 with the theme “Systems-Inspired Design.” Hosted by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute, the conference will feature more than 40 technical sessions, as well as networking events and a product showcase. For a list of sessions and other events, visit gcande.org. Abstracts are due Feb. 17.

A water distillation detritiation facility and its performance test

Water distillation is an effective method for detritiation of drainage from a nuclear power plant, and for the volume reduction of tritiated water from the cooling and safety systems of a nuclear fusion reactor. The height equivalent of theoretical plate (HETP) value is usually required for the conceptual column design to determine the height of the packing layer. A H2O-HTO water distillation engineering detritiation facility is established in Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics. Distillation in a total reflux mode for H2O-HTO with tritium activity of 13.5 MBq/kg has been performed in the column with 12 m height of packing layer and 261 mm inner diameter to measure the value of HETP for phosphor bronze bilayer gauze corrugated structured packing. When the column is operated at overhead pressure of 7 kPa and reflux rate of 25.0 kg/h, the pressure drop of the total column is just 2.0 kPa. The HETP value of the structured packing is 160 mm.

Chen's Reagent: A Versatile Reagent for Trifluoromethylation, Difluoromethylenation, and Difluoroalkylation in Organic Synthesis†

SummaryMethyl fluorosulfonyldifluoroacetate (FSO2CF2CO2Me or MFSDA), often called “Chen's reagent”, is commonly used to synthesize trifluoromethylated and difluoroalkylated compounds. This important reagent was initially developed as an efficient trifluoromethylating agent by Professor Qing‐Yun Chen and co‐workers at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1989. Since then, this reagent has been widely used in academia and industry for the copper‐mediated trifluoromethylation of aryl, alkenyl, and even some alkyl halides, among others. During the last decade, this reagent was further developed as a difluorocarbene precursor as well as a radical difluoroalkylating agent under visible light promoted redox catalysis. This review aims to briefly highlight the initial discovery, historical development, and synthetic applications of Chen's reagent, and provide some guidelines for readers to use Chen's reagent in their own synthesis.

First person – Viktoria Betaneli

ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors of a selection of papers published in Journal of Cell Science, helping early-career researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Viktoria Betaneli is first author on ‘ Mechanism of control of F-actin cortex architecture by SWAP-70’, published in JCS. Viktoria is a Postdoc in the lab of Prof. Rolf Jessberger at Medical Institute Carl Gustav Carus, Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Technische Universitat Dresden, Germany, investigating protein oligomerization and the actin cytoskeleton with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS).

The chemical revolution

A play titled Elegance molekuly (The elegance of the molecule) is performed twice a month in the Czech Republic capital of Prague. Recounting the accomplishments of Antonin Holý, a chemist who discovered the compound that led to Truvada—Gilead Sciences’ breakthrough HIV/AIDS therapy—the play sells out weeks in advance. Holý, an eminent figure in the Czech science community for his work on nucleotide analog synthesis, died in 2012 at the age of 75. The Czech Republic issued a stamp in his honor. Holý’s work is important in a country that was looking for heroes during its long rebound from the repression of Soviet dominance after World War II. His achievements shine a light on the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB), where he did his research, showcasing the strength of chemistry in the country. Czech chemistry has a heritage that stretches back more than

Merging Macromolecular and Supramolecular Chemistry into Bioinspired Synthesis of Complex Systems

AbstractA brief and personalized historical review that describes the merger of macromolecular and supramolecular chemistry to generate the new field of bioinspired synthesis of complex systems is presented. Historical scientific events that took place during the days of Hermann Staudinger and after and influenced these developments as well as the experience of the author during his stays at the Hermann Staudinger House that hosts the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry from the University of Freiburg are also part of this review.

Believing in Sci-Fi Science

Download : Download high-res image (102KB) Download : Download full-size image After completing her master’s thesis at the Warsaw University of Technology Faculty of Chemistry, Sara Szymkuc joined Prof. Bartosz Grzybowski’s group at the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences. During her graduate studies, she developed rules and algorithms for computer-assisted retrosynthesis. She was also a Thrust Leader on the DARPA “Make-It” Program, aimed at developing the Chematica software to the level of a human expert (and beyond). Having published 11 papers, she obtained her PhD in early 2019 and has since co-founded Allchemy—a start-up focusing on forward synthesis and reaction discovery—and serves as its president.