Bimetallic nickel complexes containing imidazole-based phenolate ligands as efficient catalysts for the copolymerization of carbon dioxide with epoxides.

The utilization of hexadentate imidazole-derived diamine-bisphenolate ligands to construct structurally well-defined bimetallic nickel catalysts that enable the mediation of the copolymerization of carbon dioxide with alicyclic epoxides was reported for the first time. A series of dinickel carboxylate/nitrophenolate complexes were facilely prepared through a one-pot procedure and their structures were fully determined by single crystal X-ray structural analysis. Dinickel complexes 1-10 were used as single-component catalysts, and were evaluated for the copolymerization of CO2 and cyclohexene oxide (CHO), for which acetato-incorporated complex 1 was proved to exhibit the best activity. Not only has the controllability of binickel catalyst 1 for CO2/CHO copolymerization been demonstrated, but also an "immortal" character for the same polymerization has been realized. Furthermore, detailed kinetic studies of polymerization catalysis of this type were undertaken, and the kinetics results revealed a first-order dependence on both Ni complex 1 and CHO concentrations. This is a successful example of the introduction of the easily accessible nitrogen-heterocycle group, the imidazole moiety, into phenolate ligands for the development of high-performance homogeneous catalysts towards the bimetallic complex-catalyzed copolymerization of CO2 and epoxides.

Significant Association of Interleukin-10 Polymorphisms with Childhood Leukemia Susceptibility in Taiwan.

Mounting evidence supports the notion that inflammatory processes play a role in carcinogenesis, and interleukin-10 (IL10) is an important inflammatory cytokine. This study aimed to evaluate the contribution of IL10 A-1082G (rs1800896), T-819C (rs3021097) and A-592C (rs1800872) genotypes to the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in Taiwan. Associations of these IL10 polymorphic genotypes with ALL risk were analyzed in 266 patients with childhood ALL patients and 266 non-cancer healthy controls by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methodology. The results showed that CC genotype carriers at IL10 T-819C were at lower risk for childhood ALL (odds ratio=0.33, 95% confidence interval=0.16-0.68). On the contrary, AC and CC genotype carriers at IL10 A-592C were at higher risk for childhood ALL (odds ratio=1.73 and 6.34, 95% confidence interval=1.19-2.51 and 3.16-12.72, respectively). There was no difference in the distribution of A-1082G genotypes between childhood ALL and control groups. The genotypes at IL10 T-819C and A-592C may serve as predictive biomarkers for childhood ALL in Taiwan.