Transformation of Pectins into Non-Ionic or Anionic Surfactants Using a One-Pot and Cascade Mode Process.

The present article describes the one-pot synthesis of double- and single-tailed surfactants by a cascade process that involves the hydrolysis/butanolysis of pectins into butyl galacturonate monosaccharides followed by transesterification/transacetalisation processes with fatty alcohols, and subsequent aqueous basic and acid treatments. The cascade mode allows the depolymerisation to proceed more efficiently, and the purification conditions are optimised to make the production of single-tailed surfactants more manufacturable. These products in a pure form or as mixtures with alkyl glycosides resulting from butanolysis and transglycosylation of pectin-derived hexoses, exhibit attractive surface-tension properties, especially for the n-oleyl ᴅ-galactosiduronic acid products. In addition, a readily biodegradability and an absence of aquatic ecotoxicity are shown for the galacturonic acid derivatives possessing an oleyl alkyl chain at the anomeric position.

Synthesis, Physical Properties and Application of a Series of New Polyoxometalate-Based Ionic Liquids.

This paper deals with the preparation and the characterization of four new ionic liquids resulting from the pairing of various polyoxotungstates or polyoxomolybdates with the cation trihexyltetradecylphosphonium. The physical properties measured by different techniques evidence that the viscosity and the rheological behaviors of such POM-based ionic liquids, POM-ILs, strongly depend on the nature of the POM, especially its charge. Playing on the nature of the POM, we can indeed obtain Newtonian liquids or some much more viscous materials exhibiting characteristics of resins or pseudo-plastics. In a second part of this study, the potentialities of using such materials both as solvent and catalyst for the oxidation of a series of alcohols are presented as proof of concept. This part highlights great differences in strength and selectivity as a function of the POM-IL used. Furthermore, a very simple way to recycle the catalyst is also presented.

Effects of a novel archaeal tetraether-based colipid on the in vivo gene transfer activity of two cationic amphiphiles.

Gene therapy for treating inherited diseases like cystic fibrosis might be achieved using multimodular nonviral lipid-based systems. To date, most optimizations have concerned cationic lipids rather than colipids. In this study, an original archaeal tetraether derivative was used as a colipid in combination with one or the other of two monocationic amphiphiles. The liposomes obtained, termed archaeosomes, were characterized regarding lipid self-assembling properties, macroscopic/microscopic structures, DNA condensation/neutralization/relaxation abilities, and colloidal stability in the presence of serum. In addition, gene transfer experiments were conducted in mice with lipid/DNA complexes being administered via systemic or local delivery routes. Altogether, the results showed that the tetraether colipid can provide complexes with different in vivo transfection abilities depending on the lipid combination, the lipid/colipid molar ratio, and the administration route. This original colipid appears thus as an innovative modular platform endowed with properties possibly beneficial for fine-tuning of in vivo lipofection and other biomedical applications.

Efficient transfection of Xenobiotic Responsive Element-biosensor plasmid using diether lipid and phosphatidylcholine liposomes in differentiated HepaRG cells.

In this study, we evaluated cationic liposomes prepared from diether-NH2 and egg phosphatidylcholine (EPC) for in vitro gene delivery. The impact of the lipid composition, i.e. the EPC and Diether-NH2 molar ratio, on in vitro transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity was investigated using the human HEK293T and hepatoma HepaRG cells known to be permissive and poorly permissive cells for liposome-mediated gene transfer, respectively. Here, we report that EPC/Diether-NH2-based liposomes enabled a very efficient transfection with low cytotoxicity compared to commercial transfection reagents in both HEK293T and proliferating progenitor HepaRG cells. Taking advantage of these non-toxic EPC/Diether-NH2-based liposomes, we developed a method to efficiently transfect differentiated hepatocyte-like HepaRG cells and a biosensor plasmid containing a Xenobiotic Responsive Element and a minimal promoter driving the transcription of the luciferase reporter gene. We demonstrated that the luciferase activity was induced by a canonical inducer of cytochrome P450 genes, the benzo[a]pyrene, and two environmental contaminants, the fluoranthene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and the endosulfan, an organochlorine insecticide, known to induce toxicity and genotoxicity in differentiated HepaRG cells. In conclusion, we established a new efficient lipofection-mediated gene transfer in hepatocyte-like HepaRG cells opening new perspectives in drug evaluation relying on xenobiotic inducible biosensor plasmids.

Cooperativity in the Iron(II) Spin-Crossover Compound [Fe(ptz)(6)](PF(6))(2) under the Influence of External Pressure (ptz = 1-n-Propyltetrazole).

The iron(II) spin-crossover compound [Fe(ptz)(6)](PF(6))(2) (ptz = 1-propyltetrazole) crystallizes in the triclinic space group P&onemacr;, with a = 10.6439(4) Å, b = 10.8685(4) Å, c = 11.7014(4) Å, alpha = 75.644(1) degrees, beta = 71.671(1) degrees, gamma = 60.815(1) degrees, and Z = 1. In [Fe(ptz)(6)](PF(6))(2), the thermal spin transition is extremely steep because of cooperative effects of elastic origin. The transition temperature at ambient pressure is 74(1) K. An external pressure of 1 kbar shifts the transition temperature to 102(1) K, corresponding to a stabilization of the low-spin state, which is smaller in volume. The volume difference between the high-spin and the low-spin state, DeltaV degrees (HL), is 24(2) Å(3)/molecule. The interaction constant Gamma, as a measure of cooperativity, is within experimental error independent of external pressure and has a value of 101(5) cm(-)(1). In contrast to the case of the related compound [Fe(ptz)(6)](BF(4))(2) (Decurtins et al. Inorg. Chem.1985, 24, 2174), there is no hysteresis due to a first-order crystallographic phase transition, nor is there a hysteresis induced by external pressure as in the mixed crystal [Zn(1)(-)(x)()Fe(x)()(ptz)(6)](BF(4))(2), x = 0.1 (Jeftic et al. J. Phys.Chem. Solids 1996, 57, 1743). However, in [Fe(ptz)(6)](PF(6))(2), the interaction constant Gamma is found to be very close to the critical value above which a hysteresis solely due to the cooperative effects is expected. In addition, high-spin --> low-spin relaxation measurements were performed under external pressures of up to 1 kbar in the temperature interval between 50 and 60 K. An external pressure of 1 kbar accelerates the high-spin --> low-spin relaxation by 1 order of magnitude.

Supramolecular structures based on new bolaamphiphile molecules investigated by small angle and wide angle X-ray scattering and polarized optical microscopy.

In this paper, we present a study of the structural and self-assembling properties of a new family of bolaamphiphiles. These bolaamphiphiles are unsymmetrical, having one sugar polar head at one side and one glycine betaine polar head at the other side. The variations that we introduced concern the length of the main bridging chain that connects the two polar heads as well as the length of the side chain linked at the anomeric position of the sugar moiety. Another variation concerns the introduction of a diacetylenic unit into the main chain in order to rigidify it. We have performed small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) on the dry compounds as a function of temperature and observed the lamellar structures. We also measured the SAXS and WAXS spectra of aqueous solutions of these compounds that have shown various lamellar structures. The hydrocarbon chain fluidity and, as a consequence, the interlamellar distance varied as a function of temperature. The obtained SAXS and WAXS results are compared with the polarized optical microscopy measurements.