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The molecular recognition properties of two pillar[n]arene sulfates (P[5]AS and P[6]AS) toward a panel of world anti-doping agency banned substances (1 – 11) were investigated by a combination of isothermal titration calorimetry, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and molecular modelling. Subsequently a sensing ensemble based on indicator displacement was created using the P[5]AS•lucigenin and P[6]AS •Hoechst 33258 complexes which allowed differentiation among the analytes with 90% accuracy. The assay was extended to allow the quantitation of pseudoephedrine in simulated urine samples with a limit of quantitation that is 30-fold below the WADA threshold. 

ree bis(4-oligoethyleneoxyphenyl) viologen bistosylate salts of different lengths were prepared via the Zincke reaction followed by a metathesis reaction with silver tosylate, and their chemical structures confirmed by 1H, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) techniques, and elemental analysis. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed these salts had excellent thermal stabilities, losing just 5 % of their initial mass between 283 and 288 °C. Liquid crystalline phases and transition temperatures were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and variable temperature X-ray diffraction (VTXRD) techniques. The salts exhibited weak fluorescent emission in dichloromethane and no emission in acetonitrile but exhibited light emission in the solid state. Their absolute quantum yields ranged between 3 and 12 %. Impedance spectroscopy showed that the ionic conductivity of the salts increases with the number of oxyethylene units in the extended viologen moiety. The salt-containing four oxyethylene units at each end reach a conductivity value of 10-2 S·cm−1, attributed to its larger molecular flexibility and improved ionic liquid mobility. 

Honduras cuenta con 349,510 hectáreas cultivadas con café Coffea arabica, que son en su mayoría cultivos tradicionales (café sombra y café sol), y en menor escala cultivos con sistema Dosel Abierto Integrado (DAI). El sistema de café DAI consiste en plantaciones de café rodeadas por bosque en una proporción ≥ 1:1, lo que permite la preservación y la restauración de ecosistemas nativos. El objetivo de nuestra investigación fue evaluar el sistema DAI en cultivos de café como una alternativa de conservación para las aves migratorias neártico-neotropicales y aves residentes. Evaluamos características ecológicas, como la riqueza y abundancia de especies, entre los meses de noviembre de 2018 a abril de 2019. Establecimos 75 puntos de conteo de radio fijo en una zona cafetalera del departamento de Yoro, Honduras. Estadísticamente no registramos diferencias significativas en la riqueza de aves migratorias entre los sistemas de bosque, café DAI y cultivos de café tradicionales. Sin embargo, la riqueza de especies dependientes de bosque fue mayor en los sistema bosque y cultivos de café DAI que en cultivos tradicionales. Además, algunas especies dependientes de bosque, como Myioborus miniatus y Mionectes oleagineus, fueron más abundantes (P < 0.05) en bosque y cultivos de café DAI que en cultivos de café tradicionales. Nuestros resultados se suman a los reportados en Costa Rica, en donde se introdujo este agroecosistema de cultivo de café, en los que se indica que el café DAI puede ser una alternativa para la conservación de aves migratorias y residentes, en particular para especies dependientes de bosque. 

We report the synthesis of quaternary (di)cationic triamantane derivatives G1 and G3 by the permethylation of the corresponding primary ammonium ions G2 and G4. The complexation behaviors of G1–G4 toward CB[7] and CB[8] were examined by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, which reveals that CB[8] is capable of fully encapsulating G1–G4 whereas CB[7] forms inclusion complexes with G1, G2, and G4 but cannot fully encapsulate the central hydrophobic core of the bis-quaternary ammonium ion G3. The geometries of the CB[ n ]-guest complexes were determined by analyzing the complexation induced changes in chemical shifts and were further confirmed by molecular modelling using the Conformer–Rotamer Ensemble Sampling Tool (CREST) based on the GFN methods. Finally, the complexation thermodynamics were determined by a combination of 1 H NMR competitive experiments, direct isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) measurements, and competitive ITC titrations using a tight binding ternary complex as a competitor. 

Abstract Precision radial velocity spectrographs that use adaptive optics (AO) show promise to advance telescope observing capabilities beyond those of seeing-limited designs. We are building a spectrograph for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) named iLocater that uses AO to inject starlight directly into single mode fibers. iLocater's first acquisition camera system (the SX camera), which receives light from one of the 8.4 m diameter primary mirrors of the LBT, was initially installed in summer 2019 and has since been used for several commissioning runs. We present results from first-light observations that include on-sky measurements as part of commissioning activities. Imaging measurements of the bright B3IV star 2 Cygni (V= 4.98) resulted in the direct detection of a candidate companion star at an angular separation of onlyθ = 70 mas. Follow-up AO measurements using Keck/NIRC2 recover the candidate companion in multiple filters. AnR ≈ 1500 miniature spectrograph recently installed at the LBT named Lili provides spatially resolved spectra of each binary component, indicating similar spectral types and strengthening the case for companionship. Studying the multiplicity of young runaway star systems like 2 Cygni (36.6 ± 0.5 Myr) can help to understand formation mechanisms for stars that exhibit anomalous velocities through the Galaxy. This on-sky demonstration illustrates the spatial resolution of the iLocater SX acquisition camera working in tandem with the LBT AO system; it further derisks a number of technical hurdles involved in combining AO with Doppler spectroscopy. 

We report the molecular recognition properties of Pillar[ n ]MaxQ (P[ n ]MQ) toward a series of (methylated) amino acids, amino acid amides, and post-translationally modified peptides by a combination of 1 H NMR, isothermal titration calorimetry, indicator displacement assays, and molecular dynamics simulations. We find that P6MQ is a potent receptor for N -methylated amino acid side chains. P6MQ recognized the H3K4Me 3 peptide with K d = 16 nM in phosphate buffered saline.