Synthesis of high contrast fluorescein-diethers for rapid bench-top sensing of palladium.

A new series of palladium sensors based on fluorescein bis(allyl ether) compounds has been designed. We utilized reduced fluoresceins as key synthetic intermediates. These probes exhibit negligible background fluorescence and rapid reaction with palladium, allowing a concentration of <100 ppt to be detected in minutes using a handheld UV lamp.

Scalable synthesis of 5,11-diethynylated indeno[1,2-b]fluorene-6,12-diones and exploration of their solid state packing.

We report a new synthetic route to 5,11-disubstituted indeno[1,2-b]fluorene-6,12-diones that is amenable to larger scale reactions, allowing for the preparation of gram amounts of material. With this new methodology, we explored the effects on crystal packing morphology for the indeno[1,2-b]fluorene-6,12-diones by varying the substituents on the silylethynyl groups.

Cloning, expression, purification and characterization of an iron-dependent regulator protein from Thermobifida fusca.

Iron-dependent regulators (IdeRs) control the transcription of a variety of genes associated with iron homeostasis in Gram-positive bacteria. In this study we report the cloning of a putative IdeR gene from the moderate thermophile Thermobifida fusca into the pET-21a(+) expression vector. The expressed protein, Tf-IdeR, was purified using immobilized metal affinity and size-exclusion chromatography, and yielded approximately 12-16 mg of protein per liter of culture.