Study on the Conformation of Cyclodecapeptide Loloatin C with Obvious Antibiotic Activity

The conformation of cyclodecapeptide loloatin C with obvious antibiotic activity has been investigated in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol/sodium acetate buffer solution and then characterized by Fr-IR, CD and NMR spectrum. The results of FT-IR show that there exists β-strand or β-tum secondary structure in the molecule. According to the CD spectrum, the helical turn is dominant but the β-turn structure also exists. Conformation of the whole molecule is probably a helical β-turn.The chemical shifts and coupling constants prove the existence of a β-structure in the regions of Val,Orn2 and Leu3. NOESY data and temperature gradients of amide protons suggest that the molecular conformation is a dumbbell-like structure with the waist located between ornithyl (position 2) and D-phenylalanyl (position 7) and β-turn on both ends.     

Stability of proteins with multi-state unfolding behavior

A new model used to calculate the free energy change of protein unfolding is presented.In this model,proteins are considered to be composed of structural elements.The unfolding of a structural element obeys a two-state mechanism and the free energy change of the element can be obtained by a linear extrapolation method.If a protein consists of the same structural elements,its unfolding will displays a two-state process,and only the average structural element free energy change < △G 0 element(H2O)> can be measured.If protein consists of completely different structural elements,its unfolding will show a multi-state behavior.When a protein consists of n structural elements its unfolding will shows a(n+1)-state behavior.A least-squares fitting can be used to analyze the contribution of each structural element to the protein and the free energy change of each structural element can be obtained by using linear extrapolation to zero denaturant concentration,not to the start of each transition.The measured △G0 protein(H2 O) is the sum of the free energy change for each structural element.Using this new model,we can not only analyze the stability of various proteins with similar structure and similar molecular weight,which undergo multi-state unfolding processes,but also compare the stability of proteins with different structures and molecular weights using the average structural element free energy change < △G0 element(H2O)>.Although this method cannot completely provide the exact free energy of proteins,it is better than current methods.     

Overshoots in stress and free energy change during the flow-induced crystallization of polymeric melt in shear flow

<正>The effect of pre-shear flow on the subsequent crystallization process of polymeric melt was investigated and a flow-induced crystallization(FIC) model based on the conformation tensor incorporating the pre-shear effect was proposed. The model is capable of predicting the overshoot phenomena of the stress and the flow-induced free energy change of the polymeric system at high pre-shear rates.Under the condition of flow,the increase in the activated nuclei number was contributed by the flow-induced free energy change,which showed an overwhelming effect on the nuclei formation during the pre-shear process at high shear rates.The half crystallization time(f_(1/2)) of polypropylene(PP) as functions of pre-shear rate and pre-shear time at different crystallization temperatures was predicted and compared with the experiment data.Both numerical and experimental results showed that t_(1/2) of PP decreased dramatically when the flow started but leveled off at long times.It was found that two transformation stages in t_(1/2) existed within a wide range of shear rates.For the first stage where the melting polymer experienced a relatively weak shear flow,the acceleration of crystallization kinetics was mainly contributed by the steady value of free energy change while in the second stage for high shear rates,strong overshoot in flow-induced free energy change occurred and the crystallization kinetics was thus significantly enhanced.The overshoots in stress and flow-induced free energy change reflected an important role of flow on the primary nucleation especially when the flow was strong enough.     

Amide-Exchange-Rate-Edited NMR （AERE-NMR） Experiment： A Novel Method for Resolving Overlapping Resonances

This paper describes an amide-exchange-rate-edited （AERE） NMR method that can effectively alleviate the problem of resonance overlap for proteins and peptides. This method exploits the diversity of amide proton exchange rates and consists of two complementary experiments： （1） SEA （solvent exposed amide）-type NMR experiments to map exchangeable surface residues whose amides are not involved in hydrogen bonding, and （2） presat-type NMR experiments to map solvent inaccessibly buried residues or nonexchangeable residues located in hydrogen-bonded secondary structures with properly controlled saturation transfer via amide proton exchanges with the solvent. This method separates overlapping resonances in a spectrum into two complementary spectra. The AERE-NMR method was demonstrated with a sample of ^15N/^13C/^2H（70%） labeled ribosome-inactivating protein trichosanthin of 247 residues.     

INTRAPARTICLE DIFFUSION OF RARE EARTHS IN POROUS CATION EXCHANGERS

Experiments for determining cerium isotope ion exchange rates with macrop-orous resins Amberlyst 15, D001 and XN1010 are discribed. The kinetics of the isotope ion exchange reaction has been examined by a simple theoretical equation of intraparticle effective diffusivity De in a porous ion exchanger. The ion exchange proceeds by diffusion within the macropores and the solid phase of the resin. De of cerium was affected by the concentration of the bulk solution C and was separated into a macropore diffusivity Dp and a solid phase diffusivity Dg by the equation. The diffusion coefficients of the exchanging ion are shown to have the values in the macropores comparable with those in the bulk solution and to have the values in the solid phase comparable with those in gel resin with the same crosslinkage as the resins used for the experiments.     

Studies on the Structures and Hydrogen-bonding Interactions in Aqueous Glycine Solutions Using All-atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations and NMR Spectroscopy

All-atom molecular dynamics （MD） simulations and chemical shifts were used to study interactions and structures in the glycine-water system. Radial distribution functions and the hydrogen-bond network were applied in MD simulations. Aggregates in the aqueous glycine solution could be classified into different regions by analysis of the hydrogen-bonding network. Temperature-dependent NMR spectra and the viscosity of glycine in aqueous solutions were measured to compare with the results of MD simulations. The variation tendencies of the hydrogen atom chemical shifts and viscosity with concentration of glycine agree with the statistical results of hydrogen bonds in the MD simulations.     

NMR Study on Substituted Phenyl Furoisoxazolines

The configurations of substituted phenyl furoisoxazolines were determined by study on their ^1H-NMR and 1D NOESY.The characteristic chemical shifts of the γ-lactone ring protons in ^1H-NMR were also discussed.     

Pulsed Laser Deposition ZnS Buffer Layers for CIGS Solar Cells

Polycrystalline ZnS films were prepared by pulsed laser deposition （PLD） on quartz glass substrates under different growth conditions at different substrate temperatures of 20, 200, 400, and 600 ℃, which is a suitable alternative to chemical bath deposited （CBD） CdS as a buffer layer in Cu（In,Ga）Se2 （CIGS） solar cells. X-ray diffraction studies indicate the films are polycrystalline with zinc-blende structure and they exhibit preferential orientation along the cubic phase β-ZnS （111） direction, which conflicts with the conclusion of wurtzite structure by Murali that the ZnS films deposited by pulse plating technique was polycrystalline with wurtzite structure. The Raman spectra of grown films show Al mode at approximately 350 cm^-1, generally observed in the cubic phase β-ZnS compounds. The planar and the cross-sectional morphology were observed by scanning electron microscopic. The dense, smooth, uniform grains are formed on the quartz glass substrates through PLD technique. The grain size of ZnS deposited by PLD is much smaller than that of CdS by conventional CBD method, which is analyzed as the main reason of detrimental cell performance. The composition of the ZnS films was also measured by X-ray fluorescence. The typical ZnS films obtained in this work are near stoichiometric and only a small amount of S-rich. The energy band gaps at different temperatures were obtained by absorption spectroscopy measurement, which increases from 3.2 eV to 3.7 eV with the increasing of the deposition temperature. ZnS has a wider energy band gap than CdS （2.4 eV）, which can enhance the blue response of the photovoltaic cells. These results show the high-quality of these substitute buffer layer materials are prepared through an all-dry technology, which can be used in the manufacture of CIGS thin film solar cells.     

Theoretical investigations on the thiol–thioester exchange steps of different thioesters

As the rate-determining step in native chemical ligation reactions, the thiol–thioester exchange step is important in determining the efficiency of the ligations of peptides. In the present study, systematic theoretical calculations were carried out on the relationships between the structure of different thioesters and the free energy barriers of the thiol–thioester exchange step. According to the calculation results, the thiol–thioester exchange step is disfavored by the steric hindrance around the carbonyl center, while the electronic effect(i.e. conjugation and hyper-conjugation effects) becomes important when the steric hindrance is insignificant.     

Crystal Structure and Solution Behavior of a Novel Enantiopure Helical Coordination Polymer Based on Binaphthyl-bisbipyridine Ligand

An enantiopure helical coordination polymer AgPF6·(R)-3 as crystalline solid was synthesized by the self-assembly of chiral binaphthyl-based ligand(R)-6,6'-di[6-(2,2'-bipyridyl)]-2,2'-diethoxyl-1,1'-binaphthalene [(R)-3] and Ag+ ion.The single crystal structural analysis indicates that this polymer exhibits an infinite cylindric single-stranded M-helical structure with local Λ configuration at each tetrahedral metal center.However,the extended structure is dissociated into some oligomeric fragments in solution.The 1H NMR spectra of complex AgPF6·(R)-3 show that the ligand possesses a good C2 symmetry,and the chemical shifts of the protons depend on the concentration and temperature.In addition,there are rapid dynamic exchanges among some oligonuclear fragments in the solution of AgPF6·(R)-3.     

1H, 13C and 15N nuclear magnetic resonance coordination shifts in Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(II) chloride complexes with phenylpyridines

¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N nuclear magnetic resonance studies of gold(III), palladium(II) and platinum(II) chloride complexes with phenylpyridines (PPY: 4‐phenylpyridine, 4ppy; 3‐phenylpyridine, 3ppy; and 2‐phenylpyridine, 2ppy) having the general formulae [Au(PPY)Cl₃], trans‐/cis‐[Pd(PPY)₂Cl₂] and trans‐/cis‐[Pt(PPY)₂Cl₂] were performed and the respective chemical shifts (δ, δ and δ) reported. ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N coordination shifts (i.e. differences between chemical shifts of the same atom in the complex and ligand molecules: , , ) were discussed in relation to the type of the central atom (Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(II)), geometry (trans‐/cis‐) and the position of a phenyl group in the pyridine ring system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

One‐range Addition Theorems for Complete Sets of Modified Exponential Type Orbitals and Noninteger n Slater Functions in Standard Convention

Using the L ‐generalized Laguerre polynomials L ‐GLPs) and φ ‐generalized exponential type orbitals φ ‐GETOs) introduced by the author in standard convention, the one‐ and two‐center onerange addition theorems are established for the complete sets of Ψ^(α*) ‐modified exponential type orbitals (Ψ^(α*) ‐METOs) and noninteger n χ‐Slater type orbitals (χ‐NISTOs), where p_l* = 2l + 2 ‐ α* and α* is the integer (α* = α, ?∞ < α ≤2) or noninteger (α* ≠ α, ?∞ < α* < 3) self‐frictional quantum number. It should be noted that the origin of the L ‐GLPs, φ ‐GETOs and Ψ^(α*) ‐METOs, therefore, of the one‐range addition theorems presented in this work is the Lorentz damping or self‐frictional field produced by the particle itself.     

Addition of Ethylene or Hydrogen to a Main‐Group Metal Cluster under Mild Conditions

Reaction of the tin cluster Sn₈(Ar)₄ (Ar=C₆H₂‐2,6‐(C₆H₃‐2,4,6‐Me₃)₂) with excess ethylene or dihydrogen at 25 °C/1 atmosphere yielded two new clusters that incorporated ethylene or hydrogen. The reaction with ethylene yielded Sn₄(Ar)₄(C₂H₂)₅ that contained five ethylene moieties bridging four aryl substituted tin atoms and one tin–tin bond. Reaction with H₂ produced a cyclic tin species of formula (Sn(H)Ar)₄, which could also be synthesized by the reaction of {(Ar)Sn(μ‐Cl)}₂ with DIBAL‐H. These reactions represent the first instances of direct reactions of isolable main‐group clusters with ethylene or hydrogen under mild conditions. The products were characterized in the solid state by X‐ray diffraction and IR spectroscopy and in solution by multinuclear NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopies. Density functional theory calculations were performed to explain the reactivity of the cluster.     

New RuII(arene) Complexes with Halogen‐Substituted Bis‐ and Tris(pyrazol‐1‐yl)borate Ligands

[RuCl(arene)(μ‐Cl)]₂ dimers were treated in a 1:2 molar ratio with sodium or thallium salts of bis‐ and tris(pyrazolyl)borate ligands [Na(Bp)], [Tl(Tp)], and [Tl(Tp^{iPr, 4Br})]. Mononuclear neutral complexes [RuCl(arene)(κ²‐Bp)] ( 1 : arene=p‐cymene (cym); 2 : arene=hexamethylbenzene (hmb); 3 : arene=benzene (bz)), [RuCl(arene)(κ²‐Tp)] ( 4 : arene=cym; 6 : arene=bz), and [RuCl(arene)(κ²‐Tp^{iPr, 4Br})] ( 7 : arene=cym, 8 : arene=hmb, 9 : arene=bz) have been always obtained with the exception of the ionic [Ru₂(hmb)₂(μ‐Cl)₃][Tp] ( 5′ ), which formed independently of the ratio of reactants and reaction conditions employed. The ionic [Ru(CH₃OH)(cym)(κ²‐Bp)][X] ( 10 : X=PF₆, 12 : X=O₃SCF₃) and the neutral [Ru(O₂CCF₃)(cym)(κ²‐Bp)] ( 11 ) have been obtained by a metathesis reaction with corresponding silver salts. All complexes 1 – 12 have been characterized by analytical and spectroscopic data (IR, ESI‐MS, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy). The structures of the thallium and calcium derivatives of ligand Tp, [Tl(Tp)] and [Ca(dmso)₆][Tp]₂ ? 2 DMSO, of the complexes 1 , 4 , 5′ , 6 , 11 , and of the decomposition product [RuCl(cym)(Hpz^{iPr, 4Br})₂][Cl] ( 7′ ) have been confirmed by using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction. Electrochemical studies showed that 1 – 9 and 11 undergo a single‐electron Ru^II→Ru^III oxidation at a potential, measured by cyclic voltammetry, which allows comparison of the electron‐donor characters of the bis‐ and tris(pyrazol‐1‐yl)borate and arene ligands, and to estimate, for the first time, the values of the Lever E_L ligand parameter for Bp, Tp, and Tp^{iPr, 4Br}. Theoretical calculations at the DFT level indicated that both oxidation and reduction of the Ru complexes under study are mostly metal‐centered with some involvement of the chloride ligand in the former case, and also demonstrated that the experimental isolation of the μ³‐binuclear complex 5′ (instead of the mononuclear 5 ) is accounted for by the low thermodynamic stability of the latter species due to steric reasons.     

Aldehyde‐Assisted Hydrogen Transfer during the Formation of Hydride–Iridafurans from Alkynes and Aldehydes

The bis(ethylene) Ir^I complex [TpIr(C₂H₄)₂] ( 1 ; Tp=hydrotris(3,5‐dimethylpyrazolyl)borate) reacts with two equivalents of aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes in the presence of one equivalent of dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate (DMAD) with ultimate formation of hydride iridafurans of the formula [TpIr(H){C(R¹)?C(R²)C(R³)O }] (R¹=R²=CO₂Me; R³=alkyl, aryl; 3 ). Several intermediates have been observed in the course of the reaction. It is proposed that the key step of metallacycle formation is a C? C coupling process in the undetected Ir^I species [TpIr{η¹‐O‐R³C(?O)H}(DMAD)] ( A ) to give the trigonal‐bipyramidal 16 e^? Ir^III intermediates [TpIr{C(CO₂Me)?C(CO₂Me)C(R³)(H)O }] ( C ), which have been trapped by NCMe to afford the adducts 11 (R³=Ar). If a second aldehyde acts as the trapping reagent for these species, this ligand acts as a shuttle in transfering a hydrogen atom from the γ‐ to the α‐carbon atom of the iridacycle through the formation of an alkoxide group. Methyl propiolate (MP) can be used instead of DMAD to regioselectively afford the related iridafurans. These reactions have also been studied by DFT calculations.     

Normalized irreducible tensorial matrices and the Wigner–Eckart theorem for unitary groups: A superposition hamiltonian constructed from octahedral NITM

The concepts of normalized irreducible tensorial matrices (NITM ) are extended to all finite and compact unitary groups by a development that clarifies their relationship to group theory and matrix algebra. NITM for a unitary group G are shown to be elements of a basis obtained by symmetry adapting to G the matrix basis of a matrix space M (α₁ × α₂). Elements [X] ∈ M (α₁ α₂) transform under G_a ∈ G according to [G_a] [X][G^?1_a], where [G_a] and [G^?1_a] belong to irreducible representations of G . The usual properties of NITM and the Wigner–Eckart theorem follow from these results, which are valid for both finite and compact unitary groups. The NITM span M (α₁ × α₂) are orthonormal under the trace and transform irreducibly with respect to G . This NITM basis of M (α₁ × α₂) is said to be simple. A compound NITM basis of a matrix space results when the space is partitioned into two or more subspaces, each spanned by a simple NITM basis. NITM determined from Griffith's V coefficients for the octahedral group are tabulated and used to construct a six-coordinate superposition Hamiltonian.     

Activation parameters and kinetic isotope effect in the system tropaeolin O-OH−

The kinetics of the deprotonation of tropaeolin O by OH^? ions was investigated between 9° and 30°C, and by OD^? ions at 24.7°C. The pH range was 10.7–12.5, and the ionic strength 0.1M throughout. All results were obtained by the temperature jump method. On the basis of a mechanism suggested earlier, rate constants k₃₁ for the reaction between OL^? and the internally bonded weak acid and k₃₂ for the opening of the internal hydrogen bond were evaluated. The activation energies in ordinary water were found to be ΔH≠₃₁ = 3.6 kcal/mol, ΔS≠₃₁ = –19 eu, and ΔH≠₃₂ = 27 kcal/mol, ΔS≠₃₂ = 46 eu. The kinetic isotope effect was k₃₁/k₃₁ ～ 1.5 and k₃₂/k₃₂ ～ 0.9. The unusual results for reaction path are discussed in terms of solvent participation.     

On the ν1/2 ν2 Resonance in the Complex of Carbon Dioxide with Dimethyl Ether

Infrared and Raman spectra of solutions in liquid argon and krypton containing dimethyl ether or its fully deuterated isotopomer and ¹²CO₂ or ¹³CO₂ are investigated. The spectra lead to new data on the ν₁/2 ν₂ resonances appearing in the complex of CO₂ with the ether. The experimental data, and their interpretation, is supported by MP2/6‐311++G(2d,2p) calculations of the cubic and quartic force constants and of the first and higher order dipole moment derivatives required for the modelling of the Fermi and Darling‐Dennison resonances observed.     

Functionalization of Non‐activated C?H Bonds of Alkanes: An Effective and Recyclable Catalytic System Based on Fluorinated Silver Catalysts and Solvents

The complexes F_n‐TpAg(L) (F_n‐Tp=a perfluorinated hydrotris(indazolyl) borate ligand; L=acetone or tetrahydrofuran) efficiently catalyze the functionalization of non‐activated alkanes such as hexane, 2,3‐dimethylbutane, or 2‐methylpentane by insertion of CHCO₂Et units (from N₂CHCO₂Et, ethyl diazoacetate, EDA) into their C? H bonds. The reactions are quantitative (EDA‐based), with no byproducts derived from diazo coupling being formed. In the case of hexane, the functionalization of the methyl C? H bonds has been achieved with the highest regioselectivity known to date with this diazo compound. This catalytic system also operates under biphasic conditions by using fluorous solvents such as Fomblin or perfluorophenanthrene. Several cycles of catalyst recovery and reuse have been performed, with identical chemo‐ and regioselectivities.