Simple diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopic determination of organic pigments (fringelites) in fossils

To screen for organic pigments, like fringelites or porphyrins, in sediments and fossil specimen, a simple diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopic determination was developed. In contrast to common inorganic pigments, like Fe₂O₃, these pigments exhibit well-structured characteristic absorption peaks which allow their recognition. This method was then used to identify fringelite H in a non-crinoidSolenopora species from the Jurassic. Reflectance FTIR spectroscopy proved not to be useful for this purpose.     

31P NMR spectroscopy as a powerful tool for the determination of enantiomeric excess and absolute configurations of alpha-amino acids

An easy method for the determination of the enantiomeric excess (ee) of mixtures of alpha-amino acids, and also for the elucidation of the absolute configuration of each component of the mixture, is reported. The method is based on the formation of diastereoisomers by reaction of the enantiomerically pure acetylacetonate derivative [Pd(acac-O,O')(P(2)-dach)]ClO(4) (4) [P(2)-dach = (1R,2R)-C(6)H(10)(NHPPh(2))(2)] with d,l-mixtures of alpha-amino acids AaH (Pd:AaH = 1:1 molar ratio, refluxing MeOH). The reaction occurs with protonation of the acac ligand and N,O-coordination of the amino acidate group, giving the corresponding [Pd(Aa-N,O)(P(2)-dach)]ClO(4) complexes l-5 and d-6. The composition of these mixtures of amino acidate complexes was analyzed by integration of the corresponding peaks (four doublets, two for each diastereomer) in their (31)P((1)H) NMR spectra. A series of 14 alpha-amino acids was studied (a, alanine; b, 2-aminobutyric acid; c, valine; d, phenylalanine; e, proline; f, leucine; g, isoleucine; h, norleucine; i, serine; j, threonine; k, methionine; l, aspartic acid; m, glutamine; n, cysteine), and excellent agreement between the expected values of ee and those obtained from integration of the (31)P((1)H) NMR spectra was obtained. Moreover, the position of the signals of each isomer is diagnostic, in such a way that the outer doublets are always due to the l-derivatives 5a-l, while the inner ones are due to the d-derivatives 6a-l, allowing the assignation of absolute configurations to each isomer in the mixture.     

Synthesis of tetrahydropyrido[2,3-b]pyrazine scaffolds from 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoropyridine derivatives

Reactions between N,N′-dimethylethylene diamine and a range of 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoropyridine derivatives provided ready access to the corresponding tetrahydropyrido[2,3-b]pyrazine systems if the substituent located at the 4-position of the pyridine ring was either hydrogen or an electron withdrawing substituent. In contrast, the presence of electron donating substituents at the 4-position made the formation of ring-fused products much more difficult. The two-step sequential nucleophilic substitution procedures from pentafluoropyridine gave convenient and adaptable methodology for the synthesis of polyfunctional tetrahydropyrido[2,3-b]pyrazine scaffolds of interest to the life science discovery arenas.     

Biotinylation: A nonradioactive method for the identification of cell surface antigens in immunoprecipitates

A nonradioactive method was employed to detect different cell membrane antigens on human polymorphonuclear granulocytes, monocytes and platelets. We compared the reactivity of one monoclonal antibody, N1III10, assumed to be FcγRII-specific by functional assays, with other well-characterized monoclonal antibodies and human sera. Intact cells were incubated with biotin N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide ester which preferentially reacts with lysine residues in polypeptides. Biotin-labeled cells were lysed and the antigen was isolated from the cell lysate by immunoprecipitation with the antibody bound to Protein A-Sepharose. The precipitates were separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred onto nitrocellulose membrane, and visualized by a streptavidin-alkaline phosphatase system with a suitable substrate. Using this biotin-labeling system we could show that N1III10 detects a 40 kDa antigen on monocytes and platelets, comparable to that expected of FcγRII monoclonal antibodies.     

Impact of Transition Metal Substituents on Polysilane Properties: Iron versus Ruthenium

Summary. The previously unknown ruthenio disilanes Rp–Si₂Me₄–C₆H₄X (Rp = η⁵-C₅H₅Ru(CO)₂; X = H, Br, –CHO, CH=C(CN)₂) were synthesized from ClSi₂Me₄C₆H₄X (X = H, Br) and Rp⁻ using conventional chemical methods. Trends in the UV/Vis absorption spectra indicate strong electronic coupling within the Rp–Si–Si–C_aryl fragment and, therefore, closely resemble the ones observed for the corresponding iron complexes. The four compounds however, were shown to be less sensitive towards UV irradiation. The crystal structure of Rp–Si₂Me₄–C₆H₄CH=C(CN)₂ was determined by X-ray diffraction and exhibits an all-trans-array of the Ru–Si–Si–C_aryl moiety, what is a basic requirement for optimal through-bond interaction.     

Effect of halides and alkali cations on the Zn(Hg)/Zn(II) electrode reactions

The title subject has been studied by galvanostatic single-pulse, chronopotentiometric and equilibrium measurements on the Zn(Hg)/Zn(II) electrode in x M KI+(1?x) M KCl (x from 0 to 1), 1 M KBr and 1 M MeCl (Me=Li, Na, K and Cs) solutions of pH 3 at 25°C. Quantitative information about the effect of specifically adsorbed halides on the rates of the Zn(II)/Zn(I) and the Zn(I)/Zn(Hg) steps is obtained separately (for the latter step mainly at potentials near ?1.0 V(SCE)), and the latter step seems to be more influenced than the former by the adsorption. An attempt is made to correlate the adsorption effect on the rate of the Zn(II)/Zn(I) step to double-layer parameters according to recent models for such effects. The extra current observed at potentials where the halides are adsorbed, seems to vary with the surface activity of the specifically adsorbed ion. The lack of any observed kinetic effect of Cs⁺, which is specifically adsorbed at these potentials, is possibly due to the Cs⁺ specific adsorption enhancing the Cl^? specific adsorption and vice versa, so that the decelerating and accelerating effects by these ions may cancel each other.     

Statistical Inference for Partially Observed Markov-Modulated Diffusion Risk Model

We propose a method for obtaining the maximum likelihood estimators of the parameters of the Markov-Modulated Diffusion Risk Model in which the inter-claim times, the claim sizes, and the volatility diffusion process are influenced by an underlying Markov jump process. We consider cases when this process has been observed in two scenarios: first, only observing the inter-claim times and the claim sizes in an interval time, and second, considering the number of claims and the underlying Markov jump process at discrete times. In both cases, the data can be viewed as incomplete observations of a model with a tractable likelihood function, so we propose to use algorithms based on stochastic Expectation-Maximization algorithms to do the statistical inference. For the second scenario, we present a simulation study to estimate the ruin probability. Moreover, we apply the Markov-Modulated Diffusion Risk Model to fit a real dataset of motor insurance.

     

Structures and magnetic properties of tetranuclear nickel(II) complexes with unusual mu3-1,1,3 azido bridges

Pyrazolate-based dinucleating ligands with thioether-containing chelate arms have been used for the synthesis of a family of novel tetranuclear nickel(II) complexes [L2Ni4(N3)3(O2CR)](ClO4)2 that incorporate three azido bridges and one carboxylate (R = Me, Ph). Molecular structures have been elucidated by X-ray crystallography in four cases, revealing Ni4 cores with a unique topology in which two of the azido ligands adopt an unusual mu3-1,1,3 bridging mode. The compounds were further characterized by mass spectrometry, IR spectroscopy, and variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements. Magnetic data analyses indicate a combination of significant intramolecular ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic exchange interactions that give rise to an overall S(T) = 0 ground state. The sign and the magnitude of the individual couplings have been rationalized in the framework of the common magnetostructural correlations for end-to-end and end-on azido linkages, suggesting that these correlations also remain valid for the respective fragments of multiply bridging mu3-1,1,3 azido ligands.