Bis[bis­(3‐phenyl­pyrazol‐1‐yl)­(pyrazol‐1‐yl)­methane]­copper(II) bis­(per­chlor­ate) acetonitrile disolvate

The title copper(II) complex, [Cu(C₂₂H₁₈N₆)₂](ClO₄)₂·2C₂H₃N, comprises two neutral substituted tris­(pyrazol‐1‐yl)­methane ligands bonded to a central Cu^II ion, which is positioned on a crystallographic inversion center. Six Cu—N bonds are arranged in a distorted octa­hedral fashion. The unsubstituted pyrazole rings on each ligand are oriented trans with respect to each other, inter­digitated with the two 3‐phenyl­pyrazole rings of the other ligand.     

Chimeric (alpha/beta + alpha)-peptide ligands for the BH3-recognition cleft of Bcl-XL: critical role of the molecular scaffold in protein surface recognition

Molecules that bind to specific surface sites on proteins are of great interest from both fundamental and practical perspectives. We are exploring a ligand development strategy that is based on oligomers with discrete folding propensities ("foldamers"); we target a specific cleft on the cancer-associated protein Bcl-xL because this system is well characterized structurally. In vivo, this cleft binds to alpha-helical segments (BH3 domains) of other proteins. We evaluated several types of helical foldamer, built entirely from beta-amino acid residues or from mixtures of alpha- and beta-amino acid residues, and ultimately identified foldamers in the latter class that bind very tightly to Bcl-xL. Our results suggest that combining different types of foldamer backbones will be an effective and general strategy for creating high-affinity and specific ligands for protein surface sites.     

A mass spectrometric investigation of non-covalent interactions between ruthenium complexes and DNA

Electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry was used to investigate reactions between six ruthenium compounds and three different non self-complementary duplex oligonucleotides containing 16 base pairs. Each of the compounds studied formed non-covalent complexes containing between one and five ruthenium molecules bound to DNA. Competition experiments involving duplex 16mers and pairs of ruthenium compounds were used to determine the order of relative binding affinities of the metal compounds. Other competition experiments involving ruthenium compounds, and the organic DNA binding agents daunomycin and distamycin, provided information about the sites and modes of DNA binding of the ruthenium compounds.     

Synthesis of Unsubstituted and 4,4′-Substituted Oligobipyridines as Ligand Strands for Helicate Self-Assembly

A general strategy for the synthesis of oligobipyridine ligands 2 – 5 containing from two to five 2,2′-bipyridine subunits, for helical metal complexes is described (sec Scheme). Both the unsubstituted parent strands ( a series) as well as their derivatives bearing fester or amide functions in the 4,4′-positions of the bipyridine moieties ( b – d series) have been obtained.     

Error estimates in the determination of rigid body displacements in protein crystals

We report the estimation of random errors in the refinement of the rigid body displacements of the -helices of the enzyme 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase. Least-squares refinement of the TLS parameters of the helices has been carried out using X-ray reflection data of 2.1 Å resolution, resulting in anR-factor of 19.5%. Standard deviations were estimated from the normal matrix. The results show that the translational mean-square displacements of nearly all the helices are significant at this resolution. However the libration parameters are only significant when the helices have at least four turns. Screw-rotation tensor values cannot be determined at this resolution.     

Relaxed chromatic numbers of graphs

Given any family of graphsP, theP chromatic number _p (G) of a graphG is the smallest number of classes into whichV(G) can be partitioned such that each class induces a subgraph inP. We study this for hereditary familiesP of two broad types: the graphs containing no subgraph of a fixed graphH, and the graphs that are disjoint unions of subgraphs ofH. We generalize results on ordinary chromatic number and we computeP chromatic number for special choices ofP on special classes of graphs.Research supported in part by ONR Grant N00014-85K0570 and by a grant from the University of Illinois Research Board.     

Energetics of protein-cyclodextrin interactions

The energetics of interaction of a range of cyclodextrins with folded and unfolded proteins has been examined by sensitive microcalorimetry techniques. Weak interaction with exposed amino acid residues promotes unfolding and dissociation of proteins. The possibility that such interactions may facilitate the use of cyclodextrins as chaperone-mimics in the refolding of denatured protein has been explored with the enzyme phosphoglycerate kinase. Up to 40% regain of activity can be achieved in some cases.     

Varieties Which are almost D-Affine

This paper produces several examples of varieties X for whichthe global sections functor (X,–): D_X-modD(X)-mod is exact,and makes D(X)-mod a quotient category of D_X-mod, but is notan equivalence. These varieties are quotients by finite groupactions of D-affine varieties. The torsion of (X,–) isalso described, in some cases. Here, D_x-mod denotes the categoryof quasi-coherent D_X-modules.     

Thianaphthenoyltrifluoroacetone as an analytical reagent: The keto-enol tautomerism of the 2- and 3-isomers of thianaphthenoyltrifluoroacetone

Summary The keto-enol tautomerism of the 2- and 3-isomers of thianaphthenoyltrifluoroacetone has been studied and the results explained by considering the relative negativities of the 2- and 3-position of thianaphthene. The results of the comparison of the keto-enol tautomerism of 3-thianaphthenoyltrifluoroacetone to that of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone in 80% benzene-20% ethanol may explain in part the greater sensitivity of the former in trace metal analysis.

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Zusammenfassung Die Keto-Enol-Tautomerie der 2- und 3-Isomeren des Thianaphthenoyltrifluoracetons wurde untersucht und mit der relativen Negativität der 2- und 3-Stellung des Thianaphtens zu erklären versucht. Der Vergleich der Keto-Enol-Tautomerie von II mit der des 2-Thenoyltrifluoracetons in BenzolÄthanol (80+20) könnte eine Erklärung für die größere Sensitivität von II bei der Spurenmetallanalyse bieten.