Rate constants for the reactions of HCCCO and NCCO radicals with molecular oxygen

Reactions of HCCCO and NCCO radicals with O₂ have been studied by a combination of pulsed laser photolysis and photoionization mass spectrometry. HCCCO was produced by 193‐nm photolysis of methylpropiolate or 3‐butyn‐2‐one, and NCCO was formed by 193‐nm photolysis of acetylcyanide. The rate constants obtained at 298 ± 3 K were (6.5 ± 0.7) × 10^?12 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 for the HCCCO + O₂ reaction, and no pressure dependence was observed between 1.5 and 16 Torr of N₂ as a bath gas. Because HCO and HCCO radicals were observed as reaction products, it was confirmed that the reaction proceeds by a two‐body reaction. On the other hand, the rate constants of NCCO with O₂ depended on the total pressure and were (5.4–8.8) × 10^?13 cm³ molecule^?1 s^?1 for total pressures 2.0–15.5 Torr of N₂, confirming that the reaction proceeds by a three‐body process. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 33: 440–448, 2001     

Molecular Packing and Solid-State Photophysical Properties of 1,3,6,8-Tetraalkylpyrenes

The relationship between the photophysical properties and molecular orientation of 1,3,6,8-tetraalkylpyrenes in the solid state is described herein. The introduction of alkyl groups with different chain structures (in terms of length and branching) did not affect the photophysical properties in solution, but significantly shifted the emission wavelengths and fluorescence quantum yields in the solid state for some samples. Pyrenes bearing ethyl, isobutyl, or neopentyl groups at the 1-, 3-, 6-, and 8-positions showed similar emission profiles in both the solution and solid states. In contrast, pyrenes bearing other alkyl groups exhibited an excimer emission in the solid state, similar to that of the parent pyrene. On studying the photophysical properties in the solid state with respect to the obtained crystal structures, the observed solid-state photophysical properties were found to depend on the relative position of the pyrene chromophores. The solid-state photophysical properties can be controlled by the alkyl groups, which provide changing crystal packing. Among the pyrenes tested, 1,3,6,8-tetraethylpyrene showed the highest fluorescence quantum yield of 0.88 in the solid state.     

Enhancement of the Catalytic Activity of Chiral H8‐BINOL Titanium Complexes by Introduction of Sterically Demanding Groups at the 3‐Position

The activity of chiral titanium catalysts derived from H₈‐BINOL ligands in the enantioselective arylation of an aldehyde with PhTi(OiPr)₃ is significantly enhanced by an increase of the size of the substituent at the 3‐position. High enantioselectivity (> 90 % ee) can be obtained even at a substrate/catalyst ratio (S/C) of 800 for DTBP‐H₈‐BINOL (DTBP=3,5‐di‐tert‐butylphenyl) and DAP‐H₈‐BINOL (DAP=3,5‐di(9‐anthraceny)phenyl). These titanium catalysts are successfully applied to the enantioselective arylation and heteroarylation of aldehydes at a S/C ratio of 400 by using organotitanium reagents generated in situ from bromide precursors. The remarkable weakening of the intramolecular aggregation of the two ?Ti(OiPr)₃ units in a DPP‐H₈‐BINOL (DPP=3,5‐diphenylpheny)‐derived bis‐titanium complex is revealed by X‐ray and variable‐temperature (VT)‐NMR studies. Based on these observations, a catalytic cycle, involving the rate‐limiting aryl group transfer followed by aldehyde complexation and enantioselective arylation, is proposed to account for the high activity of the 3‐substituted H₈‐BINOL catalyst system.     

Strictly Regiocontrolled α-Monosubstitution of Cyclic Carbonyl Compounds with Alkynyl and Alkyl Groups via Pd-Catalyzed Coupling of Cyclic α-Iodoenones with Organozincs[]

The conditions for the Pd-catalyzed cross coupling of cyclic α-iodoenones, such as 2-iodo-2-cyclohexenone, with alkynylzincs have been optimized. The use of tris(o-furyl)phosphine (TFP) as a ligand and DMF as a solvent has led to the formation of α-alkynylenones in excellent yields. This optimized procedure has been applied to the synthesis of (±)-harveynone and (±)-tricholomenyn A in high yields. Investigation of related α-alkylation reactions using alkylzincs has revealed the following. Methylzinc and primary alkylzinc derivatives readily undergo Pd-catalyzed cross coupling with α-iodoenones. Although (s-Bu)₂Zn also undergoes Pd-catalyzed cross coupling, only the n-Bu-substituted products were obtained. α-Benzylation and α-homobenzylation can proceed satisfactorily, whereas allylzinc and propargylzinc derivatives undergo only addition to the carbonyl group. Although some promising results have been obtained in α-homoallylation and α-homopropargylation, these reactions need to be further improved.     

Coordinated regulation of circadian rhythms and homeostasis by the suprachiasmatic nucleus

We have demonstrated that in rats activities of various enzymes related to gluconeogenesis and amino acid metabolism show circadian rhythms. Based on these results, we have explored the molecular mechanisms underlying circadian oscillation and phase response to light of the master clock located in the dorsomedial subdivision of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and found various proteins closely related to phase response such as BIT/SHPS-1 and those of circadian oscillation, some of which are involved in protein-tyrosine phosphorylation.On the other hand, we have presented several lines of evidence that the ventrolateral subdivision of the SCN includes not only the control center of energy supply to the brain, but also that of homeostasis such as blood glucose, blood pressure, water balance, and body temperature. We have also shown that besides these functions, the latter subdivision is involved in the regulations of hormone secretions such as insulin, glucagon, corticosterone and vasopressin. It has been also shown by electrophysiological means that light exposure to rat eye enhances sympathetic nerve activity, whereas it depresses parasympathetic nerve activity. Thus, environmental light is implicated not only in the phase-shift through the retinohypthalamic tract (RHT), but also control of autonomic nerve activities through the RHT, It is also discussed in this review how the two divisions are interconnected and how environmental light is involved in this interconnection.     

Highly sensitive multistage mass spectrometry enables small-scale analysis of protein glycosylation from two-dimensional polyacrylamide gels

Structural characterization of glycoproteins remains among the most challenging areas of glycomics due to the requirement of large quantities of samples and laborious biochemical steps involved in the analytical procedure. Here we report the structural characterization of glycoproteins separated on a 2-D gel by using a MALDI-QIT-TOF MS where QIT is quadrupole IT. The combination of MALDI-ion source and QIT appears to generate a unique tendency to cause fragmentation of glycopeptides without collision-induced dissociation. The majority of such fragmentations observed in our study result from the cleavage of sugar linkages, but not of peptide-peptide or peptide-sugar linkages. This unique feature allows us to perform pseudo-MS3 analysis of a fragmented glycopeptide. A small gel spot of a glycoprotein in the abundance range of low picomoles was enough for the mass spectrometer to analyze fragmentation pathway of the sugar linkage and peptide backbone. In this study, we demonstrate direct determination of glycosylation sites and N-linked glycan-sequences of the tryptic glycopeptides of Drosophila glycoproteins. Glycopeptides with various MWs up to approximately 4000 Da were suitable for structural analysis, including its attachment site and the amino acid sequence, of the glycopeptide through multistage mass spectrometric analysis.     

Structural assignment of isomeric 2-aminopyridine-derivatized monosialylated biantennary N-linked oligosaccharides using negative-ion multistage tandem mass spectral matching

To investigate the possibility of structural assignment based on negative-ion tandem multistage (MSn) mass spectral matching, four isomers of 2-aminopyridine (PA)-derivatized monosialylated oligosaccharides (i.e., complex-type N-glycans with an alpha2-3- or alpha2-6-linked sialic acid on alpha1-6 or alpha1-3 antennae) were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray ion trap time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC/ESI-IT-TOFMS). The negative ion [M-2H]2- is observed predominantly in the MS1 spectra without the loss of a sialic acid. The MS2 spectra derived from it are sufficiently reproducible that MS2 spectral matching based on correlation coefficients can be applied to the assignment of these isomers. The isomers containing a sialic acid on alpha1-6 or alpha1-3 antennae can be distinguished by MS2 spectral matching, but the alpha2-3 and alpha2-6 linkage types of sialic acid cannot be distinguished by their MS2 spectra. However, MS3 spectra derived from fragment ions containing a sialic acid (i.e., C4- and D-type ions) clearly differentiate the alpha2-3 and alpha2-6 linkage types of sialic acid in their MS3 spectral patterns. This difference might be rationalized in terms of a proton transfer from the reducing-end mannose to the negatively charged sialic acid. These two moieties are very close in the structural conformations of the precursor C4-type fragment ions of alpha2-6 linkage type, as predicted by molecular mechanics calculations. Thus, negative-ion MSn (n = 2, 3) spectral matching was demonstrated to be useful for the structural assignment of these four monosialylated PA N-glycan isomers.     

Femtosecond laser ionization of organic amines with very low ionization potentials: relatively small suppressed ionization features

We examined the femtosecond nonresonant ionization of organic amines with vertical ionization potentials as low as 5.95 eV. The quantitative evaluation of suppressed ionization relative to the single active electron approximation model was done by comparing the saturation intensity, I(sat), in experiments and theory. ADK theory was found to be useful in predicting the ionization yield in the I(sat) scale within a factor of 2, even for molecules with very low ionization potentials. The degree of suppression was, however, smaller than that of benzene. The localization of electrons on the nitrogen atom was found to affect the ionization behavior under the strong laser field. The delocalized pi electrons in benzene could not follow the laser field adiabatically, while those in localized molecular orbitals could. In addition, the growth of a tunneling barrier due to the screening effect in amines may be relatively smaller than that in benzene.     

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism of size-selected, thiolated gold clusters

We report herein the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Au L2,3 edges of a series of Au clusters protected by glutathione (GSH). The samples used here included AuN(SG)M with (N, M) = (10, 10), (15, 13), (18, 14), (22, 16), (25, 18), (29, 20), (39, 24) and a sodium gold(I) thiomalate (SGT) as a reference. Magnetic moments per cluster were found to be increased with size, whereas those per Au-S bond were nearly constant. This finding suggests that a localized hole created by Au-S bonding at the gold/glutathione interface, rather than the quantum size effect, is responsible for the spin polarization of gold clusters.     

Chromatographic isolation of "missing" Au55 clusters protected by alkanethiolates

We report on the first synthesis of alkanethiolate-protected Au55 (11 kDa), which has been a "missing" counterpart of Schmid's Au55(PR3)12Cl6. Au:SCx clusters (x = 12, 18) were prepared by the reaction of alkanethiol (CxSH) with polymer-stabilized Au clusters ( approximately 1.3 nm) and subsequently incubated in neat CxSH. The resulting clusters were successfully fractionated by recycling gel permeation chromatography into Au approximately 38:SCx and Au approximately 55:SCx and identified by laser-desorption ionization mass spectrometry. The Au approximately 55:SCx clusters exhibited structured optical spectra, suggesting molecular-like properties. The thiolate monolayers were found to be liquid-like on the basis of the IR spectrum and the monolayer thickness, which was estimated from the hydrodynamic diameter.