Copper(II) complexes with 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a] pyrimidine and its 5,7-dimethyl derivative

Several Cu(II) complexes with 1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (tp) and its 5,7-dimethyl derivative (dmtp) have been isolated and structurally characterized. Five of them are mononuclear and contain 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or ethylenediamine (en) as auxiliary ligands, their formula being [Cu(H₂O)(phen)(tp)₂](ClO₄)₂ · H₂O, [Cu(H₂O)(phen)(dmtp)₂](ClO₄)₂, [Cu(NO₃)(H₂O)(phen)(tp)](NO₃), [Cu(H₂O)₂(en)(tp)₂](ClO₄)₂ and [Cu(H₂O)₂(en)(dmtp)₂](ClO₄)₂. In all these compounds the tp or dmtp ligand is monodentately coordinated via the nitrogen atom in position 3. The auxiliary ligand influences the coordination number, which is five when this ligand is phen and six when it is en whereas the number of triazolopyrimidine ligands linked to the metal seems to be influenced by the nature of the counteranion. A dinuclear compound with tp has also been isolated, its formula being [Cu₂(OH)(H₂O)_2.5(tp)₅](ClO₄)₃·(H₂O)_1.5, with both metal atoms linked by an hydroxydo group and by a tp bridging ligand, coordinated to one of the copper atoms via N3 and to the other via N4. This compound has several unusual features among the metal complexes with triazolopyrimidine derivatives: the presence of two different kinds of bridging moieties, the coexistence of bridging and terminal ligands and the formation of a N3–N4 bridge for a Cu(II) dinuclear compound for a derivative without exocyclic oxygen atoms.     

Bulk plasmon induced ion neutralization near metal surfaces

A novel mechanism is proposed for ion neutralization near metal surfaces, whereby a bulk plasmon is emitted during the electron capture, induced by the presence of the external ion which does not penetrate the metal. In a semiclassical picture of this mechanism the electrons increase their velocity in the field of the ion until they surpass the threshold velocity for collective excitation, emitting the plasmon and getting bound to the ion.Primary evaluations of bulk plasmon transition rates for He⁺ interacting with Al surfaces indicate that very close to the image plane the bulk collective channel might become more efficient than the surface plasmon mode to neutralize the ion.     

Solutions to integro-differential systems arising in Hydrodynamic models for charged transport in semiconductors

This work is devoted to the study of strong and global solutions for a quasilinear parabolic integro-differential system arising in Hydrodynamic models for charged transport in semiconductors. The existence results are proven by using a priori estimates and fixed point theorems.     

Exact solutions for a nonlinear model

In this paper we show new exact solutions for a type of generalized sine-Gordon equation which is obtained by constructing a Lagrange function for a dynamical coupled system of oscillators. We convert it into a nonlinear system by perturbing the potential energy from a point of view of an approach proposed by Fermi [1].     

The biosynthetic gene cluster for the antitumor rebeccamycin: characterization and generation of indolocarbazole derivatives

Rebeccamycin, a halogenated natural product of the indolocarbazole family, is produced by Saccharothrix aerocolonigenes ATCC39243. Several rebeccamycin analogues, which target DNA topoisomerase I or II, have already entered clinical trials as anticancer drugs. Using as a probe an internal fragment of ngt, a Saccharothrix aerocolonigenes gene encoding an indolocarbazole N-glycosyltransferase, we isolated a DNA region that directed the biosynthesis of rebeccamycin when introduced into Streptomyces albus. Sequence analysis of 25.6 kb revealed genes for indolocarbazole core formation, halogenation, glycosylation, and sugar methylation, as well as a regulatory gene and two resistance/secretion genes. Heterologous expression of subsets of these genes resulted in production of deschloro-rebeccamycin, 4'-demethyldeschloro-rebeccamycin, and deschloro-rebeccamycin aglycone. The cloned genes should help to elucidate the molecular basis for indolocarbazole biosynthesis and set the stage for the generation of novel indolocarbazole analogues by genetic engineering.     

Applications of MALDI‐TOF MS to large‐scale human mtDNA population‐based studies

Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA variation in populations is commonly carried out in many fields of biomedical research. We propose the analysis of mitochondrial DNA coding region SNP (mtSNP) variation to a high level of phylogenetic resolution based on MALDI‐TOF MS. The African phylogeny has been chosen to test the applicability of the technique but any other part of the worldwide phylogeny (or any other mtSNP panel) could be equally suitable for MALDI‐TOF MS genotyping. SNP selection thus aimed to fully cover all the mtSNPs defining major and minor branches of the known African tree, including, macro‐haplogroup L, and haplogroups M1, and U6. A total of 230 mtSNPs were finally selected. We used tests samples collected from two different African locations, namely, Mozambique and Chad Basin. Different internal genotyping controls and other indirect approaches (e.g. phylogenetic checking coupled with automatic sequencing) were used in order to evaluate the reproducibility of the technique, which resulted to be 100% using samples previously subjected to whole genome amplification. The advantages of the MALDI‐TOF MS are also discussed in comparison with other popular methods such as minisequencing, highlighting its high‐throughput nature, which is particularly suitable for case–control medical studies, forensic databasing or population and anthropological studies.     

Insights on the binding ability of a new adenine analog: 7-amine-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine. Synthesis and magnetic study of the first copper(II) complexes

Conventional reactions of the new multidentate ligand 7-amine-1,2,4-triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine (7atp, 1) with copper(II) salts lead to four novel multidimensional coordination complexes [Cu(7atp)(mal)(H(2)O)(2)]·H(2)O (2), [Cu(2)(μ-7atp)(4)(H(2)O)(2)](ClO(4))(4)·3H(2)O (3), {[Cu(7atp)(2)(μ-ox)]·3H(2)O}(n) (4) and {[Cu(7atp)(2)(μ-suc)]·2H(2)O}(n) (5), where ox(2-), mal(2-) and suc(2-) mean oxalate, malonate and succinate, respectively. In these compounds, the 7atp ligand coordinates monodentately through its atom N3, except for compound 3, which displays N3-N4 coordination mode, giving rise to all to structures with diverse topologies and dimensionality. Compound 2 is a mononuclear entity, 3 consists of dinuclear species, 4 is a zig-zag chain with oxalate as a bridging ligand and 5 is a succinate-bridged mono-dimensional system. All polynuclear metal complexes show antiferromagnetic interactions of with J values ranging from -0.12 to -49.5 cm(-1). The ligand donor capabilities have been estimated by topological analyses of the electron density (QTAIM) and electron localization function (ELF), obtained by DFT calculations. The compounds are the first structurally characterized copper(II) complexes containing the 7atp ligand.     

Elucidating the biosynthetic pathway for the polyketide-nonribosomal peptide collismycin A: mechanism for formation of the 2,2'-bipyridyl ring

The gene cluster for the bipyridyl compound collismycin was characterized from Streptomyces sp. CS40. Sequence analysis of a 46.7 kb DNA region revealed 27 open reading frames, 23 of which are involved in collismycin biosynthesis. Eight insertional inactivation mutants were generated in the sequenced region to prove its involvement in collismycin biosynthesis, define the boundaries of the cluster, functionally characterize some genes, and isolate two biosynthetic intermediates. A model for collismycin biosynthesis--which includes the conversion of lysine into picolinic acid, participation of a polyketide synthase-non-ribosomal peptide synthetase system, and some further modifications--is proposed. The biosynthetic pathway would include an unusual NRPS-mediated incorporation of a cysteine residue, possibly through a Michael addition and followed by the extension of the peptide chain by leucine incorporation and later removal by amidohydrolase.     

Classical study of the rovibrational dynamics of a polar diatomic molecule in static electric fields

We study the classical dynamics of a polar diatomic molecule in the presence of a strong static homogeneous electric field. Our full rovibrational investigation includes the interaction with the field due to the permanent electric dipole moment and the polarizability of the molecule. Using the LiCs molecule as a prototype, we explore the stability of the equilibrium points and their bifurcations as the field strength is increased. The phase space structure and its dependence on the energy and field strength are analyzed in detail. We demonstrate that depending on the field strength and on the energy, the phase space is characterized either by regular features or by small stochastic layers of chaotic motion.