The determination of aluminium in seawater and freshwater by cathodic stripping voltammetry

Dissolved aluminium in seawater and freshwater is determined by cathodic stripping voltammetry (c.s.v.) preceded by adsorptive collection of complex ions with 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone-3-sulphonic acid (DASA) on the hanging mercury drop electrode. Complexation of aluminium by DASA is rapid and no waiting period or heating of the sample is required. Optimal conditions are a DASA concentration of 10^?5 M, a solution pH of 7.1–7.3 and an adsorption potential of ?0.9 V; the c.s.v. scan is done in the differential-pulse mode. The limit of detection is 1 nM aluminium for an adsorption time of 45 s. The total time needed, including 50min deaeration and a standard addition, is 10–15 min per sample. No serious interferences were found; u.v. irradiation is recommended for samples containing high levels of organic materials.     

CHEMISTRY OF SINGLET OXYGEN—XXV. PHOTOOXYGENATION OF METHIONINE*

Abstract— Methionine (Met) photooxidation sensitized by rose bengal has been studied as a function of pH and other variables. At pH ≤ 6, the reaction is a simple one, 2 Met + O₂→ 2 Methionine sulfoxide (MetO). At pH 6–10, another mechanism becomes important, leading to dehydromethionine; the structure of this compound was correctly assigned by Lavine (1945) as the heterocyclic N-S compound 2. One mole of H₂O₂ is also produced in this process. Dehydromethionine hydrolyzes slowly to MetO. Above pH9, a process leading directly to MetO + H₂O₂ becomes important. The stoichiometry of the latter two processes are Met + O₂+ H₂O → MetO + H₂O₂; competition among these three processes accounts for the puzzling variations in O₂ uptake. N-Formylated derivatives of methionine undergo only the first and third processes. Substantial catalytic effects of buffers complicate the picture. All the reactions appear to involve singlet oxygen, since there is the predicted effect of D₂O vs H₂O on the rate of reaction, although the situation is complicated by apparent aggregation of Met above 5 mM.     

Charge transfer in FeO: a combined molecular-dynamics and ab initio study

Molecular-dynamics simulations and ab initio electronic structure calculations were carried out to determine the rate of charge transfer in stoichiometric wustite (FeO). The charge transfer of interest occurs by II/III valence interchange between nearest-neighbor Fe atoms, with the Fe(III) constituting a "hole" electronic defect. There are two possible nearest-neighbor charge transfers in the FeO lattice, which occur between edge-sharing or corner-sharing FeO(6) octahedra. Molecular-dynamics simulations predict charge-transfer rates of 3.7 x 10(11) and 1.9 x 10(9) s(-1) for the edge and corner transfers, respectively, in good agreement with those calculated using an ab initio cluster approach (1.6 x 10(11) and 8.0 x 10(8) s(-1), respectively). The calculated rates are also similar to those along the basal and c-axis directions in hematite (alpha-Fe(2)O(3)) determined previously. Therefore, as is the case for hematite, wustite is predicted to show anisotropic electrical conductivity. Our findings indicate that a rigid-ion model does not give acceptable results, thus showing the need to account for the change in polarizability of the system upon charge transfer. Our model achieves this by using a simple mechanical shell model. By calculating the electronic coupling matrix elements for many transition state configurations obtained from the molecular-dynamics simulations, we found evidence that the position of the bridging oxygen atoms can greatly affect the amount of electronic coupling between the donor and acceptor states. Finally, we address the effect of oxygen vacancies on the charge transfer. It was found that an oxygen vacancy not only creates a driving force for holes to transport away from the vacancy (or equivalently for electrons to diffuse toward the vacancy) but also lowers the free-energy barriers for charge transfer. In addition, the reorganization energy significantly differed from the nondefective case in a small radius around the defect.     

Adduct formation in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry II. Benzoic acid derivatives

This work serves as a follow-up to Part I of experiments designed to determine the underlying principles in the formation of pseudomolecular, or adduct, ions during electrospray ionization. Aromatic acids were studied by flow injection analysis in the negative ionization mode of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Part I dealt with common acidic anti-inflammatory pharmaceuticals. such as ibuprofen and related analogues. Part II deals with functionally less complex molecules, namely benzoic acid (BA) and substituted benzoic acids. Halide-substituted molecules are investigated to deduce the effect of electron-withdrawing substituents (bromo-, chloro-, and fluoro-) and ring position (ortho-, meta- and para-) on the response of a traditional deprotonated molecular ion ([M-H]-) and a sodium-bridged dimer ion ([2M-2 H+Na]-). Amino-substituted benzoic acids are also analyzed in order to study the effect of an additional ionizable group on the molecule, and para-tert.-butyl-BA is analyzed to study the effect of increased hydrophobicity, as they relate to the formation of pseudomolecular ions. This study shows that solution character [octanol-water partition coefficient (or log P) and pKa] of the model compounds controls the relative efficiency of formation of [M-H]- and [2M-2H+Na]- ions. However the relative gas phase character (gas phase basicity and proton affinity) also has a significant effect on the formation of the sodium-bridged dimer ion. For the halide-substituted species, placement of the electron-withdrawing atom at the meta-position gives the greatest enhancement in sensitivity. Observations also show that as the structural complexity of the model compound increases, predictions relating analyte acidity to sodium-bridged dimer ion formation give way to a stronger dependence between log P values and ionization efficiency. Supporting this hypothesis is the nearly ten-fold enhancement in signal for tert.-butyl BA relative to BA. due to the greater hydrophobicity, and consequently, increased surface activity in an electrosprayed droplet of the analyte molecule.     

Effect of amine ligand bulk on the interaction of methionine with platinum(II) diamine complexes

Molecular mechanics and dynamics calculations have been used in conjunction with experimental data to study the effects of amine ligand bulk on the formation of both guanine and methionine complexes with platinum diamine compounds. The AMBER force field has been supplemented with previous modifications [Yao; et al. Inorg. Chem. 1994, 33, 6061-6077. Cerasino; et al. Inorg. Chem. 1997, 36, 6070-6079] and has been further modified to include parameters for platinum bound to the sulfur atom of methionine. Molecular mechanics calculations with this modified AMBER force field have suggested that a platinum complex with two sulfur-bound methionine ligands and a bulky diamine ligand (N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine, Me(4)en) would have severe interligand clashes; such interligand clashes are less pronounced in bis(9-ethylguanine) complexes. Consistent with these observations, NMR studies with [Pt(Me(4)en)(D(2)O)(2)](2+) have indicated that guanine 5'-monophosphate reacts in a 2:1 guanine:platinum ratio while both methionine and N-acetylmethionine react with only a 1:1 stoichiometry. Methionine forms a chelate via the sulfur and nitrogen atoms whereas N-acetylmethionine forms a chelate via the sulfur and oxygen atoms. The oxygen of the latter chelate can be displaced by the addition of guanosine 5'-monophosphate, although complete displacement of the N-acetylmethionine was not observed.     

Substrate and field dependence of the SPINOE transfer to surface 13C from hyperpolarized 129Xe

The substrate and field dependencies of surface SPINOE enhancements using optical pumping and magic angle spinning NMR were monitored. Relaxation rates and enhancements were examined to gain an understanding of the parameters that determine the SPINOE enhancement. (13)C-labeled deuterated methanol was adsorbed on three different substrates (SnO(2), TiO(2), Ti/SiO(2)) with heats of adsorption for xenon ranging from 14.2 to 22.6 kJ/mol. The different heats of adsorption led to a range of xenon coverages and xenon relaxation rates. Using a simple model along with experimental values for the xenon surface polarization and cross- and self-relaxation rates, the (13)C signal enhancement could be predicted and compared with experimental enhancement values. Magnetic field dependence studies were also made by monitoring the (13)C enhancements via SPINOE from hyperpolarized xenon at fields of 0.075, 4.7, and 9.4 T. The pertinent parameters necessary to achieve maximum SPINOE enhancement are discussed.     

Hydroxyl radical probe of the calmodulin-melittin complex interface by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The calcium-dependent interaction of calmodulin and melittin is studied through the application of a radical probe approach in which solutions of the protein and peptide and protein alone are subjected to high fluxes of hydroxyl and other oxygen radicals on millisecond timescales. These radicals are generated by an electrical discharge within an electrospray ion source of a mass spectrometer. Condensation of the electrosprayed droplets followed by proteolytic digestion of both calmodulin and melittin has identified residues in both which participate in the interaction and/or are shielded from solvent within the protein complex. Consistent with other theoretical models and available experimental data, the tryptophan residue of melittin at position 19 is shown to be critical to the formation of the complex with the C-terminal domain of peptide enveloped by and protected from oxidation upon binding to the protein. Furthermore, the N-terminal domain (to residue 36) and tyrosine at position 99 in calmodulin are significantly protected from limited oxidation upon the binding of melittin while exposing the phenylalanine residue at position 92 of the flexible loop domain. The N-terminus (through residue 36) of calmodulin is shown to lie in closer proximity to the melittin helix than its C-terminal counterpart (residues 127-148) based upon the protection levels measured at reactive residues within these segments of the protein.     

Advanced approaches for the characterization of a de novo designed antiparallel coiled coil peptide

We report here an advanced approach for the characterization of the folding pattern of a de novo designed antiparallel coiled coil peptide by high-resolution methods. Incorporation of two fluorescence labels at the C- and N-terminus of the peptide chain as well as modification of two hydrophobic core positions by Phe/[15N,13C]Leu enable the study of the folding characteristics and of distinct amino acid side chain interactions by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and NMR spectroscopy. Results of both experiments reveal the antiparallel alignment of the helices and thus prove the design concept. This finding is also supported by molecular dynamics simulations. Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICR-MS) in combination with NMR experiments was used for verification of the oligomerization equilibria of the coiled coil peptide.