Water‐Soluble N‐(n‐Fatty acyl)chitosans

Chitosan was partially N‐acylated by treatment with n‐fatty acid anhydrides in a homogeneous solution in 2 vol.‐% aqueous acetic acid‐methanol (1:2 v/v). The degree of substitution (d.s.) for N‐acyl groups in the water‐soluble N‐acylchitosan derivatives was in the range of 0.42–0.82 for N‐acetyl, 0.37–0.76 for N‐propionyl, 0.52–0.71 for N‐butyryl and 0.54–0.64 for N‐pentanoyl and ca. 0.58 for N‐hexanoyl, respectively.

Water soluble N‐(n‐fatty acyl)chitosans.     

Practical synthesis of 2'-deoxy-4'-thioribonucleosides: substrates for the synthesis of 4'-thioDNA

We report herein a practical synthesis of 4'-thiothymidine (15) and appropriately protected 2'-deoxy-4'-thiocytidine (16), -thioadenosine (27), and -thioguanosine (29) derivatives, substrates for the synthesis of 4'-thioDNA, from the corresponding 4'-thioribonucleosides. 2'-deoxy-4'-thiopyrimidine nucleosides were synthesized using a radical reaction of the corresponding 2'-alpha-bromo derivatives, which were prepared via 2,2'-O-anhydro derivatives. 2'-deoxy-4'-thiopurine nucleosides were synthesized using the same radical reaction of the corresponding 2'-beta-bromo derivatives.     

Competitive potentiometric determination of binding constants between α-cyclodextrin and 1-alkanols

The binding constants of 1-alkanols with α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) were determined by indirect competitive potentiometry, although potentiometry is usually inapplicable to nonionic compounds. This novel method utilizes competitive binding of 1-alkanol and octyltrimethylammonium bromide (OTAB) to α-CD in aqueous media, where the concentration of free OTAB depending on the competitive binding is monitored with an OTAB-selective electrode. Therefore, the concentration of 1-alkanol is indirectly estimated from the observed electromotive force. The binding constants of 1-propapnol, 1-butanol, 1-hexanol, and 1-octanol with α-CD, obtained by this method, are close to the literature values. The implications and limitations of this indirect competitive potentiometry were discussed.     

Function of the Reaction Center of Green Sulfur Bacteria

The reaction center (RC) of green sulfur bacteria belongs to the Fe-S type RC, as do the photosystem I of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms and the RC of heliobacteria. The core parts of the green sulfur bacterial and the heliobacterial RC are assumed to be homodimeric, in contrast to those of purple bacteria, photosystem I and photosystem II. This paper describes recent advances in the study of the function of the green sulfur bacterial RC.     

The absorption and circular dichroism bandshapes of chromophore aggregates as studied by a modified Green's function theory

A modified Green's function method is applied to calculating the aggregate bandshape whereby a decoupling approximation for vibrationally averaging the Green's function is used to include thermal and static effects as well in terms of the correction shift of the chromophore bandshape. The utility of the present method is shown by a sample calculation of the absorption and circular dichroism bandshapes of a model dimer.     

Structure and ethanol complexation of cyclic tetrasaccharide in aqueous solution studied by NMR and molecular mechanics

The structure and ethanol complexation of a cyclic tetrasaccharide (CTS) in aqueous solution were investigated by proton NMR spectroscopy and molecular mechanics calculations. Two glucose units, A and B, of CTS are alternatively bonded by alpha-1,3 and alpha-1,6 linkages. The overlapped signals of protons A5, A6S, A6R, B3, B6S and B6R were resolved by spectral simulations to determine their chemical shifts and vicinal coupling constants. All vicinal coupling constants except for the A5-A6 spin system are consistent with the dihedral angles in the X-ray crystal structure. Each of protons A5, A6S, and A6R in the two units of A is equivalent with respect to the chemical shift. The vicinal coupling constants of (3)J(5-6S) and (3)J(5-6R) for unit A are close to the average of two rotamers that are present in crystals. The intensities of cross-peaks in the rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY) spectrum were rather well correlated with the effective distances calculated for the X-ray structure and molecular mechanics structures calculated in vacuo and water, although they are slightly better correlated with molecular mechanics structure in vacuo than with the other structures. From the changes of the chemical shifts of several CTS protons with increasing ethanol concentration, it was suggested that adsorption sites of ethanol on the plate structure of CTS are protons B2 and B4 (site B) in the concave face side and protons A1 and A2 (site A) in the convex back side. The binding constants for sites A and B are 0.0061 and 0.0176 M(-1), respectively. These binding constants are much smaller than a value of 4.1 M(-1) for the ethanol-alpha-cyclodextrin complex.     

Molecular structure of glucopyranosylamide lipid and nanotube morphology

A series of glucopyranosylamide lipids, N-(X-octadecenoyl)-beta-D-glucopyranosylamine [X = 13-cis (1), 11-cis (2), 9-cis (3), 6-cis (4), and 9-cis,12-cis (5)] and their saturated homologue N-octadecanoyl-beta-d-glucopyranosylamine (6), which differ in the position of a cis double bond in the C18 hydrocarbon chains, have been synthesized. The effect of the cis double bond position on the chiral self-assembly of each glycolipid has been examined by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, UV, and circular dichroism (CD). The 11-cis derivative 2 was observed to self-assemble in water to form a uniform hollow cylinder structure with about 200-nm outer diameters in >98% yields. The obtained nanotubes from 2 showed the narrowest distribution of outer diameters and also gave a negative CD band around 234-236 nm, showing the largest CD intensity among the glycolipids investigated. Thus, we found that the position of a cis double bond significantly influences the homogeneity of the outer diameters as well as growth behavior of the self-assembled nanotube structures. Chiral molecular packing driven by a possible bending structure of the unsaturated glycolipids is playing a critical role in determining tubular morphology through molecular self-assembly.