Ascorbate-induced oxidation of formate by peroxodisulfate: product yields,kinetics and mechanism

The slow reaction between peroxodisulfate and formate is significantly accelerated by ascorbate at room temperature. The products of this induced oxidation, CO₂ and oxalate (C₂O^2– ₄), were analyzed by several methods and the kinetics of this reaction were measured. The overall mechanism involves free radical species. Ascorbate reacts with peroxodisulfate to initiate production of the sulfate radical ion (SO^– ₄), which reacts with formate to produce carbon dioxide radical ion (CO^– ₂) and sulfate. The carbon dioxide radical reacts with peroxodisulfate to form CO₂ or self-combines to form oxalate. Competition occurring between these two processes determines the overall fate of the carbon dioxide radical species. As pH decreases, protonation of the carbon dioxide radical ion tends to favor production of CO₂.     

Broadband and band-selective IMPRESS-gHMBC: compensation of refocusing inefficiency with synchronized inversion sweep

Compensation of refocusing inefficiency in a gHMBC experiment by replacing the rectangular pi pulse with a pair of adiabatic pulses with synchronized inversion sweep (CRISIS) significantly improves the performance of the gHMBC experiment. The CRISIS-gHMBC experiment retains the pure absorptive shapes in F1 and hence results in better lineshape and higher resolution than the current versions of magnitude mode gHMBC spectra. When used as a broadband experiment, CRISIS-gHMBC, owing to better refocusing efficiency of the adiabatic pulse pairs, gives improved performance across the 13C spectral width. Moreover, it is shown that CRISIS-gHMBC is a robust and improved alternative and when used along with the IMPRESS (Improved Resolution using Symmetrically Shifted pulses) technique further increases the sensitivity and resolution without additional experimental time. The IMPRESS-CRISIS combination is demonstrated for broadband gHMBC and band-selective gHMBC experiments. The ICbs-gHMBC [IMPRESS-CRISIS-band-selective gHMBC] experiment is an attractive and better alternative to individual band-selective gHMBC.     

A first-principles density-functional calculation of the electronic and vibrational structure of the key melanin monomers

We report first-principles density-functional calculations for hydroquinone (HQ), indolequinone (IQ), and semiquinone (SQ). These molecules are believed to be the basic building blocks of the eumelanins, a class of biomacromolecules with important biological functions (including photoprotection) and with the potential for certain bioengineering applications. We have used the difference of self-consistent fields method to study the energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital, Delta(HL). We show that Delta(HL) is similar in IQ and SQ, but approximately twice as large in HQ. This may have important implications for our understanding of the observed broadband optical absorption of the eumelanins. The possibility of using this difference in Delta(HL) to molecularly engineer the electronic properties of eumelanins is discussed. We calculate the infrared and Raman spectra of the three redox forms from first principles. Each of the molecules have significantly different infrared and Raman signatures, and so these spectra could be used in situ to nondestructively identify the monomeric content of macromolecules. It is hoped that this may be a helpful analytical tool in determining the structure of eumelanin macromolecules and hence in helping to determine the structure-property-function relationships that control the behavior of the eumelanins.     

A highly stable short alpha-helix constrained by a main-chain hydrogen-bond surrogate

Herein we describe a strategy for the preparation of artificial alpha-helices involving replacement of one of the main-chain hydrogen bonds with a covalent linkage. To mimic the C=O...H-N hydrogen bond as closely as possible, we envisioned a covalent bond of the type C=X-Y-N, where X and Y are two carbon atoms connected through an olefin metathesis reaction. Our results demonstrate that the replacement of a hydrogen bond between the i and i + 4 residues at the N-terminus of a short peptide with a carbon-carbon bond results in a highly stable constrained alpha-helix at physiological conditions as indicated by CD and NMR spectroscopies. The advantage of this strategy is that it allows access to short alpha-helices with strict preservation of molecular recognition surfaces required for biomolecular interactions.     

Thermal conductivity of the urea-hexadecane inclusion compound

The thermal conductivity and the heat capacity per unit volumec _p have been measured for the urea-hexadecane inclusion compound using the transient hot-wire method. Measurements were made under isobaric conditions at a pressure of 0.1 GPa and in the temperature range of 100–300 K. There was evidence for a phase transition at a temperature of about 160 K, in reasonable agreement with previous work. For the high-temperature phase was independent of temperature within ±1%. The low-temperature phase showed a weak temperature dependence, with (d In/d InT) _p = –0.13. It was inferred that interaction between acoustic phonons and low-frequency vibrational excitations of the guest molecules made a major contribution to the thermal resistivity. For the quantityc _p a weak maximum was observed in the region of the phase transition temperature.Dedicated to Dr D. W. Davidson in honor of his great contributions to the sciences of inclusion phenomena.     

Synthesis,renal vasodilator and dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase activities of O-Methyl derivatives of 6-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetr ahydro-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1H-3-benzazepin-7,8-diol (SK&F 82526)

The three possible mono-O-methyl derivatives of 6-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1H-3-benzazepin-7,8-diol (SK&F 82526) ( 1 ) have been synthesized to facilitate the isolation and characterization of metabolites of this compound and for biological testing. The syntheses generally involved preparation of appropriately substituted benzaldehydes, conversion of these to phenylacetic acids and use of these to N-acylate arylethanolamines. The phenylacetamides thus formed were reduced to amines and these were deprotected and cyclized to the desired final products. In one case deprotection followed cyclization. These compounds were tested as activators of dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase (a measure of DA-1 agonist activity) and as renal vasodilators. All three O-methyl derivatives were much less potent than 1 in cyclase activation and as renal vasodilators. Weak inhibition of adenyl cyclase was also observed for all three compounds and one showed weak renal vasoconstrictor activity. Preliminary investigation of the metabolism of 1 disclosed that two of the three monomethoxy compounds were formed in trace amounts in the rat and the dog. In a related investigation, the trimethoxy derivative of 1 was subjected to acid-catalyzed hydrolysis conditions. The relative ease of cleavage of methoxy groups was 7 > > 4′ > 8.     

A biomimetic strategy for the synthesis of the tricyclic dibenzofuran-1,4-dione core of popolohuanone E

A concise synthesis of the complete tricyclic dibenzofuran-1,4-dione aromatic core of popolohuanone E has been demonstrated by mild base treatment of a biquinone intermediate, thus establishing a biomimetic route to this family of heterocyclic ring systems and the total synthesis of popolohuanone E.     

Monte Carlo simulations of segregation in Pt-Ni catalyst nanoparticles

We have investigated the segregation of Pt atoms in the surfaces of Pt-Ni nanoparticles, using modified embedded atom method potentials and the Monte Carlo method. The nanoparticles are constructed with disordered fcc configurations at two fixed overall concentrations (50 at. % Pt and 75 at. % Pt). We use octahedral and cubo-octahedral nanoparticles terminated by {111} and {100} facets to examine the extent of the Pt segregation to the nanoparticle surfaces at T=600 K. The model particles contain between 586 and 4033 atoms (particle size ranging from 2.5 to 5 nm). Our results imply that a complete {100}-facet reconstruction could make the cubo-octahendral Pt-Ni nanoparticles most energetically favorable. We predict that at 600 K due to segregation the equilibrium cubo-octahedral Pt50Ni50 nanoparticles with fewer than 1289 atoms and Pt75Ni25 nanoparticles with fewer than 4033 atoms would achieve a surface-sandwich structure, in which the Pt atoms are enriched in the outermost and third atomic shells while the Ni atoms are enriched in the second atomic shell. We also find that, due to an order-disorder transition, the Pt50Ni50 cubo-octahedral nanoparticles containing more than 2406 atoms would form a core-shell structure with a Pt-enriched surface and a Pt-deficient homogenous core.     

A convenient oxazole C-2 protecting group: the synthesis of 4- and 5-substituted oxazoles via metalation of 2-triisopropylsilyloxazoles

[reaction: see text] Metalation of oxazoles at the 4 and 5 position was achieved after regioselective C-2 silyl protection. Removal of the protecting group was then accomplished under mild conditions allowing for a straightforward preparation of C-5 monosubstituted and C-4,5 disubstituted oxazoles. The first practical C-2 protecting group of oxazoles has been demonstrated.     

Stereoselective synthesis of 4-hydroxy-2-phenylproline framework

Highly diastereoselective (>20:1) bromo-lactonization of N-sulfonyl-2-allyl-2-phenylglycine methyl ester (11) was observed. Successive treatment of the chiral lactone with MeONa gave the desired (2S,4R)-4-hydroxy-2-phenylproline derivative in high yield without erosion of the diastereoselectivity. The starting chiral non-racemic compound (5) was prepared from the racemic 2-phenylglycine using a classical kinetic resolution (crystallization), an asymmetric phase transfer alkylation, and an enzyme-catalyzed kinetic resolution.