The Reactivity of Bis(para‐methoxyphenyl)telluroxide towards Triflic Acid and Diphenylphosphinic Acid. Theoretical Considerations of the Protonation and Hydration Process of Diorganotelluroxanes

The reaction of (p‐MeOC₆H₄)₂TeO with two equivalents of HO₃SCF₃ and HO₂PPh₂ provided the tetraorganoditelluroxanes (F₃CSO₃)(p‐MeOC₆H₄)₂TeOTe(p‐MeOC₆H₄)₂(O₃SCF₃) ( 1 ) and (Ph₂PO₂)(p‐MeOC₆H₄)₂TeOTe(p‐MeOC₆H₄)₂(O₂PPh₂)·2 Ph₂PO₂H ( 2 ) in good yields. Compounds 1 and 2 were characterized by solution and solid‐state ³¹P and ¹²⁵Te NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, electrospray mass spectrometry, conductivity measurements and single crystal X‐ray diffraction. In solution, compound 1 undergoes an electrolytic dissociation and reversibly reacts with traces of water to give the mononuclear cation [(p‐MeOC₆H₄)₂TeOH]⁺ and triflate anions. Theoretical aspects of the protonation and hydration of model telluroxanes R₂TeO (R = H, Me, Ph) were investigated by preliminary DFT calculations and compared to the corresponding selenoxanes R₂SeO. The tellurium dihydroxides R₂Te(OH)₂ seem to be more stable than the hydrogen‐bonded complexes R₂TeO·H₂O.     

Negatively charged hyperbranched polyether-based polyelectrolytes

The preparation of carboxylated hyperbranched polyglycerols of narrow polydispersity was achieved by modification (78–90%) of the hydroxyl end groups via Michael addition of acrylonitrile, followed by hydrolysis. High conversion could only be achieved for low molecular weight starting materials (520 and 1,030 g mol⁻¹). The solution properties of the resulting materials were investigated by dynamic light scattering (DLS), showing the formation of large aggregates with size depending on the pH value. After deposition on a negatively charged mica surface, the structures observed by atomic force microscope (AFM) show the coexistence of aggregates and single macromolecules. Most interesting, in the case of the lower molecular weight sample (PG 520 g mol⁻¹), extended and ordered terrace structures were formed, which are unprecedented for hyperbranched polymers and are of interest for surface modification in general.     

On the origin of geminal regioselectivity in the ene reaction of singlet oxygen with substituted alkenes

The geminal regioselectivity observed in the ene reaction between singlet oxygen and alkenes with anion-stabilizing groups is rationalized on the basis of a perepoxide intermediate, in which in analogy to the nucleophilic attack on protonated epoxides, the perepoxide is opened preferentially at the C---O bond weakened by the substituent.     

A QM-MM interface between CHARMM and TURBOMOLE: implementation and application to systems in bulk phase and biologically active systems

The implementation of a hybrid QM-MM approach combining ab initio and density functional methods of TURBOMOLE with the molecular mechanics program package CHARMM is described. An interface has been created to allow data exchange between the two applications. With this method the efficient multiprocessor capabilities of TURBOMOLE can be utilized with CHARMM running as a single processor application. Therefore, features of nonparallel running code in CHARMM like the TRAVEL module for locating saddle points or VIBRAN for the calculation of second derivatives can be exploited by running the CPU intensive QM calculations in parallel. To test the methodology, several small systems are studied with both Hartree-Fock and density functional methods and varying QM-MM boundaries. Also, the computationally efficient RI-J method has been examined for use in QM-MM applications. A B(12) cofactor containing cobalt has been studied, to examine systems with a large QM region and transition metals. All tested methods perform satisfactory in comparison with pure quantum calculations. Additionally, algorithms for the characterization of saddle points have been tested for their potential use in QM-MM problems. The TRAVEL module of CHARMM has been applied to the Menshutkin reaction in the condensed phase, and a saddle point was located. This saddle point was verified by calculation of a steepest descent path connecting educt, transition state, and product, and by calculation of vibrational modes.     

Basis set and density functional dependence of vibrational Raman optical activity calculations

We present an extensive investigation of the dependence of the scattering intensity difference of right and left circularly polarized light observed in vibrational Raman optical activity (VROA) on the choice of basis set and exchange-correlation functional. These dependencies are investigated for five molecules for which accurate experimental data are available: (S)-methyloxirane, (R)-epichlorhydrin, (S)-glycidol, (M)-spiro[2,2]pentane-1,4-diene, and (M)-sigma-[4]-helicene. Calculations are presented using the SVWN exchange-correlation functional (LDA), the BLYP exchange-correlation functional, and the B3LYP hybrid functional, using six different basis sets: the cc-pVDZ, cc-pVTZ, aug-cc-pVDZ, aug-cc-pVTZ, Sadlej's polarized basis set, and a minimal VROA basis set recently proposed by Zuber and Hug. It is demonstrated that results from pure gradient-corrected and hybrid functionals are comparable and that the aug-cc-pVDZ and aug-cc-pVTZ basis sets yield similar results. Furthermore, the combination of the small basis set by Zuber and Hug with an accurate force field represents the best compromise between computational accuracy and computational efficiency.     

Practical asymmetric enzymatic reduction through discovery of a dehydrogenase-compatible biphasic reaction media

[reaction: see text] An enzyme-compatible biphasic reaction media for the asymmetric biocatalytic reduction of ketones with in situ cofactor regeneration has been developed. In this biphasic reaction media, which is advantageous for reactions at higher substrate concentrations, both enzymes (alcohol dehydrogenase and FDH from Candida boidinii) remain stable. The reductions with poorly water-soluble ketones were carried out at substrate concentrations of 10-200 mM, and the optically active (S)-alcohols were formed with moderate to good conversions and with up to >99% ee.     

Immunoaffinity screening with capillary electrochromatography

Highly efficient capillary electrochromatographic separations of cardiac glycosides and other steroids are presented. Employing butyl-derivatized silica particles as stationary phase resulted in a nearly three times faster electroosmotic flow (EOF) compared to capillary electrochromatography (CEC) with octadecyl silica particles. On-column focusing with a preconcentration factor of 180 was performed and separation efficiencies of up to 240,000 plates per meter were obtained. Using label-free standard UV absorbance, detection limits of 10-80 nM were reached for all steroids tested. For screening of cardiac glycosides, e.g., digoxin and digitoxin in mixtures of steroids, CEC was combined with immunoaffinity extraction using immobilized polyclonal anti-digoxigenin antibodies and F(ab) fragments. Simply adding small amounts of antibody carrying particles to the samples and comparing chromatograms before and after antibody addition allowed screening for high affinity antigens in mixtures with moderate numbers of compounds. Under conditions of competing antigens, affinity fingerprints of immobilized anti-digoxigenin and anti-digitoxin antibodies were obtained, reflecting the cross-reactivity of eleven steroids. The method provides high selectivity due to the combination of bioaffinity interaction with highly efficient CEC separation and UV detection at several wavelengths in parallel. This selectivity was exploited for the detection of four cardiac glycosides in submicromolar concentrations in an untreated urine sample.     

Die Addition von Säuren an Alkinderivate mit Push-pull-Gruppen,

The addition of proton acids as HF, HCl, HBr, HOAc and phenol to alkyne-derivatives of the type (CH₃)₂N? C?C? CO? R( 1 ) yielding the adducts 2 to 6 is investigated. The stereochemical course of the reaction is mainly influenced by the structure of the alkyne 1 . Kinetic investigations show that the rate of the third-order-reaction increases from 1 a (R?H) to 1 b (R ? CH₃) and 1 c (R ? OCH₃) and decreases drastically in polar solvents. According to these results a reaction mechanism is outlined and discussed.     

Prerequisites for peptidomic analysis of blood samples: II. Analysis of human plasma after oral glucose challenge -- a proof of concept

Mass spectrometric plasma analysis for biomarker discovery has become an exploratory focus in proteomic research: the challenges of analyzing plasma samples by mass spectrometry have become apparent not only since the human proteome organization (HUPO) has put much emphasis on the human plasma proteome. This work demonstrates fundamental proteomic research to reveal sensitivity and quantification capabilities of our Peptidomics technologies by detecting distinct changes in plasma peptide composition in samples after challenging healthy volunteers with orally administered glucose. Differential Peptide Display (DPD) is a technique for peptidomics studies to compare peptides from distinct biological samples. Mass spectrometry (MS) is used as a qualitative and quantitative analysis tool without previous trypsin digestion or labeling of the samples. Circulating peptides (< 15 kDa) were extracted from 1.3 mL plasma samples and the extracts separated by liquid chromatography into 96 fractions. Each fraction was subjected to MALDI MS, and mass spectra of all fractions were combined resulting in a 2D-display of > 2,000 peptides from each sample. Endogenous peptides that responded to oral glucose challenge were detected by DPD of pre-and post-challenge plasma samples from 16 healthy volunteers and subsequently identified by nESI-qTOF MS. Two of the 15 MS peaks that were significantly modulated by glucose challenge were subsequently identified as insulin and C-peptide. These results were validated by using immunoassays for insulin and C-peptide. This paper serves as a proof of principle for proteomic biomarker discovery down to the pM concentration range by using small amounts of human plasma.     

Synthesis of a Naphthalimide Functionalized Calix[4]arene; A Host Type Fluorophore for Inclusion Compounds in Organic Medium

This article reports the synthesis and the properties of 5,11,17,23-tetra(t-butyl)-25,27-bis-(ethoxy-1,8-naphthalimide)-26,28-hidroxy-calix[4]arene and the formation of an inclusion compound in organic medium. This functionalized calix[4]arene was conceived as the association of a potential host species with a good fluorophore for optical sensoring purposes. Calix[4]-NI as we will call it, maintains its ‘cone-pinched’ configuration and exhibits typical naphthalimide fluorescence bands in non-polar solvents. Its ability to interact with guest species via hydrogen bonding in its endo-hydrophilic cavity to form inclusion compounds was verified with absorption and fluorescence measurements using N-ethanol-1,8-naphthalimide as guest species, which was projected to fit exactly the host cavity and to interact with its naphthalimide π electrons. For this reason, it was possible to follow the formation of the inclusion compound with electronic spectroscopy.