Conformational analysis of a stereochemically complete set of cis-enediol peptide analogues

A conformational analysis of a stereochemically complete set of peptide analogues based on a cis-enediol unit is presented. The cis-enediol unit, which can replace a two or a three amino acid segment of a peptide, contains two "side chains", four asymmetrical carbon atoms, and six free dihedral angles. To determine the accessible conformational space, the molecules are divided into three fragments, each containing two free dihedral angles. The energy surfaces are computed for all dihedral angle values, and the possible conformations of the cis-enediol unit analogues are built using all combinations of the surface minima. Such a "build-up" procedure, which is very fast, is able to reproduce 75% of the minima obtained from a full dihedral angle exploration of the conformational space. The cis-enediol unit minima are compared with the corresponding di- and tripeptide minima; all peptide minima can be closely matched by a cis-enediol unit minimum of low energy (less than 2.2 kcal/mol above the lowest energy conformer). However, there are low energy minima of the cis-enediol unit that have no corresponding minima in peptides. The results are shown to depend strongly on the chirality of the analogues. The ability of each of the stereoisomers to mimic natural peptides, evaluated by the present approach, is correlated with its experimental activity in a renin inhibition assay.     

Cross surface ambipolar charge percolation in molecular triads on mesoscopic oxide films

We report on cross surface ambipolar charge percolation within a monolayer of a molecular triad adsorbed on semiconducting or insulating mesoscopic metal oxide films. The triad consists of a triphenlyamine (TPA) donor and a perylenemonoimide (PMI) acceptor connected by a bithiophene (T2) bridge. The self-assembled PMI-T2-TPA monolayer exhibits p-type or n-type conduction depending on the potential that is applied to the conducting glass (FTO) electrode supporting the oxide films. Cross surface electron transfer is turned on at around -1.24 V (vs Fc+/Fc) where the PMI moiety is electroactive. The color of the film changes from red to blue during the reduction of the PMI. By contrast, lateral hole transfer is turned on at around 0.8 V (vs Fc+/Fc) where the TPA moiety becomes electroactive. The stepwise oxidation of the T2-TPA units at 0.79 and 1.28 V (vs Fc+/Fc) is associated with a color change of the film from red to black. Cyclic voltammetric as well as chronocoulometric and spectroelectrochemical measurements were applied to determine the percolation threshold for cross surface charge transfer and the diffusion coefficients for the electron and hole hopping process. The effect of oxide surface states on the lateral charge motion was also investigated.     

Solid-state 109Ag CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy of some diammine silver(I) complexes

Solid-state cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR spectra were recorded for the compounds [Ag(NH3)2]2SO4, [Ag(NH3)2]2SeO4 and [Ag(NH3))]NO3, all of which contain the linear or nearly linear two-coordinate [Ag(NH3)2]+ ion. The 109Ag CP/MAS NMR spectra show centrebands and associated spinning sideband manifolds typical for systems with moderately large shielding anisotropy, and splittings due to indirect 1J(109Ag,14N) spin-spin coupling. Spinning sideband analysis was used to determine the 109Ag shielding anisotropy and asymmetry parameters Deltasigma and eta from these spectra, yielding anisotropies in the range 1500-1600 ppm and asymmetry parameters in the range 0-0.3. Spectra were also recorded for 15N and (for the selenate) 77Se. In all cases the number of resonances observed is as expected for the crystallographic asymmetric units. The crystal structure of the selenate is reported for the first time. One-bond (107, 109Ag,15N) coupling constants are found to have magnitudes in the range 60-65 Hz. Density functional calculations of the Ag shielding tensor for model systems yield results that are in good agreement with the experimentally determined shielding parameters, and suggest that in the solid compounds Deltasigma and eta are reduced and increased, respectively, from the values calculated for the free [Ag(NH3)2]+ ion (1920 ppm and 0, respectively), primarily as a result of cation-cation interactions, for which there is evidence from the presence of metal-over-metal stacks of [Ag(NH3)2]+ ions in the solid-state structures of these compounds.     

Effect of Groundwater Composition on Arsenic Detection by Bacterial Biosensors

A luminescent bacterial biosensor was used to quantify bioavailable arsenic in artificial groundwater. Its light production above the background emission was proportional to the arsenite concentration in the toxicologically relevant range of 0 to 0.5 μM. Effects of the inorganic solutes phosphate, Fe(II) and silicate on the biosensor signal were studied. Phosphate at a concentration of 0.25 g L⁻¹ phosphate slightly stimulated the light emission, but much less than toxicologically relevant concentrations of the much stronger inducer arsenite. No effect of phosphate was oberved in the presence of arsenite. Freshly prepared sodium silicate solution at a concentration of 10 mg L⁻¹ Si reduced the arsenite-induced light production by roughly 37%, which can be explained by transient polymerization leading to sequestration of some arsenic. After three days of incubation, silicate did not have this effect anymore, probably because depolymerization occurred. In the presence of 0.4 mg L⁻¹ Fe(II), the arsenite-induced light emission was reduced by up to 90%, probably due to iron oxidation followed by arsenite adsorption on the less soluble Fe(III) possibly along with some oxidation to the stronger adsorbing As(V). Addition of 100 μM EDTA was capable of releasing all arsenic from the precipitate and to transform it into the biologically measurable, dissolved state. The biosensor also proved valuable for monitoring the effectiveness of an arsenic removal procedure based on water filtration through a mixture of sand and iron granules.     

Zinc(II) as a versatile template for the design of dipolar and octupolar NLO-phores

Thermally stable dipolar and octupolar (D2d, D3) NLO-phores are readily accessible by combining one, two, or three 4,4'-bis(dialkylaminostyryl)-[2,2']-bipyridyl ligands with zinc(II) salts. The off-resonant beta0 values point out the superiority of octupoles versus dipoles in terms of nonlinearity/transparency tradeoff. The octahedral tris(bipyridyl)zinc(II) complex exhibits a very large beta0 value (241 x 10-30 esu), which is the largest ever reported for octupolar molecules.     

Synthesis of modified Weinreb amides: N-tert-butoxy-N-methylamides as effective acylating agents

An efficient preparation of N-methyl-O-tert-butylhydroxylamine hydrochloride has been settled, which allowed the synthesis of modified Weinreb amides. Nucleophilic addition of organolithium and Grignard reagents on these N-tert-butoxy-N-methylamides afforded efficiently the corresponding ketones and reduction with DIBAL furnished the corresponding aldehydes in good yields up to 97%.     

General access to iminosugar C-glycoside building blocks by means of cross-metathesis: a gateway to glycoconjugate mimetics

[reaction: see text] Cross-metathesis reactions of alpha-1-C-allyl-1-deoxynojirimycin derivatives 7a,b and various functionalized alkenes mediated by Grubbs's catalyst 3 are reported. The reactions showed reasonable to very good yields and excellent E/Z selectivity. This methodology allows the efficient and convergent synthesis of iminosugar C-glycosides with a great degree of structural diversity in the aglycone, opening the way to a variety of new glycoconjugate mimetics of biological interest.     

Simple tricyclohexylphosphine-palladium complexes as efficient catalysts for the Stille coupling of deactivated aryl chlorides

Simple, inexpensive tricyclohexylphosphine adducts of palladium show the highest activity yet observed in the Stille coupling of non-activated and deactivated aryl chlorides.     

Synthesis of an asymmetrical tripodal tetraamine ligand and its five-coordinate copper(II) complex

A simple synthesis has been devised for the tripodal 3,3,4-tetraamine ligand N{(CH2)3NH2}2{(CH2)4NH2} (L). This ligand forms a copper(II) complex, [Cu (LH)Cl2]ClO4 (7), the structure of which has been determined by X-ray diffraction. The cation contains a five-coordinate copper atom, bonded to two chloride ions, the two propylamine groups and the tertiary nitrogen atom of the ligand; the arrangement is a distorted trigonal bipyramid, in which the two primary amine groups occupy the axial positions. The butylamine group of the ligand does not coordinate to copper but is protonated. It is involved in hydrogen bonding to the perchlorate ion. The e.p.r. spectrum of [Cu(dpt)Cl2] is very similar to that of (7), suggesting that it also has a trigonal bipyramidal structure. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Synthesis, structure, and magnetism of a new heavy-fermion antiferromagnet, CePdGa6

A new compound, CePdGa₆, and its isostructural analog, LaPdGa₆ have been synthesized by flux growth and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The compounds adopt a tetragonal structure with P4/mmm space group, Z=1. The lattice parameters for CePdGa₆ are and and and for LaPdGa₆. Magnetic and thermal measurement have revealed that CePdGa₆ is a heavy-fermion with the specific heat coefficient and Ce f moments order antiferromagnetically along c-axis at . Reconfiguration of spin occurs at to induce a ferromagnetic component only in the a-b plane. This strong anisotropy in the magnetism might be related to its unique layered structure.