Preparation of polycrystalline Ti-Al-O films by magnetron sputtering ion plating: constitution, structure and morphology

Ti-Al-O layers were deposited on Si-<100> wafers at 500 °C by means of reactive magnetron sputtering ion plating (R-MSIP). An Al-target was sputtered in rf-mode and a Ti-target in dc-mode simultaneously by an oxygen/argon plasma. The influence of the Al- and Ti-sputter powers on composition, structure, and morphology of the Ti-Al-O layers and the binding states of the components were investigated. The analysis with EPMA, XPS, AES and TEM yielded the following results: Ti-Al-O coatings with different Ti, Al, and O contents in the range of TiO₂ to Al₂O₃ were grown. TEM structure analysis revealed: the pure TiO₂ film consisted of the tetragonal phases rutile and anatase; the two structures were found in the titanium-rich Ti-Al-O film, too, but with significant smaller lattice constants. The aluminium-rich Ti-Al-O film displayed the same cubic structure of γ-Al₂O₃ as determined for the pure Al₂O₃ film, but the lattice constant is significant lower. Evaluation of the TEM pattern of the film with a Ti/Al ratio of 0.8 indicates a hexagonal structure with lattice constants similar to those of κ′-Al₂O₃. All films are nanocrystalline and not textured. Received: 24 June 1996 / Revised: 27 December 1996 / Accepted: 4 January 1997     

Addressing the metabolic activation potential of new leads in drug discovery: a case study using ion trap mass spectrometry and tritium labeling techniques

Metabolic activation of drug candidates to electrophilic reactive metabolites that can covalently modify cellular macromolecules may result in acute and/or idiosyncratic immune system-mediated toxicities in humans. This presents a significant potential liability for the future development of these compounds as safe therapeutic agents. We present here an example of an approach where sites of metabolic activation within a new drug candidate series were rapidly identified using online liquid chromatography/multi-stage mass spectrometry on an ion trap mass spectrometer. This was accomplished by trapping the reactive intermediates formed upon incubation of compounds with rat and human liver microsomes as their corresponding glutathione conjugates and mass spectral characterization of these thiol adducts. Based on the structures of the GSH adducts identified, potential sites and mechanisms of bioactivation within the chemical structure were proposed. These metabolism studies were interfaced with iterative structural modifications of the chemical series in order to block these bioactivation sites within the molecule. This strategy led to a significant reduction in the propensity of the compounds to undergo metabolic activation as evidenced by reductions in the irreversible binding of radioactivity to liver microsomal material upon incubation of tritium-labeled compounds with this in vitro system. With the efficiency and throughput achievable with such an approach, it appears feasible to identify and address the metabolic activation potential of new drug leads during routine metabolite identification studies in an early drug discovery setting.     

Small molecules as inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases

Cell division (mitosis) is one of the basic requirements for multicellular oranisms. The capability of a cell to replicate enables a complex assembly to be created. Faulty regulation of the control mechanism in the cell cycle leads to an excessive cell proliferation and is the cause of cancer. The key position of the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their direct partners, as well as the fact that the majority of malign illnesses show defects in at least one of these key players of the cell cycle, is of great interest for the development of low-molecular-weight CDK inhibitors. In this Review an overview of the different structural classes of ATP-competitive inhibitors of CDKs are given, whose devlopment was aimed at battling cancer. The Review shows how far the development of selective CDK inhibitors has progressed and to what extent the expectations for such drugs have so far been fulfilled.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of a nucleoside analogue of 1,4-dihydro-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid synthesized as a potential antiviral agent: Conformational studies in vacuum and in water

Conformational analysis of nucleosides may have direct applications to the structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies and in the design of new drug candidates. Although conformational analysis may be accessed in many different ways, in this work it was performed using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation in order to study the dynamic behavior of a nucleoside derivative of 1,4-dihydro-4-oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic acid, synthesized by our group as a potential antiviral agent. The MD simulation was carried out during 10 ns in vacuum and in a box of water at two different temperatures (i.e., 300 and 600 K) using the AMBER force field. The in vacuum MD simulation results are in agreement with the crystallographic structure and with the DFT calculations of the nucleoside, revealing the anti conformer as the more stable one. The simulation in water, however, shows that both conformers may exist at 300 K, the temperature of the in vivo and in vitro assays, revealing that both the syn and anti conformers should be considered in a MD simulation study of the inhibitor–enzyme complex. Simulations are also in agreement with the NOE experiment, which shows that the anti conformer is the preferential one in DMSO-d6 solution at 298 K.     

Autocorrelated 13c-13c double quantum coherence two-dimensional nmr spectroscopy: Utilization of a modified version of the technique as an adjunct in the total assignment of the 1h- and 13c-nmr spectra of the mutagen phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene

Development of successively higher field nmr spectrometers has facilitated the study of increasingly more complex molecules, although smaller molecules such as phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene still offer very substantial assignment problems because of the highly congested nature of their ¹H- and ¹³C-nmr spectra. Assignments of such spectra, if they are to be unequivocal, frequently require the utilization of two-dimensional nmr spectroscopic techniques. Total assignments of the ¹H- and ¹³C-nmr spectra of phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene are reported. Assignments were based on a conventional high resolution 500 MHz ¹H-nmr spectrum, autocorrelated two-dimensional ¹H-nmr spectra (COSY), two-dimensional ¹H-¹³C chemical shift correlation spectra and a modified version of autocorrelated ¹³C-¹³C double quantum coherence two-dimensional nmr spectroscopy. From NOE measurements, a separation of 1.99 Å between H1 and H11 was computed, suggesting that phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene has a pronounced helical conformation in solution.     

Syntheses of 3,7-dimethylpentadecan-2-ols from intermediates formed from co-oligomerisation reactions of butadiene with diethyl malonate and acetaldehyde

The products of the reaction of butadiene with diethyl malonate catalysed by a palladium complex and of butadiene with acetaldehyde catalysed by a nickel(0) complex have been used in two syntheses of 3,7-dimethylpentadecan-2-ol.     

SN2 reactions in the gas phase. Structure of the transition state

The alkylhalide-halide association ions, [RX₂]^? that are observed in the negative chemical ionization mass spectra of alkyl halides appear to be directly related to the corresponding S_N2 transition states in solution. ‘Frontside’ association of halide ions with bridgehead alkyl halides does not occur in our system. The Change in heats and entropies of association for the chloromethane series is consistent with delocalization in the [RX]₂^? ions.     

Phase dependent electrochemical properties of polar self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) modified via the fusion of mixed phospholipid vesicles

Unilamellar vesicles of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and varying quantities of either 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-[phospho-rac-(1-glycerol) (sodium salt) (DMPG) or 1,2-dimyristoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (chloride salt) (DMTAP) were used to deposit lipid bilayer assemblies on self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold. The supporting SAMs in turn were composed of ferrocene-functionalized hexadecanethiol chains (FcC16SH) diluted to low coverage in 1-hydroxylhexadecanethiol (HOC16SH) or a single-component monolayer phase of the latter. The mass coverages of the DMPC/DMPG layers deposited in this way were measured using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and found to decrease with an increasing content of DMPG in the vesicles. The SPR data show that the lipid assembly, while stable with respect to gentle rinsing in aqueous buffer, is reversible and the lipid adlayer is removable by immersion in a solvent such as ethanol. The effects of the adsorbed lipid layer on the electrochemical interactions of the hybrid lipid/SAM with several redox probes [e.g., K4Fe(CN)6, Ru(NH3)6Cl3, and CsHsFe-[(C5H4CH2N+H(CH3)2] were characterized using cyclic voltammetry (CV). At a composition of 5% DMPG in DMPC, the permeabilities of the probes through the lipid layer were affected significantly relative to that observed with a pure DMPC layer. These effects include a striking observation of an enhanced, ionic-charge-specific molecular discrimination of the electrochemical probes. At higher concentrations of the DMPG, significant permeation of the lipid adlayer was seen for all the probes. These latter changes are also attended by a significant increase in the capacitive currents measured in CV experiments as compared to those observed for either a pure SAM or one modified by only DMPC. This effect likely results from the influence of the charged lipid on the diffuse Gouy-Chapman electrolyte layer at the SAM interface. In contrast to the behaviors seen with DMPG, the incorporation of DMTAP into the adsorbed DMPC had no impact on the permeation of the adlayer by soluble redox probes as judged by the observed electrochemistry, a result that appears to correlate with a less ideal mixing of lipids in the DMPC/DMTAP system relative to that of a DMPC/DMPG mixture.     

Salting-out chromatography : Aliphatic and polyglycol ethers,carboxylic acids by roger sargent and wm. rieman

Distribution ratios of 15 ethers were determined with various ammonium sulfate eluents and were used to determine the conditions necessary for the separation of five-and seven-component mixtures by salting-out chromatography. The application of this technique was found to be less successful than ion-exchange chromatography for the separation of carboxylic acids.     

Synthesis, structure, and dynamics of six-membered metallacoronands and metallodendrimers of iron and indium

In the reaction of the N-substituted diethanolamines (H(2)L(1-3)) (1-3) with calcium hydride followed by addition of iron(III) or indium(III) chloride, the iron wheels [Fe(6)Cl(6)(L(1))(6)] (4) and [Fe(6)Cl(6)(L(2))(6)] (6) or indium wheels [In(6)Cl(6)(L(1))(6)] (5), [In(6)Cl(6)(L(2))(6)] (8) and [In(6)Cl(6)(L(3))(6)] (9) were formed in excellent yields. Exchange of the chloride ions of 6 by thiocyanate ions afforded [Fe(6)(SCN)(6)(L(2))(6)] (7). Whereas the structures of 4, 5 and 7 were determined unequivocally by single-crystal X-ray analyses, complexes 8 and 9 were characterised by NMR spectroscopy. Contrary to what is normally presumed, the scaffolds of six-membered metallic wheels are not generally rigid, but rather undergo nondissociative topomerisation processes. This was shown by variable temperature (VT) (1)H NMR spectroscopy for the indium wheel [In(6)Cl(6)(L(1))(6)] (5) and is highlighted for the enantiotopomerisation of one indium centre [ 1/6[S(6)-5]<==>[1/6[S(6)-5']]. The self-assembly of metallic wheels, starting from diethanolamine dendrons, is an efficient strategy for the convergent synthesis of metallodendrimers.