The Light Shall Show the Way-Or: The Conformational Changes of the Retinal Chromophore in Rhodopsin upon Light Activation

No Abstract     

Synthesis, spectroscopic, and structural properties of spirocyclopropanated bicyclobutylidenes and their radical cations

The spirocyclopropanated bicyclobutylidenes 3-7 have been prepared by McMurry coupling of the corresponding spirocyclopropanated cyclobutanone (3 and 5), Staudinger-Pfenniger reaction (4), oxidative coupling of a Wittig ylide (4) or Wittig olefination of perspirocyclopropanated cyclobutanone (6 and 7). The structure of the parent 2a and the perspirocyclopropanated bicyclobutylidene 5 was determined by X-ray crystallography which disclosed considerable steric congestion around the double bond. As a result 5 did undergo addition of dichlorocarbene, epoxidation with meta-chloroperbenzoic acid, and cyclopropanation with CH2I2/ZnEt2, but did not add the more bulky dibromocarbene. The reaction of 5 with tetracyanoethene proceeded smoothly, but led to a formal [3+2] cycloadduct across the proximal single bond of one of the inner cyclopropane rings. The consecutive spirocyclopropanation of bicyclobutylidene led to a bathochromic shift in the UV spectra of 12 and 17nm, respectively, for each pair of beta- and alpha-spirocyclopropane groups. In the He(I)-photoelectron spectra of these bicyclobutylidenes, the effect of spirocyclopropanation upon their pi-ionization energies (pi-IE,) was found to be almost additive, leading to a lowering of 0.05 eV per any additional beta-spirocyclopropane, and 0.28-0.22 eV per additional alpha-spirocyclopropane group; this indicates an increasing nucleophilicity of the double bonds in the order 1 < 4 < 3 < 5. Following the radical cations of the three symmetrical bicyclobutylidenes without (2a, b) and with six (5) spiroannelated cyclopropane rings, the radical cations of two symmetrical bicyclobutylidenes with two (4) and four (3) such rings were studied by ESR spectroscopy. Whereas 2b.+, 3.+, and 5.+ could be generated by electrolytic oxidation of the corresponding hydrocarbons in solution, the spectra of 2a.+ and 4.+, with unsubstituted 2,2',4,4'-positions, were observed upon radiolysis of their neutral precursors in a Freon matrix. On going from 2a.+ to 4.+, the coupling constant [aH] of the eight beta protons in the 2,2',4,4'-positions of bicyclobutylidene increases from 2.62 to 3.08 mT, and that of the four gamma protons in the 3,3'-positions changes from 0.27 to 0.049 to 0.401 mT on passing from 2a.+ via 2b.+ to 3.+. Computations by means of the density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-311+G*//B3LYP/6-31G* level reproduce well the experimental hyperfine data.     

Experimental evidence supporting a CuIII intermediate in cross-coupling reactions of allylic esters with diallylcuprate species

The reaction between an allylic ester and a magnesium diallylcuprate, or an allylic Grignard reagent in combination with a catalytic amount of a copper salt, has been studied. These reactions yield a mixture of homo- and cross-coupled 1,5-diene products. The product ratios obtained are close to those expected for a reaction proceeding via a triallylcopper(III) intermediate consisting of three equivalent allyl groups bound to copper. When the reaction is performed with a stoichiometric amount of a preformed diallylcuprate, a homo-coupling/cross-coupling ratio larger than that predicted for a CuIII intermediate is observed. However, on dilution this ratio decreases and becomes close to the predicted ratio. The deviation from the predicted homo-coupling/cross-coupling ratio was accounted for by an olefin-induced homo-coupling, as demonstrated in control experiments. The possibility of the allylic ligands to coordinate to the metal center in a eta3 or eta1 fashion provides an opportunity for the stabilization of the intermediate CuIII species.     

41Ca ultratrace determination with isotopic selectivity > 10(12) by diode-laser-based RIMS

41Ca ultratrace determination by diode-laser-based resonance ionization mass spectrometry with extremely high isotopic selectivity is presented. Application to environmental dosimetry of nuclear reactor components, to cosmochemical investigations of production cross sections, and biomedical isotope-tracer studies of human calcium kinetics are discussed. Future investigations are possible use in 41Ca-radiodating. Depending on the application, 41Ca isotopic abundances in the range of 10(-9) to 10(-15) relative to the dominant stable isotope 40Ca must be determined. Either double- or triple-resonance optical excitation with narrow-band extended cavity diode lasers and subsequent non-resonant photoionization of calcium in a collimated atomic beam were used. The resulting photoions are detected with a quadrupole mass spectrometer optimized for background reduction and neighboring mass suppression. Applying the full triple-resonance scheme provides a selectivity of approximately 5 x 10(12) in the suppression of neighboring isotopes and > 10(8) for isobars, together with an overall detection efficiency of approximately 5 x 10(-5). Measurements on a variety of sample types are discussed; the accuracy and reproducibility of the resulting 41Ca/40Ca isotope ratios was better than 5%.     

Mild and efficient flavin-catalyzed H2O2 oxidations

Based on a previously discovered method for amine oxidations using flavins as catalysts and hydrogen peroxide as oxidant, a comparative kinetic study using NMR spectroscopy was undertaken with a series of flavins for amine and thioether oxidations. Included in this series is the newly prepared 7,8-difluoro-1,3-dimethyl-5-ethyl-5,10-dihydroalloxazine. This study shows that flavins, which bear electron-donating groups on the aromatic ring and/or the N-10 position, are less active and are deactivated during the course of the reaction. Moreover, flavins that are alkylated at the N-1 position instead of the N-10 position and having either no substituents or electron-withdrawing groups on the aromatic ring, remain the most active and stable.     

The importance of dihydrogen complexes HnGe(H2)+ (n=0,1) to the chemistry of cationic germanium hydrides: advanced theoretical and mass spectrometric analysis

Investigations of [Ge,Hn]-/0/- (n = 2,3) have been performed using a four-sector mass spectrometer. The results reveal that the complexes HnGe(H2)+ (n = 0,1) play an important role in the unimolecular dissociation of the metastable cations. Theoretical calculations support the experimental observations in most instances, and the established view that the global minimum of [Ge,H2]+ is an inserted structure may need reexamination; CCSD(T,full)/cc-pVTZ//CCSD(T)/6-311 ++ G(d,p) and B3LYP/cc-pVTZ studies of three low-lying cation states (2A1 HGeH+, 2B2 Ge(H2)+ and 2B1 Ge(H2)+) indicate a very small energy difference (ca. 4 kcal mol(-1)) between 2A1 HGeH+ and 2B2 Ge(H2)+; B3LYP favours the ion-molecule complex, whereas coupled-cluster calculations favour the inserted structure for the global minimum. Single-point multireference (MR) averaged coupled-pair functional and MR-configuration interaction calculations give conflicting results regarding the global minimum. We also present theoretical evidence indicating that the orbital-crossing point implicated in the spin-allowed metastable dissociation HGeH+* --> Ge(H2)+* --> Ge+ + H2 lies above the H-loss asymptote. Thus, a quantum-mechanical tunneling mechanism is invoked to explain the preponderance of the H2-loss signal for the metastable ion.     

Short synthesis of novel 9,11-secosterols

Starting from ergosterol two novel 9,11-secosterols with modified side chains (1a) and (1c) were synthesized via eight main transformations.