Dynamic molecular recognition in the generation of a new crystal-engineering motif: a unique case study of a dicarboxylic acid with a ditopic receptor favouring a polymeric over a dimeric hydrogen-bonded supramolecular complex

A new crystal-engineering motif has been developed where a ditopic receptor 1 shows a novel syn-syn hydrogen-bonded polymeric supramolecular complex (Fig. 4b) (instead of a 1:1 dimeric syn-syn or polymeric syn-anti complex) giving rise to a hydrogen-bonded stair-like polymeric ribbon structure between the binding groups of the receptor pyridine amide and the carboxyl groups of the guest substrate.     

Combinatorial Synthesis and Multidimensional NMR Spectroscopy: An Approach to Understanding Protein–Ligand Interactions

Combinatorial chemistry is a laboratory emulation of natural recombination and selection processes. Strategies in this developing discipline involve the generation of diverse, molecular libraries through combinatorial synthesis and the selection of compounds that possess a desired property. Such approaches can facilitate the identification of ligands that bind to biological receptors, promoting our chemical understanding of cellular processes. This article illustrates that the coupling of combinatorial synthesis, multidimensional NMR spectroscopy, and biochemical methods has enhanced our understanding of a protein receptor used commonly in signal transduction, the Src Homology 3 (SH3) domain. This novel approach to studying molecular recognition has revealed a set of rules that govern SH3–ligand interactions, allowing models of receptor–ligand complexes to be constructed with only a knowledge of the polypeptide sequences. Combining combinatorial synthesis with structural methods provides a powerful new approach to understanding how proteins bind their ligands in general.     

模式识别—人工神经网络在化学中的若干新应用

本文通过我们应用模式识别－人工神经网络方法预报新化合物、熔盐相图以及复杂化学反应体系的研究，展示应用模式识别－人工神经网络方法与物理化学理论相结合，研究化学现象的可能性和应用价值。     

Molecular-shape recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in reversed phase liquid chromatography

Summary The molecular-shape recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been studied on various stationary phases in reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The examined stationary phases were phenyl-, diphenyl-, triphenyl- and benzyl-bonded silicas. The results of regression analysis inidcated that triphenylsilica is the best packing material to recognize the difference in the molecular-shape of structural isomers. This fact was confirmed by the separation of 4-ring isomers.     

Molecular recognition properties of salicylic acid-imprinted polymers

Summary Two molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) have been prepared using the acidic drug salicylic acid, which can form intramolecular hydrogen bond, as the template and acrylamide or 4-vinylpyridine as the functional monomer. HPLC was used to evaluate the binding performance of the MIP for the template and for several analogues. The results showed that the MIP (P₂) prepared using acrylamide as the functional monomer had no molecular imprinting effect whereas that (P₁) prepared using 4-vinylpyridine as the functional monomer had a significant molecular imprinting effect. The reason the molecular imprinting effect was different for the two MIP was elucidated and the molecular recognition properties of P₁ were studied in detail. It was confirmed that electrostatic interaction played an important role in the molecular recognition of P₁. Scatchard analysis showed that two types of binding site with distinctly different affinity were formed in P₁. Their dissociation constants were estimated to be 7.6×10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ and 3.2×10⁻³ mol L⁻¹, respectively. Because P₁ has high affinity and selectivity for salicylic acid not only in organic systems but also in water-containing systems, it gives P₁ the potential for use in the enrichment, separation, and detection of salicylic acid in biological fluids.     

分子印迹智能水凝胶的研究进展

智能水凝胶可以响应外界环境(如温度、pH、溶剂、离子强度、电场、磁场、光、压力和特异分子等)的变化,发生可逆体积相变,从而具有控制释放的能力.将分子印迹技术引入智能水凝胶,制备分子印迹智能水凝胶,不仅可以保持其环境响应性,更赋予其对特异分子的识别性能,从而可以根据外界环境的变化控制其对特定分子记忆功能的开关,实现自动识别并结合或释放特定分子.它有望应用于药物控释、生物传感和免疫分析等领域.本文综述了分子印迹智能水凝胶的研究现状,讨论了其目前所面临的挑战,并展望了其发展前景.     

Molecular recognition: comparative study of a tunable host-guest system by using a fluorescent model system and collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry on dendrimers

Host-guest interactions between the periphery of adamantylurea-functionalized dendrimers (host) and ureido acetic acid derivatives (guest) were shown to be specific, strong and spatially well-defined. The binding becomes stronger when using phosphonic or sulfonic acid derivatives. In the present work we have quantified the binding constants for the host-guest interactions between two different host motifs and six different guest molecules. The host molecules, which resemble the periphery of a poly(propylene imine) dendrimer, have been fitted with an anthracene-based fluorescent probe. The two host motifs differ in terms of the length of the spacer between a tertiary amine and two ureido functionalities. The guest molecules all contain an acidic moiety (either a carboxylic acid, a phosphonic acid, or a sulfonic acid) and three of them also contain an ureido moiety capable of forming multiple hydrogen bonds to the hosts. The binding constants for all 12 host-guest complexes have been determined by using fluorescence titrations by monitoring the increase in fluorescence of the host upon protonation by the addition of the guest. The binding constants could be tuned by changing the design of the acidic part of the guest. The formation of hydrogen bonds gives, in all cases, higher association constants, demonstrating that the host is more than a proton sensor. The host with the longer spacer (propyl) shows higher association constants than the host with the shorter spacer (ethyl). The gain in association constants are higher when the urea function is added to the guests for the host with the longer spacer, indicating a better fit. Collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry (CID-MS) is used to study the stability of the six motifs using the corresponding third generation dendrimer. A similar trend is found when the six different guests are compared.     

Steroid Cyclophanes as Artificial Cell-surface Receptors. Molecular Recognition and its Consequence in Signal Transduction Behavior

Steroid cyclophanes, bearing four bile acid moieties covalently placed on a tetraazaparacyclophane skeleton, were designed and synthesized as artificial cell-surface receptors. Guest-binding behavior of the steroid cyclophanes embedded in a bilayer membrane formed with a synthetic peptide lipid was clarified by means of fluorescence and circular dichroism spectroscopy. We found that the steroid cyclophane effectively bound aromatic guests in both bilayer membranes and aqueous solution. In addition, copper(II) ions acted as a guest species for the steroid cyclophane and a competitive inhibitor toward a NADH-dependent lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). On these grounds, we constituted a supramolecular assembly as an artificial signaling system in combination with the steroid cyclophane, a cationic peptide lipid, and LDH. As a consequence, the steroid cyclophane acted as an effective artificial cell-surface receptor being capable of transmitting an external signal to the enzyme in collaboration with copper(II) ions as a signal transmitter.