Effect of group II metal cations on catecholate oxidation.

The unexpected effects of Ca(2+) on the free-radical chain reactions of dopamine, norepinephrine, isoproterenol, and pyrocatechol oxidation are studied using oxygen consumption measurements, EPR-spectroscopy, UV/VIS spectrophotometry, and by potentiometric titration. It is found that the formation of Ca(2+)-catecholate complexes is accompanied by an increase in the dissociation constants (K(ai) ) of their phenolic hydroxyls. At pH>pK(ai) and in the presence of alkaline-earth metal cations, the rate of catecholate oxidation increases (Ca(2+), Mg(2+)> Sr(2+), Ba(2+)), whereas on addition of Zn ions the rate decreases. The effects of Group II metal cations on catecholate autoxidation are concomitant with a transient increase of the EPR signal for metal-semiquinonate complexes. Therefore, the effects of Ca(2+) and other alkaline-earth metal cations on catecholate autoxidation can be defined as 1) additional deprotonation of catechol OH-groups involved in the formation of M(2+)-catecholate complexes, the latter exceeding catechols in the susceptibility to dioxygen-induced oxidation and 2) formation of relatively stable free-radical intermediates responsible for chain propagation.     

Structural and dynamic variations in DNA hexamers containing T-T and F-F single and tandem internal mispairs

Molecular dynamics simulations of double-helical DNA oligomers have been performed to investigate differences in the structure, dynamics, and hydration of F-F and T-T mispairs. Hexamers containing F-F pairs were found to be more dynamic, especially in the region of the mispair itself. This dynamic variability derives from greater flexibility of F-F pairs. The T-T mispairs, on the other hand, were found to be comparatively tightly bound as wobble pairs. The major and minor groove edges of the T-T pairs were observed to be solvated at exposed carbonyl positions by at least one water molecule, while F-F pairs lacked solvating waters. Stacking interactions were nearly identical for T-T and F-F pairs, leading to similar average structures, even though F stacking was more dynamically variable. Solvation differences between F-F and T-T therefore support the steric exclusion model for nucleotide incorporation in DNA replication. Large differences in the orientation of minor groove functional groups, in addition to differences in solvation, further rationalize why F bases present during DNA extension events induce stalls. Two novel nucleotides are proposed to further elucidate minor groove interactions of DNA with polymerase molecules.Electronic Supplementary Material This Material consists of equilibration protocol, plots of center-of-mass stacking, water radial distribution functions, helical parameter dynamics, and dynamics data for a control AT sequence. Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Contribution to the Jacopo Tomasi Honorary Issue     

卟啉作为信号传递介质的紫外可见光谱研究

合成了6种氨基酸水杨醛席夫碱(Sal-AA)：Sal-Gly(甘氨酸)、Sal-Phe(苯丙氨酸)、Sal-Arg(精氨酸)、Sal-Tyr(酪氨酸)、Sal-Met(甲硫氨酸)、Sal-Glu(谷氨酸)及其金属铜配合物。并分别在2种不同介质(三氯甲烷和甲醇)中，与四苯基卟啉TPP进行反应，研究了其紫外可见光谱性质，讨论了卟啉作为人工信号转导体系的传递介质，与氨基酸水杨醛席夫碱铜配合物的反应中，实现信号分子铜离子进一步传递的可能性以及溶剂对该信号传递的影响。结果表明，在三氯甲烷为溶剂时，除了Sal-Met的铜配合物之外，其余均能被TPP夺取而形成Metal TPP。而在以甲醇为溶剂时，只有Sal-Gly的铜配合物能被TPP所夺取。     

用于直接合成碳酸二甲酯的新型高活性催化剂 A Novel Highly Active Catalyst for the Direct Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate

 将CO2直接合成法和酯交换法相结合,通过超强碱的引入和催化剂的微粉化,制备了一种新型的负载于MgO表面的碱-金属盐路易斯酸双组分催化剂,实现了以CO2,甲醇和环氧丙烷为原料的碳酸二甲酯一步直接合成.     

Physicochemical and structural properties of bacteriostatic sulfonamides: Theoretical study

A theoretical study at the Hartree–Fock and density functional theory levels is performed on sulfonamide‐type bacteriostatic compounds with the aim to provide an insight into their structure–activity relationship. The basicity of the p‐amino group is analyzed by means of the proton affinities and the protonation energies, showing that molecules presenting bacteriostatic activity are less basic, i.e., they are characterized by larger protonation energies and smaller proton affinities. The acidity of the amide group is analyzed through the deprotonation energy. The results reveal that the more acidic molecules present a larger bacteriostatic activity. This result is also confirmed from a study of bond orders. A bond order analysis of the amide group suggests that the electron attracting group in these molecules is responsible for the increase in acidity. The charge of the SO₂ group is also shown to be affected by the presence of the electron attracting group and consequently related to the acidity of the molecules. A geometric analysis shows that structures in which the amino group is more coplanar with respect to the benzenic ring possess larger bacteriostatic activity. A conformational analysis of these molecules illustrates that active molecules have relatively larger torsion energy barriers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 94: 165–172, 2003     

错配核酸的研究进展

本文通过介绍多种错配核酸的结构及其热力学性质，详细地描述了非Watson-Crick配对核酸的最新进展。这方面的研究有利于阐明生物体内错配核酸的识别修复机理及核酸二级结构的预测，并为合理设计新的人工核酸修复酶提供了理论基础。     

Molecular Recognition of Nucleic Acid Bases in Water by Hydrogen Bonding of Poly(vinyldiaminotriazine)

Poly(2-vinyl-4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazine) efficiently binds nucleic acid bases and nucleosides in water by using complementary hydrogen bonding. The binding activity decreases in the order: U, T > A C, G. The corresponding monomer shows virtually no activity, indicating a predominant role of polymer effect for the molecular recognition in water.     

A novel indicator series for measuring pKa values in acetonitrile

A series of substituted azobenzene dyes was found to span a range of 8 pK_a units in acetonitrile. The UV absorption spectra of the dyes are responsive to protonation, changing in both absorption maximum and intensity. These characteristics make the dyes useful as indicators for the measurement of pK_a values of neutral organic bases that absorb in the visible region of the spectrum.     

Carbon dendron nano-chains with π-extended conjugation based on end-capped N,N-dimethylamino in linear 1,4-phenylethynyl or in 1,5-naphthylethynyl subunits: fluorescence analysis

The synthesis of dendrons with the end-capped 5-(N,N-dimethylamino)naphthyl-1-ethynyl unit connected to conjugated naphthylethynyl or p-phenylethynyl chains, as the branches of the 1,3,5-substituted benzene core, have been undertaken by heterocoupling reaction between 1,3,5-triiodobenzene and the convenient end-capped 5-(N,N-dimethylamino)naphthylacetylene or 5-(N,N-dimethylamino)naphthylethynylphenylacetylene in the presence of the palladium-copper catalyst system, in excellent yields. The influence of the alternating naphthylethynyl-phenylethynyl chains on the fluorescence emission radiation, in the dendron structures, has been analyzed.     

Schiff碱双核Mn配合物的合成、结构和性能研究

Five manganese complexes of Schiff base were synthesized： [Mn^Ⅳ，Ⅳ(μ-O)(Salen)]₂·DMF·H₂O (1)， [Mn^Ⅳ，Ⅳ(μ-O)(5-BrSalen)]₂·DMF·0.5H₂O (2)， {Mn^Ⅳ，Ⅳ(μ-O)[Sal(1，2-pn)]}₂·H₂O (3)， {Mn^Ⅳ，Ⅳ(μ-O)[5-Br-Sal(1，2-pn)]}₂·H₂O (4)， {Mn^Ⅳ，Ⅳ(μ-O)[5-CH₃-Sal(1，2-pn)]}₂·2H₂O (5)， and were characterized by element analysis， IR and UV-Vis spectra. The results of cyclic voltammogram show that Schiff base ligands can drop the potential of manganese and steady high oxide state of manganese. The magnetic properties of 1 and 3 have also been studied. The results show that there is a weak ferromagnetically coupling of Mn^Ⅳ₂ pair at room and low temperature， and the interactions of complex 3 are weaker than complex 1.