MECHANISM OF PHOTOOXYGENATION OF THE CD (II) COMPLEX OF PYROPHEOPHORBIDE A METHYL ESTER

Photooxygenation of (pyropheophorbidato a methyl ester)cadmium (II) was studied using ^18,18O₂ labeling of the molecular oxygen required for cleavage of the macrocycle. After reductive demetallation of the primary oxidation product (4,5-dioxo-4,5-secopyropheophorbidato a methyl ester)cadmium (II), the isotope content of formylbilinone 4a was analyzed by repeated-scan fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry. Comparison of the spectroscopic data of the labeled pigment 4a with the statistical probabilities of¹⁸ O isotope incorporation calculated for four possible reaction mechanisms clearly proves that photooxidative ring cleavage occurred by the one-molecule mechanism, i.e. the terminal oxygen atoms of 4a were derived from one oxygen molecule. Furthermore, a study of the exchange of the¹⁸ O-labeled atoms revealed that no exchange occurs within the pH 4.5–9.5 range. In stronger alkaline or acidic solutions, only the oxygen atom of the formyl group is exchanged. Hydrolysis of the methyl ester group of 4a was achieved, without loss of the¹⁸ O label on the formyl group, at pH 7.2 in the presence of pig liver esterase.     

Deposition of Oral Bacteria and Polystyrene Particles to Quartz and Dental Enamel in a Parallel Plate and Stagnation Point Flow Chamber

The aim of this paper is to determine to what extent (i) deposition of oral bacteria and polystyrene particles, (ii) onto quartz and dental enamel with and without a salivary conditioning film, (iii) in a parallel plate (PP) and stagnation point (SP) flow chamber and at common Peclet numbers are comparable. All three bacterial strains showed different adhesion behaviors, and even Streptococcus mitis BMS, possessing a similar cell surface hydrophobicity as polystyrene particles, did not mimic polystyrene particles in its adhesion behavior, possibly as a result of the more negative ζ potentials of the polystyrene particles. The stationary endpoint adhesion of all strains, including polystyrene particles, was lower in the presence of a salivary conditioning film, while also desorption probabilities under flow were higher in the presence of a conditioning film than in its absence. Deposition onto quartz and enamel surfaces was different, but without a consistent trend valid for all strains and polystyrene particles. It is concluded that differences in experimental results exist, and the process of bacterial deposition to enamel surfaces cannot be modeled by using polystyrene particles and quartz collector surfaces.     

Reactions of lithiated 2,5-dimethylazaferrocene with selected electrophiles

Lithiation of 2,5-dimethylazaferrocene 1 with sec-BuLi/TMEDA in THF at −78 °C proceeds (as shown by quenching with D₂O) to comparable extent on the methyl groups and the Cp ring. However, the outcome of the reaction of the lithiated 1 with an electrophile depends on the nature of this electrophile. In the reaction with 4-methoxybenzaldehyde only the product originated from the lateral lithiation is formed, whereas the reaction with 4-methoxyacetophenone and 4,4′-dimethoxybenzophenone afforded mixtures of the products resulting from lateral and ring-lithiation. Similar results were also obtained in the reaction of lithiated 1 with chlorodiphenylphosphine and diphenyl diselenide. On the other hand, the exclusive formation of the Cp-substituted product was observed in the reaction of lithiated 1 with N,N-dimethylformamide. The structures of selected products (oily compounds were transformed into the corresponding crystalline W(CO)₅-complexes) were confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The presented reactions open a novel entry to specifically substituted azaferrocenes (especially those containing heteroatom substituents) with potential applications as ligands for the homogenous catalysis.     

CS+(B2Σ+ → A 2Πi) fluorescence from penning excitation of CS

The energy transfer reation of He(2³S) + CS was studied spectroscopically in a flowing afterglow apparatus. The CS⁺(B²Σ⁺ → A ²Π_i) transition is identified via three members of the Δν = 0 sequence (406–415 nm). The spin-orbit splitting of the (0, 0) band of CS⁺(A ²Π_i) is 301 ± 5 cm^?1. A weak emitting system (280–340 nm) is tentatively identified as CS⁺(B²Σ⁺→ X²Σ⁺).     

The synthesis and characterisation of 1′-ethynyl-2,5-dimethylazaferrocene and derivatives

The synthesis of 1′-ethynyl-2,5-dimethylazaferrocene is reported along with its cyclic voltammetry measurements and the X-ray structure determination of its W(CO)₅-complex. Basic coordination and organic chemistry of 1′-ethynyl-2,5-dimethylazaferrocene is also presented via derivatives incorporating cis-Pt(dppe) and Si(Et)₃ units.     

Adsorption of bovine alpha-lactalbumin on suspended solid nanospheres and its subsequent displacement studied by NMR spectroscopy

Detailed knowledge of the adsorption-induced conformational changes of proteins is essential to understand the process of protein adsorption. However, not much information about these conformational changes is available. Here, the adsorption of calcium-depleted (APO)- and calcium-containing (HOLO)-bovine alpha-lactalbumin (BLA) on suspended solid polystyrene nanospheres and their subsequent displacement by a surfactant are studied by NMR spectroscopy. To our knowledge, this is the first time that adsorption of proteins on solid nanospheres, with both components present in the NMR sample, is studied by this method. High-quality one-dimensional and two-dimensional 1H NMR spectra of nonadsorbed APO- and HOLO-BLA in the presence of BLA- and/or surfactant-covered solid polystyrene nanospheres in suspension are obtained using standard NMR procedures. BLA and surfactant molecules that are adsorbed on the polystyrene nanospheres give rise to extremely broadened proton resonances. This can be exploited to determine the amount of adsorbed protein and of adsorbed surfactant in a system containing protein, nanospheres, and surfactant, without disturbing the equilibrium of the system. Two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy shows that the chemical shifts of the backbone amide protons of HOLO-BLA after its adsorption and subsequent displacement from polystyrene nanospheres by the surfactant 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulfonate (CHAPS) are identical to those of native HOLO-BLA. The adsorption-induced unfolding of BLA to a molten globule state on polystyrene nanospheres is thus fully reversible at the residue level upon CHAPS-induced displacement of BLA. The latter is the now fulfilled essential requirement that enables the future indirect study, at the residue level, of the conformational characteristics of BLA adsorbed on polystyrene nanospheres by hydrogen/deuterium exchange and NMR spectroscopy. The results presented show that NMR spectroscopy is clearly feasible to study the adsorption of BLA on suspended polystyrene nanospheres. This technique should be applicable to the study of the adsorption of other proteins on other surfaces as well.     

Kinetics of cooperative conformational transitions of lineal biopolymers

Cooperative conformational transitions of proteins and nucleic acids are of decisive importance to many processes of molecular biology, and particularly to their regulation. They proceed via numerous interdependent elementary processes, and their kinetics are therefore often complicated. They are frequently also very fast. However, kinetic analyses can be carried out by chemical relaxation methods. The theoretical interpretation is comparatively simple in the case of linear biopolymers. When the linear Ising model extended for kinetics was applied to model peptides and polynucleotides, it provided an insight into the fundamental principles of cooperative transformations.     

Routine clinical determination of carotene, vitamin E, vitamin A, 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 and trans-vitamin K1 in human serum by straight phase HPLC

A universal extraction procedure is described for fat-soluble vitamins in human serum. Methods are presented for routine quantitative analysis by isocratic straight phase HPLC with UV-detection of (alpha + beta)-carotene, vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) and vitamin A (all-trans-retinol) in one single run, and of vitamin K1 (trans-phylloquinone) and 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 after sample clean-up using disposable reversed-phase cartridges. The limits of detection, precisions and selectivities of the developed assays are shown to be satisfactory after more than three years' experience. The routine clinical determination of fat-soluble vitamins can be performed in less than 5 mL of serum. Analyses of external quality control and randomly taken outpatient samples are shown to be of great value in assessing laboratory performance.