Complex Formation of Acetic Acid with Ca(II) and Mg(II) Under Physiological Conditions

Potentiometric titrations of aqueous acetic acid alone and in the presence of Ca(II) or Mg(II) ions have been carried out under physiological conditions at the temperature 37 °C and ionic strength 0.15 mol⋅dm⁻³ (NaCl) at different ligand-to-metal ratios. Changes in pH were monitored with a glass electrode calibrated daily in terms of the hydrogen ion concentrations. Titration data within the pH range 2.5 to 6.6 were analyzed to determine stability constants using the SUPERQUAD program. Different combinations of complexes were considered during the calculation procedure for both systems, but evidence was found only for mononuclear ML and ML₂ species. Speciation calculations based on the corresponding constants were then used to simulate the species’ distributions.     

Donsker Type Theorem in Besov Spaces Involving Regularly Varying Functions

We determine the limit under weak convergence of certain normalized partial sums of stationary variables with regularly varying covariance. It is shown that in some Besov spaces the limit process is the fractional Brownian motion.     

Crystal Structure, (31P, 13C) MAS-NMR,IR Spectroscopy and Thermal Investigations of 2,6-Dimethylanilinium Dihydrogenmonophosphate Monohydrate

Chemical preparation, crystal structure, thermal analysis, IR absorption, and NMR studies are given for a new hybrid organic-inorganic compound, the (2,6-dimethyanilinium) dihydrogenophosphate monohydrate [C ₈ H ₁₂ N]H ₂ PO ₄ ·H ₂ O. This compound crystallizes in a triclinic P=1 unit-cell, with a = 7.392(5) Å, b = 8.323(3) Å, c = 10.306(5) Å, α = 95.769 (4)°, β = 102.642 (3)°, γ = 113.498(2)°, V = 554.88(5) Å ³ , and Z = 2. Its crystal structure is determined and refined to R = 0.040 with 1942 independent reflections. The atomic arrangement can be described by inorganic layers built by H ₂ PO ₄ ^? anions, and H ₂ O molecules with which the organic molecules perform different interactions to form a stable 3D network. Solid state ³¹ P and ¹³ C CP-MAS-NMR spectroscopies are in agreement with the X-ray structure.     

Structure and Synthesis of a New Library of N,N-Bis-[1,2,4]triazol-1-ylmethyl-amino Compounds

New N,N-bis(triazol-1-ylmethyl)amines have been prepared in one step by condensation of 1-(hydroxymethyl)triazole with a series of primary substituted aromatic amines. These reactions were carried out in refluxed CH₃CN for 4 h. The products were recuperated with excellent and good yields (75–90.5%). The x-ray crystallography structure of one of them has been studied.     

Formation of pearl-necklace monomorphic G-quadruplexes in the human CEB25 minisatellite

CEB25 is a human minisatellite locus, composed of slightly polymorphic 52-nucleotide (nt) tandem repeats. Genetically, most if not all individuals of the human population are heterozygous, carrying alleles ranging from 0.5 to 20 kb, maintained by mendelian inheritance but also subject to germline instability. To provide insights on the biological role of CEB25, we interrogated its structural features. We report the NMR structure of the G-quadruplex formed by the conserved 26-nt G-rich fragment of the CEB25 motif. In K(+) solution, this sequence forms a propeller-type parallel-stranded G-quadruplex involving a 9-nt central double-chain-reversal loop. This long loop is anchored to the 5'-end of the sequence by an A·T Watson-Crick base pair and a potential G·A noncanonical base pair. These base pairs contribute to the stability of the overall G-quadruplexstructure, as measured by an increase of about 17 kcal/mol in enthalpy or 6 °C in melting temperature. Further, we demonstrate that such a monomorphic structure is formed within longer sequence contexts folding into a pearl-necklace structure.     

Modeling and Multiobjective Optimization of A Fed-Batch Emulsion Copolymerization Process to Control the Resulting Particles Core-Shell Morphology

Summary: This paper deals with the design and control of the morphology of core-shell nanoparticles elaborated by fed-batch emulsion copolymerization of styrene and butyl-acrylate in the presence of a chain transfer agent (n-dodecyl mercaptan). A mathematical model was elaborated and validated. It consists of a system of differential algebraic equations involving 49 unknown kinetic and thermodynamic parameters, many of them being impossible to be accurately estimated, due to the lack of experimental data. A method based on the sensitivity analysis allowed us to determine a subset of the 21 most influential parameters. The 28 non estimable parameters were taken from the literature. The validated model was then used in a dynamic multiobjective optimization to optimize the best profile of the pre-emulsion feed rate to control (i) the composition and average molar masses of the copolymer, (ii) the instantaneous glass transition temperature, corresponding to a core-shell morphology suited for special end-use properties.     

Crystal structure and ionic conductivity of AgCr2(PO4)(P2O7)

Single crystals of a new phosphate AgCr₂(PO₄)(P₂O₇) have been prepared by the flux method and its structural and the infrared spectrum have been investigated. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system with the space group C2/c and the parameters are, a = 11.493 (3) Å, b = 8.486 (3) Å, c = 8.791 (2) Å, β = 114.56 (2)°, V = 779.8 (3) ųand Z = 4. Its structure consists of CrO₆ octahedra sharing corners with P₂O₇ units to form undulating chains extending infinitely along the [110] direction. These chains are connected by the phosphate tetrahedra giving rise to a 3D framework with six-sided tunnels parallel to the [101] direction, where the Ag⁺ ions are located. The infrared spectrum of this compound was interpreted on the basis of P₂O₇^4? and PO₄^3? vibrations. The appearance of ν_sP–O–P in the spectrum suggests a bent P–O–P bridge for the P₂O₇^4? ions in the compound, which is in agreement with the X-ray data. The electrical measurements allow us to obtain the activation energy of (1.36 eV) and the conductivity measurements suggest that the charge carriers through the structure are the silver captions.     

Quantification of DNA BI/BII backbone states in solution. Implications for DNA overall structure and recognition

The backbone states of B-DNA influence its helical parameters, groove dimensions, and overall curvature. Therefore, detection and fine characterization of these conformational states are desirable. Using routine NMR experiments on a nonlabeled B-DNA oligomer and analyzing high-resolution X-ray structures, we investigated the relationship between interproton distances and backbone conformational states. The three H2'i-H6/8i+1, H2' 'i-H6/8i+1, and H6/8i-H6/8i+1 sequential distances were found cross-correlated and linearly coupled to epsilon-zeta values in X-ray structures and 31P chemical shifts (deltaP) in NMR that reflect the interconversion between the backbone BI (epsilon-zeta < 0 degrees ) and BII (epsilon-zeta > 0 degrees) states. These relationships provide a detailed check of the NMR data consistency and the possibility to extend the set of restraints for structural refinement through various extrapolations. Furthermore, they allow translation of deltaP in terms of BI/BII ratios. Also, comparison of many published deltaP in solution to crystal data shows that the impact of sequence on the BI/BII propensities is similar in both environments and is therefore an intrinsic and general property of B-DNA. This quantification of the populations of BI and BII is of general interest because these sequence-dependent backbone states act on DNA overall structure, a key feature for DNA-protein-specific recognition.     

Γ-convergence and homogenization of functionals in Sobolev spaces with variable exponents

This paper is devoted to homogenization and minimization problems for variational functionals in the framework of Sobolev spaces with continuous variable exponents. We assume that the sequence of exponents converges in the uniform metric and that the Lagrangian has a periodic microstructure. Then under natural coerciveness assumptions we prove a Γ-convergence result and, as a consequence, the convergence of minimizers (solutions to the corresponding Euler equations).