Unravelling the Time Scale of Conformational Plasticity and Allostery in Glycan Recognition by Human Galectin-1

The interaction of human galectin-1 with a variety of oligosaccharides, from di-(N-acetyllactosamine) to tetra-saccharides (blood B type-II antigen) has been scrutinized by using a combined approach of different NMR experiments, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and isothermal titration calorimetry. Ligand- and receptor-based NMR experiments assisted by computational methods allowed proposing three-dimensional structures for the different complexes, which explained the lack of enthalpy gain when increasing the chemical complexity of the glycan. Interestingly, and independently of the glycan ligand, the entropy term does not oppose the binding event, a rather unusual feature for protein-sugar interactions. CLEANEX-PM and relaxation dispersion experiments revealed that sugar binding affected residues far from the binding site and described significant changes in the dynamics of the protein. In particular, motions in the microsecond-millisecond timescale in residues at the protein dimer interface were identified in the presence of high affinity ligands. The dynamic process was further explored by extensive MD simulations, which provided additional support for the existence of allostery in glycan recognition by human galectin-1.     

Cyclic Bis-alkylidene Complexes of Titanium and Zirconium: Synthesis,Characterization, and Reaction

Transition-metal alkylidenes have exhibited wide applications in organometallic chemistry and synthetic organic chemistry, however, cyclic Schrock-carbene-like bis-alkylidenes of group 4 metals with a four-electron donor from an alkylidene have not been reported. Herein, the synthesis and characterization of five-membered cyclic bis-alkylidenes of titanium ( 4 a , b ) and zirconium ( 5 a , b ) are reported, as the first well-defined group 4 metallacyclopentatrienes, by two-electron reduction of their corresponding titana- and zirconacyclopentadienes. DFT analyses of 4 a show a four-electron donor (σ-donation and π-donation) from an alkylidene carbon to the metal center. The reaction of 4 a with N,N′-diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) leads to the [2+2]-cycloaddition product 6 . Compound 4 a reacted with CO, affording the oxycyclopentadienyl titanium complex 7 . These reactivities demonstrate the multiple metal–carbon bond character. The reactions of 4 a or 5 a with cyclooctatetraene (COT) or azobenzene afforded sandwich titanium complex 8 or diphenylhydrazine-coordinated zirconacyclopentadiene 9 , respectively, which exhibit two-electron reductive ability.     

Synthesis,characterization and redox properties of Ar–C=N→Ge←N=C–Ar containing system

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TEMPO-mediated radical polymerization in the synthesis of poly(methyl methacrylate) macromonomer

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碱金属盐催化1,2,4-三唑与α,β-不饱和酮及二酰亚胺的氮杂Michael反应

发展了一种高效的碱金属盐催化1,2,4-三唑与α,β-不饱和酮及α,β-不饱和二酰亚胺的氮杂Michael加成反应的新方法,以中等到优异的产率得到目标产物.该方法原料易得,底物普适性好,反应条件温和,易实现克级规模的制备.产物容易转化为相应的γ-氨基醇.     

Pyridinium-functionalized metalloporphyrins as bifunctional catalysts for cycloaddition of epoxides and carbon dioxide

New pyridinium-functionalized metalloporphyrins MEtPpBr₄ (M = Zn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺; EtPp = 5, 10, 15, 20-tetra(4-(3-(N-ethyl-4-pyridyl)pyrazolyl)phenyl)porphyrin) were synthesized as bifunctional catalysts for the cycloaddition reactions of epoxides and CO₂. The effects of catalyst loading, CO₂ pressure, reaction temperature and time on catalytic activity were investigated. ZnEtPpBr₄ ( 1 ) and CoEtPpBr₄ ( 2 ) exhibited efficient activities in the cycloaddition reactions of various epoxides with CO₂ as at 120 °C under 2 MPa of CO₂ pressure without solvent. Most of corresponding cyclic carbonates could be obtained in almost quantitative yields and > 99.9% selectivity with molar ratio of epoxide/catalyst 2222 after 8 hr of reaction.     

Reduced graphene oxide supported copper oxide nanocomposites: An efficient heterogeneous and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of ynones, 1,3-diynes and 1,5-benzodiazepines in one-pot under sustainable reaction conditions

A greener and efficient method for the synthesis of ynones and 1,3-diynes using copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) doped reduced graphene oxide (CuO@rGO) catalyst under palladium, ligand and solvent free conditions have been developed. The catalyst was subsequently utilized for the synthesis of biologically active 1,5-benzodiazepines in one pot via sequential addition of acyl chlorides, terminal alkynes and o-phenylenediamines. The methodology initially involves in situ formation of ynones which react with o-phenylenediamines in presence of ethanol to afford a wide variety of benzodiazepines. Mild reaction conditions, good to an excellent yield of the products, cheap and recyclable catalyst make this methodology environmentally benign and sustainable.     

Enhanced electronic and nonlinear optical responses of C24N24 cavernous nitride fullerene by decoration with first row transition metals; A computational investigation

The electronic (energy gap and work function) as well as electrical properties (dipole moment, polarizability, and first hyperpolarizabilities) of the first-row transition metals decorated C₂₄N₂₄ cavernous nitride fullerene were explored using DFT calculations. The transition metals are decorated at N4 cavity of C₂₄N₂₄ fullerene. According to our spin polarized computations, the most stable spin state monotonically increases to sextet for Mn@C₂₄N₂₄ and thereafter dropped off gradually to singlet state for Zn@C₂₄N₂₄ system. The findings demonstrate that transition metals can remarkably decrease the HOMO-LUMO energy gap and work function values up to 63% and 21% of bare C₂₄N₂₄, respectively. As can be seen, when the Sc and Ti metals are located above the N4 cavity of fullerene, systems of enhanced static hyperpolarizabilities (β₀) are delivered. These findings might provide an effective strategy to design high performance eletcro-optical materials based on carbon- nitride fullerene.     

Cyclic Disulfide Liposomes for Membrane Functionalization and Cellular Delivery

Liposomes are effective therapeutic delivery nanocarriers due to their ability to encapsulate and enhance the pharmacokinetic properties of a wide range of therapeutics. Two primary areas in which improvement is needed for liposomal drug delivery is to enhance the ability to infiltrate cells and to facilitate derivatization of the liposome surface. Herein, we report a liposome platform incorporating a cyclic disulfide lipid (CDL) for the dual purpose of enhancing cell entry and functionalizing the liposome membrane through thiol-disulfide exchange. In order to accomplish this, CDL-1 and CDL-2 , composed of lipoic acid (LA) or asparagusic acid (AA) appended to a lipid scaffold, were designed and synthesized. A fluorescence-based microplate immobilization assay was implemented to show that these compounds enable convenient membrane decoration through reaction with thiol-functionalized small molecules. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy experiments indicated dramatic enhancements in cellular delivery when CDLs were incorporated within liposomes. These results demonstrate that multifunctional CDLs serve as an exciting liposome system for surface decoration and enhanced cellular delivery.     

Two questions on semi-clean group rings

It was proved in [4] that every group ring of a torsion abelian group over a commutative local ring is a semi-clean ring. It was asked in [4] whether every group ring of a torsion abelian group over a commutative clean ring is a semi-clean ring and whether every group ring of a torsion abelian group over a commutative semi-clean ring is a semi-clean ring. In this paper, we give a positive answer to question 1 and a negative answer to question 2.