Evidence for a nonradical pathway in the photoracemization of aryl sulfoxides

Photolysis of (R(S),S(C))-1-deuterio-2,2-dimethylpropyl p-tolyl sulfoxide provides mainly (S(S),S(C))-1-deuterio-2,2-dimethylpropyl p-tolyl sulfoxide at low conversion, though the other two stereoisomers are formed to smaller extents. Thus, the predominant process leading to sulfur inversion yields only sulfur inversion, without inversion of the adjacent CHD stereogenic center. This is taken as evidence for a mechanism for photochemical epimerization of sulfoxides that does not involve homolytic alpha-cleavage chemistry.     

Proteomic analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana cell wall

With the completion of the Arabidopsis genome, many hypothetical proteins have been predicted without any information on their expression, subcellular localisation and function. We have performed proteomic analysis of proteins sequentially extracted from enriched Arabidopsis cell wall fractions and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE). The proteins were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry and genomic database searches. This is part of a targeted exercise to establish the entire Arabidopsis secretome database. We report evidence for new proteins of unknown function whose existence had been predicted from genomic sequences and, furthermore, localise them to the cell wall. In addition, we observed an unexpected presence in the cell wall preparations of proteins whose known biochemical activity has never been associated with this compartment hitherto. We discuss the implications of these findings and present results suggesting a possible involvement of cell wall kinases in plant responses to pathogen attack.     

Synthesis and crystallographic characterization of a dicyclopentadienylvanadium alkynide complex: (C5H5)2VCCC(CH3)3

(C₅H₅)₂VCl reacts with LiCCC(CH₃)₃ to form (C₅H₅)₂VCCC(CH₃)₃ which was characterized by spectroscopic, analytical, and crystallographic methods. The complex crystallizes from pentane at 0°C as a monomer in the orthorhombic space group Pnma with four molecules in a unit cell of dimensions a 9.075(3), b 9.807(3), c 16.444(5) Å. Full-matrix least-squares refinement based upon 1300 nonzero intensity data converged to a final conventional R factor of 0.060. The molecule has a mean VC₅H₅-ring centroid distance of 1.941 Å with 146.6° ring centroid-V-ring centroid angle. The vanadium alkynide carbon distance is 2.075(5) Å.     

The distance dependence of triplet-triplet energy transfer at intermediate intermolecular separations with acetophenone-indole

The kinetics of triplet-triplet energy transfer between acetophenone and indole in rigid media are measured with pulsed excitation. The distance dependence of the transfer rate at intermolecular separations < 10 Å is found to be steeper than at larger distances. The data are interpreted in terms of a variation of effective nuclear charge with distance.     

15N-NMR spectroscopy. III. Neighboring residue effects in sequence polymers containing glycylglycine units

The tripeptides Phe-Gly-Gly, β-Ala-Gly-Gly, and ?-Aca-Gly-Gly as well as the peptide derivatives δ-isothiocyanatovaleroyl-Gly-Gly and ?-isothiocyanatocaproyl-Gly-Gly were synthesized by using known methods so that the peptide nitrogen between the two glycyl residues was isotopically enriched in ¹⁵N to a level of 0.8–0.9%. These monomer units were then used to produce the sequence polymers (Phe-Gly-Gly)_n, (β-Ala-Gly-Gly)_n, (δ-Ava-Gly-Gly)_n, and (?-Aca-Gly-Gly)_n. The 18.24 MHz ¹⁵N-NMR spectra of the oligo- and polypeptides were obtained by using trifluoroacetic acid as solvent, since the solutions have relatively low viscosity and exhibit a strong negative nuclear Overhauser enhancement of the ¹⁵N signals. For comparison, ¹⁵N-NMR spectra of the homopolymers (Gly)_n, (β-Ala)_n, (γ-Abu)_n, (δ-Ava)_n, and (?-Aca)_n were also recorded. The ¹⁵N signals from the ω-aminoacyl residues in the sequence polymers appear up to 11 ppm upfield of the signals observed for the homopolyamides. The ¹⁵N signals from the two glycyl residues are separated by 3–7 ppm. Comparison with the ¹³C-NMR spectra of the same polymers indicates that ¹⁵N-NMR is better suited for the characterization and sequence analysis of these types of polymers.     

Selective separations by reactive ion exchange: Part 4. Preconcentration of cadmium and zinc by in situ precipitation as hexacyanoferrate(II) salts on gel and macroporous ion-exchange resins

The in situ precipitation of traces of cadmium(II) and zinc(II) ions as hexacyanoferrates from aqueous matrices was studied on conventional polystyrene gel and macroporous cation- and anion-exchange resins. Coprecipitation with each other or with copper(II) ions present in binary cation resins or in solution, and the influence of added nonprecipitating ions of the same charge type such as magnesium(II) were investigated. Microporous (gel) cation exchangers gave reasonable recoveries and macroporous cation exchangers gave very good recoveries; but macroporous anion exchangers performed best, suggesting macroporous hexacyanoferrate(II) resin as an ideal phase for collection/preconcentration of traces of Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺, Zn²⁺, and possibly Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Pb²⁺ from waters. As expected, very low yields were obtained with conventional anion exchange resin in the hexacyanoferrate form. Uniform distribution of Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, and Cd²⁺ over macroporous anion-exchange resin phases were established by means of electron probe scans and taken as evidence for the formation of a uniform, well-developed precipitate layer covering the entire resin particle surface.     

Derivatisation for liquid chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry: synthesis of pyridinium compounds and their amine and carboxylic acid derivatives

A simple method has been developed for the pre-column derivatisation of low molecular weight primary and secondary amines and carboxylic acids using quaternary nitrogen compounds to enhance their detection by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS). The synthesis of seven novel quaternary nitrogen reagents is described. The derivatives are designed to be relatively small molecules to avoid some of the steric hindrance problems that may be associated with larger derivatisation reagents. The compounds have amine and carboxylic acid functional groups with which to derivatise carboxylic acids and amines, respectively. Two of the compounds contain a bromine atom in order to assess the advantages of a bromine isotope pattern in the mass spectra. This acts as a simple marker for derivatisation and enables data processing by cluster analysis.Activation of the carboxylic acid group was achieved by the use of either 1-chloro-4-methylpyridinium iodide (CMPI) or the more reactive 1-fluoro-4-methylpyridinium p-toluenesulphonate (FMP).1 Using both of these active reagents, the degree of nucleophilic substitution was investigated for the derivatisation of a variety of small molecules. Whilst giving some increase in the ESI-MS response for the derivatised compounds, the FMP itself acted as a derivatising reagent in a competing reaction. In the light of this finding, FMP was reacted with the test compounds separately and gave positive results as a derivatising reagent. Detection of the 'pre-charged' derivatives of amines and carboxylic acids by LC/ESI-MS was investigated with respect to their ESI response and chromatography.     

Inter-method comparison for the determination of antimony and arsenic in peat samples

Four analytical approaches, based on different physical principles, for the determination of antimony (Sb) and arsenic (As) in ancient peat samples were critically evaluated: (a) open vessel digestion/hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS), (b) closed-pressurized digestion in a microwave oven followed by sector field-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS), (c) digestion in a microwave autoclave and subsequent quadrupole-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (Q-ICP-MS) measurements and (d) instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The quality control scheme applied, always included the use of adequate plant reference materials to ensure the accuracy and precision of the analytical procedures. Additionally, two internal peat reference materials were analyzed using all four analytical approaches, generally showing good agreement for both elements. Method detection limits for As and Sb provided by all procedures were approximately 5 and 2 ng g⁻¹ which is sufficiently low for the reliable quantification of both elements in ancient, pre-anthropogenic peat samples. A comparison of As and Sb concentrations in a set of peat samples determined by INAA, HG-AAS and SF-ICP-MS revealed that INAA underestimated the values in a systematic manner, whereas HG-AAS and SF-ICP-MS data agreed very well. Best precision of the results was obtained by analytical procedures involving HG-AAS or Q-ICP-MS and varied from 3.6 to 4.3% and 7.1 to 7.5% for As (at about 0.5 μg g⁻¹) and Sb (at about 0.1 μg g⁻¹), respectively. The highest sample throughput (40 samples per run accomplished in 2 h) combined with low risk of sample contamination could be realized in the high-pressure microwave autoclave. The amount of sample required by all approaches was 200 mg, except for INAA which needed at least 25 times more sample mass to achieve comparable detection limits. For the quantification of As and Sb, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was preferred over INAA and HG-AAS, mainly because (a) less sample is needed and (b) As and Sb can be determined simultaneously. In addition, ICP-MS offers the possibility to measure concurrently a wide range of other elements which also are of environmental interest.     

Mediated amperometric biosensors for d-galactose,glycolate and l-amino acids based on a ferrocene-modified carbon paste electrode

Direct-current cyclic voltammetry is used to investigate the suitability of a ferrocene derivative as a mediator with galactose, glycolate and l-amino acid oxidases. The three enzymes coupled catalytically to ferrocene monocarboxylic acid exhibiting homogeneous second-order rate constants in the range 0.4 × 10⁵ to 8.5 × 10⁵ l mol^?1 s^?1. Enzyme electrodes which responded to d-galactose, glycolate or l-amino acids were constructed. The appropriate oxidase was retained behind a dialysis membrane at a carbon paste electrode containing the poorly soluble derivative 1,1′-dimethylferrocene. All the electrodes responded rapidly to millimolar concentrations of their respective substrates producing 95% of the steady-state current response in <2 min. This general method of biosensor construction should be widely applicable to oxidases and other oxidoreductase enzymes.     

The structure of malabricol

A single crystal X-ray analysis has confirmed the constitution and established the stereochemistry of the triterpene, malabaricol.