Factors influencing proton positions in biomolecules

Results of quantum mechanical calculations are presented that suggest a number of mechanisms whereby protons may be shifted from one group to another along an H bond. The first factor to be considered is a stretching of the bond that drastically raises the energy barrier to transfer. It is possible to predict barriers for an arbitrary system based only on results for a simple system and knowledge of the relevant bond length in the isolated subsystems. Factors that increase the intrinsic basicity of the B group in A-H-B lead not only to a lowering of the energy of the A-HB state relative to AH-B but also to a reduction in the barrier to transfer of the proton from A to B. Ions in the vicinity of the H bond exert a powerful influence and can shift the proton to the less basic group across a gradient of several pK units. Rather than shielding the proton from the external ion, the H bond acts instead to amplify the effects of the electric field. Reorientation of the A and B groups relative to one another, i.e., bends of the H bond, also produce surprisingly large changes in the relative energies of the AH-B and A-HB states. Such bends are capable of pushing the proton across to the normally less basic group, providing a mechanism of coupling conformational changes to proton ‘pumping’ activity. It is found that the high and low pH states of a given H bond can have dramatically differnt relative populations of the AH-B and A-HB configurations. These observations are explained in terms of fundamental concepts involving electrostatic interaction energies.     

Polymer lateral diffusion at the solid-liquid interface

Measurements are presented of how polymer surface diffusion at the solid-liquid interface is controlled by surface coverage. The method of measurement was fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and the system was poly(ethylene oxide) (PEG) adsorbed onto methyl-terminated self-assembled monolayers in buffered aqueous solution. The translational diffusion coefficient at first increased with increasing surface concentration, presumably because the number of adsorption sites per molecule decreased. Ultimately it slowed by 1 order of magnitude, presumably reflecting jamming by neighboring chains.     

An ab initio molecular orbital study of intramolecular H-bonding: 1,3 propanediol

An ab initio molecular orbital calculation has been carried out for three different conformations of 1,3 propanediol, one of which permits intramolecular H-bond studied by ab initio quantum mechanical methods. The ΔE for H-bonding formation is compated to be 0.9 kcal/mole and the charge redistributions and molecular orbital energy changes are compared to those found in intermolecular H-bonds.     

An alternative preparation of the 2-dimethylaminomethylene-1,3-bis(dimethylimmonio)propane salt from phosphonoacetic acids and some applications in heterocyclic synthesis

An alternative preparation of a 2-iminovinamidinium salt from phosphonoacetic acids is described along with its application to the synthesis of 5-formylpyrimidines and masked 4-formylpyrazoles.     

The first structural and spectroscopic characterization of a neptunyl polyoxometalate complex

The reaction between PW9O349- and NpO2+ has yielded the first structurally characterized neptunyl(V) polyoxometalate complex, [Na2(NpO2)2(A-PW9O34)2]14-. This complex is isostructural with the uranyl(VI) analogue, and there is also spectroscopic evidence for its existence in solution. The complex is readily extracted into toluene, and this may have significance in the sequestering and/or separation of the neptunyl ion in terms of nuclear waste management.     

High-speed gradient parallel liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry with fully automated sample preparation for bioanalysis: 30 seconds per sample from plasma

In this work, a high-throughput and high-performance bioanalytical system is described that is capable of extracting and analyzing 1152 plasma samples within 10 hours. A Zymark track robot system interfaced with a Tecan Genesis liquid handler was used for simultaneous solid-phase extraction of four 96-well plates in a fully automated fashion. The extracted plasma samples were injected onto four parallel monolithic columns for separation via a four-injector autosampler. The use of monolithic columns allowed for fast and well-resolved separations at a considerably higher flow rate without generating significant column backpressure. This resulted in a total chromatographic run cycle time of 2 min on each 4.6 x 100 mm column using gradient elution. The effluent from the four columns was directed to a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer equipped with an indexed four-probe electrospray ionization source (Micromass MUX interface). Hence, sample extraction, separation, and detection were all performed in a four-channel parallel format that resulted in an overall throughput of about 30 s per sample from plasma. The performance of this system was evaluated by extracting and by analyzing twelve 96-well plates (1152) of human plasma samples spiked with oxazepam at different concentrations. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of analyte sensitivity (slope of calibration curve) across the four channels and across the 12 plates was 5.2 and 6.8%, respectively. An average extraction recovery of 77.6% with a RSD of 7.7% and an average matrix effect of 0.95 with a RSD of 5.2% were achieved using these generic extraction and separation conditions. The good separation efficiency provided by this system allowed for rapid method development of an assay quantifying the drug candidate and its close structural analog metabolite. The method was cross-validated with a conventional liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) assay.     

Chromium(III) Hydroxide Solubility in the Aqueous K+-H+-OH?-CO2-HCO 3? -CO 32? -H2O System: A?Thermodynamic Model

Chromium(III)-carbonate reactions are expected to be important in managing high-level radioactive wastes. Extensive studies on the solubility of amorphous Cr(III) hydroxide solid in a wide range of pH (3–13) at two different fixed partial pressures of CO₂(g) (0.003 or 0.03 atm.), and as functions of K₂CO₃ concentrations (0.01 to 5.8 mol⋅kg⁻¹) in the presence of 0.01 mol⋅dm⁻³ KOH and KHCO₃ concentrations (0.001 to 0.826 mol⋅kg⁻¹) at room temperature (22±2 °C) were carried out to obtain reliable thermodynamic data for important Cr(III)-carbonate reactions. A combination of techniques (XRD, XANES, EXAFS, UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, thermodynamic analyses of solubility data, and quantum mechanical calculations) was used to characterize the solid and aqueous species. The Pitzer ion-interaction approach was used to interpret the solubility data. Only two aqueous species [Cr(OH)(CO₃)₂²⁻ and Cr(OH)₄CO₃³⁻] are required to explain Cr(III)-carbonate reactions in a wide range of pH, CO₂(g) partial pressures, and bicarbonate and carbonate concentrations. Calculations based on density functional theory support the existence of these species. The log ₁₀ K° values of reactions involving these species [{Cr(OH)₃(am) + 2CO₂(g)⇌Cr(OH)(CO₃)₂²⁻+2H⁺} and {Cr(OH)₃(am) + OH⁻+CO₃²⁻ ⇌Cr(OH)₄CO₃³⁻}] were found to be −(19.07±0.41) and −(4.19±0.19), respectively. No other data on any Cr(III)-carbonato complexes are available for comparisons.     

Complete ozonolysis of alkyl substituted ethenes at -60 degrees C: distributions of ozonide and oligomeric products

The distribution of ozonide and oligomeric structures formed on complete ozonolysis of alkenes in a non-participating solvent at -60 degrees C is governed by the alkyl substitution around the carbon-carbon double bond. The ozonolysis of a 1,1-alkyl substituted ethene generally favours the formation of an ozonide (a 1,2,4-trioxolane). Whereas the ozonolysis of a 1,1,2-alkyl substituted ethene also produces ozonide, a considerable amount of the ozonised products are oligomeric in nature. For example, the ozonolysis of 3-methylpent-2-ene in solution to high conversion in pentane yields oligomers with structural units derived from the fragmentation products of the primary ozonide (a 1,2,3-trioxolane) which are namely butanone carbonyl oxide and acetaldehyde; these can be characterised by electrospray ionisation mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS) under soft ionisation conditions. The predominant oligomers formed are rich in carbonyl oxide units (80 + mol%) and are cyclic in nature. A small proportion of the oligomers formed are open chain compounds with end groups that suggest that chain termination is brought about either by water or by hydrogen peroxide. Residual water in the solvent will react with the carbonyl oxides to produce 2-methoxybut-2-yl hydroperoxide, which we propose readily decomposes generating hydrogen peroxide. A significant yield of oligomers also is obtained from the ozonolysis of a 1,2-alkyl substituted ethene. The ozonolysis of trans-hex-2-ene in pentane yields oligomers containing up to four structural units and are predicted to be mainly cyclic.