Basis set and density functional dependence of vibrational Raman optical activity calculations

We present an extensive investigation of the dependence of the scattering intensity difference of right and left circularly polarized light observed in vibrational Raman optical activity (VROA) on the choice of basis set and exchange-correlation functional. These dependencies are investigated for five molecules for which accurate experimental data are available: (S)-methyloxirane, (R)-epichlorhydrin, (S)-glycidol, (M)-spiro[2,2]pentane-1,4-diene, and (M)-sigma-[4]-helicene. Calculations are presented using the SVWN exchange-correlation functional (LDA), the BLYP exchange-correlation functional, and the B3LYP hybrid functional, using six different basis sets: the cc-pVDZ, cc-pVTZ, aug-cc-pVDZ, aug-cc-pVTZ, Sadlej's polarized basis set, and a minimal VROA basis set recently proposed by Zuber and Hug. It is demonstrated that results from pure gradient-corrected and hybrid functionals are comparable and that the aug-cc-pVDZ and aug-cc-pVTZ basis sets yield similar results. Furthermore, the combination of the small basis set by Zuber and Hug with an accurate force field represents the best compromise between computational accuracy and computational efficiency.     

Immunoaffinity screening with capillary electrochromatography

Highly efficient capillary electrochromatographic separations of cardiac glycosides and other steroids are presented. Employing butyl-derivatized silica particles as stationary phase resulted in a nearly three times faster electroosmotic flow (EOF) compared to capillary electrochromatography (CEC) with octadecyl silica particles. On-column focusing with a preconcentration factor of 180 was performed and separation efficiencies of up to 240,000 plates per meter were obtained. Using label-free standard UV absorbance, detection limits of 10-80 nM were reached for all steroids tested. For screening of cardiac glycosides, e.g., digoxin and digitoxin in mixtures of steroids, CEC was combined with immunoaffinity extraction using immobilized polyclonal anti-digoxigenin antibodies and F(ab) fragments. Simply adding small amounts of antibody carrying particles to the samples and comparing chromatograms before and after antibody addition allowed screening for high affinity antigens in mixtures with moderate numbers of compounds. Under conditions of competing antigens, affinity fingerprints of immobilized anti-digoxigenin and anti-digitoxin antibodies were obtained, reflecting the cross-reactivity of eleven steroids. The method provides high selectivity due to the combination of bioaffinity interaction with highly efficient CEC separation and UV detection at several wavelengths in parallel. This selectivity was exploited for the detection of four cardiac glycosides in submicromolar concentrations in an untreated urine sample.     

Die Addition von Säuren an Alkinderivate mit Push-pull-Gruppen,

The addition of proton acids as HF, HCl, HBr, HOAc and phenol to alkyne-derivatives of the type (CH₃)₂N? C?C? CO? R( 1 ) yielding the adducts 2 to 6 is investigated. The stereochemical course of the reaction is mainly influenced by the structure of the alkyne 1 . Kinetic investigations show that the rate of the third-order-reaction increases from 1 a (R?H) to 1 b (R ? CH₃) and 1 c (R ? OCH₃) and decreases drastically in polar solvents. According to these results a reaction mechanism is outlined and discussed.     

Prerequisites for peptidomic analysis of blood samples: II. Analysis of human plasma after oral glucose challenge -- a proof of concept

Mass spectrometric plasma analysis for biomarker discovery has become an exploratory focus in proteomic research: the challenges of analyzing plasma samples by mass spectrometry have become apparent not only since the human proteome organization (HUPO) has put much emphasis on the human plasma proteome. This work demonstrates fundamental proteomic research to reveal sensitivity and quantification capabilities of our Peptidomics technologies by detecting distinct changes in plasma peptide composition in samples after challenging healthy volunteers with orally administered glucose. Differential Peptide Display (DPD) is a technique for peptidomics studies to compare peptides from distinct biological samples. Mass spectrometry (MS) is used as a qualitative and quantitative analysis tool without previous trypsin digestion or labeling of the samples. Circulating peptides (< 15 kDa) were extracted from 1.3 mL plasma samples and the extracts separated by liquid chromatography into 96 fractions. Each fraction was subjected to MALDI MS, and mass spectra of all fractions were combined resulting in a 2D-display of > 2,000 peptides from each sample. Endogenous peptides that responded to oral glucose challenge were detected by DPD of pre-and post-challenge plasma samples from 16 healthy volunteers and subsequently identified by nESI-qTOF MS. Two of the 15 MS peaks that were significantly modulated by glucose challenge were subsequently identified as insulin and C-peptide. These results were validated by using immunoassays for insulin and C-peptide. This paper serves as a proof of principle for proteomic biomarker discovery down to the pM concentration range by using small amounts of human plasma.     

Carbonyl‐Komplexe von Chrom,Molybdän und Wolfram mit Isocyanacetat. Reaktionen am koordinierten Isocyanacetat. Stabilisierung von Isocyanessigsäure und Isocyanacetylchlorid am Metall. Isocyanopeptide [1]

Carbonyl Complexes of Chromium, Molybdenum and Tungsten with Isocyano Acetate. Reactions of Coordinated Isocyanoacetate. Stabilization of Isocyanoacetic Acid and Isocyanoacetyl Chloride at the Metal Atom. Isocyanopeptides The reactions of [(OC)₅MCNCH₂CO₂Et] (M = Cr, W) with Na[N(SiMe₃)₂] or with KOH afford the isocyanoacetate complexes [(OC)₅MCNCH₂CO₂]^? ( 1,2 ). Similarly, the complex [(OC)₃Mo(CNCH₂CO₂^?Li⁺)₃] ( 4 ) was obtained from [(OC)₃Mo(CNCH₂CO₂Et)₃] ( 3 ) and LiOH. Protonation of 1 and 2 affords the sublimable isocyanoacetic acid complexes [(OC)₅MCNCH₂CO₂H] ( 5 , 6 ; M = Cr, W) in which the functional isocyanide is stabilized at the metal atom. Reactions of [(OC)₅WCNCH₂CO₂^?K⁺] and of [(OC)₃Mo(CNCH₂CO₂^?Li⁺)₃] with oxalyl dichloride give the isocyanoacetyl chloride compounds [(OC)₅WCNCH₂COCl] ( 9 ) (sublimable) and [(OC)₃Mo(CNCH₂COCl)₃] ( 10 ); the latter ( 10 ) was not isolated. Complexes 9 and 10 were reacted in situ with β‐alanine, glycine, phenylalanine and methionine esters as well as the peptide esters GlyGlyOEt, PhePheOMe, Phe‐β‐AlaOMe, and GlyGlyGlyOMe to form the isocyanoacetyl amino acid esters ( 11 ‐ 14 ) and the isocyanoacetyl peptide esters ( 15 ‐ 18 ) which are stabilized at the molybdenum atom.     

Die Kristallstruktur von wasserfreiem Melaminiumchlorid

Crystal Structure of non‐aqueous Melaminium Chloride Melaminium chloride was obtained as colorless, needle‐shaped, single crystalline material from solid state reactions between melamin and ammonium chloride. The structure of [C₃N₆H₇]Cl was refined by single crystal X‐ray diffraction: I2/m, Z = 8, a = 852.87(4), b = 1704.4(1) c = 918.44(4) pm and β = 92.165(6)°. The crystal structure contains melaminium ions stacked to columns along [100] and linked via N‐H···N bridges to form bands along [001]. Both of the two distinct chloride ions are stabilized by six hydrogen bonds through distorted trigonal prismatic arrangements of hydrogen atoms to yield a supramolecular structure.     

Synthesis of cyclopentane amide DNA (cpa-DNA) and its pairing properties

We recently reported on the synthesis and pairing properties of the DNA analogue bicyclo[3.2.1]amide DNA (bca-DNA). In this analogue the nucleobases are attached via a linear, 4-bond amide-linker to a structurally preorganized sugar-phosphate backbone unit. To define the importance of the degree of structural rigidity of the bca-backbone unit on the pairing properties, we designed the structurally simpler cyclopentane amide DNA (cpa-DNA), in which the bicyclo[3.2.1]-scaffold was reduced to a cyclopentane unit while the base-linker was left unchanged. Here we present a synthetic route to the enantiomerically pure cpa-DNA monomers and the corresponding phosphoramidites containing the bases A and T, starting from a known, achiral precursor in 9 and 12 steps, respectively. Fully modified oligodeoxynucleotides were synthesized by standard solid-phase oligonucleotide chemistry, and their base-pairing properties with complementary oligonucleotides of the DNA-, RNA-, bca-DNA-, and cpa-DNA-backbones were assessed by UV melting curves and CD-spectroscopic methods. We found that cpa-oligoadenylates form duplexes with complementary DNA that are less stable by -2.7 degrees C/mod. compared to DNA. The corresponding cpa-oligothymidylates do not participate in complementary base-pairing with any of the investigated backbone systems except with its own (homo-duplex). As its congener bca-DNA, cpa-DNA seems to prefer left-handed helical duplex structures with DNA or with itself as indicated by the CD spectra.     

Morphology-controlled nonaqueous synthesis of anisotropic lanthanum hydroxide nanoparticles

The preparation of lanthanum hydroxide and manganese oxide nanoparticles is presented, based on a nonaqueous sol-gel process involving the reaction of La(OiPr)₃ and KMnO₄ with organic solvents such as benzyl alcohol, 2-butanone and a 1:1 vol. mixture thereof. The lanthanum manganese oxide system is highly complex and surprising results with respect to product composition and morphology were obtained. In dependence of the reaction parameters, the La(OH)₃ nanoparticles undergo a shape transformation from short nanorods with an average aspect ratio of 2.1 to micron-sized nanofibers (average aspect ratio is more than 59.5). Although not directly involved, KMnO₄ plays a crucial role in determining the particle morphology of La(OH)₃. The reason lies in the fact that KMnO₄ is able to oxidize the benzyl alcohol to benzoic acid, which presumably induces the anisotropic particle growth in [0 0 1] direction upon preferential coordination to the ±(1 0 0), ±(0 1 0) and ±(−110) crystal facets. By adjusting the molar La(OiPr)₃-to-KMnO₄ ratio as well as by using the appropriate solvent mixture it is possible to tailor the morphology, phase purity and microstructure of the La(OH)₃ nanoparticles. Postsynthetic thermal treatment of the sample containing La(OH)₃ nanofibers and β-MnOOH nanoparticles at the temperature of 800 °C for 8 h yielded polyhedral LaMnO₃ and worm-like La₂O₃ nanoparticles as final products.     

Stability of a fluid-fluid interface in a biconical pore segment

Pore networks that include biconical pore segments are frequently used to model two-phase flow. In this work, we describe in detail the displacement of a fluid-fluid interface in such a pore segment. We assume sharp edges in the throat, inlet, and outlet of the pore segment to be the limiting cases of round edges, the radii of which vanish. We account for interfacial and lineal tensions that cause nonconstant contact angles. For zero lineal tension, we provide analytical solutions for flow induced by changing infinitesimally slowly either capillary pressure or the volume of one fluid. In diverging and converging cones, the common line among the two fluids and the solid phase slides while it is pinned in the throat, inlet, and outlet. We observe hysteresis within the pore segment, and drainage entry pressures deviate from prior work.     

Comparative analysis of local spin definitions

This work provides a survey of the definition of electron spin as a local property and its dependence on several parameters in actual calculations. We analyze one-determinant wave functions constructed from Hartree-Fock and, in particular, from Kohn-Sham orbitals within the collinear approach to electron spin. The scalar total spin operators S2 and Sz are partitioned by projection operators, as introduced by Clark and Davidson, in order to obtain local spin operators SASB and SzA, respectively. To complement the work of Davidson and co-workers, we analyze some features of local spins which have not yet been discussed in sufficient depth. The dependence of local spin on the choice of basis set, density functional, and projector is studied. We also discuss the results of Sz partitioning and show that SzA values depend less on these parameters than SASB values. Furthermore, we demonstrate that for small organic test molecules, a partitioning of Sz with preorthogonalized Lowdin projectors yields nearly the same results as one obtains using atoms-in-molecules projectors. In addition, the physical significance of nonzero SASB values for closed-shell molecules is investigated. It is shown that due to this problem, SASB values are useful for calculations of relative spin values, but not for absolute local spins, where SzA values appear to be better suited.