Functional organization of the outer membrane of escherichia coli: phage and colicin receptors as components of iron uptake systems.

The functional interaction of outer membrane proteins of E. coli can be studied using phage and colicin receptors which are essential components of penetration systems. The uptake of ferric iron in the form of the ferrichrome complex requires the ton A and ton B functions in the outer membrane of E. coli. The ton A gene product is the receptor protein for phage T5 and is required together with the ton B function by the phages T1 and ?80 to infect cells and by colicin M and the antibiotic albomycin, a structural analogue of ferrichrome, to kill cells. The ton B function is necessary for the uptake of ferric iron complexed by citrate. Iron complexed by enterochelin is only transported in the presence of the ton B and feu functions. Cells which have lost the feu function are resistant to the colicins B, I or V while ton B mutants are resistant to all 3 colicins. The interaction of the ton A, ton B, and feu functions apparently permits quite different "substrates" to overcome the permeability barrier of the outer membrane. It was shown for ferrichrome dependent iron uptake that the complexing agent was not altered and could be used repeatedly. Only very low amounts of 3H-labeled ferrichrome were found in the cell. It is possible that the iron is mobilized in the membrane and that desferri-ferrichrome is released into the medium without having entered the cytoplasm. Growth on ferrichrome as the sole iron source was used to select revertants of T5 resistant ton A mutants. All revertants exhibited wild-type properties with the exception of partial revertants. In these 4 strains, as in the ton A mutants, the ton A protein was not detectable by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses of outer membranes. Albomycin resistant mutants were selected and shown to fall into 5 categories: 1) ton A; 2) ton B mutants; 3) mutants with no iron transport defects and normal ton A/ton B functions, which might be target site mutants; 4) mutants which were deficient in ferrichrome-mediated iron uptake but had normal ton A/ton B functions. We tentatively consider that the defect might be located in the active transport system of the cytoplasmic membrane; 5) a variety of mutants with the following general properties: most of them were resistant to colicin M, transported iron poorly, and, like ton B mutants, contained additional proteins in the outer membrane. The outer membrane protein patterns of wild-type and ton B mutant strains were compared by slab gel electrophoresis in an attempt to identify a ton B protein. It was observed that under most growth conditions, ton B mutants overproduced 3 proteins of molecular weights 74,000-83,000. In extracted, iron-deficient medium, both the wild-type and ton B mutant strains had similar large amounts of these proteins in their outer membranes. The appearance of these proteins was suppressed by excess iron in both wild-type and mutant. From this evidence it is apparent that the proteins appear as a response to low intracellular iron rather than being controlled by the ton B gene...     

Diastereoselective Spirocyclization of C-(Alkyloxycarbonyl)formimines of 2-Substituted 1HIndole-3-ethanamines (= Tryptamines): Basic Studies. 5th Communication on Indoles,Indolenines, and Indolines

C-(Alkoxycarbonyl)formimines of type 15–18 were derived from the 2-substituted tryptamines 2 , 9 , 10 , and 11 and transformed with tosyl chloride into tricyclic 3-spiroindoles of types 19–22 (Scheme 3). The influence of the homochiral alkoxy moieties A–D on the stereochemical outcome of this reaction was studied. Good-to-excellent diastereoselectivities were observed with the (?)-8-(phenylmenth-3-yl)oxy group ( B ) as homochiral auxiliary. The structures of the tricycles 4 , (2′R,3S)- 19B , and (2′S,3R) 20C were established by X-ray analysis, the structures of the others by NOE and CD studies, and by chemical correlation. Possibilities to explain the steric course of the spirocyclizations are discussed.     

The thermal decomposition of thiirane: a mechanistic study by ab initio MO theory

Using high-level ab initio MO methods, we have identified two reaction pathways with different thermodynamic and kinetic properties for the thermal decomposition of the three-membered heterocycle thiirane (C2H4S) and related derivatives. A homolytic ring opening, followed by attack of the generated diradical on another thiirane molecule, and subsequent elimination of ethene in a fast radical chain reaction results in the formation of disulfur molecules in their triplet ground state (3S2) and requires activation enthalpies of deltaH#(298) = 222 kJ mol(-1) and deltaG#(298) = 212 kJ mol(-1). This reaction mechanism would result in a first-order rate law in agreement with one reported gas-phase experiment but does neither match the experimental activation energy nor does it explain the observed retention of the stereochemical configuration in the thermal decomposition of certain substituted thiiranes. Alternatively, sulfur atoms can be transferred from one thiirane moleculeto another with the intermediate formation of thiirane 1-sulfide (C2H4S2). This molecule can either decompose unimolecularly to ethene and disulfur in its excited singlet state (1S2) or, by means of spin crossover, S2 in its triplet ground state may be formed. On the other hand, the thiirane 1-sulfide may react with itself and transfer one sulfur atom from one molecule to another with formation of thiirane 1,1-disulfide (C2H4S3), which is an analogue of thiirane sulfone; thiirane is formed as the second product. The 1,1-disulfide may then decompose to ethene and S3. In still another bimolecular reaction, the thiirane 1-sulfide may react with itself in a strongly exothermic reaction to give S4 and two equivalents of ethene. This series of reactions results in a second-order rate law and requires activation enthalpies of deltaH#(298) = 109 kJ mol(-1) and deltaG#(298) = 144 kJ mol(-1) for the formation of thiirane 1-sulfide, while the consecutive reactions require less activation enthalpy. Elemental sulfur (S8) is eventually formed by oligomerization of either S2, S3, or S4 in spin-allowed reactions. These findings are in agreement with most experimental data on the thermal desulfurization of thiirane and its substituted derivatives. Thiirane 1-persulfide (C2H4S3) with a linear arrangement of the three sulfur atoms as well as zwitterions and radicals derived from thiirane are not likely to be intermediates in the thermal decomposition of episulfides.     

Electrokinetic phenomena at grafted polyelectrolyte layers

During the last decades the electrokinetic theory of Smoluchowski (Z. Phys. Chem. 92 (1918) 129) was extended to be applicable for soft surfaces (grafted polyelectrolyte layers (PL), biological and artificial membranes, etc.) by either using the Debye approximation or numerical solutions. In the theory of Ohshima (Colloids Surf. A 103 (1995) 249) the nonlinearized Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) equation for thick and uniform PL is solved analytically and a general hydrodynamic equation is derived in an integral form. These advantages in the theory of Ohshima provided a base for the further development of a generalized electrokinetic theory for soft surfaces. In his theory the final equation for the electroosmotic (electrophoretic) velocity is specified for the case of the complete dissociation of ionic sites within PL. Accordingly, the equation may be used only if the difference between pK and pH is very large. However, it turned out that an analytical solution of the nonlinearized PB equation for thick PL is possible for any degree of dissociation. This was achieved using the approximation of excluded coions if the absolute value of the reduced Donnan potential is larger than 2 and due to the simplification in the case of weak dissociation, when the absolute value of the reduced Donnan potential is less than 2. Combining this generalized double layer (DL) theory for PL and the theory of Ohshima enables to obtain an analytical equation for electroosmosis for the general case of any degree of dissociation. This equation creates for the first time a theoretical base for the interpretation of electrokinetic fingerprinting (EF) for the characterization of soft surfaces.     

Thiyl radical interaction with pyrimidine C5-C6 double bond

Addition and elimination interaction of thiyl radicals with the C5-C6 double bond in pyrimidines was studied by the pulse radiolysis technique in aqueous solution with the use of different monitoring systems. For this purpose, p-thiocresol, cysteamine hydrochloride, and mercaptoethanol were used. The rate constants of addition and elimination of thiyl radicals were determined by applying the modified version of ACUCHEM (computer program for modeling complex reaction systems). Aliphatic thiyl radicals add to the pyrimidine C5-C6 double bond with k = 1.0-3.0 x 10(7) dm3 mol(-1) s(-1), whereas elimination takes place with k = 0.7-2.0 x 10(5) s(-1). Quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d)/PCM level show that the addition should occur at the C6 position of the pyrimidine ring and that the energy of interaction between thiyl radicals and the pyrimidine double bond C5-C6 is low.     

Chemical reaction studies in CH4/Ar and CH4/N2 gas mixtures of a dielectric barrier discharge

Chemical reactions in a dielectric barrier discharge at medium pressure of 250-300 mbar have been studied in CH(4)/Ar and CH(4)/N(2) gas mixtures by means of mass spectrometry. The main reaction scheme is production of H(2) by fragmentation of CH(4), but also production of higher order hydrocarbon molecules such as C(n)H(m) with n up to 9 including formation of different functional CN groups is observed. Formation of C(2)H(2), C(2)H(4), and C(2)H(6) molecules has been investigated in some detail. Significant differences are noted in comparison to a theoretical estimate.     

Quantification of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in the picogram/liter range in water of the river Elbe

Sampling and determination of dissolved and particlebound PCBs and HCB in the river Elbe are described. A new filtration/adsorption unit for sampling of dissolved lipophilic contaminants was developed. The detection limit for dissolved PCBs and HCB was 5 pg/l. The data show that more than 98% of the PCBs and of HCB in the water of the river Elbe are particle-bound.     

Shear and NMR experiments of materials with flow behaviour depending on the deformation history

Oxide ceramic masses react to simple shearing with hardening (peptisation: increase in the shear stress with the shear deformation). In the present study the correlation between the increase in the shear stress and the porosity, agglomeration processes and the type of flow are analysed. For this purpose oxide ceramic masses are tested in a shear device especially developed for pastes and analysed by rheometric experiments, NMR methods and particle size analysis. The results support the hypothesis that structural changes (hardening, increase in the mean porosity) of the material during the peptisation mainly depend on the magnitude and not on the kind of the energy input and thus of the type of flow. The fraction of bound (more generally, the immobilised) water increases with the shear displacement. Also crushing of primary particles could be observed. Both the crushing of solid particles causing an increased solid surface and the formation of a three-dimensional gel structure are microscopic effects capable of resulting in the binding or retaining water. On a macroscopic scale these phenomena cause hardening. Magnetic resonance imaging visualises flow-induced agglomerates, which form owing to the shear flow and increase the porosity averaged over the whole sample. After the shear experiment rolls of paste can be seen which indicate that the general assumption of a plane shear flow in the shear device is not warrantable. Received: 19 July 2001 Accepted: 25 October 2001     

Photochemistry of N-(2-Cyclohexen-1-ylidene) alkylamines

Irradiation (λ = 254 nm) of N-(4,4,6,6-tetramethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-ylidene)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-ylidene-1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutylamine (7d) , which in turn is photodecomposed by light of the same wavelength, but at a four times slower rate than it is formed. The rate of formation of photoproduct 7d is a function of the concentration of starting material 1d , suggesting the involvement of a bimolecular ( 1d ^* + 1d ) step. The structure of 7d was established by spectroscopy and by its hydrolysis to 3-cyclohexyl-4,4,6,6-tetramethyl-2-cyclohexenone ( 8 ). The previously made assumption that N-(2-cyclohexen-1-ylidene)cyclohexylamine ( 1a ) and 2,3,4,4a,5,6-hexahydroquinolines 2 photorearrange to N-cyclohexylidenecyclohexanamine 3a and 3,4,4a,5,6,8a-hexahydroquinolines 4 , respectively, via a light-induced 1,3-hydrogen shift proves incorrect.     

Ionization of cyclic aromatic amines by free electron transfer: products are governed by molecule flexibility

The bimolecular electron transfer from secondary aromatic amines to parent radical cations of nonpolar solvents such as alkanes and alkyl chlorides results in the synchronous formation of amine radical cations as well as aminyl radicals, in comparable amounts. If as for cyclic aromatic amines (c-Ar(2)NH) the intramolecular bending motion around the amine group is restricted in varying degrees (acridane, phenothiazine) or completely prevented (carbazole), then this picture is modified. In the free electron transfer, the completely rigid carbazole yields exclusively amine radical cations. Acridane exhibits preferred radical cations, but phenothiazine with the more flexible six-membered ring involving sulfur as a further heteroatom follows the common two-product rule; see above. The phenomenon is reasoned by a peculiarity in the bimolecular free electron transfer where after diffusional approach the actual electron jump proceeds in the ultrashort time range. Therefore, it reflects femtosecond molecular motions which, in the case of free mobility, continuously pass through different molecule conformers, combined with fluctuation of the electrons of the responsible molecular n-orbitals. The rigid systems, however, do not show this effect because of a nonexistent bending motion.