Amino Acid–Porphyrin Conjugates: Synthesis and Study of their Photophysical and Metal Ion Recognition Properties

Synthesis, photophysical and metal ion recognition properties of a series of amino acid‐linked free‐base and Zn‐porphyrin derivatives (5–9) are reported. These porphyrin derivatives showed favorable photophysical properties including high molar extinction coefficients (>1 × 10⁵ m ^?1 cm^?1 for the Soret band), quantum yields of triplet excited states (63–94%) and singlet oxygen generation efficiencies (59–91%). Particularly, the Zn‐porphyrin derivatives, 6 and 9 showed higher molar extinction coefficients, decreased fluorescence quantum yields, and higher triplet and singlet oxygen quantum yields compared to the corresponding free‐base porphyrin derivatives. Further, the study of their interactions with various metal ions indicated that the proline‐conjugated Zn‐porphyrins (6 and 9) showed high selectivity toward Cu²⁺ ions and signaled the recognition through changes in fluorescence intensity. Our results provide insights on the role of nature of amino acid and metallation in the design of the porphyrin systems for application as probes and sensitizers.     

Selective recognition of tryptophan through inhibition of intramolecular charge-transfer interactions in an aqueous medium

[reaction: see text] A novel donor-acceptor conjugate 1 was synthesized, and its interactions with various amino acids have been investigated as compared to the model system 2. The conjugate 1 unusually forms an intramolecular charge-transfer complex in the aqueous medium and undergoes selective binding interactions with tryptophan. The uniqueness of this system is that it selectively recognizes tryptophan among all other amino acids and involves synergistic effects of pi-stacking, electrostatic, and donor-acceptor interactions.     

Reactivity of Metallocene Catalysts for Olefin Polymerization: Influence of Activator Nature and Structure

In this review, various synthetic and structural aspects of methylaluminoxane and the elementary processes involved in olefin polymerization, as identified by various spectroscopic techniques, are detailed. Various boron‐based counterions and their interactions with metallocenium cations are discussed. A comparison between MAO and boron‐based activators in terms of catalytic activity and polymer characteristics is made. Finally, the use of the above system in the polymerization of cationically polymerizable monomers and acrylates is discussed.     

Lack of linear free energy relationship: Tungsten(VI) catalyzed perborate oxidation of anilines

The rates of tungsten(VI) catalyzed perborate oxidation of 29 para‐, meta‐ and ortho‐substituted anilines in aqueous acetic acid at 35–55°C conform to the Exner relationship, also the activation parameters to the isokinetic relationship but not to any of the linear free energy relationships. The results are rationalized. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 31: 571–575, 1999     

High Pressure and High Temperature Studies on Manganese Oxides

High pressure and high temperature quench experiments on f -MnO 2 , Mn 2 O 3 and sol gel derived manganese oxides have been carried out to identify any new phases to which the materials may transform under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Results of ESR, DTA and TGA investigations on sol gel derived manganese oxide have shown it to be hausmannite Mn 3 O 4 , instead of n -Mn 2 O 3 as reported earlier in the literature. The sol gel derived manganese oxide transforms to n -Mn 2 O 3 when heated above 700°C. Sol gel derived Mn 3 O 4 , when quenched from 5 GPa and temperature range 800-1200°C, gives a mixture of Mn 3 O 4 (hausmannite) and a phase having CaMn 2 O 4 (marokite)-type structure. f -MnO 2 undergoes partial amorphization when pressure-quenched from 8 GPa at room temperature. The high pressure and high temperature quench experiments up to 5 GPa and 700°C showed that the decomposition temperature of f -MnO 2 increases with pressure. The new phase reported by Liu (1976) from diamond-anvil cell (DAC) experiments on pyrolusite MnO 2 is identified to be a low-density polymorph f -MnO 2 . This unusual result of formation of low-density f -MnO 2 , having an open structure at high pressure and high temperature, is probably due to quenching of a non-equilibrium phase in Liu's (1976) laser-heated DAC experiment.     

New polymorphs of alumina: Part II μ and λ alumina

Abstract

We had reported observation of polymorphs of alumina having rare earth sesquioxide type structures in xerogel γ alumina (XGA) at high pressures and temperatures (High Pressure Research, 1998). In this paper we report observation of two additional phases at somewhat different pressures and temperatures. The XGA quenched from 5.2 GPa and 1450°C showed, besides α Al₂O₃, a new hexagonal metastable polymorph μAl₂O₃. Over a period of 10 to 12 weeks μ A1₂O₃ transforms to a stable hexagonal phase λ Al₂O₃. The cell parameters of λ Al₂O₃ are comparable with those of k Al₂O₃ found by Saalfield on dehydration of gibbsite A1₂O₃3H₂O in air at 800°C. The XGA containing 1 wt% of Cr₂O₃ yielded similar results at 4.56GPa and 1100°C. Further the XGA containing Cr showed complete transformation to n Al₂O₃ at 5.2 GPa and 1520°C.     

Photomineralization of phenol on Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>: synergistic photocatalysis by semiconductors

Phenol gets adsorbed on Al₂O₃ and mineralizes under UV light in the presence of dissolved O₂. The degradation exhibits first-order kinetics and its rate increases linearly with the light intensity and decreases with pH. 2,4-Diphenoxycyclohexanone and 2,6-diphenoxycyclohex-3-ene-1-ol are the intermediates of the reaction. While particulate TiO₂, ZnO, ZnS, Fe₂O₃, CuO, CdO, and Nb₂O₅ individually photocatalyze the degradation, each semiconductor exhibits synergistic photocatalysis, an enhanced photodegradation, when present along with Al₂O₃, indicating electron abstraction by illuminated semiconductors from the phenol adsorbed on Al₂O₃.     

Kinetic Investigation of Oxidation of Aromatic Anils by Potassium Peroxymonosulfate in Aqueous Acidic Medium

The kinetics of oxidation of aromatic anils to benzaldehyde and azobenzene by potassium peroxymonosulfate has been studied in aqueous acetic acid medium. The low dielectric constant of the medium facilitates the reactivity. It has been found that the variation in the ionic strength of the reaction has a negligible effect on the rate. Similarly, polymerization was not observed when acrylonitrile was added to the reaction mixture. This observation rules out the formation of any free radical in the reaction. The added Mn(II) increases the rate of the reaction, which indicates the involvement of two‐electron transfer. Highly negative ?S^# values indicate a structured transition state. The deviation of the Hammett plot was noted, and a concave downward curve was obtained for the anils with substituents in the aniline moiety. The observed break in the log k_obs versus σ is attributed to the transition state whereas the concave upward curve was observed for the substituents in the benzaldehyde moiety and in the combination of aniline and benzaldehyde moieties, and a suitable mechanism was proposed.     

Vibrational coherence spectroscopy of the heme domain in the CO-sensing transcriptional activator CooA

Femtosecond vibrational coherence spectroscopy was used to investigate the low-frequency vibrational dynamics of the heme in the carbon monoxide oxidation activator protein (CooA) from the thermophilic anaerobic bacterium Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans (Ch-CooA). Low frequency vibrational modes are important because they are excited by the ambient thermal bath (k(B)T = 200 cm(-1)) and participate in thermally activated barrier crossing events. However, such modes are nearly impossible to detect in the aqueous phase using traditional spectroscopic methods. Here, we present the low frequency coherence spectra of the ferric, ferrous, and CO-bound forms of Ch-CooA in order to compare the protein-induced heme distortions in its active and inactive states. Distortions take place predominantly along the coordinates of low-frequency modes because of their weak force constants, and such distortions are reflected in the intensity of the vibrational coherence signals. A strong mode near ~90 cm(-1) in the ferrous form of Ch-CooA is suggested to contain a large component of heme ruffling, consistent with the imidazole-bound ferrous heme crystal structure, which shows a significant protein-induced heme distortion along this coordinate. A mode observed at ~228 cm(-1) in the six-coordinate ferrous state is proposed to be the ν(Fe-His) stretching vibration. The observation of the Fe-His mode indicates that photolysis of the N-terminal α-amino axial ligand takes place. This is followed by a rapid (~8.5 ps) transient absorption recovery, analogous to methionine rebinding in photolyzed ferrous cytochrome c. We have also studied CO photolysis in CooA, which revealed very strong photoproduct state coherent oscillations. The observation of heme-CO photoproduct oscillations is unusual because most other heme systems have CO rebinding kinetics that are too slow to make the measurement possible. The low frequency coherence spectrum of the CO-bound form of Ch-CooA shows a strong vibration at ~230 cm(-1) that is broadened and up-shifted compared to the ν(Fe-His) of Rr-CooA (216 cm(-1)). We propose that the stronger Fe-His bond is related to the enhanced thermal stability of Ch-CooA and that there is a smaller (time dependent) tilt of the histidine ring with respect to the heme plane in Ch-CooA. The appearance of strong modes at ~48 cm(-1) in both the ferrous and CO-bound forms of Ch-CooA is consistent with coupling of the heme doming distortion to the photolysis reaction in both samples. Upon CO binding and protein activation, a heme mode near 112 ± 5 cm(-1) disappears, probably indicating a decreased heme saddling distortion. This reflects changes in the heme environment and geometry that must be associated with the conformational transition activating the DNA-binding domain. Protein-specific DNA binding to the CO-bound form of Ch-CooA was also investigated, and although the CO rebinding kinetics are significantly perturbed, there are negligible changes in the low-frequency vibrational spectrum of the heme.