Thermal decomposition of vinylacetylene in shock waves

The thermal decomposition of vinylacetylene (C₄H₄) was studied behind reflected shock waves using both a single-pulse method (reaction time between 0.8 and 3.3 ms) and a time-resolved UV-absorption method (230 nm). The studies were done over the temperature range of 1170–1690 K at the total pressure range of 1.3–2.3 atm. The mechanism was used to interpret both the early and late stages of vinylacetylene decomposition at the high temperatures. It was confirmed that C₄H₄ dissociation proceeded through the following three channels. The rate constant expression of reaction (1) was determined as k₁ = 6.3 × 10¹³ exp(?87.1 kcal/RT) s^?1. The rate constants of the succeeding reactions (chain reaction, C₄H₄ + H → i-C₄H₃ + H₂ and C₄H₄ + H → C₂H₂ + C₂H₃ and decomposition reactions of free radicals, i-C₄H₃ + M → C₄H₂ + H + M) were confirmed or estimated. © John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Highly (Z)-selective hydrosilylation of terminal alkynes catalyzed by a diphosphinidenecyclobutene-coordinated ruthenium complex: application to the synthesis of (Z,Z)-bis(2-bromoethenyl)arenes

[reaction: see text] Complex 1 bearing a diphosphinidenecyclobutene ligand (DPCB-OMe) catalyzes highly stereoselective hydrosilylation of diethynylarenes with HSiMe2Ph to afford (Z,Z)-bis(2-silylethenyl)arenes. Treatment of the hydrosilylation products with N-bromosuccinimide causes bromodesilylation in a stereospecific manner, giving (Z,Z)-bis(2-bromoethenyl)arenes in high geometrical purity (>98%).     

Hydrogen activation on Mo-based sulfide catalysts,a periodic DFT study

Hydrogen adsorption on Mo[bond]S, Co[bond]Mo[bond]S, and Ni[bond]Mo[bond]S (10 1 macro 0) surfaces has been modeled by means of periodic DFT calculations taking into account the gaseous surrounding of these catalysts in working conditions. On the stable Mo[bond]S surface, only six-fold coordinated Mo cations are present, whereas substitution by Co or Ni leads to the creation of stable coordinatively unsaturated sites. On the stable MoS(2) surface, hydrogen dissociation is always endothermic and presents a high activation barrier. On Co[bond]Mo[bond]S surfaces, the ability to dissociate H(2) depends on the nature of the metal atom and the sulfur coordination environment. As an adsorption center, Co strongly favors molecular hydrogen activation as compared to the Mo atoms. Co also increases the ability of its sulfur atom ligands to bind hydrogen. Investigation of surface acidity using ammonia as a probe molecule confirms the crucial role of sulfur basicity on hydrogen activation on these surfaces. As a result, Co[bond]Mo[bond]S surfaces present Co[bond]S sites for which the dissociation of hydrogen is exothermic and weakly activated. On Ni[bond]Mo[bond]S surfaces, Ni[bond]S pairs are not stable and do not provide for an efficient way for hydrogen activation. These theoretical results are in good agreement with recent experimental studies of H(2)[bond]D(2) exchange reactions.     

Different reaction modes for the oxidative dimerization of epoxyquinols and epoxyquinones. Importance of intermolecular hydrogen-bonding

An oxidative dimerization reaction, involving the three successive steps of oxidation, 6 pi-electrocyclization, and Diels-Alder reaction, has been experimentally and theoretically investigated for the three 2-alkenyl-3-hydroxymethyl-2-cyclohexen-1-one derivatives epoxyquinol 3, epoxyquinone 6, and cyclohexenone 10. Of the sixteen possible modes of the oxidation/6 pi-electrocylization/Diels-Alder reaction cascade for the epoxyquinone 6, and eight for the cyclohexenone 10, only the endo-anti(epoxide)-anti(Me)-hetero and endo-anti(Me)-hetero modes are, respectively, observed, while both endo-anti(epoxide)-anti(Me)-hetero and exo-anti(epoxide)-anti(Me)-homo reaction modes occur with the epoxyquinol 3. Intermolecular hydrogen-bonding is found to be the key cause of formation of both epoxyquinols A and B with 3, although epoxyquinone 6 and cyclohexenone 10 both gave selectively only the epoxyquinol A-type product. In the dimerization of epoxyquinol 3, two monomer 2H-pyrans 5 interact with each other to afford intermediate complex 28 or 29 stabilized by hydrogen-bonding, from which Diels-Alder reaction proceeds. Theoretical calculations have also revealed the differences in the reaction profiles of epoxyquinone 6 and cyclohexenone 10. Namely, the rate-determining step of the former is the Diels-Alder reaction, while that of the latter is the 6 pi-electrocyclization.     

Polarized near-edge x-ray-absorption fine structure spectroscopy of C60-functionalized 11-amino-1-undecane thiol self-assembled monolayer: molecular orientation and evidence for C60 aggregation

Near-edge x-ray-absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy was adopted to probe the unoccupied electronic states of C60 anchored onto an organized assembly of 11-amino-1-undecane thiol on Au(111). The polarization dependence of the intensity of pi* resonance associated with C60 pi network revealed the self-assembled monolayer (SAM) system to be oriented with an average molecular tilt angle of 57 degrees with respect to the surface normal. Invoking the absence of solid-state band dispersion effects and in comparison to solid C60 and /or 1-ML C60/Au(111), the electronic structure of the resulting assembly was found dominated by spectral position shift and linewidth and intensity changes of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), LUMO+1, and LUMO+2 orbitals. The latter implied hybridization between N Pz of -NH2 group of thiolate SAM and pi levels of C60, resulting in a nucleophilic addition with a change in the symmetry of C60 from Ih to C1 in the SAM. Occurrence of a new feature at 285.3 eV in the NEXAFS spectrum, assigned previously to pi* graphitic LUMO, signified the formation of aggregated clusters, (C60)n of C60 monomer. Low tunneling current scanning tunneling microscopy confirmed them to be spherical and stable aggregates with n approximately 5.     

Novel syntheses of 2,3-dihydro-5H-1,4-benzoxathiepins and 1,2,3,5-tetrahydro-4,1-benzothiazepines

2,3-Dihydro-5H-1,4-benzoxathiepins were prepared by intramolecular Friedel-Crafts reactions of ethyl α-[2-(aryloxy)ethylthio]-α-chloroacetates or by acid-catalyzed cyclizations of ethyl α-[2-(aryloxy)ethylsulfinyl]-acetate. 1,2,3,5-Tetrahydro-4,1-benzothiazepines were similarly prepared.     

Total synthesis of cis-solamin and its inhibitory action with bovine heart mitochondrial complex I

A convergent total synthesis of cis-solamin (1a) and its diastereomer (1b) was accomplished. A key reaction of this approach was the use of VO(acac)₂-catalyzed diastereoselective epoxidation of (Z)-bis-homoallylic alcohol 3 followed by spontaneous cyclization for the cis-THF ring formation. By comparison of the optical rotation of the two possible diastereomers, it is suggested that the absolute configuration of natural cis-solamin is 1a. Inhibitory action of synthetic 1a and 1b with bovine heart mitochondrial complex I are reported.     

Optimization of in-gel protein digestion system in combination with thin-gel separation and negative staining in 96-well plate format

Improvement of in-gel digestion efficiency is highly desirable for one- or two-dimensional gel electrophoretic separation and mass spectrometric (MS) analysis in proteomics, because the resultant increases in sequence coverage and MS signal intensity lead to higher confidence in protein identification. Here an optimized in-gel digestion system, in combination with thin-gel separation and negative staining in a high-throughput format using 96-well plates, is described. The combination of negative staining and protein separation on a 0.9 mm thick gel showed a clear improvement in in-gel digestion efficiency in comparison with the more typical protocols such as the combination of silver staining and a 1.0 mm gel. In addition, the use of 96-well plates to increase throughput did not decrease the efficiency of this strategy when the stirring of the gel pieces in processes such as destaining, washing, gel-shrinking and peptide extraction was performed by sonication instead of shaking the plates. This procedure was optimized and applied to identify proteins of the postsynaptic density fraction; 105 proteins were identified after SDS-PAGE separation.     

Deuterium substitution effect on proton relaxation times as a direct means for elucidating molecular interaction in solution. An application to 2′,3′-isopropylideneadenosine

Proton T₁ measurement with the Fourier transform method combined with quenching of dipolar coupling through selective deuterium substitution is shown to be a useful method for elucidating intra- and intermolecular interactions in solution, with 2′,3′-isopropylideneadenosine as an example. Average distances between H-8 and ribose protons are determine in combination with carbon-13 T₁ measurement. The method is compared with the nuclear Overhauser effect.     

Identification of Shiga toxins in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli using immunoprecipitation and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

We developed a rapid and reliable identification method for Shiga toxins in Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) using immunoprecipitation and high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS). Polyclonal antisera specific for Shiga toxin 1 (Stx1) and Shiga toxin 2 (Stx2) were raised in rabbits so as to be used for the immunoprecipitation. The immunoprecipitaion was carried out by mixing sample solutions with 50 microl each of the antisera to Stx1 and Stx2 followed by allowing the mixed solutions to stand for 30 min. The quantity required to obtain the immunoprecipitate was more than 0.5 microg of Shiga toxins. HPLC-ESI-MS analysis of the resulting immunoprecipitates provided accurate molecular weight information on Shiga toxins, leading to direct evidence for the presence of these toxins. It requires at most two days to perform our procedure from toxin extraction to measurement of HPLC-ESI-MS whereas the previous method using isolation procedures required about two weeks to complete. The usefulness of the present method has been demonstrated by identifying Stx1, Stx2 and a variant of Stx2 (Stx2e) in the immunoprecipitates prepared from STEC strains.