Influence of the counterion size on swelling and collapse of polyelectrolyte gel

A theory that predicts the effect of the counterion size on the swelling and collapse of a weakly charged polyelectrolyte gel was developed. In addition to excluded-volume interactions between monomer units of the gel, the theory involves the counterion-monomer unit and counterion-counterion interactions in terms of the virial approximation. The character of interactions between different units in the system varies from repulsion to attraction depending on the type of solvent, counterion, and dielectric permittivity of the solvent. For solvents with a low permittivity, the effect of condensation of counterions resulting in the formation of ion pairs is taken into account.     

Modeling of drug molecule orientation within a receptor cavity in the BiS algorithm framework

The BiS algorithm is suggested for modeling the drug molecule orientation within a receptor cavity. It is based on the assumption of complementarity of the field created by biologically active compounds and the field of the responsive receptor. The comparison of predicted orientations of various biologically active compounds on the relevant receptors with the data of X-ray structural studies (Protein Data Bank) reveals that the results obtained with this approach surpasses those reported in the literature. The suggested technique made it possible to elucidate the details of the action mechanism of DNA antimetabolites, dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors. The dependence of the activity on the structural parameters of “ligand-receptor” complexes is determined.     

Nematic ordering in dilute solutions of rodlike polyelectrolytes

Quantitative theory of orientational behavior of rodlike polyelectrolytes in dilute solution is developed. We find that in salt-free solutions many-body Coulomb interactions between macro- and counterions favor nematic ordering. It is shown that the orientationally isotropic phase of the solution becomes unstable toward nematic ordering at polymer concentration smaller than the overlap concentration. Our predictions are consistent with experimental observations for synthetic polyelectrolytes poly(p-phenylene)sulfonates in aqueous solutions.     

A new method for predicting conduction anesthesia

A new method for predicting conduction anesthesia has been suggested. The method is based on calculation of theP matrix probabilities of interatomic contacts for each molecule of the compounds considered. TheP matrix enables one to evaluate the main tendencies of atoms and atomic groups to interact in biochemical sorption on the nerve fiber surface. The minimum effective concentrations calculated for 25 compounds are in good agreement with the experimental data. The correlation coefficient between the experimental and calculated values is 0.98 when the standard deviation is 0.1 mmol L⁻¹. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 10, pp. 1781–1784, October, 1997.     

Structure formation in heavy metal oxyhydrates at low rates of gel formation

Oxyhydrate gels have a hydrophilic surface, due to which they undergo destruction and secondary polymerization in aqueous media. Prolonged storage in aqueous solution gives rise to regions with selfsimilar helical ordering in gels. Structuring of this kind is also observed when synthesis is conducted under conditions that provide low gelation rates. Electromagnetic UV and visible radiation is another means to change the gel structure; it makes the oligomer species pass into the excited state, due to which one of the directions of structuring becomes dominant. This work summarizes the results of computer simulation of gel agglomerates. For oxyhydrate systems, helical ordering was found to be one of the local energy minima. The units of a macrohelix can lie at various angles relative to one another, and they can change, after absorption of energy, the helix pitch and the order of elements in the helix.     

Crystal and electronic structure of heteromolecular complexes of 3,6-bis(3,5-dymethylpyrazole-1-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine with azoles

X-ray crystallography is used to investigate heteromolecular crystals of 3,6-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazole-1-yl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine with NH-donating azole derivatives. The effect is studied of the structure of azole on molecular packing in the crystal and the characteristics of covalent bonds in the molecule of 3,6-disubstituted tetrazine. The distribution of electron density critical points inside crystal cells is analyzed to identify and quantitatively describe the intermolecular interactions underlying the formation of lateral and stacking motifs.     

An approximation of the Cioslowski–Mixon bond order indexes using the AlteQ approach

Fast and reliable prediction of bond orders in organic systems based upon experimentally measured quantities can be performed using electron density features at bond critical points (J Am Chem Soc 105:5061–5068, 1983; J Phys Org Chem 16:133–141, 2003; Acta Cryst B 61:418–428, 2005; Acta Cryst B 63:142–150, 2007). These features are outcomes of low-temperature high-resolution X-ray diffraction experiments. However, a time-consuming procedure of gaining these quantities makes the prediction limited. In the present work we have employed an empirical approach AlteQ (J Comput Aided Mol Des 22:489–505, 2008) for evaluation of electron density properties. This approach uses a simple exponential function derived from comparison of electron density, gained from high-resolution X-ray crystallography, and distance to atomic nucleus what allows calculating density distribution in time-saving manner and gives results which are very close to experimental ones. As input data AlteQ accepts atomic coordinates of isolated molecules or molecular ensembles (for instance, protein–protein complexes or complexes of small molecules with proteins, etc.). Using AlteQ characteristics we have developed regression models predicting Cioslowski–Mixon bond order (CMBO) indexes (J Am Chem Soc 113(42):4142–4145, 1991). The models are characterized by high correlation coefficients lying in the range from 0.844 to 0.988 dependently on the type of covalent bond, thereby providing a bonding quantification that is in reasonable agreement with that obtained by orbital theory. Comparative analysis of CMBOs approximated using topological properties of AlteQ and experimental electron densities has shown that the models can be used for fast determination of bond orders directly from X-ray crystallography data and confirmed that AlteQ characteristics can replace experimental ones with satisfactory extent of accuracy.     

Supercontinuum generation under filamentation driven by intense femtosecond pulses in supercritical xenon and carbon dioxide

It is found that supercritical fluids are a unique source of multioctave supercontinuum radiation, which is generated upon filamentation of an intense femtosecond laser pulse. If the laser pulse power significantly exceeds the critical power of self-focusing, then a supercontinuum with a width of three and a half spectral octaves (from 350 to 2000 nm) is generated in supercritical xenon. The red wing of supercontinuum generated in supercritical carbon dioxide has the form of a plateau in the range from 1400 to 1900 nm, while the blue wing of the spectrum is almost completely attenuated.     

Laser-Synchrotron Facility of the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”

Crystallography Reports - The laser-synchrotron facility (LSF) of the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute” (NRC KI) is a unique research complex that combines unprecedented...