6,6-dimethyl-1-oxa-spiro[2.5]octane. Conformational equilibrium in the gas phase as studied by microwave spectroscopy and molecular mechanics calculations

The gas-phase molecular structure of 6,6-dimethyl-1-oxa-spiro[2.5]octane has been investigated by joint analysis of the microwave spectrum and molecular mechanics calculations. Both experimental and theoretical data concur showing the presence of two stable conformational isomers having a chair cyclohexane ring. A set of structural parameters which reproduce the ground state rotational constants has been derived. The influence of 1,4 disubstitution is discussed in terms of deformations of the cyclohexane ring.     

Novel estradiol derivatives labeled with Ru,W, and Co complexes. Influence on hormone-receptor affinity of several organometallic groups at the 17 alpha position

In order to elucidate the extent to which recognition of the estrogen receptor is influenced by addition of an organometallic substituent at the 17 alpha position, modification of 17 beta-estradiol at this position was carried out by using the organometallic groups -C identical to C(eta 5-C5H4)RuCp, CH2-(eta 5-C5H4)RuCp, -C identical to C-(eta 5-C5H4)-W(CO)3(Me), -(C identical to CCHO)Co2(CO)6, and -(C identical to CCH2OH)Co2(CO)6. The relative binding affinity (RBA) values for estradiol receptor alpha showed that recognition was good (RBA between 20 and 13.5%) when the organometallic moiety was attached at the end of a rigid alkyne spacer. However, the affinity of the modified hormone for the receptor was severely reduced (RBA = 1%) for a substituent such as -CH2-(eta 5-C5H4)RuCP, in which the spacer is reduced to a single flexible sp3 carbon atom, allowing the organometallic moiety greater freedom of movement around the attachment point. The RBA values found were in agreement with results obtained from a molecular-modeling study in which 5, an organometallic hormone with a rigid spacer, or 7, a molecule with a flexible spacer, was inserted into the cavity of the recently characterized Ligand-Binding Domain of estrogen receptor alpha.     

Protein structure determination using long-distance constraints from double-quantum coherence ESR: study of T4 lysozyme

We report the use of a novel pulsed ESR technique for distance measurement, based on the detection of double quantum coherence (DQC), which yields high quality dipolar spectra, to significantly extend the range of measurable distances in proteins using nitroxide spin-labels. Eight T4 lysozyme (T4L) mutants, doubly labeled with methanethiosulfonate spin-label (MTSSL), have been studied using DQC-ESR at 9 and 17 GHz. The distances span the range from 20 A for the 65/76 mutant to 47 A for the 61/135 mutant. The high quality of the dipolar spectra also allows the determination of the distance distributions, the width of which can be used to set upper and lower bounds in future computational strategy. It is also demonstrated that the shape of these distributions can reveal the presence of multiple conformations of the spin-label, an issue of critical relevance to the structural interpretation of the distances. The distances and distributions found in this study are readily rationalized in terms of the known crystal structure, the characteristic conformers of the nitroxide side chains, and molecular modeling. This study sets the stage for the use of DQC-ESR for determining the tertiary structure of large proteins with just a small number of long-distance constraints.     

Mechanical and physico-chemical characterization of cyclodextrin finished polyamide fibers

We present the study of the cyclodextrin (CDs) finishing of polyamide fibers (PA) by means of citric acid (CTR) as crosslinking agent. We observed that the mode of grafting happened by the formation of a crosslinked polymer formed between CTR and CDs. This polymer physically adhered to the fibers network and was resistant to hot water washings. Modified fibers were characterized by evaluating the contact angle with a polar liquid and by studying the hysteresis of damping of PA fibers (Cahn balance) with various grafting rates and by studying the absorptivity of grafted fabrics via the technique of the posed drop (Digidrop^® instrument). Then a mechanical characterization of the PA fabrics grafted with various proportions of CDs was accomplished, by traction and tear tests by using a tensile-test bench Lohmergy. Finally a topographic study of PA grafted surfaces was approached by atomic force microscopy (AFM and LFM; contact and non-contact mode) which permitted to evaluate the roughness and the chemical heterogeneity of the grafted surfaces.     

Gas diffusion-flow injection determination of total inorganic carbon in water using tungsten oxide electrode

A novel gas diffusion-flow injection method has been developed for the rapid and sensitive determination of total inorganic carbon (TIC) in water. The method is based on the diffusion of CO₂ across gas permeable membrane from a donor stream containing 0.1 M HCl to an acceptor stream of sodium acetate (10⁻⁵ mol l⁻¹ and pH 10). The CO₂ trapped in the acceptor stream passes through an electrochemical flow cell contains a tungsten oxide wire and a silver/silver chloride electrode, where it was sensitively detected. The parameters affecting the sensitivity of the electrode such as buffer concentration, pH, flow rate and injected volume were studied in detail. The electrode response was linear in the concentration range from 5 to 100 μg ml⁻¹ CO₃²⁻ with a correlation coefficient (R²) of 0.998. Precision (R.S.D.) was 1.42% for 20 μg ml⁻¹ standard solution of CO₃²⁻ (n=10). The detection limit was 0.20 μg ml⁻¹ CO₃²⁻. The method was evaluated by the injection of real natural water samples and an average recovery of 100.1% was obtained. The sampling rate was 30 samples h⁻¹. The method is simple, feasible with satisfactory accuracy and precision and thus could be used for monitoring TIC in water.     

Generalization of the $${\varvec{lq}}$$lq-modular closure theorem and applications

Archiv der Mathematik - Let k be a field of characteristic $$ p\not =0 $$. For a (purely) inseparable extension K / k the notion of modularity, defined by M.E. Sweedler in the...     

Versatile synthesis of 4-spiro-β-lactam-3-carbonitriles via the intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization of N-(p-hydroxyphenyl)cyanoacetamides

A series of 4-spiro-cyclohexadienonyl-β-lactam-3-carbonitriles, 2,7-dioxo-1-azaspiro[3.5]nona-5,8-diene-3-carbonitriles, was synthesized in satisfactory to excellent yields via the intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization of N-(p-hydroxyphenyl)cyanoacetamides with iodobenzene diacetate (IBD) as oxidant and potassium hydroxide as base. Acetic 4-spiro-cyclohexadienonyl-β-lactam-3-carbimidic anhydrides were obtained when organic base triethylamine was applied instead of potassium hydroxide. The mechanisms of the intramolecular nucleophilic cyclization and formation of acetic β-lactam-3-carbimidic anhydrides were proposed. The cyclization is a sequence of nucleophilic ipso addition and oxidative dearomatization. The formation of acetic carbimidic anhydrides is an acid-catalyzed acetate addition to the nitriles.     

On the Topology of Fibrations with Section and Free Loop Spaces

We relate the brace products of a fibration with section tothe differentials in its Serre spectral sequence. In the particularcase of free loop fibrations, we establish a link between thesedifferentials and Browder operations in the fiber. Applicationsand several calculations (for the particular cases of spheresand wedges of spheres) are given. 2000 Mathematical SubjectClassification: 55P35, 55Q15, 55R05, 55R20.     

Event detection occurrence for planar piece-wise affine hybrid systems

Many switched circuits are made of linear components switched by a simple logic unit. In this paper, we use a generic planar Piece-wise Affine Hybrid System (PWAHS) to model this kind of circuit. Usually, simulations are run by analytical methods (adapted to a specific simple model) or by numerical simulations that can miss some events’ occurrences. We propose a generic planar method to simulate PWAHSs with periodic and state dependent events. Using analytical expressions, our approach can reach arbitrary accuracy in event detections without any loss. As a result, we have implemented our method in Scilab and Matlab toolboxes.