Mössbauer and infrared spectroscopic studies of novel mixed valence states in cobaltous ferrocyanides and ferricyanides

Novel mixed valence states have been obtained by the treatment of cobaltous ferrocyanides (Co⁺²Fe^II) and ferricyanides (Co⁺²Fe^III) in an ozone flow. The CN stretching bands occur at 2085 cm^–1 for Co⁺²Fe^II and at 2160 cm^–1 for Co⁺²Fe^III. After the ozonization process of Co⁺²Fe^II, an intense band approximately at 2125 cm^–1 is detected. This intermediate band must correspond to a mixed valence state of the type: Fe^II–CN–Co²⁺–NC–Fe^III Mössbauer spectra recorded in situ during the ozonization of Co⁺²Fe^II show the presence of two components: a doublet with isomer shift and quadrupole splitting values close to the cobalti ferricyanide and a very broad line for the mixed valence state. From the Mössbauer and infrared spectra of the aged samples of the Co⁺²Fe^II after ozonization, a relaxation process to the initial state of the samples is observed but the mixed valence state is stable.     

A preliminary 3D model for cytochrome P450 2D6 constructed by homology model building

Summary A homology model building study of cytochrome P450 2D6 has been carried out based on the crystal structure of cytochrome P450 101. The primary sequences of P450 101 and P450 2D6 were aligned by making use of an automated alignment procedure. This alignment was adjusted manually by matching -helices (C, D, G, I, J, K and L) and -sheets (3/4) of P450 101 that are proposed to be conserved in membrane-bound P450s (Ouzounis and Melvin [Eur. J. Biochem., 198 (1991) 307]) to the corresponding regions in the primary amino acid sequence of P450 2D6. Furthermore, -helices B, B and F were found to be conserved in P450 2D6. No significant homology between the remaining regions of P450 101 and P450 2D6 could be found and these regions were therefore deleted. A 3D model of P450 2D6 was constructed by copying the coordinates of the residues from the crystal structure of P450 101 to the corresponding residues in P450 2D6. The regions without a significant homology with P450 101 were not incorporated into the model. After energy-minimization of the resulting 3D model of P450 2D6, possible active site residues were identified by fitting the substrates debrisoquine and dextrometorphan into the proposed active site. Both substrates could be positioned into a planar pocket near the heme region formed by residues Val³⁷⁰, Pro³⁷¹, Leu³⁷², Trp³¹⁶, and part of the oxygen binding site of P450 2D6. Furthermore, the carboxylate group of either Asp¹⁰⁰ or Asp³⁰¹ was identified as a possible candidate for the proposed interaction with basic nitrogen atom(s) of the substrates. These findings are in accordance with a recently published predictive model for substrates of P450 2D6 [Koymans et al., Chem. Res. Toxicol., 5 (1992) 211].     

Quantitative aspects of analyzing small molecules – monitoring singly or doubly charged ions? A case study of ximelagatran

Precision, reproducibility and lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) are important characteristics of a quantitative method. We have investigated these properties for Ximelagatran (Xi), which has a high tendency to form doubly charged ions in electrospray ionization (ESI), by studying the percentage of doubly charged species formed when varying the formic acid (FA) concentration, analyte concentration, amount of organic modifier and flow rate. It was found that the percentage of [Xi + 2H]²⁺ can be controlled to be more than 90% or less than 10% by varying the amount of FA present, and that the change between these values is dramatic. Furthermore, the percentage of [Xi + 2H]²⁺ formed decreases with increased analyte concentration and increased flow rate. No apparent relationship with the amount of organic modifier was found. The results have the implication that, by carefully controlling the selected parameters, the LLOQ, precision and reproducibility can be improved. We have compared the fragmentation of the singly and doubly charged species and concluded that the [Xi + 2H]²⁺ ion is more inclined to undergo fragmentation than [Xi + H]⁺. As a consequence, unusual instrumental settings had to be used for the experiments. The fragmentation patterns are to a great extent similar, but the doubly charged species is more inclined to generate low‐mass product ions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analogous circuits for plastic foams

Presented here are simple analogous circuits derived from Biot theory which allow predictions of the acoustical properties of low flow resistance and very high flow resistance foams.For different foams with low resistance absorption coefficients measured in a Kundt tube have been compared with the predicted ones.For foams with very high flow resistance only the frequency of the first normal incidence absorption peak for a large panel backed with a rigid layer has been measured. Kundt tube measurements being inaccurate because of sample frame vibrations which appear with this kind of foam, the experiment was done in an anechoic room by studying the stationary waves close to the foam.For the two kinds of foams studied, comparison between experimental results and predictions show that simple analogous circuits may supply useful estimations of the trend of absorption.