Syntheses and reactions of some 4,5-dihaloimidazole-2-carboxylic acid derivatives

The preparation of 5H,10H-diimidazo[1,2-a:1′,2′-d]pyrazine-5,10-dione ( 2a ) and its 2,3,7,8-tetrabromo- and 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro- analogs ( 2b and 2c , respectively) is reported. These dimers, when allowed to react with various anilines, afford imidazole-2-carboxamides ( 3a-c ).     

Structural changes in the monomeric despentapeptide (B30-B26) insulin crystal

Insulin modified by the removal of its 5 B chain C terminal residues is monomeric but remains substantially potent. The crystal structures of the beef and insulin (dpi) with two molecules in the asymmetric unit has been determined by x-ray analysis. The 3-dimensional structure ofdpi proves to be generally similar to that of native molecule in 2Zn insulin. More detailed comparison reveals that the slight differences in the two independent molecules of beefdpi are distributed uniformly throughout the structure in contrast to insulin in 2Zn insulin, where the structural changes are concentrated in specific regions. The loss of symmetry in thedpi crystal appears to be the inability of the A9 serine to pack effectively in the C2 cell. The efficient packing of the sheepdpi molecule whose crystal structure has also been determined and where A9 is glycine supports this conclusion.     

Periodate-triggered cross-linking of DOPA-containing peptide-protein complexes

Chemical cross-linking is a powerful methodology for analyzing proteins-small molecule and protein-protein interactions. We describe the development of a new chemical cross-linking reaction for the study of protein complexes. Specifically, we show that molecules containing an ortho dihydroxyarene unit can be oxidized selectively with sodium periodate in the presence of native proteins, producing an ortho quinone intermediate that can cross-link with suitable nearby protein residues. We demonstrate the efficacy and specificity of this chemistry for a peptide-protein complex and also deduce the binding site of an artificial activation domain on a proteasome subcomplex.     

Anion-exchange separation of metal ions in dimethyl sulphoxide-methanol-hydrochloric acid

The effect of dimethyl sulphoxide on the anion-exchange behaviour of many metals m a methanolic system with hydrochloric acid was explored. Distribution coefficients for 26 elements were determined in a mixed solvent system of dimethyl sulphoxide-methanol-0.6M hydrochloric acid, in which the proportions of dimethyl sulphoxide and methanoi were varied. Lead(II) and silver(I) complexes are soluble in this system. Interesting effects were noted for gold(III), iron(III), molybdenum(VI) and uranium(VI). As a measure of the usefulness of the systems studied, 27 anion-exchange separations of two- to four-component mixtures of metal ions were carried out, each with quantitative results.     

Polyoxometalate‐Mediated One‐Pot Synthesis of Pd Nanocrystals with Controlled Morphologies for Efficient Chemical and Electrochemical Catalysis

Polyoxometalates (POMs), as inorganic ligands, can endow metal nanocrystals (NCs) with unique reactivities on account of their characteristic redox properties. In the present work, we present a facile POM‐mediated one‐pot aqueous synthesis method for the production of single‐crystalline Pd NCs with controlled shapes and sizes. The POMs could function as both reducing and stabilizing agents in the formation of NCs, and thus gave a fine control over the nucleation and growth kinetics of NCs. The prepared POM‐stabilized Pd NCs exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability for electrocatalytic (formic acid oxidation) and catalytic (Suzuki coupling) reactions compared to Pd NCs prepared without the POMs. This shows that the POMs play a pivotal role in determining the catalytic performance, as well as the growth, of NCs. We envision that the present approach can offer a convenient way to develop efficient NC‐based catalyst systems.     

Revealing Phosphorus Nitrides up to the Megabar Regime: Synthesis of α′-P3N5, δ-P3N5 and PN2

Non-metal nitrides are an exciting field of chemistry, featuring a significant number of compounds that can possess outstanding material properties. These properties mainly rely on maximizing the number of strong covalent bonds, with crosslinked XN₆ octahedra frameworks being particularly attractive. In this study, the phosphorus–nitrogen system was studied up to 137 GPa in laser-heated diamond anvil cells, and three previously unobserved phases were synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy measurements and density functional theory calculations. δ-P₃N₅ and PN₂ were found to form at 72 and 134 GPa, respectively, and both feature dense 3D networks of the so far elusive PN₆ units. The two compounds are ultra-incompressible, having a bulk modulus of K₀=322 GPa for δ-P₃N₅ and 339 GPa for PN₂. Upon decompression below 7 GPa, δ-P₃N₅ undergoes a transformation into a novel α′-P₃N₅ solid, stable at ambient conditions, that has a unique structure type based on PN₄ tetrahedra. The formation of α′-P₃N₅ underlines that a phase space otherwise inaccessible can be explored through materials formed under high pressure.     

CO(2) capture by a task-specific ionic liquid

Reaction of 1-butyl imidazole with 3-bromopropylamine hydrobromide, followed by workup and anion exchange, yields a new room temperature ionic liquid incorporating a cation with an appended amine group. The new ionic liquid reacts reversibly with CO2, reversibly sequestering the gas as a carbamate salt. The new ionic liquid, which can be repeatedly recycled in this role, is comparable in efficiency for CO2 capture to commercial amine sequestering reagents, and yet is nonvolatile and does not require water to function.     

Convex vector lattices and l-algebras

For A an Archimedean Riesz space (=vector lattice) with distinguished positive weak unit e_A, we have the Yosida representation  as a Riesz space in D(X_A), the lattice of extended real valued functions on the space of e_A-maximal ideas. This note is about those A for which  is a convex subset of D(X_A); we call such A “convex”.Convex Riesz spaces arise from the general issue of embedding as a Riesz ideal, from consideration of uniform- and order-completeness, and from some problems involving comparison of maximal ideal spaces (which we won't discuss here; see [10]).The main results here are: (2.4) A is convex iff A is contained as a Riesz ideal in a uniformly complete Φ-algebra B with identity e_A. (3.1) Any A has a convex reflection (i.e., embeds into a convex B with a universal mapping property for Riesz homomorphisms; moreover, the embedding is epic and large).