A rapid non-acidolytic method for deprotection and removal of peptides from solid phase resins - applications of ammonium formate catalytic transfer hydrogenation

Ammonium formate aided catalytic transfer hydrogenation has been employed in the cleavage, and concommitant deprotection, of the pentapeptide leucine enkephalin from the Merrifield peptide resin under ambient conditions of temperature and pressure in a neutral medium.     

Rheological behavior and structural interpretation of waxy crude oil gels

A waxy crude oil which gels below a threshold temperature has been investigated under static and dynamic conditions, using a combination of rheological methods, optical microscopy, and DSC. Particular attention is given in this work to the influence of the mechanical history on gel strength and to describing the time-dependent rheological behavior. The gels display a strong dependence of the yield stress and moduli on the shear history, cooling rate, and stress loading rate. Of particular interest is the partial recovery of the gel structure after application of small stress or strain (much smaller than the critical values needed for flow onset) during cooling, which can be used to reduce the ultimate strength of the crude oil gel formed below the pour point. A second focus of this study is to further develop the physical interpretation of the mechanism by which wax crystallization produces gelation. Gelation of the waxy crude oil studied is suggested to be the result of the association between wax crystals, which produces an extended network structure, and it is shown that the system displays features common to attractive colloidal gels, for one of which, fumed silica (Aerosil 200) in paraffin oil, rheological data are reported. The colloidal gel model provides a simple and economical basis for explaining the response of the gelled oil to various mechanical perturbations and constitutes a fruitful basis from which to develop technologies for controlling the gelation phenomenon, as suggested by the rheological results reported.     

Solvent effects in the reaction of 2-thiophenesulfonyl chloride with aniline

The second order rate constants k₂ and the activation parameters for the reaction of 2-thiophenesulfonyl chloride with aniline together with solution enthalpies of the reactants have been measured in methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, acetonitrile and acetone. The reaction rates are slower in dipolar aprotic solvents than in protic ones due to a remarkable activation negative entropy. The rate constants k₂ are correlated with empirical solvent polarity parameters. The data seem in accord with a S_AN reaction mechanism.     

Dimer asymmetry in superoxide dismutase studied by molecular dynamics simulation

Summary Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of 100 ps have been carried out to study the active-site behaviour of the Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase dimer (SOD) in water. The active site of each subunit was monitored during the whole simulation by calculating the distances between functional residues and the catalytic copper. The results indicate that charge orientation is maintained at each active site but the solvent accessibility varies. Analysis of the MD simulation, carried out by using the atomic displacement covariance matrix, has shown a different intra-subunit correlation pattern for the two monomers and the presence of inter-subunit correlations. The MD simulation presented here indicates an asymmetry in the two active sites and different dynamic behaviour of the two SOD subunits.     

C 1 surface interpolation with constraints

Givenn pairwise distinct and arbitrarily spaced pointsP _i in a domainD of thex–y plane andn real numbersf _i, consider the problem of computing a bivariate functionf(x, y) of classC ¹ inD whose values inP _i are exactlyf _i,i=1,,n, and whose first or second order partial derivatives satisfy appropriate equality and inequality constraints on a given set ofp pointsQ _l inD.In this paper we present a method for solving the above problem, which is designed for extremely large data sets. A step of this method requires the solution of a large scale quadratic programming (QP) problem.The main purpose of this work is to analyse an iterative method for determining the solution of this QP problem: such a method is very efficient and well suited for parallel implementation on a multiprocessor system.Work supported by MURST Project of Computational Mathematics, Italy.     

UV spectra and excitation delocalization in DNA: influence of the spectral width.

The singlet excited states of the model DNA duplex (dA)10.(dT)10 are studied. Calculations are performed in the exciton theory framework. Molecular dynamics calculations provide the duplex geometry. The dipolar coupling is determined using atomic transition charges. The monomer transition energies are simulated by Gaussian functions resembling the absorption bands of nucleosides in aqueous solutions. Most of the excited states are found to be delocalized over at least two bases and result from the mixing of different monomer states. Their properties are only weakly affected by conformational changes of the double helix. On average, the highest oscillator strength is carried by the upper eigenstates. The duplex absorption spectra are shifted a few nanometers to higher energies with respect to the spectra of noninteracting monomers. The states with larger spatial extent are located close to the maximum of the absorption spectrum.     

Ion pair charge-transfer complexes between anionic and cationic metal-dithiolenes [M(II) = Pd,Pt

New [M(R(2)pipdt)(2)](BF(4))(2) salts [R(2)pipdt = N,N'-dialkyl-piperazine-2,3-dithione; M = Pd(II), R = Me and M = Pt(II), R = Me, Et, Pr(i)] bearing redox-active cationic dithiolene complexes have been prepared and characterized. These cations react with the redox-active [M(mnt)(2)](2-) [M = Pd(II), Pt(II); mnt = maleonitrile-2,3-dithiolate] anionic dithiolenes to form salts describable as ion pair charge-transfer complexes. X-ray crystallographic studies have shown that [M(Me(2)pipdt)(2)][M(mnt)(2)] complexes, with M = Pd(II) and Pt(II), are isomorphous. Crystal data of the Pt salt (3a): triclinic, Ponemacr; (No. 2); Z = 1; T = 293(2) K; a = 6.784(7) A, b = 8.460(6) A, c = 13.510(5) A, alpha = 100.63(2) degrees, beta = 104.04(2) degrees, gamma = 96.90(2) degrees; R1 = 0.0691 [wR2 = 0.2187 (all data)]. Structural data show that approximately square-planar [Pt(Me(2)pipdt)(2)] dications and regular square-planar [Pt(mnt)(2)] dianions form an infinite anion-cation one-dimensional stack along axis a with a Pt...Pt a/2 distance of 3.392 A and a Pt...Pt...Pt angle of 180 degrees. Anions and cations arrange themselves face-to-face so as to take on a staggered arrangement. These salts exhibit strong absorptions in the visible-near-infrared region assigned to ion pair charge-transfer transitions. A relation between the optical and thermal electron transfer in the solid state is obtained using a "Marcus-Hush model", and a solid-state electrical conductivity in agreement with expectations is observed. Vibrational spectroscopy is in agreement with the existence of charge-transfer interactions between the cationic and anionic components of the salts.     

Correlating axial and equatorial ligand field effects to the single-molecule magnet performances of a family of dysprosium bis-methanediide complexes

Treatment of the new methanediide–methanide complex [Dy(SCS)(SCSH)(THF)] (1Dy, SCS = {C(PPh₂S)₂}²⁻) with alkali metal alkyls and auxillary ethers produces the bis-methanediide complexes [Dy(SCS)₂][Dy(SCS)₂(K(DME)₂)₂] (2Dy), [Dy(SCS)₂][Na(DME)₃] (3Dy) and [Dy(SCS)₂][K(2,2,2-cryptand)] (4Dy). For further comparisons, the bis-methanediide complex [Dy(NCN)₂][K(DB18C6)(THF)(toluene)] (5Dy, NCN = {C(PPh₂NSiMe₃)₂}²⁻, DB18C6 = dibenzo-18-crown-6 ether) was prepared. Magnetic susceptibility experiments reveal slow relaxation of the magnetisation for 2Dy–5Dy, with open magnetic hysteresis up to 14, 12, 15, and 12 K, respectively (∼14 Oe s⁻¹). Fitting the alternating current magnetic susceptibility data for 2Dy–5Dy gives energy barriers to magnetic relaxation (U_eff) of 1069(129)/1160(21), 1015(32), 1109(70), and 757(39) K, respectively, thus 2Dy–4Dy join a privileged group of SMMs with U_eff values of ∼1000 K and greater with magnetic hysteresis at temperatures >10 K. These structurally similar Dy-components permit systematic correlation of the effects of axial and equatorial ligand fields on single-molecule magnet performance. For 2Dy–4Dy, the Dy-components can be grouped into 2Dy–cation/4Dy and 2Dy–anion/3Dy, where the former have almost linear C Dy C units with short average Dy C distances, and the latter have more bent C Dy C units with longer average Dy C bonds. Both U_eff and hysteresis temperature are superior for the former pair compared to the latter pair as predicted, supporting the hypothesis that a more linear axial ligand field with shorter M–L distances produces enhanced SMM properties. Comparison with 5Dy demonstrates unusually clear-cut examples of: (i) weakening the equatorial ligand field results in enhancement of the SMM performance of a monometallic system; (ii) a positive correlation between U_eff barrier and axial linearity in structurally comparable systems.

Studies on equatorial donor and C Dy C angle variation effects on energy barriers to the slow relaxation of magnetisation are reported.     

Selective chemical treatment of cellular microdomains using multiple laminar streams

There are many experiments in which it would be useful to treat a part of the surface or interior of a cell with a biochemical reagent. It is difficult, however, to achieve subcellular specificity, because small molecules diffuse distances equal to the extent of the cell in seconds. This paper demonstrates experimentally, and analyzes theoretically, the use of multiple laminar fluid streams in microfluidic channels to deliver reagents to, and remove them from, cells with subcellular spatial selectivity. The technique made it possible to label different subpopulations of mitochondria fluorescently, to disrupt selected regions of the cytoskeleton chemically, to dislodge limited areas of cell-substrate adhesions enzymatically, and to observe microcompartmental endocytosis within individual cells. This technique does not require microinjection or immobilization of reagents onto nondiffusive objects; it opens a new window into cell biology.