Spin-probe ESR study on the entrapment of organic solutes by the nanochannel of MCM-41 in benzene

An ESR study has been made on the adsorption of three types of aminoxyl radicals with different substituent groups in the nanochannel of MCM-41 in benzene. In the suspensions of MCM-41, all the aminoxyl radicals, usually called as spin probes, show the ESR spectra composed of two signals: the main broader one from the spin probes trapped in the nanochannel, and a sharp minor signal from those in the bulk. The spin probes adsorbed in the nanochannel retain considerable mobility especially at higher temperatures over 300 K. When fumed silica, having a surface structure similar to that of MCM-41, is employed, on the other hand, the relatively hydrophobic spin probe mainly remains in the bulk, but the hydrophilic one is mostly adsorbed and immobilized rigidly. From these results, the adsorption by the MCM-41 nanochannel in benzene is characterized by medium selectivity and considerable motional allowance to the adsorbate molecule. The mobility of the spin probe in the MCM-41 nanochannel increases and the adsorption efficiency decreases by either of the following changes made to the system: (a) increasing the channel diameter, (b) increasing the hydrophobicity of the spin probe, (c) adding a small amount of 2-propanol in the solution, (d) methylation of the surface OH groups of the nanochannel, and (e) elevating the system temperature. A model of this special type of adsorption has been proposed on the basis of the thermodynamic parameters and the ESR spectra for the modified systems including those with different solvents.     

Mobility of anionic spin probes in water-containing nylon 6 film

The rotational mobility of anionic spin probes in water-containing nylon 6 film was investigated by means of electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements for comparison with the results for nonionic spin probes reported previously. The extrema separation of the ESR spectra, 2Az′ increased with time owing to the evaporation of water. In the higher temperature region, 2Az′ increased steeply with time at first, and then more slowly, whereas for the nonionic spin probes, 2Az′ increased gradually and monotonically with time. This fact suggests that the anionic probe molecules are more strongly affected by water than the nonionic ones, i.e., the former probes are located in hydrophilic regions and the latter in hydrophobic regions. T_50G, which can be empirically correlated with the glass transition temperature of the polymer T_g decreased with increasing water content. The decreasing tendency for the anionic spin probes was stronger than that for the nonionic ones. This fact also indicates that the local environment around the probe molecules varies from probe to probe. The rotational correlation time τ_R decreased markedly with an increase in water content. The Arrhenius plots of τ_R showed two crossover points. The crossover points in the higher temperature region T_n decreased greatly with increasing water content. The difference in T_n between dried and water-containing films was larger than that for T_50G. The activation energy for rotation, E, also decreased with increasing water content. It is suggested that water concentrates around the anionic spin probes and makes their rotation much easier.     

STUDIES OF THE INITIATION MECHANISM OF VINYL POLYMERIZATION WITH THE SYSTEM PERSULFATE/N-ALKYL SUBSTITUTED ETHYLENEDIAMINE DERIVATIVES

Effects of N-alkyi substituted ethylenediamine derivatives on vinyl polymerization using persulfate as initiator were studied. The apparent kinetic equations and overall activation energies of acrylamide polymerization were determined using the above mentioned system as initiator. The promoting activities of different diamine derivatives on vinyl polymerization are in the order of tertiary diamine>secondary diamine>primary diamine. Diamines having methyl groups as the substituent on their nitrogen atom possess higher promoting activity than that of having larger alkyl groups. The initial free radicals produced through the redox reaction of persuifate and diamines were studied by spin strapping technique and ESR spectroscopy. The results obtained confirm the fact that the initial free radicals of the diamine species can initiate vinyl polymerization and become the amino end group of the resulting polymers.     

Sonochemistry of aqueous solutions of amino acids and peptides. A spin trapping study

The sonolysis of argon-saturated neutral aqueous solutions of several amino acids and peptides was investigated by ESR and spin trapping. The water-soluble non-volatile spin trap, 3,5-dibromonitrosobenzene sulfonate, was found to be particularly useful for ESR and spin trapping investigations of sonochemical reactions. By comparison with analogous experiments in which hydroxyl radicals were generated by u.v.-photolysis of solutions containing hydrogen peroxide, the amino acid and peptide radicals produced by sonolysis could be identified. These observations can be explained by the reactions of hydrogen atoms and hydroxyl radicals which are the primary products of the sonolysis of water.     

EPR spin probe and spin label studies of some low molecular and polymer micelles

The rotational mobility of spin probes of different shape and size in low molecular and polymer micelles has been studied. Several probes having nitroxide fragment localized either in the vicinity of micelle interface or in the hydrocarbon core have been used. Upon increasing the number of carbon atoms in hydrocarbon chain of detergent from 7 to 13 (sodium alkyl sulfate micelles) or from 12 to 16 (alkyltrimethylammonium bromide micelles) the rotational mobility of spin probes is decreased by the factor 1.5–2.0. The spin probe rotational mobility in polymer micelles (the complexes of alkyltrimethylammonium bromides and polymethacrylic or polyacrylic acids) is less than mobility in free micelles of the same surfactants. The study of EPR-spectra of spin labeled polymethacrylic acid (PMA) indicated that formation of water soluble complexes of polymer and alkyltrimethylammonium bromides in alkaline solutions (pH 9) does not affect the polymer segmental mobility. On the other hand, the polymer complexes formation in slightly acidic water solution (pH 6) breaks down the compact PMA conformation, thus increasing the polymer segmental mobility. Possible structures of polymer micelles are discussed.     

Structure and Dynamics of Ternary Complexes of Cucurbit[8]uril with Spin-Labeled Indicators and Biologically Active Analytes

Ternary host–guest complexes have been first obtained from cucurbituril CB[8] as a host molecule and two guest molecules: nitroxyl probes of different structures and biologically important amino acids (AA) and aromatic compounds. To characterize the binding of the guests, parameters of the polarity of the environment and the rotational mobility of the spin probes have been used. These parameters have been shown to depend on the nature of the analytes. For the ternary complexes, in addition to the usual triplet ESR spectra from nitroxyl probes (S3), supramolecular ensembles consisting of three equivalent ternary complexes (“triads”) have been found, whose ESR spectra have a seven-component hyperfine structure (S7) due to delocalization of the unpaired electron over three nitrogen nuclei. The relative intensity of the S7 spectra increases with increasing NaCl concentration in the solution, and also depends significantly on the nature of the analyte and the spin probe. Quantum chemical calculations have shown that (1) to determine the stability of the complexes, it is necessary to allow for the van der Waals interaction, and (2) the complexes involving the zwitterionic form of AA are much more stable than those with the neutral form of AA.     

Micellar and pre-micellar aggregates of oxyethylated calixarenes studied by ESR of spin probes and cyclic voltammetry

The critical micelle formation concentrations of oxyethylated calixarenes 9CO8 and 9CO16 were determined by the spin probe ESR method. A decrease in the current passing through the system was revealed during the electrochemical oxidation of the probe in the presence of 9CO8. The current decrease depends on the amphiphile concentration and is due to the fact that the surface of micellar and pre-micellar aggregates impedes the access of charged particles to the probe. The pre-micellar aggregation phase was found by ESR and electrochemistry of spin probes. The concentrations of amphiphilic substances, at which structural rearrangements for pre-micellar aggregation are observed, were elucidated.     

Local mobility and structure of cationic amphiphilic diblock copolymer micelles in aqueous solutions

The local mobility and organization of micelles formed by the cationic diblock copolymer PS-poly(N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium bromide) in dilute aqueous solutions is studied by spin-probe ESR spectroscopy. Micelles composed of a hydrophobic PS core and a lyophilizing polyelectrolyte corona are prepared by two methods: dialysis from a nonselective solvent and direct dispersion of the diblock copolymer in water under long-term heating. Velocity-sedimentation studies and static and dynamic light-scattering measurements show that the micelles obtained by dialysis have smaller mean hydrodynamic sizes and weight-average molecular masses and are less polydisperse than micelles prepared by direct dispersion. The ESR spectra of spin probes localized in micelles of both types are found to be identical. This finding suggests that their local structure is independent of the dispersion procedure and molecular-mass characteristics. Probes are localized in the outer layer of the PS core near the core/shell boundary, and their local mobility is a factor of ∼2 higher than the local mobility of probes in the phase of the solid PS. It is inferred that the structure of the outer layer of the PS core in micelles is looser than the structure of PS in the solid phase. The localization sites of spin probes are partially penetrated by water.     

DEPMPO: an efficient tool for the coupled ESR-spin trapping of alkylperoxyl radicals in water

Peroxidation is an important process both in chemistry and biology, and peroxyl radicals play a crucial role in various pathological situations involving lipid and protein peroxidation. A few secondary and tertiary peroxyl radicals can be detected directly by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR). However, primary and secondary alkylperoxyl radicals have extremely short lifetimes and their direct observation is impossible in biological samples. DMPO has been used to trap alkylperoxyl radicals generated in biological systems and the characterization of DMPO-alkylperoxyl spin adducts has been claimed by different authors. However, it was then clearly shown that all the assignments made previously to DMPO-OOR adducts were actually due to DMPO-OR adducts. We have investigated the potential of DEPMPO to characterize the formation of alkylperoxyl radicals in biological milieu. Various DEPMPO-OOR (R = Me, primary or secondary alkyl group) spin adducts were unambiguously characterized and the formation of DEPMPO-OOCH(3) was clearly established during the reaction of tert-butylhydroperoxide with chloroperoxidase and cytochrome c.     

Solvent-induced textural changes of as-synthesized mesoporous alumina, as reported by spin probe electron spin resonance spectroscopy

The effect of solvent used during the synthesis and postsynthesis treatment on textural properties of organized mesoporous aluminas was investigated and related to the behavior of spin probes studied by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. It was found that the structure of surfactant aggregates serving in the as-synthesized precipitates as templates could be easily modified by treatment with different solvents. This treatment induces corresponding variations in surface areas, mesopore volumes, and mesopore diameters of the final products. The ESR spectrum of 5-doxyl stearic acid spin probe properly reflects the changes in template structure based on changes of the solvent used and represents an early indicator of the corresponding textural modifications of the mesoporous alumina.     

Nitroxide spin probe study of probe size,hydrogen bonding and polymer matrix rigidity effects on poly(acrylic acid)/poly(ethylene oxide) complexes

An electron spin resonance (ESR) spin probe study was performed on 1 : 1 by weight poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)/poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) complex over the 100–450 K temperature range with a series of tetramethylpiperidyloxy‐based spin probes. Measurements of the parameters T_5mT, Ta and Td demonstrated the effects of probe size and the strength of hydrogen bonding. The probes in the series Tempone, Tempo, Tempol and Tamine (respectively 4‐oxo‐, unsubstituted, 4‐hydroxy‐ and 4‐amino‐2,2,6,6,‐tetramethylpiperidine ‐1‐oxyl) displayed noticeable increases in the hydrogen‐bonding effect, as indicated by Ta and Td. These increases correlated with increasing hydrogen bond acceptor strength. On the other hand, as the probe size became larger, T_5mT gradually increased due to the free volume decrease. These effects were analyzed using the established theoretical relationship of T_5mT to probe volume expressed by f. Meanwhile, in order to investigate the effect of polymer matrix rigidity, a similar study was performed with a nitroxide spin probe, 2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐1‐piperidine‐1‐oxyl (Tempo), on PAA/PEO complexes of different weight compositions. The quantitative fast motion fraction in the composite ESR spectrum was calculated. The influence of changes in the composition of PAA on the molecular mobility was characterized by changes of the spectral parameters and τ_c. The molecular mobility was shown to diminish with increasing content of PAA in PAA/PEO blends duo to the restriction of the polymer matrix rigidity increase. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local mobility of micelles of new cationic surfactants and their interactions with hydrophobically modified polyacrylamides

The local dynamics and organization of micelles of new long-chain cationic surfactants with saturated hydrocarbon fragments (from C₁₆ to C₂₂) are investigated via the EPR spin-probe technique. The local mobility of spin probes in the hydrocarbon core of a micelle changes insignificantly, while the order parameter noticeably increases with lengthening of the hydrocarbon fragment of the surfactant molecule. The specific features of the interaction of the surfactants with network junctions of the gels formed by two types of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamides??either containing charged groups (sodium acrylate) in the backbone or lacking these groups??are studied. In both cases, the local mobility of network junctions of the gel increases after the introduction of the surfactant (C₁₈). Moreover, for surfactant with a long alkyl group (C₂), the microscopic viscosity of the gel based on the uncharged polymer decreases, although the local mobility of the network junctions increases. Possible causes of the observed specific features are discussed.     

Scanning force microscopy study of the morphology of spin‐cast molecular‐imprinted nylon thin films

The morphology of thin, selectively imprinted films of Nylon‐6 was investigated by scanning force microscopy. Four amino acids were used as template molecules in the spin‐cast films. Film thickness ranged from 2 µm to 500 nm, depending on the nylon and template concentration in the casting solution. The thin‐film properties, including the presence of nanometer‐ to micrometer‐sized pores, are clearly associated with the imprinting process. The larger features observed by scanning force microscopy are attributed to amino acid clustering during the casting process. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electron transfer between a tyrosyl radical and a cysteine residue in hemoproteins: spin trapping analysis

We investigated electron transfer between a tyrosyl radical and cysteine residue in two systems, oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb)/peroxynitrite/5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) and myoglobin (Mb)/hydrogen peroxide/DMPO, using a combination of techniques including ESR, immuno-spin trapping (IST), and ESI/MS. These techniques show that the nitrone spin trap DMPO covalently binds to one or more amino acid radicals in the protein. Treating oxyHb with peroxynitrite and Mb with H2O2 in the presence of a low DMPO concentration yielded secondary Cys-DMPO radical adduct exclusively, whereas in the presence of high DMPO, more of the primary Tyr-DMPO radical adduct was detected. In both systems studied, we found that, at high DMPO concentrations, mainly tyrosyl radicals (Hb-Tyr42/Tyr24 and Mb-Tyr103) are trapped and the secondary electron-transfer reaction does not compete, whereas in the presence of low concentrations of DMPO, the secondary reaction predominates over tyrosyl trapping, and a thiyl radical is formed and then trapped (Hb-Cys93 or Mb-Cys110). With increasing concentrations of DMPO in the reaction medium, primary radicals have an increasing probability of being trapped. MS/MS was used to identify the specific Tyr and Cys residues forming radicals in the myoglobin system. All data obtained from this combination of approaches support the conclusion that the initial site of radical formation is a Tyr, which then abstracts an electron from a cysteine residue to produce a cysteinyl radical. This complex phenomenon of electron transfer from one radical to another has been investigated in proteins by IST, ESR, and MS.     

EPR spin probe study of polymer associative systems

Molecular dynamics of polyacrylamide gels, polymeric micelles and hydrogel of polyacrylic acid and macrodiisocyanate was investigated by the ESR spectroscopy of spin probes. The local mobility in network junction of polyacrylamide gels is found to be essentially slower than that in the micelles created by the low molecular weight detergents and does not depend on the amount and length of hydrophobic groups (C9 or C12) in the polymer chain. The immersion of 10-30 mol.% of ionic monomers into the polymer chain (sodium acrylate) influences insufficiently on the local mobility of network junctions. In aqueous solutions, polystyrene-block-poly-(N-ethyl-4-vinylpyridinium bromide) block copolymers create polymeric micelles. The local mobility in the polystyrene core of the micelles is about twice as much as that in the solid polystyrene. Partially swellable polymer network in aqueous solutions was synthesized from polyacrylic acid and macrodiisocyanate. The local mobility in hydrophobic regions of the gel is substantially lower than that in the hydrophilic regions. It was concluded that the hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions and the local dynamics of them dictate practical application of the polymer associative systems.     

Polaron dynamics of heavily doped regioregular and regiorandom poly(3-alkylthiophenes) revealed by electron spin resonance spectroscopy

Electron spin resonance (ESR) features in heavily doped conjugated polymers are investigated through the comparison of temperature dependences of ESR spectra between head-to-tail coupled regioregular (RR) and regiorandom (RRa) poly(3-octylthiophenes) (P3OTs). RR-P3OT, used as a model of having crystalline grains in the solid film, is found to exhibit anisotropic ESR spectra, whereas RRa-P3OT gives almost isotropic ESR spectra similar to those of usual heavily doped conjugated polymers. This difference in the degree of spectral anisotropy primarily arises from a difference in their film morphology. Spectral simulations show the anisotropy observed in RR-P3OT to be caused by g-anisotropy. The presence of the g-anisotropy in RR-P3OT indicates that its polarons spend most of the time within a single crystalline grain that has some domains with a common direction of the g-tensor. The g-anisotropy turns out to decrease with increasing temperature. This result is explained by thermally activated hopping motions between crystalline grains. We emphasize that the decrease in the g-anisotropy with temperature should be associated with its activated type of temperature dependence of conductivity. In RRa-P3OT, its isotropic ESR spectra are suggested to be caused by the interchain motion as well as the intrachain one.     

Synthesis of novel amphiphilic spin probes with the paramagnetic doxyl group in the polar region

The use of ESR and specially designed spin probes has led to major breakthroughs in understanding the complexity of biological membranes. Research has been focused mainly on molecular events within the lipid bilayer, and few probes have been designed for studying events in the extracellular space near the membrane surface. We have prepared a series of amphiphilic spin probes in which an ethylene glycol type hydrophilic spacer was introduced between a hydrophobic anchor and the doxyl group, placing the latter above the membrane in the extracellular space. Furthermore, the 2pπ orbital, containing the unpaired electron of the nitroxide group, would be orientated perpendicular to the membrane surface, making it more useful for ESR investigations of structural and dynamic properties close to the membrane surface in different situations of the cell life.     

过硫酸盐和脂肪环胺体系引发机理的ESR研究

用ESR方法研究了过硫酸盐和脂肪环胺吗啉,哌啶及其N-烷基取代衍生物体系引发反应的初级自由基,结合端基分析,证实了这类脂肪环胺与过硫酸盐反应产生的初级自由基都能引发烯类单体聚合。当所用的是脂环仲胺时,其初级自由基为氮中心自由基;用脂环叔胺时,初级自由基是N-烷基的α-碳中心自由基。     

An investigation of the membranotropic properties of the plant toxin thionin isolated fromPyrularia pubera

It has been shown by the ESR of spin probes that thionin initially interacts with with negatively charged membranes electrostatically and then passes into the membranes to a depth comparable with the length of the hydrophobic sections of the protein loops. Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 594–597, July–August, 1993.     

An investigation of the membranotropic properties of the plant toxin thionin isolated fromPyrularia pubera

It has been shown by the ESR of spin probes that thionin initially interacts with with negatively charged membranes electrostatically and then passes into the membranes to a depth comparable with the length of the hydrophobic sections of the protein loops.Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 594–597, July–August, 1993.