Unusual platinum complexes in the gas phase

Previously unknown cationic platinum complexes Pt(C₅H₄N)(C₅H₅N)⁺ and Pt(C₅H₄N)⁺, where platinum atom forms an unusual three-membered metallacycle with a deprotonated pyridine molecule, were detected in the gas phase by mass spectrometry and structurally characterized by DFT quantum-chemical calculations.     

Aggregates of cucurbituril complexes in the gas phase

The self-organization of cucurbit[n]uril (n = 7 and 8, CBs) complexes was probed by electrospray mass spectrometry. The self-association of CB complexes is a general phenomenon but shows some dependence on the absence, presence, and type of included guest molecules.     

Nature of minor-groove binders-DNA complexes in the gas phase

The structure of noncovalent complexes of DNA duplex with minor groove binders (mG-binders) has been analyzed by state of the art molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. More than 3.3 micros of MD trajectories (including 4 x 0.5 micros trajectories) were collected for the Dickerson's dodecamer bound to DAPI, Hoechst 33258, and Netropsin. Comparison of these trajectories with control simulations in water allowed us to determine that the extreme dehydration and partial neutralization occurring during electrospray experiments does not produce the disruption of the DNA:mG-binder complexes or the dissociation of the two strands of the duplex. Irrespective of the drug and the simulation conditions the mG-binders remains bound to the DNA near the preferential binding position in aqueous conditions. Large distortions appear in the two DNA strands, which maintain however a memory of the original DNA duplex structure in water, and a general helical-like conformation.     

Structural motifs of DNA complexes in the gas phase

DNA duplexes are known to be quite stable in the condensed phase but recent mass spectrometry results have shown that DNA complexes are also stable (at least for a limited time) in the gas phase. However, very little is known about the overall shape of the complexes in a solvent-free environment and what factors influence that shape. In this article, we present recent ion mobility and molecular modeling results that address some issues concerning the gas-phase conformations of DNA duplexes. Examples include the effect of metal ions on Watson–Crick base pairing, investigating the onset of helicity in duplexes as a function of strand length, comparison of the stability of C·G and A·T base pairs, and examining the formation of quadruplex structures.     

Stereoselectivity in the collision-activated reactions of gas phase salt complexes

The collision-activated dissociations (CAD) of gas phase salt complexes composed of chiral ions were studied in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer. Because both partners in the salt are chiral, diastereomeric complexes can be formed (e.g., RR, RS). Two general types of complexes were investigated. In the first, the complex was composed of deprotonated binaphthol and a chiral bis-tetraalkylammonium dication. CAD of these complexes leads to the transfer of a proton or an alkyl cation to the binaphtholate leading to a singly-charged tetraalkylammonium cation. During CAD, diastereomeric complexes give significantly different product distributions indicating reasonable stereoselectivity in the process. In the second system, the complexes involved a peptide dianion and a chiral tetraalkylammonium cation. These systems may be viewed as very simple models for the interactions of peptides/proteins with small chiral molecules. Again, stereoselectivity was evident during CAD, but the extent was dependent on the nature of the peptide and not observable in some cases. To better understand the structural features needed to achieve stereoselectivity in gas phase salt complexes, representative transition states were modeled computationally. The results suggest that it is critical for the asymmetry of the nucleophile (i.e., anion) to be well represented in the vicinity of its reactive center.     

Isomeric alkyl cation/arene complexes in the gas phase

The kinetics and the stereochemistry of the protonation-induced unimolecular isomerization of (S)-(+)-1-D(1)-3-(p-tolyl)butane have been investigated in the gas phase in the 100-160 degrees C range. The process leads to the almost exclusive formation of the relevant meta isomer with complete racemization and partial 1,2-H shift in the migrating sec-butyl group. These results, together with the relevant activation parameters, point to the occurrence of low-energy, tightly bound isomeric sec-butyl cation/toluene complexes of defined structure and stability along the isomerization coordinate. The existence and the eta(1)-type structure of these low-energy intermediate species are confirmed by ab initio calculations on closely related systems at the MP2(full)/6-311++G**//HF/6-31+G** level of theory. Their role in the relevant energy surface clearly emerges from the comparison of the present results with those concerning sec-butylation of toluene carried out under comparable experimental conditions.     

Microhydration of the magnesium(II) acetate cation in the gas phase

Electrospray ionization of aqueous solutions of magnesium(II) acetate leads to microhydrated magnesium acetate cations of the type [(CH(3)COO)(2m-1)Mg(m)(H(2)O)(n)](+) with m = 1-4 and n = 0-4, which are characterized by mass spectrometry and, for the cluster with three water molecules, also by infrared multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy. Density functional theory is used to determine the energies of microhydration for the mononuclear species [(CH(3)COO)Mg(H(2)O)(n)](+) with n = 0-6 and the associated changes in molecular structure. While bidentate coordination of the acetato ligand is generally preferred, at higher values of n, a switch to a monodentate coordination becomes energetically competitive.     

Titanium alkoxide complexes: condensed phase and gas phase comparisons

The complex [Ti(2,4-dimethyl-2,4-pentanediolate)2]2 (1) has been synthesized from [Ti(OiPr)4] by transesterification with a stoichiometric amount of 2,4-dimethyl-2,4-pentanediol. We have characterized complex 1 in the solid state by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and in the gas phase by desorption chemical ionization mass spectrometry (DCI-MS). The structural and mass spectrometric data show complex 1 to be stable as a dimer in both the solid and gas phases. The retention of dimeric nuclearity in the gas phase sets complex 1 apart from other simple titanium alkoxide complexes [Ti(OiPr)4] and [Ti(OMe)4]4 that give rise to respective families of molecular ions in the DCI-MS experiment. The highest mass molecular ions for Ti alkoxide complexes in the gas phase may reveal the highest nuclearity that these complexes achieve in condensed phases. According to this interpretation the complex [Ti(OiPr)4] is principally dimeric in the gas phase and probably also in the pure liquid phase and should be represented by the formula [Ti(OiPr)4]2.     

Infrared multiphoton spectra from metal dication complexes in the gas phase

Infrared multiphoton spectra have been recorded for the first time from metal dication complexes held in an ion trap. The photofragmentation of [M(pyridine)4]2+ complexes has been observed in the range 920-1090 cm(-1) and for M=Cu2+, Mg2+ and Zn2+. The narrow absorption features are identified as vibrational modes of the pyridine molecule and comparisons with calculations suggest that the Mg2+ and Zn2+ ion complexes have D2d (compressed tetrahedron) structures, and that the Cu2+ complex is probably square-planar (D4h).     

Measuring H-bonding in supramolecular complexes by gas phase ion-molecule reactions

H/D and guest-exchange ion-molecule reactions have been used as a new tool to elucidate the operation of multiple hydrogen bonding in gas-phase complexes formed between phosphonate cavitands and ethyl-substituted ammonium ions.     

Theoretical and experimental studies of cationized uracil complexes in the gas phase

Cationized uracil clusters were generated in the gas phase by electrospray ionization (ESI). Mass spectrometry experiments showed that with particular experimental conditions, decameric uracil clusters are magic number clusters. MS/MS experiments demonstrated that the structure of these decameric uracil clusters depends substantially on the size and the charge of the cation. On the basis of the ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) quantum chemistry calculations, structures for these decameric clusters were proposed. These structures are in agreement with the experimental mass spectra of modified nucleobases. Theoretical calculations showed that complexes experimentally observed using ESI-MS techniques, are not naturally the most stable in the gas phase.     

Proton exchange and transesterification reactions of acetate enolates with alcohols in the gas phase

Transesterification reactions and proton exchange reactions between acetate enolates and alcohols were studied both separately and together. Kinetic analysis shows that transesterification and proton exchange happen in a single collision event. The transesterification reaction is best viewed as an endothermic proton transfer, followed by an exchange of alkoxide and an exothermic proton transfer. Reaction barriers were modeled by Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus theory and compared to quantum calculations. CBS-QB3 achieves good agreement whereas B3LYP and MP2 give slightly higher barriers. Quantum calculations also predict that the transition state for these transesterification reactions is the same as that for direct transesterification reactions between alkoxides and esters.     

Theoretical investigations of the dissociation of charged protein complexes in the gas phase

A series of calculations, varying from simple electrostatic to more detailed semi-empirical based molecular dynamics ones, were carried out on charged gas phase ions of the cytochrome c(') dimer. The energetics of differing charge states, charge partitionings, and charge configurations were examined in both the low and high charge regimes. As well, preliminary free energy calculations of dissociation barriers are presented. It is shown that one must always consider distributions of charge configurations, once protein relaxation effects are taken into account, and that no single configuration dominates. All these results also indicate that in the high charge limit, the dissociation of protein complex ions is governed by electrostatic repulsion from the net charges, the consequences of which are enumerated and discussed. There are two main trends deriving from this, namely that charges will move so as to approximately maintain constant surface charge density, and that the lowest barrier to dissociation is the one that produces fragment ions with equal charges. In particular, it is shown that the charge-to-mass ratio of a fragment ion is not the key physical parameter in predicting dissociation products. In fact, from the perspective of the division of total charge, many dissociation pathways reported to be "asymmetric" in the literature should be more properly labelled as "symmetric" or "near-symmetric". The Coulomb repulsion model assumes that the timescale for charge transfer is faster than that for protein structural changes, which in turn is faster than that for complex dissociation.     

Palladium and platinum guanine complexes

Summary Reaction of [MCl₂(H₄Y)] or (H₆Y)[MCl₄] compounds (M = Pd or Pt; Y = EDTA, PDTA or CDTA) with guanine (Gu-H) in 0.5 M HCl yields new complexes MCl₂(Gu-H)(H₂O which have been characterized by elemental analyses in conjunction with electronic, i.r. and n.m.r. spectra. A dimeric structure with two bridging chloride ligands, including coordination of guanine through atom N(9), is proposed for both compounds.Abbreviations used in the paper EDTA 1,2-diaminoethane-N,N,N,N-tetraacetate - PDTA 1,2-diaminopropane-N,N,N,N-tetraacetate - CDTA trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N,N-tetraacetate - Gu-H guanine - 9-EtGu-H 9-ethylguanine     

Palladium acetate assisted synthesis of five-membered N-polyheterocycles

Abstract

The metal-assisted synthesis of heterocyclic compounds is known to be one of the extremely developing as well as significant concepts of organic chemistry. Because of their expensive, complex working of the instrument and difficult procedures, the methodologies used earlier for the heterocycle synthesis were less amicable to the researchers. The Pd(OAc)₂-mediated cyclic reactions have been recognized to be very effective for both the stereoselective as well as regioselective formation of the 5-membered N-bearing heterocyclic compounds. The different uses of palladium acetate, as a catalyst in the formation of 5-membered N-containing polyheterocycles, are covered in this review article.     

Palladium complexes with triethylenetetraminehexa-acetic acid

The formation of complexes between palladium(II) and triethylenetetraminehexa-acetic acid (TTHA, H(6)L) was studied by measuring the hydrogen-ion concentration with a glass electrode; 1:1 and 2:1 metal to ligand complexes with different degrees of protonation were observed and the corresponding equilibrium constants evaluated.     

Metal-assisted esterification: glutaric acid-iron(II) complexes in the gas phase

Transition metal ions are routinely used to assist organic reactions; however, direct detection of the intermediates in such reactions is uncommon. Here, we demonstrate a transition metal ion-assisted reaction between glutaric acid (L) and methanol, using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Esterification of glutaric acid does not occur in aqueous methanol solution under ESI conditions, but the FeII-bound acid cluster, [FeII L2 - H]+, adds methanol and dehydrates to give rise to an abundant product ion with a 14 Da increased mass. The occurrence of methyl esterification is supported by collision-induced dissociation and isotopic labeling data, which indicate that the sequence by which the product ion is generated is loss of water, followed by the addition of methanol. Electrospray ionization conditions, specifically the tube lens offset voltage, strongly affect the reaction efficiency, presumably through control of the dehydration process. Other transition metal ions, such as NiII, ZnII, CoII and CuII, also show distinctive metal-assisted reactions.