NMR Backbone Assignment of Large Proteins by Using 13Cα‐Only Triple‐Resonance Experiments

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a powerful tool to interrogate protein structure and dynamics residue by residue. However, the prerequisite chemical‐shift assignment remains a bottleneck for large proteins due to the fast relaxation and the frequency degeneracy of the ¹³C_α nuclei. Herein, we present a covariance NMR strategy to assign the backbone chemical shifts by using only HN(CO)CA and HNCA spectra that has a high sensitivity even for large proteins. By using the peak linear correlation coefficient (LCC), which is a sensitive probe even for tiny chemical‐shift displacements, we correctly identify the fidelity of approximately 92 % cross‐peaks in the covariance spectrum, which is thus a significant improvement on the approach developed by Snyder and Brüschweiler (66 %) and the use of spectral derivatives (50 %). Thus, we calculate the 4D covariance spectrum from HN(CO)CA and HNCA experiments, in which cross‐peaks with LCCs above a universal threshold are considered as true correlations. This 4D covariance spectrum enables the sequential assignment of a 42 kDa maltose binding protein (MBP), in which about 95 % residues are successfully assigned with a high accuracy of 98 %. Our LCC approach, therefore, paves the way for a residue‐by‐residue study of the backbone structure and dynamics of large proteins.     

Matrix‐Free DNP‐Enhanced NMR Spectroscopy of Liposomes Using a Lipid‐Anchored Biradical

Magic‐angle spinning dynamic nuclear polarization (MAS‐DNP) has been proven to be a powerful technique to enhance the sensitivity of solid‐state NMR (SSNMR) in a wide range of systems. Here, we show that DNP can be used to polarize lipids using a lipid‐anchored polarizing agent. More specifically, we introduce a C16‐functionalized biradical, which allows localization of the polarizing agents in the lipid bilayer and DNP experiments to be performed in the absence of excess cryo‐protectant molecules (glycerol, dimethyl sulfoxide, etc.). This constitutes another original example of the matrix‐free DNP approach that we recently introduced.     

ChemInform Abstract: Starlike Aluminum—Carbon Aromatic Species.

Born‐Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations and high‐level quantum chemical computations (B3LYP, MP2, CCSD(T)) reveal the starlike D_5h C₅Al₅^‐ global minimum with five planar tetracoordinate carbon atoms to be a promising candidate for detection by photoelectron detachment spectroscopy.     

29Si NMR Shielding Tensors in Triphenylsilanes – 29Si Solid State NMR Experiments and DFT‐IGLO Calculations

²⁹Si NMR shielding tensors of a series of triphenylsilanes Ph₃SiR with R = Ph, Me, F, Cl, Br, OH, OMe, SH, NH₂, SiPh₃, C≡CPh were determined from ²⁹Si CP/MAS spectra recorded at low spinning rates. In addition the principal components of the shielding tensor were calculated employing the DFT‐IGLO method. For most silanes experimental and calculated values are in good accordance. Larger differences were observed for systems with hydrogen bridge forming substituents and the halides bromide and chloride. In some of the spectra the shielding information interfered with residual dipolar couplings. The different contributions of the various substituents to the principal components of the shielding tensor and the orientation of the tensor within the molecules are discussed and compared for the compounds under investigation.     

Ultrafast Multidimensional Laplace NMR Using a Single‐Sided Magnet

Laplace NMR (LNMR) consists of relaxation and diffusion measurements providing detailed information about molecular motion and interaction. Here we demonstrate that ultrafast single‐ and multidimensional LNMR experiments, based on spatial encoding, are viable with low‐field, single‐sided magnets with an inhomogeneous magnetic field. This approach shortens the experiment time by one to two orders of magnitude relative to traditional experiments, and increases the sensitivity per unit time by a factor of three. The reduction of time required to collect multidimensional data opens significant prospects for mobile chemical analysis using NMR. Particularly tantalizing is future use of hyperpolarization to increase sensitivity by orders of magnitude, allowed by single‐scan approach.     

The Marriage of Peripherally Metallated and Directly Linked Porphyrins: Bromidobis(phosphine)platinum(II) as a Cation‐Stabilizing Substituent on Directly Linked and Fused Triply Linked Diporphyrins

A meso‐bromidoplatiniobis(triphenylphosphine) η¹‐organometallic porphyrin monomer was prepared by the oxidative addition of meso‐bromoZnDPP (DPP=dianion of 5,15‐diphenylporphyrin) to a platinum(0) species. The meso–meso directly linked dimeric porphyrin ( 5 ) was prepared from this monomer by silver(I)‐promoted oxidative coupling and planarized to give a triply linked dizinc(II) porphyrin dimer ( 8 ). Acidic demetallation of 8 afforded the bis(free base) 9 . Dimer 5 was demetallated then remetallated with nickel(II) to give the dinickel(II) analogue 10 , the X‐ray crystal structure of which showed a twisted molecule with ruffled, orthogonal NiDPP rings, terminated by square‐planar trans‐[Pt(PPh₃)₂Br] units. New compounds were fully characterized spectroscopically, and the fused diporphyrin exhibited a broad, low‐energy, near‐IR electronic absorption band near 1100 nm. Electrochemical measurements of this series indicate that the organometallic fragment is a strong electron donor towards the porphyrin ring. The triply linked organometallic diporphyrin has a substantially lowered first one‐electron oxidation potential (?0.35 V versus the ferrocene/ferrocenium couple (Fc/Fc⁺)) and a narrow HOMO–LUMO gap of 0.96 V. Solutions prepared for NMR spectroscopy slowly decompose with degradation of the signals, which is attributed to partial oxidation to the cation radical. This paramagnetic species can be reduced in situ by hydrazine to restore the NMR spectrum to its former appearance. The combined influence of the two [Pt(PPh₃)₂Br] electron‐donating substituents is sufficient to make dimer 5 too aerobically unstable to allow further elaboration.     

Reactions of Alk‐1‐enylxenonium(II) and Alk‐1‐ynylxenonium(II) Salts [RXe]Y with Bromides and Iodides in Anhydrous HF

The replacement of xenon(+) by iodine in reactions of alkenylxenonium(II) salts [RCF=CFXe]Y (R = cis-C₂F₅, trans-H) and alkynylxenonium(II) salt [C₃F₇C≡CXe][BF₄] with NaI in anhydrous HF (aHF) occurred regiospecifically. At −60 °C the substitution of xenon(+) by bromine in the perfluorinated salts [cis-CF₃CF=CFXe]Y and [trans-C₄F₉CF=CFXe]Y proceeded regio- and stereospecifically with NaBr in aHF, but at a higher temperature and after a longer time the treatment of [cis-C₂F₅CF=CFXe]Y with NaBr, KBr, or [NBu₄]Br in aHF gave mixtures of cisand trans-perfluorobut-1-enyl bromides. The reaction of [C₃F₇C≡CXe][BF₄] with NaBr in aHF at −65 °C gave only 48 %, of C₃F₇C≡CBr and was accompanied by a mixture of bromine-containing related olefins. Reaction pathways to the main product are discussed.     

Dynamic Coupling at the Ångström Scale

While momentum transfer from active particles to their immediate surroundings has been studied for both synthetic and biological micron‐scale systems, a similar phenomenon was presumed unlikely to exist at smaller length scales due to the dominance of viscosity in the ultralow Reynolds number regime. Using diffusion NMR spectroscopy, we studied the motion of two passive tracers—tetramethylsilane and benzene—dissolved in an organic solution of active Grubbs catalyst. Significant enhancements in diffusion were observed for both the tracers and the catalyst as a function of reaction rate. A similar behavior was also observed for the enzyme urease in aqueous solution. Surprisingly, momentum transfer at the molecular scale closely resembles that reported for microscale systems and appears to be independent of swimming mechanism. Our work provides new insight into the role of active particles on advection and mixing at the Ångström scale.     

Ultra‐wideline 27Al NMR Investigation of Three‐ and Five‐Coordinate Aluminum Environments

Ultra‐wideline ²⁷Al NMR experiments are conducted on coordination compounds with ²⁷Al nuclei possessing immense quadrupolar interactions that result from exceptionally nonspherical coordination environments. NMR spectra are acquired using a methodology involving frequency‐stepped, piecewise acquisition of NMR spectra with Hahn‐echo or quadrupolar Carr–Purcell Meiboom–Gill (QCPMG) pulse sequences, which is applicable to any half‐integer quadrupolar nucleus with extremely broad NMR powder patterns. Despite the large breadth of these central transition powder patterns, ranging from 250 to 700 kHz, the total experimental times are an order of magnitude less than previously reported experiments on analogous complexes with smaller quadrupolar interactions. The complexes examined feature three‐ or five‐coordinate aluminum sites: trismesitylaluminum (AlMes₃), tris(bis(trimethylsilyl)amino)aluminum (Al(NTMS₂)₃), bis[dimethyl tetrahydrofurfuryloxide aluminum] ([Me₂‐Al(μ‐OTHF)]₂), and bis[diethyl tetrahydrofurfuryloxide aluminum] ([Et₂‐Al(μ‐OTHF)]₂). We report some of the largest ²⁷Al quadrupolar coupling constants measured to date, with values of C_Q(²⁷Al) of 48.2(1), 36.3(1), 19.9(1), and 19.6(2) MHz for AlMes₃ , Al(NTMS₂)₃ , [Me₂‐Al(μ‐OTHF)]₂ , and [Et₂‐Al(μ‐OTHF)]₂ , respectively. X‐ray crystallographic data and theoretical (Hartree–Fock and DFT) calculations of ²⁷Al electric field gradient (EFG) tensors are utilized to examine the relationships between the quadrupolar interactions and molecular structure; in particular, the origin of the immense quadrupolar interaction in the three‐coordinate species is studied via analyses of molecular orbitals.     

From a Si3‐Cyclopropene to a Si3S‐Bicyclo[1.1.0]butane to a Si3S‐Cyclopropene to a Si3S2‐Bicyclo[1.1.0]butane: Back‐and‐Forth,and In‐Between

Compact and highly reactive bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes constitute one of the most fascinating classes of organic compounds. Furthermore, interplay of bicyclo[1.1.0]butanes with their valence isomers, such as buta‐1,3‐dienes and cyclobutenes, is among the fundamental pericyclic transformations in organic chemistry. Herein we report the back‐and‐forth interconversion between the cyclotrisilenes and thiatrisilabicyclo[1.1.0]butanes, allowing for the synthesis of novel representatives of such classes of highly reactive organometallics. The peculiar structural and bonding features of the newly synthesized compounds, as well as the mechanism of their isomerization, were verified both experimentally and computationally.     

Modern NMR Spectroscopy of Organolithium Compounds

Modern methods of NMR spectroscopy, in particular the two-dimensional techniques, offer new chances for structure determinations in the field of organolithium compounds, where the combination of ¹H-, ¹³C-, and ⁶⁽⁷⁾Li-NMR spectroscopy is an especially useful feature. Chemical shift correlations which also include the lithium nuclei allow a complete assignment of the ¹H-, ¹³C-, and ⁶Li-NMR spectra and thereby a better characterization of the various aggregates and complexes present in solution. Spatial proximities of ⁶Li and ¹H can be detected by nuclear Overhauser experiments, and ⁶⁽⁷⁾Li-NMR exchange spectroscopy can provide new information with regard to the mechanisms and energetics of dynamic processes like aggregate interchange and complexation. After a short resumé of the experimental aspects of the NMR spectroscopy of organolithium compounds and a discussion of the NMR parameters of these systems, new experimental techniques are presented. Areas of application of these newly conceived one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments are illustrated with selected examples. The results show that even more detailed information about the structure and reactivity of organolithium compounds, which are so important for organic synthesis, can be expected in the future.