Diode-pumped single-frequency-Nd:YGG-MOPA for water–vapor DIAL measurements: design, setup and performance

A diode-pumped Q-switched and injection-seeded single-frequency laser, generating tunable laser radiation at 935 nm, is presented. Using Nd:YGG (Y₃Ga₅O₁₂) as the active medium, the laser that was developed to serve as a transmitter for water–vapor lidar measurements. The configuration consists of a stable resonator in rod geometry that is injection seeded by a narrowband diode laser and stabilized by the ramp-and-fire technique. Energy scaling was done in a power amplifier in slab geometry. Both oscillator and amplifier crystal were diode pumped at 806 nm. More than 30 mJ pulse energy at 100 Hz repetition rate with a beam propagation factor of M²<1.4 and pulse duration of 52 ns in single-frequency mode were generated. To our knowledge this is the first direct generation of 935 nm Q-switched pulses from Nd:YGG suitable for water–vapor measurements. The reported results show great promise of this laser in applications where high efficiency and reduced complexity is indispensable, such as for spaceborne or airborne water–vapor lidar instruments.     

Coherence effects in low energy Na*(3p)+Na+ scattering: Experiment and semiclassical calculations

Pronounced polarization effects have been observed in inelastic collisions of laser state-prepared Na^*(3p,M _L) with Na⁺ leading to Na^*(3d) for the energy rangeE _CM=20–45 eV. Using linearly polarized light the dependence of the inelastic process on the alignment of the electronic charge cloud of the Na^*(3p) prior to the collision has been measured. In studies with left and right hand circularly polarized light the angular momentum transferred in the collision process has been determined. The results are compared with similar data for the 3p→3s deexitation process studied previously [6]. The density matrix of the Na^*(3p) state has been evaluated with respect to the collisional excitation to Na^*(3d). Semiclassical calculations based on the coupled channel impact parameter approximation using pseudopotentials [7] and nonadiabatic rotational coupling elements for the Na ₂ ^* system [12] have been performed. The agreement with the experimental results is good, in particular for the higher collision energies.     

Strukturaufklärung gemischter Komplexe von Eisen(II), Kobalt(II) und Nickel

Iron(II), cobalt(II) and nickel form complexes of the formula [Me(TTA)₂B¹] with 1-(2′-thenoyl)-3,3,3-trifluoroacetone (HTTA) and 2-pyridinalphenylimines (B¹) or bis-(2-pyridinal-R-diimines) (B²) and — in dependence of the -R group in the B² compounds — complexes of the formula [Me₂(TTA)₄B₂] and [Me₂(TTA)₂B²]. The octahedral geometry of the complexes can be unequivocally proven by means of electron spectra, IR spectra and from magnetic measurements. The labelling of solid [Ni(TTA)₂B¹] complexes with the nickel isotopes⁵⁸Ni or⁶²Ni permits an allocation of the Me-O- and Me-N-valency oscillations in the FIR.     

Zur Totalsynthese von Human-Sekretin

Summary The synthesis of the heptacosapeptide amide with the primary structure of Human-secretin is described. For this purpose 7 fragments were designed, i.e. H-Gly-Leu-Val-NH₂ 25–27b,Z-Arg(Z ₂)-Leu-Leu-Gln-OH 21–24,Z-Arg(Z ₂)-Leu-Gln-OH 18–20,Z-Arg(Z ₂)-Glu(OtBu)-Gly-Ala-OH 14–17,Z-Arg(Z ₂)-Leu-OH 12–13,Z-Thr(tBu)-Ser(tBu)-Glu(OtBu)-Leu-Ser(tBu)-OH 7–11,Adoc-His(Adoc)-Ser(tBu)-Asp(OtBu)-Gly-Thr(tBu)-Phe-OH 1–6 these fragments were consequently assembled to the overall protected total sequence using the Wünsch/Weygand-method with dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. After deprotection by exposure to trifluoroacetic acid in presence of 1,2-ethanedithiol and water as scavenger, the isolated crude product was purified by column chromatography on CM-Sepharose, fast flow. This synthetized Human-secretin showed the full biological activity in comparison to Porcine-secretin.

Herrn Prof. Dr. E. Bayer zum 65. Geburtstag gewidmet.     

Design and Sensing Properties of a Self‐Assembled Supramolecular Oligomer

Supramolecular polymers are a class of macromolecules stabilized by weak non‐covalent interactions. These self‐assembled aggregates typically undergo stimuli‐induced reversible assembly and disassembly. They thus hold great promise as so‐called functional materials. In this work, we present the design, synthesis, and responsive behavior of a short supramolecular oligomeric system based on two hetero‐complementary subunits. These “monomers” consist of a tetrathiafulvalene‐functionalized calix[4]pyrrole (TTF‐C[4]P) and a glycol diester‐linked bis‐2,5,7‐trinitrodicyanomethylenefluorene‐4‐carboxylate (TNDCF), respectively. We show that when mixed in organic solvents, such as CHCl₃, CH₂ClCH₂Cl, and methylcyclohexane, supramolecular aggregation takes place to produce short oligomers stabilized by hydrogen bonding and donor–acceptor charge‐transfer (CT) interactions. The self‐associated materials were characterized by ¹H NMR and UV/Vis/NIR absorption spectroscopy, as well as by concentration‐ and temperature‐dependent absorption spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses of both the monomeric and oligomerized species. The self‐associated system produced from TTF‐C[4]P and TNDCF exhibits a concentration‐dependent aggregation behavior typical of supramolecular polymers. Further support for the proposed self‐assembly came from theoretical calculations. The fluorescence emitting properties of TNDCF are quenched under conditions that promote the formation of supramolecular aggregates containing TTF‐C[4]P and TNDCF. This quenching effect has been utilized as a probe for the detection of substrates in the form of anions (i.e., chloride) and nitroaromatic explosives (i.e., 1,3,5‐trinitrobenzene). Specifically, the addition of these substrates to mixtures of TTF‐C[4]P and TNDCF produced a fluorescence “turn‐on” response.     

Zur Synthese von Human-Big-Gastrin I

The synthesis of the tetratriacontapeptide amide corresponding to the revised primary structure of human big gastrin I is described. For this purpose the fragments were designed in view of the maximum use of those utilized in our previous synthesis of human big gastrin I according to the first sequence proposal. Consequently the key tripeptide-Pro-Pro-His- (sequence 7–9) was prepared in suitably protected form to be used as amino or carboxyl component for assembly of the segments 1–9 and 1–14, respectively. Final condensation of the latter nona- and tetradecapeptide derivatives with the C-terminal segments 10–34 and 15–34 via the azide and the dicyclohexylcarbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide procedure, respectively, leads to crude fully protected human big gastrin I. Upon deprotection by exposure to trifluoroacetic acid in presence of ethanedithiol-(1,2) as scavanger, ion exchange chromatography and partition chromatography, the desired tetratriacontapeptide amide was isolated in satisfactory yield with a high degree of purity. The identical immunological behaviour of the synthetic material, if compared with that of natural human big gastrin I, represents ulterior strong evidence for the correctness of the newly proposed structure for this putative prohormonal form of the gastrins.

Kurzmitteilung:Wünsch E., Wendlberger G., Mladenova-Orlinova L., Göhring W., Jaeger E., Scharf R., Gregory R. A., Dockray G. J., Hoppe-Seyler's Z. Physiol. Chem.362, 179 (1981).     

Shaper-assisted full-phase characterization of UV pulses without a spectrometer

A full-phase measurement of low-energy femtosecond UV pulses is presented. The method relies on phase retrieval of measured sonogram traces and is greatly simplified by a two-dimensional shaper-assisted cross correlation setup. As all required pulses are generated by the pulse shaper, the method is free of external references and additional tunable filter setups.     

Top-down identification of endogenous peptides up to 9 kDa in cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue by nanoelectrospray quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

Recent work on protein and peptide biomarker patterns revealed the difficulties in identifying their molecular components, which is indispensable for validation of the biological context. Cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue are used as sources to discover new biomarkers, e.g. for neurodegenerative diseases. Many of these biomarker candidates are peptides with a molecular mass of <10 kDa. Their identification is favourably achieved with a 'top-down' approach, because this requires less purification and an enzymatic cleavage will often not yield enough specific fragments for successful database searches. Here, we describe an approach using quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) as a highly efficient mass spectrometric purification and identification tool after off-line decomplexation of biological samples by liquid chromatography. After initial peptidomic screening with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) TOFMS, the elution behaviour in chromatography and the exact molecular mass were used to locate the same signals in nanoelectrospray measurements. Most of the peaks detected in MALDI-TOFMS could be retrieved in nanoelectrospray quadrupole TOFMS. Suitable collision energies for informative fragment spectra were investigated for different parent ions, charge states and molecular masses. After collision-induced dissociation, the resulting fragmentation data of multiply charged ions can become much more complicated than those derived from tryptic peptide digests. However, the mass accuracy and resolution of quadrupole TOF instruments results in high-quality data suitable for determining peptide sequences. The protein precursor, proteolytic processing and post-translational modifications were identified by automated database searches. This is demonstrated by the exemplary identifications of thymosin beta-4 (5.0 kDa) and NPY (4.3 kDa) from rat hypothalamic tissue and ubiquitin (8.6 kDa) from human cerebrospinal fluid. The high data quality should also allow for de novo identification. This methodology is generally applicable for peptides up to a molecular mass of about 10 kDa from body fluids, tissues or other biological sources.