Catalytic asymmetric conjugate boration of α,β-unsaturated sulfones

The α,β-unsaturated sulfones are suitable activated olefins in catalytic asymmetric conjugate β-boration. These substrates undergo smooth conjugate addition of bis(pinacolato)diboron [B(2)(pin)(2)] catalyzed by nonracemic Cu(I)-diphosphine complexes to provide, upon subsequent oxidation, β-hydroxy sulfones in good yields and high enantiocontrol.     

One-photon photophysics and two-photon absorption of 4-[9,9-di(2-ethylhexyl)-7-diphenylaminofluoren-2-yl]-2,2':6',2'-terpyridine and their platinum chloride complexes

The synthesis, one-photon photophysics and two-photon absorption (2PA) of three dipolar D-π-A 4-[9,9-di(2-ethylhexyl)-7-diphenylaminofluoren-2-yl]-2,2':6',2'-terpyridine and their platinum chloride complexes with different linkers between the donor and acceptor are reported. All ligands exhibit (1)π,π* transition in the UV and (1)π,π*/(1)ICT (intramolecular charge transfer) transition in the visible regions, while the complexes display a lower-energy (1)π,π*/(1)CT (charge transfer) transition in the visible region in addition to the high-energy (1)π,π* transitions. All ligands and the complexes are emissive at room temperature and 77 K, with the emitting excited state assigned as the mixed (1)π,π* and (1)CT states at RT. Transient absorption from the ligands and the complexes were observed. 2PA was investigated for all ligands and complexes. The two-photon absorption cross-sections (σ(2)) of the complexes (600-2000 GM) measured by Z-scan experiment are much larger than those of their corresponding ligands measured by the two-photon induced fluorescence method. The ligand and the complex with the ethynylene linker show much stronger 2PA than those with the vinylene linker.     

Shrinking-core modeling of binary chromatographic breakthrough

Most chromatographic processes involve separation of two or more species, so development of a simple, accurate multicomponent chromatographic model can be valuable for improving process efficiency and yield. We consider the case of breakthrough chromatography, which has been considered in great depth for single-component modeling but to a much more limited degree for multicomponent breakthrough. We use the shrinking core model, which provides a reasonable approximation of particle uptake for proteins under strong binding conditions. Analytical column solutions for single-component systems are extended here to predict binary breakthrough chromatographic behavior for conditions under which the external transport resistance is negligible. Analytical results for the location and profile of displacement effects and expected breakthrough curves are derived for limiting cases. More generally, straightforward numerical results have also been obtained through simultaneous solution of a set of simple ordinary differential equations. Exploration of the model parameter space yields results consistent with theoretical expectations. Additionally, both analytical and numerical predictions compare favorably with experimental column breakthrough data for lysozyme-cytochrome c mixtures on the strong cation exchanger SP Sepharose FF. Especially significant is the ability of the model to predict experimentally observed displacement profiles of the more weakly adsorbed species (in this case cytochrome c). The ability to model displacement behavior using simple analytical and numerical techniques is a significant improvement over current methods.     

Interactions of biomacromolecules with reverse hexagonal liquid crystals: drug delivery and crystallization applications

Recently, self-assembled lyotropic liquid crystals (LLCs) of lipids and water have attracted the attention of both scientific and applied research communities, due to their remarkable structural complexity and practical potential in diverse applications. The phase behavior of mixtures of glycerol monooleate (monoolein, GMO) was particularly well studied due to the potential utilization of these systems in drug delivery systems, food products, and encapsulation and crystallization of proteins. Among the studied lyotropic mesophases, reverse hexagonal LLC (H(II)) of monoolein/water were not widely subjected to practical applications since these were stable only at elevated temperatures. Lately, we obtained stable H(II) mesophases at room temperature by incorporating triacylglycerol (TAG) molecules into the GMO/water mixtures and explored the physical properties of these structures. The present feature article summarizes recent systematic efforts in our laboratory to utilize the H(II) mesophases for solubilization, and potential release and crystallization of biomacromolecules. Such a concept was demonstrated in the case of two therapeutic peptides-cyclosporin A (CSA) and desmopressin, as well as RALA peptide, which is a model skin penetration enhancer, and eventually a larger macromolecule-lysozyme (LSZ). In the course of the study we tried to elucidate relationships between the different levels of organization of LLCs (from the microstructural level, through mesoscale, to macroscopic level) and find feasible correlations between them. Since the structural properties of the mesophase systems are a key factor in drug release applications, we investigated the effects of these guest molecules on their conformations and the way these molecules partition within the domains of the mesophases. The examined H(II) mesophases exhibited great potential as transdermal delivery vehicles for bioactive peptides, enabling tuning the release properties according to their chemical composition and physical properties. Furthermore, we showed a promising opportunity for crystallization of CSA and LSZ in single crystal form as model biomacromolecules for crystallographic structure determination. The main outcomes of our research demonstrated that control of the physical properties of hexagonal LLC on different length scales is key for rational design of these systems as delivery vehicles and crystallization medium for biomacromolecules.     

Nanostructured electropolymerized film of 5-amino-2-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole on glassy carbon electrode for the selective determination of l-cysteine

We report the electropolymerization of 5-amino-2-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (AMT) in 0.1 M H₂SO₄ on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and utilization of the resulting polymer film for the selective determination of l-cysteine (CY) at physiological pH for the first time. The electropolymerized film was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). AFM image shows a homogeneous film containing spherical structure with a thickness of ～25 nm for p-AMT deposited by 15 cycles. The binding energies at 163.5, 400.2 and 398.8 eV in the XPS corroborate that the p-AMT was linked by S–S, HN–NH and NN groups. The p-AMT film successfully separates the voltammetric signals of CY and ascorbic acid (AA) with a potential difference of 480 mV which is higher than the previous reports.     

Relation of structure to performance characteristics of monolithic and perfusive stationary phases

Commercially available polymer-based monolithic and perfusive stationary phases were evaluated for their applicability in chromatography of biologics. Information on bed geometry, including that from electron microscopy (EM), was used to interpret and predict accessible volumes, binding capacities, and pressure drops. For preparative purification of biologics up to at least 7 nm in diameter, monoliths and perfusive resins are inferior to conventional stationary phases due to their low binding capacities (20–30 g/L for BSA). For larger biologics, up to several hundred nanometers in diameter, calculations from EM images predict a potential increase in binding capacity to nearly 100 g/L. The accessible volume for adenovirus calculated from the EM images matched the experimental value. While the pores of perfusive resins are essentially inaccessible to adenovirus under binding conditions, under non-adsorbing conditions the accessible intrabead porosity is almost as large as the interbead porosity. Modeling of breakthrough curves showed that the experimentally observed slow approach to full saturation can be explained by the distribution of pore sizes.     

Ruthenium(IV) pyrochlore oxides: Realization of novel electronic properties through substitution at A- and B-sites

We describe an exploratory investigation of the structure and electronic properties of new ruthenium(IV) pyrochlore oxides and their manganese-substituted derivatives. Our investigations have revealed several, hitherto unreported, electronic ground states for these materials: a metallic and Pauli paramagnetic state for BiPbRu₂O_6.5 that turns into a semiconducting ferromagnetic spin-glass state at 50 K for BiPbRuMnO_6.5; a metallic state that likely shows a charge density wave (CDW) instability at 50–225 K for Bi_1.50Zn_0.50Ru₂O_6.75 that is suppressed by manganese substitution in Bi_1.50Zn_0.50Ru_1.75Mn_0.25O_6.50; and a metallic ferromagnetic spin-glass like state for Pb₂Ru_1.75Mn_0.25O_6.15. The results indeed affirm the richness of the electronic properties of ruthenium-based metal oxides.     

The NMR spectra of porphyrins—19: 13C and proton NMR spectra of metal-free porphyrins with the Type-IX substituent orientation,and of their zinc(II) complexes

The ¹³C and proton NMR spectra of six porphyrins bearing the substituent orientation characteristic of the natural “Type-IX” arrangement are reported and assigned. Significant concentration effects in the spectra of the free base porphyrins, together with the broadening of the C_α (and occasionally C_β) carbon resonances due to NH tautomerism caused a significant loss of data in these spectra. However, the spectra of the corresponding zinc(II) porphyrins (with addition of excess pyrrolidine) show that both these extraneous effects are completely removed to give well-resolved spectra with accurately reproducible chemical shifts. These spectra are assigned and an analysis of the chemical shifts allows the deduction of substituent chemical shift (SCS) parameters for the peripheral substituents at the beta and meso carbons. There is no global effect of these beta substituents, the beta carbon SCS being confined to the immediate pyrrole ring, and the meso carbon SCS to the two adjacent pyrrole rings. The SCS parameters are analyzed and it is shown how they can be used to predict the peripheral and meso carbon chemical shifts of any porphyrin bearing the substituents discussed.     

Electron transfer from dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalene dianion: Attempted synthesis of dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalene

When dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalene dianion (3) was allowed to react with either iron (III) chloride or ethylene bromide, a one-electron transfer from3 took place readily to give the radical anion11. Further electron transfer from11 did not occur presumably due to the antiaromatic character of dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalene (1) that would have resulted. The radical anion11 underwent further transformation by hydrogen abstraction from the solvent to give 5,10-dihydroindeno[1,2-b]indole (2) and by dimerization to themeso and (R,S) isomers of 5,5,10,10-tetrahydro-10,10-biindeno[1,2-b]indole (4 a and4 b) respectively.

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Elektronentransfer von Dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalen-Dianion: Ein Versuch zur Synthese von Dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalen

Zusammenfassung Die Reaktion von Dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalen-Dianion (3) mit Eisen (III) oder Ethylenbromid ergab einen Ein-Elektronentransfer zum Radikalanion11. Ein weiterer Elektronentransfer fand nicht statt, vermutlich wegen des antiaromatischen Charakters von Dibenzo[b,f]-1-azapentalen (1), das dabei entstehen müßte. Das Radikalanion11 ergab unter Wasserstoffentzug aus dem Lösungsmittel 5,10-Dihydroindeno[1,2-b]indol (2), das weiter zummeso- bzw. (R,S)-5,5,10,10-tetrahydro-10,10-biindeno[1,2-b]indol (4 a bzw.4 b) dimerisierte.