2-Naphthol-phosphatidylethanolamine: A fluorescent phospholipid analogue for excited-state proton transfer studies in membranes

The fluorescence properties of the phospholipid derivative,N-[1-(2-naphthol)]-phosphatidylethanolamine (NAPH-PE), have been studied by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence techniques. The new probe is a naphthol adduct of phosphatidylethanolamine. The emission spectrum of the fluorescent phospholipid depends on the pH and on the proton acceptor concentration as expected for a typical two-state excited-state proton transfer reaction. In ethanol solutions at an apparent pH of 6.7 and in the presence of acetate anion (0.14M), a biexponential decay is obtained from global analysis of the data. The lifetimes, ₁=3.9 ns and ₂=6.2 ns. are constant across the spectral region 350–460 nm. The decay-associated spectra and the species-associated spectra reproduce well the profiles reported for a two-state excited-state proton transfer reaction. The fluorescent phospholipid has been incorporated into dimyristoyllecithin and dipalmitoyllecithin vesicles. Although lower proton transfer is found, the reaction appears to be dependent on the gel-to-liquid-crystalline phase transition of the lipid membrane. In addition, the steady-state anisotropy of NAPH-PE measured as a function of temperature trace the phase transition of the two vesicle systems. Thus, it is shown that the physical state of the bilayer affects a reaction which takes place at the membrane surface. In the presence of acetate ions (0.3M), global analysis, performed in terms of fluorescence decay parameters, recovers preexponential coefficients that are consistent with an excited-state proton transfer reaction. The short lifetime drops from 3.9 to 0.44 ns without significant changes of the longer-lifetime component.     

Witnessing differences without redundancies

We show that elements suffice to witness the differences of pairwise distinct sets, and provide sufficient conditions for an infinite family of pairwise distinct sets to have a minimal collection of elements witnessing the differences between any two of its members.

     

Oxidative Cyclization of Iodo Ketones. Synthesis of 6-Oxa-5alpha-pregnane-3,20-dione

The steroidal delta- and gamma-iodo ketones 1 and 9 were converted to the cyclic hemiketals 3 and 10, by oxidation to the iodoso derivatives with m-CPBA. Spontaneous cyclization of the latter intermediates to the corresponding oxocarbenium ions, followed by stereoselective addition of water, rendered the hemiketals. Depending on the reaction conditions, the five-membered oxocarbenium ion derived from the gamma-iodo ketone 9 may add H(2)O or m-CPBA to give either the hemiketal or a Baeyer-Villiger type product 12, while the oxocarbenium derived from 1 gives exclusively the hemiketal. When the reaction was carried out in dry methanol, methyl ketals were formed. Use of this methodology allowed us to synthesize 6-oxa-5alpha-pregnanes with and without functionalization at C-19.     

Application of technetium and rhenium carbonyl chemistry to nuclear medicine. Preparation of [NEt4]2[TcCl3(CO)3] from [NBu4][TcO4] and structure of [NEt4][Tc2(μ-Cl)3(CO)6]; structures of the model complexes [NEt4][Re2(μ-OEt)2(μ-OAc)(CO)6] and [ReBr({-CH2S(CH2)2Cl}2)(CO)3]

Transition Metal Chemistry - A detailed investigation of the one-pot synthesis of [NEt4]2[MX3(CO)3] [M=Tc (1a) or Re (1b); X= Cl?, Br?] is presented. The intermediates...     

Adsorption equilibria of butyl- and amylbenzene on monolithic silica-based columns

The adsorption isotherms of butyl- and amylbenzene on silica monolithic columns were measured by frontal analysis. The external, internal and total porosities of these columns were determined by inverse size-exclusion chromatography. The adsorption isotherms are concave upward in the entire concentration range investigated. They were fitted to the anti-Langmuir model, an unusual model in liquid-solid and liquid-liquid phase equilibria. Band profiles under overloaded conditions were recorded. They were in good agreement with the profiles calculated using th,e lumped pore diffusion model of chromatography and these adsorption isotherms.     

Kinetics of devitrification and differential thermal analysis

A quantitative relationship between kinetic parameters and DTA curves has been derived for devitrification reactions which are described by a Johnson—Mehl—Avrami equation.Both activation energy, E, and reaction order, n, can be derived from DTA curves and related to the probable reaction mechanism.Experimental results and isothermal literature data are consistent.     

Stereoselective synthesis of new bicyclic N,O-iso-homonucleoside analogues

The synthesis of two new bicyclic nucleoside analogues is reported. These compounds are iso-homonucleoside and are synthesised through a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of an enantiopure cyclic nitrone to protected allyl acohol and subsequent introduction of thymine by a Mitsunobu reaction.     

Empty level structure in phenyl and benzyl isocyanates

The energies of the lowest-lying anion states of phenyl (C6H5N=C=O) and benzyl (C6H5CH2N=C=O) isocyanates have been determined experimentally in the gas phase for the first time using electron transmission spectroscopy (ETS), and their localization properties have been evaluated using HF/6-31G, MP2/6-31G*, and B3LYP/6-31G* calculations. The lowest-lying anion state of phenyl isocyanate, mainly of benzene ring character but with some contribution also from the N=C=O pi-system, lies at significantly higher energy than that of other benzenes substituted by pi-functionals, such as benzaldehyde or styrene. The scaling with the use of suitable empirical equations of the virtual orbital energies (VOEs) for orbitals with predominantly pi*(ring) character calculated for the neutral-state molecules leads to vertical attachment energies (VAEs) which closely correspond to those determined experimentally, whereas those calculated for the predominantly pi*(CO) and pi*(NC) orbitals (3rd and 4th LUMO, respectively) are significantly different from the corresponding measured values notwithstanding the fact that the calculations reproduce the shortening of the N=C and C=O double bonds.     

The energetics and structural properties of diazomethyl (HCNN) and cyanomidyl (HNCN) radicals and their related cations and anions from ab initio calculations

The molecular structures and energetics of diazomethyl (HCNN) and cyanomidyl (HNCN) radicals and their related cations (HCNN(+),HNCN(+)) and anions (HCNN(-),HNCN(-)) are reported at a high level of accuracy. The singles and doubles coupled-cluster method including a perturbational correction for connected triple excitations with systematic sequences of correlation consistent basis sets have been employed. Extrapolation to the complete basis set limit has been used with accurate treatments of core-valence correlation effects in order to accurately predict molecular properties, ionization potentials, electron affinities as well as C-H and N-H bond dissociation energies. For all the species studied, harmonic vibrational frequencies have also been evaluated in order to obtain zero-point corrections to ionization potentials, electron affinities, and dissociation energies.