Morphology of a PA / PTFE blend studied by Raman imaging

Raman spectroscopy has been employed for morphological studies on a polymer blend of polyamide-6,6, polytetrafluoroethylene and silicone oil used as a commercial friction bearing. New information about dimensions and distribution of polytetrafluoroethylene clusters in this composite material was revealed by Raman imaging. It was found that the applied processing conditions result in the formation of clusters, which are between 8 μm and 20 μm in diameter and distributed randomly over the whole material. The Raman results were confirmed by SEM images and SEM / EDX elemental mappings. The Raman imaging method has proved to be a good analytical tool for polymer analyses due to the speed of spectra acquisition and the easy sample preparation.     

The Total Synthesis and Biological Assessment of trans‐Epothilone A

The total synthesis of (12S,13S)‐trans‐epothilone A ( 1a ) was achieved based on two different convergent strategies. In a first‐generation approach, construction of the C(11) C(12) bond by Pd⁰‐catalyzed Negishi‐type coupling between the C(12)‐to‐C(15) trans‐vinyl iodide 5 and the C(7)‐to‐C(11) alkyl iodide 4 preceded the (nonselective) formation of the C(6) C(7) bond by aldol reaction between the C(7)‐to‐C(15) aldehyde 25 and the dianion derived from the C(1)‐to‐C(6) acid 3 . The lack of selectivity in the aldol step was addressed in a second‐generation approach, which involved construction of the C(6) C(7) bond in a highly diastereoselective fashion through reaction between the acetonide‐protected C(1)‐to‐C(6) diol 31 (‘Schinzer's ketone') and the C(7)‐to‐C(11) aldehyde 30 . As part of this strategy, the C(11) C(12) bond was established subsequent to the critical aldol step and was based on B‐alkyl Suzuki coupling between the C(1)‐to‐C(11) fragment 40 and C(12)‐to‐C(15) trans‐vinyl iodide 5 . Both approaches converged at the stage of the 3‐O, 7‐O‐bis‐TBS‐protected seco acid 27 , which was converted to trans‐deoxyepothilone A ( 2 ) via Yamaguchi macrolactonization and subsequent deprotection. Stereoselective epoxidation of the trans C(12) C(13) bond could be achieved by epoxidation with Oxone ^® in the presence of the catalyst 1,2 : 4,5‐di‐O‐isopropylidene‐L ‐erythro‐2,3‐hexodiuro‐2,6‐pyranose ( 42a ), which provided a 8 : 1 mixture of 1a and its (12R,13R)‐epoxide isomer 1b in 27% yield (54% based on recovered starting material). The absolute configuration of 1a was established by X‐ray crystallography. Compound 1a is at least equipotent with natural epothilone A in its ability to induce tubulin polymerization and to inhibit the growth of human cancer cell lines in vitro. In contrast, the biological activity of 1b is at least two orders of magnitude lower than that of epothilone A or 1a .     

Metalloid aluminum and gallium clusters: element modifications on the molecular scale?

As members of the same group in the periodic table, the industrially significant elements aluminum and gallium exhibit strong similarities in the majority of their compounds. In contrast there are significant differences in the structures of the two elemental forms: Aluminum forms a typical closest-packed metallic structure whereas gallium demonstrates a diversity of molecular bonding principles in its seven structural modifications. It can therefore be expected that differences between Al and Ga compounds will arise when, as for the elemental forms, many metal-metal bonds are formed. To synthesize such cluster compounds, we have developed the following synthesis procedure: Starting from gaseous monohalides at around 1000 degrees C, metastable solutions are generated from which the elements ultimately precipitate by means of a disproportionation reaction at room temperature. On the way to the elemental forms, molecular Al and Ga cluster compounds can be obtained by selection of suitable ligands (protecting groups), in which a core of Al or Ga atoms are protected from the formation of the solid element by a ligand shell. Since the arrangement of atoms in such clusters corresponds to that in the elements, we have designated these clusters as metalloid or elementoid. In accordance with the Greek word [see text] (ideal, prototype), the atomic arrangement in metalloid clusters represents the prototypic or ideal atomic arrangement in the elements at the molecular level. The largest clusters of this type contain 77 Al or 84 Ga atoms and have diameters of up to two nanometers. They hold the world record with respect to the naked metal-atom core for structurally characterized metalloid clusters.     

Characterisation of combinatorial libraries of mucin-2 antigen peptides by high-resolution mass spectrometry

An epitope motif, TX(1)TX(2)T, of mucin-2 glycoprotein was identified by means of a mucin-2-specific monoclonal antibody, mAb 994, raised against a synthetic mucin-derived 15-mer peptide conjugate. For determination of the epitope sequence recognised with highest affinity by mAb 994, a combinatorial approach was applied using the portioning-mixing technique excluding Cys. Antibody binding of libraries was most profound when Gln was at the X(1) position. Analytical characterisation of the TQTX(2)T library was conducted by amino acid analysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) and electrospray ionisation Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI-FTICR) mass spectrometric methods. Control libraries were prepared by mixing 19 individual peptides corresponding to the TQTX(2)T sequence. Thus, mixtures of 6, 10 and 19 pentapeptides were analysed and compared with the combinatorial mixture. MALDI-TOFMS was able to detect only partially the components in the 6- and 10-member mixtures, but failed to characterise a more complex 19-member mixture. In contrast, ESI-FTICRMS resolved all mixtures of higher complexity and provided direct identification at monoisotopic resolution, such as for a peptide library containing 'isobaric' lysine and glutamine (Delta m = 0.0364 Da). The results of this study suggest that ESI-FTICRMS is a powerful tool for characterisation of combinatorial peptide libraries of higher complexity.     

The Phosphinoboration Reaction

The synthesis of phosphinoboronate esters containing a single P? B bond is reported, together with preliminary reactivity studies towards a range of organic substrates. These compounds add readily to aldehydes, ketones, aldimines, and α,β‐unsaturated enones to give primarily the corresponding 1,2‐addition products containing a new P? C bond. The first examples of transition‐metal‐catalyzed phosphinoborations of C‐C multiple bonds in which P? C and B? C bonds are formed in a single step are also disclosed; allenes react by a highly regioselective 1,2‐addition whereas terminal alkynes undergo a formal 1,1‐addition.     

A Separation‐Integrated Cascade Reaction to Overcome Thermodynamic Limitations in Rare‐Sugar Synthesis

Enzyme cascades combining epimerization and isomerization steps offer an attractive route for the generic production of rare sugars starting from accessible bulk sugars but suffer from the unfavorable position of the thermodynamic equilibrium, thus reducing the yield and requiring complex work‐up procedures to separate pure product from the reaction mixture. Presented herein is the integration of a multienzyme cascade reaction with continuous chromatography, realized as simulated moving bed chromatography, to overcome the intrinsic yield limitation. Efficient production of D ‐psicose from sucrose in a three‐step cascade reaction using invertase, D ‐xylose isomerase, and D ‐tagatose epimerase, via the intermediates D ‐glucose and D ‐fructose, is described. This set‐up allowed the production of pure psicose (99.9 %) with very high yields (89 %) and high enzyme efficiency (300 g of D ‐psicose per g of enzyme).     

Aptamer-based detection of thrombin by acoustic method using DNA tetrahedrons as immobilisation platform

The thickness shear mode acoustic method was used to study the binding of thrombin to DNA aptamers immobilised on the gold surface covered by DNA tetrahedrons. The binding of thrombin to conventional aptamers sensitive to fibrinogen (FBT) and heparin (HPT) exosites as well as to HPT in a loop configuration (HPTloop) made it possible to determine the constant of dissociation (K_D) and the limit of detection (LOD). The sensing system composed of a HPTloop was characterised by K_D = (66.7 ± 22.7) nM, which was almost twice as low as that of FBT and HPT. For this biosensor, a lower LOD of 5.2 nM compared with 17 nM for conventional HPT aptamers was also obtained. Less sensitive sensors based on FBT aptamers revealed an LOD of 30 nM which is in agreement with the lower affinity of these aptamers to thrombin in comparison with that of HPT. The surface concentration of DNA tetrahedrons was determined by the electrochemical method using [Ru(NH₃)₆]³⁺ as a redox probe. These experiments confirmed that the “step by step” method of forming the sensing layer, consisting first in chemisorption of DNA tetrahedrons onto a gold surface and then in hybridisation of the aptamer-supporting part with complementary oligos at the top of the tetrahedron, is preferable. In addition, atomic force microscopy was applied to analyse the topography of the gold layers modified stepwise by DNA tetrahedrons, DNA aptamers and thrombin. The height profiles of the layers were in reasonable agreement with the dimensions of the adsorbed molecules. The results indicate that DNA tetrahedrons represent an efficient platform for immobilisation of aptamers.