Thiol- and disulfide-modified oligonucleotide monolayer structures on polycrystalline and single-crystal Au(111) surfaces

We provide a comprehensive study of single- (ss) and double-strand (ds) oligonucleotides with either 25 or 10 bases or base pairs (bp) immobilized on polycrystalline and single-crystal Au(111) surfaces. The study is based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry, interfacial capacitance data, and electrochemical scanning tunnelling microscopy (in situ STM). The sequences used were the 25-bp sequence from the BRCA1 gene (25-mer), while the 10-bp oligonucleotides contained solely linear adenine and thymine sequences. The oligonucleotides were modified by the dimethoxytrityl group (DMT) via a disulfide group [DMT-S-S-ss25-mer and DMT-S-S-ds(AT)₁₀], a pure disulfide group (A₁₀-S-S-T₁₀), or a thiol group [HS-ss25-mer and HS-ds-(AT)₁₀], all via a hexamethylene linker. The overall pattern suggests strategies for controlled adsorption of DNA-based molecules and recognition of complementary strands or other molecules.     

Synthesis and properties of allenic natural products and pharmaceuticals

Nowadays, about 150 natural products comprising an allenic or cumulenic structure are known. The chemistry of these compounds has turned out to be a very attractive and prolific area of interest: advances in the isolation and characterization of new allenic natural products have led to the establishment of efficient synthetic procedures which in many cases also open up an access to enantiomerically pure target molecules. Inspired by the intriguing biological activities of many allenic natural products, allene moieties are now systematically introduced in pharmacologically active classes of compounds (steroids, prostaglandins, amino acids, nucleosides). The functionalized allenes thus obtained often exhibit impressive activities as mechanism-based enzyme inhibitors, cytotoxic, or antiviral agents. A prerequisite for further developments in this field is the efficient stereoselective synthesis of allene derivatives.     

Laser desorption mass spectrometry on thin liquid jets

A recently developed soft desorption method for mass spectrometry is presented, which is called Laser Induced Liquid Beam Ionization/Desorption (LILBID). Analyte ions are desorbed from a thin jet of analyte solution directly into vacuum by means of an IR laser pulse, which has been tuned to a vibrational resonance of the solvent. A comparative experiment with ammonium chloride and aniline hydrochloride shows that ion formation via proton transfer takes place in the solution. Thermally unstable compounds, as well as supra- and biomolecular complexes, can be detected intact and mass analyzed in a reflectron time-of-flight (Re-TOF) mass spectrometer. During the desorption process, noncovalent interactions and some solvation characteristics are preserved. Three examples for the capacity of LILBID are given in this short overview: (a) ion-solvent interactions with the formation of a clathrate structure Cs⁺(H₂O)₂₀, (b) host-guest interactions with the K⁺ selectivity of valinomycin, and (c) noncovalent interactions with the dimerization of gramicidin. Received: 29 July 1997 / Revised: 4 September 1997 / Accepted: 12 September 1997     

Resolution enhancement in multidimensional solid-state NMR spectroscopy of proteins using spin-state selection

We show that the resolution of homonuclear multidimensional solid-state NMR correlation experiments can be significantly improved using transition selection and spin-state-selective polarization transfer techniques. The selection and transfer of single states allow the removal of the J-coupling contribution from the line width in both the direct and indirect spectral dimensions. This is demonstrated with a new spin-state-selective CO-Calpha correlation experiment, applied to a microcrystalline 85-residue protein. With this new sequence, all four components of the CO-Calpha cross-peaks are separated into different spectra, obtained by linear combination of four recorded data sets. Line narrowing of up to 44% was obtained on the protein sample for the spin-state-selective CO-Calpha spectrum compared to a standard spin-diffusion experiment. The new technique also allows an easy distinction between "direct" and "relayed" transfer cross-peaks.     

Einfache Trithio- und Perthiocarbonatokomplexe mit interessanter Koordinationschemie: [E(CS3)2]2− (E = Sn,Zn, Cd), [E(CS3)3]3− (E = As,Sb, Bi,Co), {Cu(CS3)−}∞ und [Zn(CS4)2]2−

Simple Trithio- and Perthiocarbonato Complexes with Interesting Bond Properties: [E(CS₃)₂]^2? (E = Sn, Zn, Cd), [E(CS₃)₃]^3? (E = As, Sb, Bi, Co), {Cu(CS₃)^?}_∞ and [Zn(CS₄)₂]^2? By reactions of potassium trithiocarbonate ( 1 ) with solutions of zinc(II)- acetylacetonate, cadmium(II)-chloride, tin(II)-chloride, arsenic(III)-sulfide (suspension), antimony(III)-chloride, bismuth(III)-chloride and copper(II)-chloride in dimethyl sulfoxide, as well as of trisodium hexanitrito cobaltate(III) in water, and the precipitation of the complexes with an aqueous solution of tetraphenylphosphonium chloride the compounds (PPh₄)₂[Zn(CS₃)₂] ( 2 ), (PPh₄)₂[Cd(CS₃)₂] ( 3 ), (PPh₄)₂[Sn(CS₃)₂] ( 4 ), (PPh₄)₃[As(CS₃)₃] ( 5 ), (PPh₄)₃[Sb(CS₃)₃] ( 6 ), (PPh₄)₃[Bi(CS₃)₃] ( 7 ), (PPh₄)₃[Co(CS₃)₃] ( 8 ) and (PPh₄)Cu(CS₃) ( 9 ) have been isolated. (PPh₄)₂[Zn(CS₄)₂] · CH₃NO₂ ( 10 ) has been prepared by heating a solution of 2 in nitromethane to 60--70°C in presence of air. The reaction of 1 in dimethyl sulfoxide with an aqueous tetraphenylphosphonium chloride solution in presence of oxygen leads to (PPh₄)₂[C₂S₆] ( 11 ). The compounds have been characterized by spectroscopical studies (IR, Raman, UV/Vis, ¹¹³Cd/⁵⁹Co-NMR), magnetic susceptibility measurements, powder diffractometry, elemental analyses and single crystal X-ray structure analysis ( 4 – 7 , 10 and 11 ). The difficult growing of single crystals has been reported in detail. For crystal data see Inhaltsübersicht.     

High pressure μSR studies

The high pressureSR spectrometer [1] formerly located at CERN has been transferred to theE1-beamline at PSI and put back into operation with only minor modifications. The essential features of the high pressure apparatus are described below. The instrument covers a pressure range up to 0.7 GPa which can be extended to 1.4 GPa depending on the design of the high pressure cell. First measurements at PSI were successfully carried out with a single crystalline sample of Gd metal. New developments in high pressure cell design are presented. They are expected to further improve the signal/background ratio and to extend the pressure range to 1 GPa. One type of cell will allow temperatures above 380 K.This work was supported by the German Federal Minister for Research and Technology (Bundesminister für Forschung und Technologie [BMFT]) under Contract Nr. 03KA2-TUM-4 and 03SE3STU.     

Un substrat pour le dosage chimique de la rénine

A fluorogenic renin substrate, N-CBO-L -prolyl-L -phenylalanyl-L -histidyl-L -leucyl-L -leucyl-L -valyl-L -tyrosyl-L -seryl-β-naphthylamide, has been synthesized. Upon incubation at pH 5,6 with renin and an excess of the auxiliary enzyme aminopeptidase M, it gives rise to β-naphthylamine at a rate related to the quantity of renin.     

Strong Attraction of Caffeine to the Mercurous Dumbbell in the Salt [Hg2(Caf)2](ClO4)2(H2O)2

Colourless single crystals of the caffeine adduct of mercurous perchlorate dihydrate, [Hg₂(Caf)₂](ClO₄)₂(H₂O)₂, were grown from aqueous solutions of mercurous perchlorate and caffeine by isothermal evaporation at ambient temperature. The crystal structure (monoclinic, P2₁/n, Z = 4, a = 1628.0(2), b = 780.4(1), c = 2229.6(3) pm, β = 99.84(1)°, R₁(all data) = 0.0894) contains [trans‐Caf‐Hg‐Hg‐Caf]²⁺ cations with a Hg‐Hg distance of 250.88(6) pm, Hg‐N (bond) distances of 214.4(6) and 215.1(6) pm and Hg‐Hg‐N angles of 176.9(2) and 165.1(2)°, respectively. These cations are attached via weak Hg‐O contacts to dimers which are further arranged to leave large channels into which one crystal water molecule is included. The second water molecule and the two perchlorate anions are weakly attracted to one Hg atom.     

NMR spectra of a microcrystalline protein at 30 kHz MAS

Proteins are not always available in amounts desirable for solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear-magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. To maximize the signal-to-noise ratio achievable with small samples, the filling factor must be optimized by using small-diameter MAS rotors. These rotors have the added benefit of allowing higher radio frequency field amplitudes during polarization transfer steps and during decoupling periods as well as allowing higher spinning frequencies. We demonstrate the advantages of relatively fast MAS (30 kHz using a 2.5 mm rotor) compared to MAS at 12 kHz for the 10.4 kDa model protein Crh with 93 residues and show that the signal-to-noise ratio in two-dimensional correlation spectra can be significantly improved by taking advantage of optimized pulse sequences available with rapid MAS.     

Neue Kupferkomplexe mit Phosphaalkenliganden. Molekülstruktur von [Cu{P(Mes*)C(NMe2)2}2]BF4 (Mes* = 2,4,6‐tBu3C6H2)

New Copper Complexes Containing Phosphaalkene Ligands. Molecular Structure of [Cu{P(Mes*)C(NMe₂)₂}₂]BF₄ (Mes* = 2,4,6‐tBu₃C₆H₂) Reaction of equimolar amounts of the inversely polarized phosphaalkene tBuP=C(NMe₂)₂ ( 1a ) and copper(I) bromide or copper(I) iodide, respectively, affords complexes [Cu₃X₃{μ‐P(tBu)C(NMe₂)₂}₃] ( 2 ) (X =Br) and ( 3 ) (X = I) as the formal result of the cyclotrimerization of a 1:1‐adduct. Treatment of 1a with [Cu(L)Cl] (L = PiPr₃; SbiPr₃) leads to the formation of compounds [CuCl(L){P(tBu)C(NMe₂)₂}] ( 4a ) (L = PiPr₃) and ( 4b ) (L = SbiPr₃), respectively. Reaction of [(MeCN)₄Cu]BF₄ with two equivalents of PhP=C(NMe₂)₂ ( 1b ) yields complex [Cu{P(Ph)C(NMe₂)₂}₂]BF₄ ( 5b ). Similarly, compounds [Cu{P(Aryl)C(NMe₂)₂}₂]BF₄ ( 5c (Aryl = Mes and 5d (Aryl = Mes*)) are obtained from ArylP=C(NMe₂)₂ ( 1c : Aryl = Mes; 1d : Mes*) and [(MeCN)₄Cu]BF₄ in the presence of SbiPr₃. Complexes 2 , 3 , 4a , 4b , and 5b‐5d are characterized by means of elemental analyses and spectroscopy (¹H‐, ¹³C{¹H}‐, ³¹P{¹H}‐NMR). The molecular structure of 5d is determined by X‐ray diffraction analysis.