Comparative study of the semiconducting properties of benzothiadiazole and benzobis(thiadiazole) derivatives using computational techniques

Recent literature reports indicate that derivatives of benzothiadiazole (BT) and benzobis(thiadiazole) (BBT), which differs from BT by an extra thiadiazole ring, exhibit good semiconducting properties, such as high electron mobility and low-lying lowest unoccupied molecular-orbital (LUMO) levels. In this study herein, computational techniques like density functional theory (DFT), spin-flip DFT and valence-bond methods are used to analyze the semiconducting properties of these molecules. Calculations at the B3LYP/cc-pVTZ level reveal that all the BBT molecules, including the bare BBT ring, have lower lying LUMO energies (3.70-4.11 eV) compared to the BT derivatives (2.56-3.41 eV) with similar substitution. The reorganization energies (λ(+)/λ(-)) obtained at this level of theory of the BT derivatives are around (225-333)/(246-315) meV, while BBT derivatives have much smaller reorganization energies and these are in the range of (129-259)/(150-230) meV. We observe that the different behavior of BBT is due to the inherited biradicaloid character from the parent molecule tetramethylenebenzene (TMB), a disjoint non-Kekule biradical having non-bonding molecular orbitals (NBMOs) as the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and LUMO. Additionally, the perturbation of the orbitals of the biradical TMB to obtain BBT is the major cause for the BBT derivatives to have a larger electron affinity (EA) and a smaller HOMO-LUMO gap (HLG) compared to BT derivatives.     

A novel Bicine running buffer system for doubled sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of membrane proteins

A novel, Bicine-based SDS-PAGE buffer system was developed for the analysis of membrane proteins. The method involves molecular weight-based separations of fully denatured and solubilized proteins in two dimensions. This doubled SDS-PAGE (dSDS-PAGE) approach produced a diagonal arrangement of protein spots and successfully circumvented problems associated with membrane proteome analysis involving traditional gel-based methods. Membrane proteins from the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium thermocellum were used for these investigations. Tricine-dSDS-PAGE and the newly developed Bicine-dSDS-PAGE were compared with the standard glycine-dSDS-PAGE (Laemmli protocol) in their suitability to separate C. thermocellum membrane proteins. Large-format gel experiments using optimized gel preparation and running buffer conditions revealed a 112% increase in protein spot count for Tricine-dSDS-PAGE and a 151% increase for Bicine-dSDS-PAGE, compared to glycine-dSDS-PAGE. The data clearly indicated that Bicine-dSDS-PAGE is a superior method for the analysis of membrane proteins, providing enhanced resolution and protein representation.     

New limits for solid-state 17O NMR spectroscopy: complete resolution of multiple oxygen sites in a simple biomolecule

A solid-state 17O NMR 1H-decoupled double angle rotation (DOR) study of monosodium l-glutamate monohydrate (l-MSG) is reported. It is shown that all eight inequivalent sites can be resolved with DOR line widths ( approximately 65 Hz) approximately 120 times narrower than those in the MAS spectrum. The lines are tentatively assigned on the basis of their behavior under proton decoupling and the isotropic chemical shift and the quadrupole interaction parameter for each extracted by a combination of DOR and 3Q MAS at variable magnetic fields. With a shift range of approximately 45 ppm for these similar oxygen sites and spectral resolution under DOR comparable to that for spin-1/2 nuclei, solid-state 17O NMR should have tremendous potential in the study of biomolecules.     

NO reductase activity of the tetraheme cytochrome C554 of Nitrosomonas europaea

The tetraheme cytochrome c(554) (cyt c(554)) from Nitrosomonas europaea is believed to function as an electron-transfer protein from hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (HAO). We show here that cyt c(554) also has significant NO reductase activity. The protein contains one high-spin and three low-spin c-type hemes. HAO catalyzed reduction of the cyt c(554), ligand binding, intermolecular electron transfer, and kinetics of NO reduction by cyt c(554) have been investigated. We detect the formation of a NO-bound ferrous heme species in cyt c(554) by EPR and M?ssbauer spectroscopies during the HAO catalyzed oxidation of hydroxylamine, indicating that N-oxide intermediates produced from HAO readily bind to cyt c(554). In the half-reduced state of cyt c(554), we detect a spin interaction between the [FeNO](7) state of heme 2 and the low-spin ferric state of heme 4. We find that ferrous cyt c(554) will reduce NO at a rate greater than 16 s(-1), which is comparable to rates of other known NO reductases. Carbon monoxide or nitrite are shown not to bind to the reduced protein, and previous results indicate the reactions with O(2) are slow and that a variety of ligands will not bind in the oxidized state. Thus, the enzymatic site is highly selective for NO. The NO reductase activity of cyt c(554) may be important during ammonia oxidation in N. europaea at low oxygen concentrations to detoxify NO produced by reduction of nitrite or incomplete oxidation of hydroxylamine.     

Tandem mass spectra of divalent metal ion adducts of glycosyl sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones; distinction among stereoisomers

The tandem mass spectra of the divalent metal ion (Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, Co2+ and Zn2+) adducts of acetylated 1,2-trans-glycosyl sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones were examined using low energy collision-induced dissociation on a Quattro II quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer. Abundant doubly charged ions, such as [3M + Met]2+ and [2M + Met]2+, were observed with alkaline earth metal chlorides. The other ions observed were [M + MetCl]+, [M + MetOAc]+, [M + MetO2SPh]+ and [2M + MetCl]+. The deprotonated metal adducts [M + Met-H]+ were seen only in the sulfones. The divalent metal ion adducts showed characteristic fragmentation pathways for the glycosyl sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones, depending on the site of metal attachment. The doubly charged metal ion adducts dissociate to two singly charged ions, [M + MetOAc]+ and [M - OAc]+, in the sulfides and sulfoxides. In the sulfones, the adducts dissociate to [M + MetO2SPh]+ and [M - O2SPh]+. In contrast to the alkaline earth metals, which attach to the acetoxy functions, the transition metals attach to the sulfide and sulfoxide functions. The metal chloride adducts display characteristic fragmentation for the sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones. The glucosyl, mannosyl and galactosyl sulfides, sulfoxides and sulfones could be differentiated on the basis of the stereochemically controlled MS/MS fragmentations of the metal chloride adducts.     

Designing of an all-optical time division multiplexing scheme with the help of nonlinear material based tree-net architecture

In the field of optical interconnecting network and in super fast photonic computing system, the tree architecture and optical nonlinear materials can play a significant role. Nonlinear optical material may find important uses in optical switching. Optical switch using nonlinear material makes it possible for one optical signal to control and switch another optical signal through nonlinear interaction in a material.In this communication such materials have been successfully exploited to design an all-optical tree-net architecture, which can be utilized for time division multiplexing scheme in all-optical domain.     

Design,synthesis, anticancer,antibacterial, and antifungal evaluation of 4-aminoquinoline-1,3,5-triazine derivatives

A series of 4-aminoquinoline 1,3,5-triazine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for anticancer activity against cancer cell lines HeLa, MCF-7, HL-60, HepG2 where these derivatives exert significant anticancer activity. The molecules found nontoxic against MCF-12A. The molecules also showed potent inhibition of EGFR-TK as compared to eroltinib in enzyme-based assay. The newly synthesized derivatives were screened for their in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activity against Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus vulgaris, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus fumigatus using cefixime and fluconazole as standard. Antibacterial screening results suggest that compound 7c showed potent activity against S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and P. vulgaris. In antifungal screening, compound 7b showed significant activity against A. niger, A. fumigatus and moderate activity against C. albicans.     

Analysis of the combustion reaction of carbon and lignite char with ignition and extinction phenomena: Shrinking sphere model

Single‐particle combustion of carbon and lignite char is analyzed in the present work using a generalized shrinking sphere model. Finite volume method (FVM), which was earlier employed by the authors in solving such moving boundary problems involving single particle analysis of general fluid–solid noncatalytic reactions, has been used in this work to solve the transient mass and energy balance equations. The computed results are compared with published experimental data of fluidized‐bed combustion of lignite char. The effects of various parameters like bulk temperature, initial particle temperature, initial particle radius, etc. are examined on the dynamics of combustion of carbon and lignite char. The phenomena of ignition and extinction are also investigated. The importance of nonequimolar diffusion in the combustion reaction has also been analyzed. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 39: 307–319, 2007     

Synthesis of isoxazoles by hypervalent iodine-induced cycloaddition of nitrile oxides to alkynes

Treatment of oximes with hypervalent iodine leads to substituted isoxazoles via rapid formation of nitrile oxides. Reaction with terminal alkynes led to a series of 3,5-disubstituted isoxazoles with complete regioselectivity and high yield, in a procedure mild enough to prepare a range of nucleoside and peptide conjugates. Exceptionally high reaction rates were found for the formation of 3,4,5-trisubstituted isoxazoles from a cyclic alkyne.     

Ultra-high resolution 17O solid-state NMR spectroscopy of biomolecules: a comprehensive spectral analysis of monosodium L-glutamate·monohydrate

Monosodium L-glutamate monohydrate, a multiple oxygen site (eight) compound, is used to demonstrate that a combination of high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopic techniques opens up new possibilities for (17)O as a nuclear probe of biomolecules. Eight oxygen sites have been resolved by double rotation (DOR) and multiple quantum (MQ) NMR experiments, despite the (17)O chemical shifts lying within a narrow shift range of <50 ppm. (17)O DOR NMR not only provides high sensitivity and spectral resolution, but also allows a complete set of the NMR parameters (chemical shift anisotropy and electric-field gradient) to be determined from the DOR spinning-sideband manifold. These (17)O NMR parameters provide an important multi-parameter comparison with the results from the quantum chemical NMR calculations, and enable unambiguous oxygen-site assignment and allow the hydrogen positions to be refined in the crystal lattice. The difference in sensitivity between DOR and MQ NMR experiments of oxygen in bio/organic molecules is also discussed. The data presented here clearly illustrates that a high resolution (17)O solid-state NMR methodology is now available for the study of biomolecules, offering new opportunities for resolving structural information and hence new molecular insights.