Donor-acceptor properties, catalytic activity, and negative charge exoemission from the alumina surface modified with lithium cations

Donor-acceptor properties of alumina modified with lithium cations were studied by ESR of paramagnetic complexes of adsorbed anthraquinone. The results were compared with the data on negative ion emission (exoemission) accompanying the decomposition of isopropyl alcohol in the adsorption layer. The data on the activity measured by the pulse microcatalytic technique in isopropyl alcohol decomposition are discussed. Small additives of lithium were found to promote catalytic activity of the samples. The role of acid and basic sites in isopropyl alcohol decomposition was discussed. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 616–621, April, 2006.     

The effects of sample preparation methods on the variability of the electrospray ionization response for model drug compounds

A post-column infusion system was developed in order to analyze suppression of electrospray ionization (ESI) tandem mass spectrometry response in the presence of endogenous plasma interferences. By enabling direct detection of these interfering components, this experimental system was used to analyze the ability of several common extraction procedures to remove endogenous plasma components that cause changes in the ESI response of model drug substances. Methyl-t-butyl ether (MTBE) liquid-liquid, Oasis and Empore solid-phase, and acetonitrile (ACN) protein precipitation sample preparation methods were tested using the post-column infusion system. In all cases, ACN protein precipitation samples showed the greatest amount of ESI response suppression while liquid-liquid extracts demonstrated the least. In addition, the three test compounds, phenacetin, caffeine, and a representative Merck compound, demonstrated that ESI response suppression is compound dependent. Suppression was greatest with caffeine, the most polar analyte, and the smallest for the Merck compound, the least polar analyte. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Energetics of the binding of Cu(II) ions by thermosensitive copolymers of N-vinylcaprolactam and N-vinylimidazole in different conformational states of macromolecules

Random and protein-like copolymers based on N-vinylcaprolactam and N-vinylimidazole are synthesized by free radical polymerization in an aqueous solution. The above copolymers show a different thermal behavior in aqueous media at pH 7.2. At 45°C, the solution of a random copolymer experiences phase separation, whereas a protein-like copolymer undergoes a transition from the unfolded conformation to the compact conformation without any phase separation. The method of isothermal titration calorimetry is used to study the binding of Cu(II) ions by protein-like and random copolymers of N-vinylcaprolactam and N-vinylimidazole at 25 and 45°C, which correspond to different conformational states of macromolecules. The standard enthalpy and constant of binding are estimated. For both copolymers, the enthalpies of binding are negative and similar. When temperature is increased from 25 to 45°C, the constant of binding of copper ions by a protein-like copolymer increases by more than three orders of magnitude, whereas the corresponding constant of a random copolymer remains almost unchanged. Therefore, the transition of protein-like copolymer from the coiled conformation to the compact conformation noticeably facilitates the formation of an imidazole quasi-receptor, which is characterized by a certain spatial configuration and by a high affinity for the functional ligand. This effect is provided by an entropy gain no less than 50 J/(mol K).     

The Phasan software package as a Windows-95 application

We study a mathematicalmodel of X-ray analysis of polycrystal mixtures. We describe a new version of the Phasan program for phase analysis, based on a multi-document interface. Two figures. Bioliography: 6 titles. Translated fromProblemy Matematicheskoi Fiziki, 1998, pp. 245–255.     

Conformational energetics of interpolyelectrolyte complexation between ι-carrageenan and poly(methylaminophosphazene) measured by high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry

The interaction of poly(methylaminophosphazene) hydrochloride (PMAP·HCl) of varying degrees of ionization (f) with the potassium salt of ι-carrageenan was studied by high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry at a KCl concentration of 0.15 M, which is included for the purpose of stabilizing the helix conformation of the polysaccharide up to 55 °C. The conditions of strong (pH 3.8, I = 0.15), moderate (pH 7.4, I = 0.15), and weak (pH 7.4, I = 0.25) electrostatic interactions of the polyelectrolytes were considered. The thermodynamic parameters of the helix-coil transition of ι-carrageenan were determined as a function of the polycation/polyanion ratio. We show that the interpolyelectrolyte reaction between PMAP·HCl and ι-carrageenan results in a complete unfolding of the polysaccharide helix under conditions of strong electrostatic interaction and increases its stability under conditions of medium and weak electrostatic interactions. The formation of stoichiometric PMAP-carrageenan interpolyelectrolyte complexes proceeded via a cooperative mechanism at pH 3.8 (f = 0.5) and pH 7.4 (f = 0.2) at an ionic strength of 0.15. In contrast, the complexation at pH 7.4 and an ionic strength of 0.25 could be considered to be a consecutive competitive binding of charged units of poly(methylaminophosphazene) to the oppositely charged polysaccharide matrix in the helix or coil conformation. Binding constants of the polycation to the helix and coil forms of ι-carrageenan were estimated. They revealed a preferential binding of the polycation to the helix form of the polysaccharide.     

Quantum-mechanical analysis of resonance Raman scattering spectra of the uracil molecule

A direct quantum-mechanical calculation of the relative intensities of lines in the resonance Raman scattering (RRS) spectra of uracil is performed by a method developed earlier by the authors on the basis of the adiabatic model in the Herzberg-Teller approximation [1]. It is shown that the main regularities in the intensity distribution of spectra can be explained only by taking into account the vibronic mixing of electronic states and the contribution to the scattering tensor components from the excited electronic states adjacent to the resonance state. The calculated results are in satisfactory agreement with the results of experimental studies of the RRS spectra of uracil excited by laser radiation at 266, 240, 218, and 200 nm.     

Interpolyelectrolyte complexes of soybean peroxidase with thermoresponsive copolymers

Interpolyelectrolyte complexes of soybean peroxidase with thermoresponsive N-isopropylacrylamide-sodium styrenesulfonate copolymers of various compositions are studied by the methods of high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry, velocity sedimentation, and nephelometry. It is shown that the enzyme preserves its tertiary structure in complexes, although the conformational stability of bound protein is lower than that of free protein. Complexes of any compositions, including stoichiometric complexes, are soluble at room temperature but precipitate during heating in the region of the conformational transition of the copolymer accompanied by formation of the complex gel. Isotherms of enzyme binding by complex gels are constructed, and their analysis makes it possible to reveal two types of binding in the system: a relatively strong stoichiometric binding of the enzyme with the copolymers and a weaker binding of the protein in the coacervate phase of the complex gel. A high yield of the protein in the complex gel, reversibility of binding, and preservation of the tertiary structure of the enzyme in complexes with the copolymers make protein-thermoresponsive polyelectrolyte systems promising for bioseparation.     

Quantum-mechanical calculations of the intensity distribution in spectra of adenine tautomers: II. Two-photon absorption spectra

We have performed quantum-mechanical calculations of the two-photon absorption spectra of three tautomeric forms of adenine in the gas phase and of four forms in the aqueous solution. Based on a comparison of the results of these calculations with experimental data, the occurrence of three structures, Ade-N₉,N₁H⁺, Ade-N₉H (am), and Ade-N₇H(am), in aqueous solution of adenine has been confirmed.     

Quantum mechanical analysis of resonance Raman spectra of thymine

A direct quantum mechanical calculation of the relative intensities of lines in resonance Raman (RR) spectra of thymine was performed. The method of calculation is based on the adiabatic model in the Herzberg-Teller approximation. It is shown that the basic features of the intensity distribution in the spectra can be explained only by taking into account the vibronic mixing of electronic states and the contribution to the components of the scattering tensor from excited electronic states located close to the resonance state. The calculated results agree satisfactorily with experimental RR spectra of thymine excited by laser radiation at 266, 240, 218, and 200 nm. A comparative analysis of the intensity distribution in the RR spectra of thymine and uracil is carried out.