Reduction of diesters of 1,2-diols. Regioselective C-O bond cleavage of the anionic forms

The electrochemical reduction of benzoate diesters of glycols has been studied in acetonitrile and N,N-dimethylformamide as solvents. The reductions occur in two closely spaced one-electron steps, and it was found that the dianion diradicals decompose by one of two routes, depending on the substituents on the ethylene moiety: cleavage of two benzoates to produce alkene or formation of benzil by way of a postulated cyclic intermediate to produce also the dianion of the diol. These correspond to cleavage of the R-OC(O)Ar bonds and the RO-C(O)Ar bonds, respectively. When the radical formed by the former cleavage is a primary or secondary radical, the reaction is too slow to compete with the latter reaction that produces benzil. However, when that radical is either tertiary or benzylic, the former cleavage reaction is fast and no benzil is detected. The dianions of p-cyano- and p-nitrobenzoate esters are rather stable on the voltammetric time scale. However, the addition of lithium ions results in detectable formation of 4,4'-dicyanobenzil from four different p-cyanobenzoate diesters.     

Label‐Free and Ultra‐Low Level Detection of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

An immunosensor for rapid and low level detection of the bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium was designed and developed based upon label‐free electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and correlated to viable cell counts. The immunosensor was fabricated by electroplating gold onto a disposable printed circuit board (PCB) electrode by immobilizing monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific against Salmonella typhimurium cell surface lipopolysaccharide (LPS) onto the surface of the electrode. Use of mass‐fabricated and electroplated PCB electrodes allowed for disposable, highly sensitive, and rapid detection of Salmonella in an aqueous environment. Results demonstrate that in purified solution, Salmonella can be detected as low as 10 CFU in a 100 μL volume and label‐free and rapid manner in fewer than 90 s. The cost effective approach described here can be used for detection of pathogens with relevance for healthcare, food, and environmental applications.     

The use of selective deuteration for the sequence specific 1H NMR assignment of larger proteins

The possibility of extending NMR methods for structure determination to larger proteins (MW > 10 kD) depends on the development of isotopic labeling protocols for the simplification of their NMR spectra (isotopic spectral editing). We describe here the successful use of selective deuteration to obtain sequence specific assignments for (thus far) more than 50% of the residues of the trp repressor protein (25 kD). This is the largest protein for which detailed sequence specific assignments have been attempted to-date.