Metalation of cyclic pseudopeptidic thiosulfinates with Ni(II) and Zn(II) after ring opening: a mechanistic investigation

Thiosulfinates are an emerging class of oxidized sulfur species that are frequently supposed to be involved in biochemical processes. Reaction of 12- and 10-membered ring pseudopeptidic thiosulfinates 1a (4,4,7,7-tetramethyl-1,3,4,7,8,10-hexahydro-5,6,1,10-benzodithiadiazacyclododecine-2,9-dione 5-oxide) and 1b (3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-1,8-dihydro-4,5,1,8-benzodithiadiazecine-2,7(3H,6H)-dione 4-oxide) with a Ni(II) salt leads after ring cleavage under alkaline conditions to the isolation of diamidato/thiolato/sulfinato complexes. These two thiolato/sulfinato complexes of nickel, which can also be prepared by dioxygen oxidation of the parent diamidato/dithiolato complexes, were characterized by X-ray crystallography. They show a square-planar geometry with a S-bonded sulfinato ligand. A similar reaction between 1b and a Zn(II) salt leads to a thiolato/sulfinato complex with an O-bonded sulfinate via the intermediate formation of a mixed thiolato/sulfinic ester. On the basis of 1H NMR, IR, and mass analyses, the sulfinic ester in the intermediate is proposed to be O-bonded to the zinc center. Then, an in-depth study of the cleavage of these thiosulfinates with the oxyanions RO- and HO- was performed. This led, after trapping of the open species with CH3I, to the identification of three polyfunctionalized products containing a methyl thioether, with either an isothiazolidin-3-one S-oxide, a methyl sulfone, or a methyl sulfinic ester. All of these products arise from a selective nucleophilic attack at the sulfinyl sulfur, promoted either directly by RO- or HO- or by an internal peptidic nitrogen of the thiosulfinate after deprotonation with RO- or HO-.     

Perdeuterated n-alkanes for improved data processing in thermal desorption gas chromatography/mass spectrometry I. Retention indices for identification

The identification of organic compounds by GC/MS is useful in various areas such as fuel, indoor and outdoor air and flavour and fragrance applications. Multi-compound mixtures often contain isomeric compounds which have similar mass spectra and sometimes cannot be unambiguously identified by library search alone. Retention indices can help with confirmation of identification if they are reproducible. Using perdeuterated n-alkanes as a reference series for calculation of retention indices in GC/MS has a clear benefit because of the distinctive ion trace of m/z 34. Thermal desorption is useful for analysis of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air after sampling on appropriate sorbent cartridges. Comparison of indices between three systems, consisting of a thermal desorption unit, a gas chromatograph and a mass spectrometer, showed good agreement for compounds with well-defined peaks, whereas retention times varied.     

K3FeSe3 und K3Fe2Se4, zwei neue Verbindungen im System K/Fe/Se

K₃FeSe₃ and K₃Fe₂Se₄, Two New Compounds in the System K/Fe/Se The two selenides K₃FeSe₃ and K₃Fe₂Se₄ were synthesised by fusion reactions of potassium carbonate with iron and selenium in a stream of hydrogen charged with selenium at 695 °C and 710–730 °C, respectively. The crystal structures were determined by single‐crystal X‐ray diffractometer data. The atomic arrangement of K₃FeSe₃ is characterised by edge sharing [Fe₂Se₆] double tetrahedra separated by potassium ions (space group P2₁/c, Z = 4). The characteristic structural unit of the mixed‐valent compound K₃Fe₂Se₄ is a zig‐zag chain of edge‐sharing, iron‐centred selenium tetrahedra, again separated by potassium ions (space group Pnma, Z = 4).     

Separating invariants and finite reflection groups

A separating algebra is, roughly speaking, a subalgebra of the ring of invariants whose elements distinguish between any two orbits that can be distinguished using invariants. In this paper, we introduce a geometric notion of separating algebra. This allows us to prove that only groups generated by reflections may have polynomial separating algebras, and only groups generated by bireflections may have complete intersection separating algebras.     

Development of a charge-perturbed particle-in-a-sphere model for nanoparticle electronic structure

The complex surface structure of gold-thiolate nanoparticles is known to affect the calculated density functional theory (DFT) excitation spectra. However, as the nanoparticle size increases, it becomes impractical to calculate the excitation spectrum using DFT. In this study, a new method is developed to determine the energy levels of the thiolate-protected gold nanoparticles [Au(25)(SR)(18)](-), Au(102)(SR)(44) and Au(144)(SR)(60). A 3 nm thiolate-protected nanoparticle is also modeled. The particle-in-a-sphere model is used to represent the core while the ligands are treated as point charge perturbations. The electronic structures obtained with this model are qualitatively similar to DFT results. The symmetry of the arrangement of the perturbations around the core plays a major role in determining the splitting of the orbitals. The radius chosen to represent the core also affects the orbital splitting. Increasing the number of perturbations around the core shifts the orbitals to higher energies but does not significantly change the band gaps and orbital splitting as long as the symmetrical arrangement of the perturbations is conserved. This model can be applied to any gold nanoparticle with a spherical core, regardless of its size or the nature of the ligands, at very low computational cost.     

Suppression of parasitic lasing in high energy, high repetition rate Ti:sapphire laser amplifiers

Transverse parasitic lasing is well known for limiting the signal gain and the pulse energy that can be extracted from Ti:sapphire petawatt amplifiers. We have developed a technique for suppressing these parasitic lasing modes based on perfect refractive index-matching liquid doped with a broad-bandwidth absorber to suppress the transverse lasing while ensuring proper heat removal from the Ti:sapphire crystal. The 800 nm laser output with a bandwidth of 41 nm (FWHM) and peak energy of 22.7 J at a repetition rate of 1 Hz is demonstrated.     

An integrated chemical biology approach provides insight into cdk2 functional redundancy and inhibitor sensitivity

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Highlights? Demonstration that Cdk2 is rate-limiting for DNA replication due to insufficient Cdk1 activity ? A simple bioinformatic approach to design inhibitor resistant mutations in kinases ? Demonstration of distinct binding modes and selectivity of Cdk inhibitors ? Identification of kinetic and structural mechanisms of inhibitor resistance     

Synthesis of partially fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfone) multiblock copolymers bearing perfluorosulfonic functions

Partially fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfone) multiblock copolymers bearing perfluorosulfonic functions (ps‐PES‐FPES), with ionic exchange capacity (IEC) ranging between 0.9 and 1.5 meq H⁺/g, are synthesized by regioselective bromination of partially fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfone) multiblock copolymers (PES‐FPES), followed by Ullman coupling reaction with lithium 1,1,2,2‐tetrafluoro‐2‐(1,1,2,2‐tetrafluoro‐2‐iodoethoxy)ethanesulfonate. The PES‐FPES are prepared by aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction by an original approach, that is, “one pot two reactions synthesis.” The chemical structures of polymers are analyzed by ¹H and ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy. The resulted ionomers present two distinct glass transitions and α relaxations revealing phase separation between the hydrophilic and the hydrophobic domains. The phase separation is observed at much lower block lengths of ps‐PES‐FPES as compared with the literature. AFM and SANS observations supported the phase separation, the hydrophilic domains are well dispersed but the connectivity to each other depends on the ps‐PES block lengths. The thermomechanical behavior, the water up‐take, and the conductivity of the ps‐PES‐FPES membranes are compared with those of Nafion 117^® and randomly functionalized polysulfone (ps‐PES). Conductivities close or higher to those of Nafion 117^® are obtained. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1941–1956