Structure, bonding, and reactivity of Ti and Zr amidate complexes: DFT and X-ray crystallographic studies

Easily prepared and highly modular organic amide proligands have been used to synthesize a series of new bis(amidate)-bis(amido) Ti and Zr complexes via protonolysis. These complexes have been structurally characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The solid-state molecular structures of these complexes indicate that the amidate ligands bind to the metal centers in an exclusively bidentate fashion, resulting in discrete monomeric species. Geometric isomerism in these species is highly dependent upon the steric characteristics of the proligands utilized in the synthesis. In solution, these complexes are observed to isomerize on the NMR time scale, with one isomer being predominant. Bonding in the bis(amidate)-bis(amido) complexes was investigated by DFT calculations. The geometric isomers predicted by theory matched the experimentally observed results, within experimental error. The orbitals associated with amidate-metal bonding are energetically well below the frontier orbitals. The HOMO in these complexes is a pi orbital associated with amido ligand-to-metal bonding character, while the LUMO in all cases is a vacant d orbital on the metal center.     

Chemical waves and pattern formation in the 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/water lamellar system

The present work deals with the spatially extended oscillatory Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction-diffusion system carried out in an anisotropic environment of phosphatidylcholines/water binary system, which presents layered aqueous domains separated by lipid bilayers. We report the occurrence of stable Turing patterns, spiral waves, and other exotic structures in phospholipids bilayers that are generally used as a models for cell plasma membranes.     

On the accuracy of correlation energy calculated by the correlation factor method: first- and second-row atoms

Summary The correlation energy of two- and four-isoelectronic series, a representative example for which the existing spin-density functionals fails, is calculated using the Colle and Salvetti method, considering mono- and multideterminantal wave functions. The results are in agreement with experimental data, and show the potentiality of this method when it is applied to wave functions including the most relevant configurational features. Also, results for the ionization energies and electron affinities of first- and second-row atoms are reported.     

Unexpected 1,2,3-triazole formation in the reaction of diethylaluminum azide with α′-amino-α,β-unsaturated ketones

4-Acyl-1H-1,2,3-triazoles are formed from diethylaluminum azide and α′-(N,N-dibenzylamino)-α,β-unsaturated ketones by [3+2] cycloaddition of azide, followed by 1,5 hydride transfer to the β carbon of the triazoline side chain and fragmentation of the tertiary amino group promoted by coordination of the latter to the Lewis acid. The structure of a triazole product is confirmed by X-ray crystallography.     

Computer simulations of enantioselective ester hydrolyses catalyzed by Pseudomonas cepacia lipase

On the basis of the X-ray crystal structure of the lipase from Pseudomonas cepacia (PcL)-an enzyme representative for a whole family of Pseudomonas lipases (lipase PS, SAM-2, AK 10, and others with a high degree of homology with PcL)-a computational study was performed to rationalize both the enantioselectivity and substrate specificity (tolerance) displayed by this lipase in the enantioselective hydrolysis of racemic esters 1a-12a from various secondary aromatic alcohols. The major goal of this project was the development of a binding model for PcL which is able to rationalize the experimental findings to predict "a priori the enantioselective behavior of PcL toward a wider range of substrates. A two-step modeling procedure, namely, docking experiments followed by construction of tetrahedral intermediates, was used for the simulation of the involved enzyme-substrate recognition/hydrolysis processes. The study of the recognition process (docking experiments) led to unambiguous identification of the binding geometry for the two enantiomeric series of substrates, but did not suggest a definitive interpretation of the behavior of PcL. Taking into consideration the stereoelectronic requirements of the enzymatic hydrolysis reaction, both the enantioselectivity and tolerance of the enzyme were then explained through the study of the tetrahedral intermediates, in turn constructed from the calculated docking geometries of 1a-12a.     

Synthesis of fused purinoquinazolines. Three new heterocyclic ring systems

The Ullmann reaction of 8-aminotheophylline or 8-aminocaffeine with 2-chlorobenzoic acid and of 8-bromotheophylline with ethyl-2-aminobenzoate afforded derivatives of three new heterocyclic systems: purino[7,8-α]quinazoline-5,9,11(6H,8H,10H)-trione, purino[8,9-b]quinazoline-2,4,11(1H,3H,5H)-trione and purino[8,7-b]quinazoline-2,4,6(1H,3H,11H)-trione, respectively.     

Oxazinins from toxic mussels: isolation of a novel oxazinin and reassignment of the C-2 configuration of oxazinin-1 and -2 on the basis of synthetic models

The analysis of a batch of toxic mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) from the Northern Adriatic Sea led to the isolation of a novel oxazinin, oxazinin-4. Its structure including the relative stereochemistry has been elucidated through extensive NMR analysis. A synthetic route to oxazinins has been crucial in establishing the absolute stereochemistry of oxazinin-4 and for reassigning the absolute C-2 configuration of oxazinin-1 and -2 previously isolated from toxic shellfish and stereostructurally characterized.     

Oriented thin films from soluble polythiophenes

The degree of orientation of thin films of eight different polymeric structures, belonging to the class of soluble polyalkylthiophenes (PATs) has been studied. Thin films of the polymers, obtained by spin coating onto glass substrates, were oriented by means of the rubbing technique. The degree of orientation is related to the regioregularity of the system: highly regioregular polymers can be oriented, while regiorandom materials are not oriented. The degree of orientation can be improved by thermal annealing of the oriented films. As a result of annealing, which was performed at different temperatures according to the thermal behavior of the polymers, it was possible to increase the polarization ratio for poly(3-decylthiophene) up to 12–13 as detected from the UV-vis spectra in polarized light. Moreover in the investigated PATs, both the key role of molecular weight and its distribution for achieving a high orientation degree has been assessed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lines of curvature near umbilical points on surfaces immersed in R4

LetM be a compact orientable surface,I:M R⁴ an immersion of classC ^r and a normal unitary smooth vector field. We prove that in the space of pairs (I, ) the family of pairs all whose umbilical points are Darbouxian is generic.