Synthesis of functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) macromers by microwave assisted 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition

In this paper we report the first synthesis of isoxazolidine and isoxazoline-POSS macromers by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of vinyl- and styryl-POSS with N-methyl-C-ethoxycarbonylnitrone and ethoxycarbonyl nitrile oxide, promoted by microwave irradiation. The nature of the resulting cycloadducts has been determined by NOE experiments and supported by computational studies at PM3 and DFT B3LYP/6-31G* levels.     

Ion pair charge-transfer complexes between anionic and cationic metal-dithiolenes [M(II) = Pd,Pt

New [M(R(2)pipdt)(2)](BF(4))(2) salts [R(2)pipdt = N,N'-dialkyl-piperazine-2,3-dithione; M = Pd(II), R = Me and M = Pt(II), R = Me, Et, Pr(i)] bearing redox-active cationic dithiolene complexes have been prepared and characterized. These cations react with the redox-active [M(mnt)(2)](2-) [M = Pd(II), Pt(II); mnt = maleonitrile-2,3-dithiolate] anionic dithiolenes to form salts describable as ion pair charge-transfer complexes. X-ray crystallographic studies have shown that [M(Me(2)pipdt)(2)][M(mnt)(2)] complexes, with M = Pd(II) and Pt(II), are isomorphous. Crystal data of the Pt salt (3a): triclinic, Ponemacr; (No. 2); Z = 1; T = 293(2) K; a = 6.784(7) A, b = 8.460(6) A, c = 13.510(5) A, alpha = 100.63(2) degrees, beta = 104.04(2) degrees, gamma = 96.90(2) degrees; R1 = 0.0691 [wR2 = 0.2187 (all data)]. Structural data show that approximately square-planar [Pt(Me(2)pipdt)(2)] dications and regular square-planar [Pt(mnt)(2)] dianions form an infinite anion-cation one-dimensional stack along axis a with a Pt...Pt a/2 distance of 3.392 A and a Pt...Pt...Pt angle of 180 degrees. Anions and cations arrange themselves face-to-face so as to take on a staggered arrangement. These salts exhibit strong absorptions in the visible-near-infrared region assigned to ion pair charge-transfer transitions. A relation between the optical and thermal electron transfer in the solid state is obtained using a "Marcus-Hush model", and a solid-state electrical conductivity in agreement with expectations is observed. Vibrational spectroscopy is in agreement with the existence of charge-transfer interactions between the cationic and anionic components of the salts.     

Modeling of overloaded gradient elution of nociceptin/orphanin FQ in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

The Reversed-phase (RP) gradient elution chromatography of nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ), a neuropeptide with many biological effects, has been modeled under linear and non-linear conditions. In order to do this, the chromatographic behavior has been studied under both linear and nonliner conditions under isocratic mode at different mobile phase compositions--ranging from 16 to 19% (v/v) acetonitrile (ACN) in aqueous trifluoracetic acid (TFA) 0.1% (v/v)-on a C-8 column. Although the range of mobile phase compositions investigated was quite narrow, the retention factor of this relatively small polypeptide (N/OFQ is a heptadecapeptide) has been found to change by more than 400%. In these conditions, gradient operation resulted thus to be the optimum approach for non-linear elution. As the available amount of N/OFQ was extremely reduced (only a few milligrams), the adsorption isotherms of the peptide, at the different mobile phase compositions examined, have been measured through the so-called inverse method (IM) on a 5 cm long column. The adsorption data at different mobile phase compositions have been fitted to several models of adsorption. The dependence of the isotherm parameters on the mobile phase composition was modeled by using the linear solvent strength (LSS) model and a generalized Langmuir isotherm that includes the mobile phase composition dependence. The overloaded gradient separation of N/OFQ has been modeled by numerically solving the equilibrium-dispersive (ED) model of chromatography under a selected gradient elution mode, on the basis of the previously determined generalized Langmuir isotherm. The agreement between theoretical calculations and experimental overloaded band profiles appeared reasonably accurate.     

Substitutional carbon defects in silicon: A quantum mechanical characterization through the infrared and Raman spectra

The infrared (IR) and Raman spectra of eight substitutional carbon defects in silicon are computed at the quantum mechanical level by using a periodic supercell approach based on hybrid functionals, an all electron Gaussian type basis set and the CRYSTAL code. The single substitutional C _s case and its combination with a vacancy (C _sV and C _sSiV) are considered first. The progressive saturation of the four bonds of a Si atom with C is then examined. The last set of defects consists of a chain of adjacent carbon atoms C, with i = 1–3. The simple substitutional case, C _s, is the common first member of the three sets. All these defects show important, very characteristic features in their IR spectrum. One or two C related peaks dominate the spectra: at 596 cm⁻¹ for C _s (and C _sSiV, the second neighbor vacancy is not shifting the C _s peak), at 705 and 716 cm⁻¹ for C _sV, at 537 cm⁻¹ for C and C (with additional peaks at 522, 655 and 689 for the latter only), at 607 and 624 cm⁻¹, 601 and 643 cm⁻¹, and 629 cm⁻¹ for SiC, SiC, and SiC, respectively. Comparison with experiment allows to attribute many observed peaks to one of the C substitutional defects. Observed peaks above 720 cm⁻¹ must be attributed to interstitial C or more complicated defects.     

3-nitrocoumarins as dienophiles in the Diels-Alder reaction in water. An approach to the synthesis of nitrotetrahydrobenzo[c]chromenones and dihydrodibenzo[b,d]furans

The [4 + 2] cycloadditions of 3-nitrocoumarin (1a), 6-chloro-3-nitrocoumarin (1b), and 6-, 7-, and 8-hydroxy-3-nitrocoumarins (1c, 5, and 6) with (E)-piperylene (7), isoprene (8), 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene (9), 2-methoxy-1,3-butadiene (10), 2,3-dimethoxy-1,3-butadiene (11), and cyclopentadiene (12) were investigated in aqueous medium, in organic solvent and under solventless conditions. The reactions performed in water occurred in heterogeneous phase but were faster than those executed in toluene or dichloroethane (DCE). 1a-c, 5, and 6 behaved as 2pi components in the Diels-Alder cycloadditions with 7-10 and 12, and exo adducts were preferentially or exclusively produced. Surprisingly 1a, behaved as a 4pi component in the cycloaddition in water with 11 and 4-substituted 3-nitrochromanones 20 and 21 were isolated. The cycloadditions of hydroxy-3-nitrocoumarins 1c, 5, and 6 with 1,3-diene 9 did not work in water or in organic solvent, but did work under solventless conditions. Nitrotetrahydrobenzo[c]chromenones 13-16, 24, and 25, originating from the normal electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions, were converted into dihydrodibenzo[b,d]furans 27-31 in water, via one-pot Nef-cyclodehydration reactions.     

Reaction of sulfene and dichloroketene with open-chain N,N-disubstituted α-aminomethyleneketones. Synthesis of 4-dialkylamino-3,4-dihydro-5,6-dimethyl-1,2-oxathiin 2,2-dioxides and of 6,(5)(di)alkyl-3-chloro-4-methylphenylamino-2H-pyran-2-ones

Cycloaddition of sulfene to N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3-methyl-3-buten-2-ones (III) occurred in fair to good yield only in the case of aliphatic N-substitution to give 4-dialkylamino-3,4-dihydro-5,6-dimethyl-1,2-oxathiin 2,2-dioxides, whereas N,N-disubstituted 1-amino-1-penten-3-ones (II) did not react at all. Cycloaddition of dichloroketene to II, III and N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3-buten-2-ones occurred only in the case of the methylphenylamino derivative, giving in good to moderate yield 6,(5)(di)alkyl-3,3-dichloro-3,4-dihydro-4-methylphenylamino-2-Hpyran-2-ones, which were dehydrochlorinated with DBN to 6,(5)(di)alkyl-3-chloro-4-methylphenylamino-2H-pyran-2-ones.     

Spectrophotometric determination of noble metals with tin(II) in bromide solutions

In presence of tin(II) bromide, noble metals give coloured products which are suitable for spcctrophotometric determinations. The colours are red (platinum), yellow-orange (rhodium), yellow-brown (palladium), yellow (iridium) and violet (gold) They are extracted, except for gold, with isoamyl alcohol Platinum, rhodium and palladium can be separated from irdium, and rhodium and platinum from palladium. Rhodium and platinum can be determined simultaneously.     

Iron-Iridium Mixed-Metal Carbonyl Clusters: A Mössbauer Study of the Structure and of the Adsorption of [Fe2Ir2(CO)12]2− on MgO

¹⁹³Ir and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to investigate the structure of the [Fe₂Ir₂(CO)₁₂]^2- cluster compound and the adsorption of this cluster on hydrated MgO. Supported samples were prepared by impregnation of the magnesia with solutions of [Et₄N]₂[Fe₂Ir₂(CO)₁₂] in acetone. The Mössbauer and FT-IR spectra of the MgO-supported cluster confirm that the bimetallic carbonyl is molecularly physisorbed onto MgO without undergoing any transformation or decomposition. The easy solvent extraction of the intact cluster from the oxide surface excludes ion pairing between the cluster anion and the Mg²⁺ surface sites. Mössbauer spectra are in agreement with the refined structure of the molecular cluster and the temperature dependence of the ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra above 80 K is consistent with the low degree of interaction of the cluster with the support. This technique, therefore, appears to be promising in order to infer structural information when X-ray determination fails.     

β‐Peptidic Secondary Structures Fortified and Enforced by Zn2+ Complexation – On the Way to β‐Peptidic Zinc Fingers?

The correlation between β²‐, β³‐, and β^2,3‐amino acid‐residue configuration and stability of helix and hairpin‐turn secondary structures of peptides consisting of homologated proteinogenic amino acids is analyzed (Figs. 1–3). To test the power of Zn²⁺ ions in fortifying and/or enforcing secondary structures of β‐peptides, a β‐decapeptide, 1 , four β‐octapeptides, 2 – 5 , and a β‐hexadecapeptide, 10 , have been devised and synthesized. The design was such that the peptides would a) fold to a 14‐helix ( 1 and 3 ) or a hairpin turn ( 2 and 4 ), or form neither of these two secondary structures (i.e., 5 ), and b) carry the side chains of cysteine and histidine in positions, which will allow Zn²⁺ ions to use their extraordinary affinity for RS^? and the imidazole N‐atoms for stabilizing or destabilizing the intrinsic secondary structures of the peptides. The β‐hexadecapeptide 10 was designed to a) fold to a turn, to which a 14‐helical structure is attached through a β‐dipeptide spacer, and b) contain two cysteine and two histidine side chains for Zn complexation, in order to possibly mimic a Zn‐finger motif. While CD spectra (Figs. 6–8 and 17) and ESI mass spectra (Figs. 9 and 18) are compatible with the expected effects of Zn²⁺ ions in all cases, it was shown by detailed NMR analyses of three of the peptides, i.e., 2, 3, 5 , in the absence and presence of ZnCl₂, that i) β‐peptide 2 forms a hairpin turn in H₂O, even without Zn complexation to the terminal β³hHis and β³hCys side chains (Fig. 11), ii) β‐peptide 3 , which is present as a 14‐helix in MeOH, is forced to a hairpin‐turn structure by Zn complexation in H₂O (Fig. 12), and iii) β‐peptide 5 is poorly ordered in CD₃OH (Fig. 13) and in H₂O (Fig. 14), with far‐remote β³hCys and β³hHis residues, and has a distorted turn structure in the presence of Zn²⁺ ions in H₂O, with proximate terminal Cys and His side chains (Fig. 15).     

Combined first-principles computational and experimental multinuclear solid-state NMR investigation of amino acids

13C, 14N, 15N, 17O, and 35Cl NMR parameters, including chemical shift tensors and quadrupolar tensors for 14N, 17O, and 35Cl, are calculated for the crystalline forms of various amino acids under periodic boundary conditions and complemented by experiment where necessary. The 13C shift tensors and 14N electric field gradient (EFG) tensors are in excellent agreement with experiment. Similarly, static 17O NMR spectra could be precisely simulated using the calculation of the full chemical shift (CS) tensors and their relative orientation with the EFG tensors. This study allows correlations to be found between hydrogen bonding in the crystal structures and the 17O NMR shielding parameters and the 35Cl quadrupolar parameters, respectively. Calculations using the two experimental structures for L-alanine have shown that, while the calculated isotropic chemical shift values of 13C and 15N are relatively insensitive to small differences in the experimental structure, the 17O shift is markedly affected.