Efforts to expand the genetic alphabet: identification of a replicable unnatural DNA self-pair

Six unnatural nucleotides featuring fluorine-substituted phenyl nucleobase analogues have been synthesized, incorporated into DNA, and characterized in terms of the structure and replication properties of the self-pairs they form. Each unnatural self-pair is accommodated in B-form DNA without detectable structural perturbation, and all are thermally stable and selective to roughly the same degree. Furthermore, the efficiency of polymerase-mediated mispair synthesis is similar for each unnatural nucleotide in the template. In contrast, the efficiency of polymerase-mediated self-pair extension is highly dependent on the specific fluorine substitution pattern. The most promising unnatural base pair candidate of this series is the 3-fluorobenzene self-pair, which is replicated with reasonable efficiency and selectivity.     

Ab initio studies on several species of the formula X3YO and X3YOH

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations using both minimal and extended basis sets have been applied to two isoelectronic sets of molecules. One set corresponds to the 18 electron species H₃NO, H₃CO^– and H₃COH while the second set contains the 42 electron fluorinated molecules F₃NO, F₃CO^– and F₃COH. The geometries of these molecules have been optimized, using both the minimal STO-3G and the extended 4-31G basis sets. These comparative calculations reveal that the 4-31G basis produced structural parameters in much better agreement with experiment. The effect of includingd-orbitals in the basis set was also investigated. For the fluorinated oxides it has been found that the optimized 4-31G structures were only slightly altered by the addition ofd-orbitals. For H₃NO, on the other hand, the inclusion ofd-orbitals considerably shortens the N-O bond distance. Both H₃NO and CF₃OH, which are unknown experimentally, are theoretically predicted to be capable of existence. The electronic structures of these molecules have also been examined using electronic partitioning according to the Mulliken scheme.     

μ+ depolarization inAlGd alloys

The ⁺ depolarization rate in diluteAlGd alloys containing 50 and 450 atomic ppm Gd was measured in a transverse field of 80 Oe over the temperature range 6–300 K. For both alloys, A increased dramatically above 200 K, reaching values of 0.69 and 0.93 s^–1, respectively, near room temperature. The results are interpreted as providing evidence for a thermally-activated trapping mechanism.This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.     

A study of the Arrhenius behavior of the co-precipitation of radium, barium and strontium sulfate

Co-precipitation of radium, barium and strontium is an important process in many contexts, such as uranium mining, oil extraction and in the safety assessment of a final repository for used nuclear fuel. Co-precipitation to a solid solution is possible since radium, barium and strontium act as chemical analogues. In this work the co-precipitation of radium, barium and strontium was studied and the kinetic behavior of the co-precipitation process was investigated. It was shown that radium, barium and strontium co-precipitate congruently and that the precipitation followed an Arrhenius behavior and the Arrhenius parameters for the systems was determined. When studying the differences of the Arrhenius constants by using a student t test (95 % confidence interval) it was observed that the only significant difference in the activation energy, E _a, is between radium and barium and between radium and strontium respectively, the pure strontium having the larger activation energy in comparison. This is most likely coupled to the metal ion size; since the hydration waters are more strongly bound, which leads to them having a slower exchange rate, which in turn effects the rate of co-precipitation to the metal these reactions will be slower.     

Design and Sensing Properties of a Self‐Assembled Supramolecular Oligomer

Supramolecular polymers are a class of macromolecules stabilized by weak non‐covalent interactions. These self‐assembled aggregates typically undergo stimuli‐induced reversible assembly and disassembly. They thus hold great promise as so‐called functional materials. In this work, we present the design, synthesis, and responsive behavior of a short supramolecular oligomeric system based on two hetero‐complementary subunits. These “monomers” consist of a tetrathiafulvalene‐functionalized calix[4]pyrrole (TTF‐C[4]P) and a glycol diester‐linked bis‐2,5,7‐trinitrodicyanomethylenefluorene‐4‐carboxylate (TNDCF), respectively. We show that when mixed in organic solvents, such as CHCl₃, CH₂ClCH₂Cl, and methylcyclohexane, supramolecular aggregation takes place to produce short oligomers stabilized by hydrogen bonding and donor–acceptor charge‐transfer (CT) interactions. The self‐associated materials were characterized by ¹H NMR and UV/Vis/NIR absorption spectroscopy, as well as by concentration‐ and temperature‐dependent absorption spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analyses of both the monomeric and oligomerized species. The self‐associated system produced from TTF‐C[4]P and TNDCF exhibits a concentration‐dependent aggregation behavior typical of supramolecular polymers. Further support for the proposed self‐assembly came from theoretical calculations. The fluorescence emitting properties of TNDCF are quenched under conditions that promote the formation of supramolecular aggregates containing TTF‐C[4]P and TNDCF. This quenching effect has been utilized as a probe for the detection of substrates in the form of anions (i.e., chloride) and nitroaromatic explosives (i.e., 1,3,5‐trinitrobenzene). Specifically, the addition of these substrates to mixtures of TTF‐C[4]P and TNDCF produced a fluorescence “turn‐on” response.     

[B(O–C6H4–CN)4]– based Silver and Copper Coordination Polymers

A series of new coordination polymers bearing the [B(O–C₆H₄–CN)₄]^– anion was synthesized. Two new, one dimensional coordination frameworks of the type M[B(O–C₆H₄–CN)₄] (M = Ag, Cu) were obtained by salt metathesis. The reactivity towards organic Lewis‐bases was studied. The reaction with bidentate ligands yielded two dimensional networks with the general formula [M(L)][B(O–C₆H₄–CN)₄] {L = 2,2′‐bipyridine, 4,4′‐bipyridine, 1,2‐bis(pyridyl)ethane, 1,4‐diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane}. The synthesis, properties and single crystal structure are reported.     

Quantification of lithium at ppm level in geological samples using nuclear reaction analysis

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - Proton-induced reaction (p,α) is one type of nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) suitable especially for light element quantification....