Speciation of mercury in salmon egg cell cytoplasm in relation with metallomics research

Speciation of mercury in salmon egg cell cytoplasm was investigated by surfactant-mediated high-performance liquid chromatography/inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC/ICP-MS), where an ODS (octadecylsilica) column coated with a bile acid derivative, CHAPS (3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)-dimethylammonio]-1-propane sulfonate), was used for species separation. Prior to the speciation analysis, total Hg in the cell cytoplasm was determined by ICP-MS at m/z 202 in a flow injection mode. For the precise measurement, salmon egg cell cytoplasm was diluted five-fold with 0.1 M Tris (Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane)-HNO₃ buffer solution, and the standard addition method was employed. Thus, the total concentration of Hg in cell cytoplasm was estimated to be 12.4 ng g⁻¹ on the wet weight basis. Next, the cell cytoplasm diluted five-fold with 0.1 M Tris-HNO₃ buffer solution was analyzed by surfactant-mediated HPLC with the dual detection system of a UV absorption detector and an ICP-MS instrument. Two peaks corresponding to some proteins and small molecules were mainly observed in those chromatograms. When salmon egg cell cytoplasm was diluted five-fold with 0.01 M Tris buffer solution or pure water, some precipitates appeared probably because of precipitation of hydrophobic proteins in cytoplasm. After the precipitates were eliminated with a membrane filter, the filtrate was subjected to the analysis by surfactant-mediated HPLC/UV/ICP-MS. As a result, the peaks for small molecular species of Hg were clearly observed at the retention time near 4.0 min (corresponding to low-molecular weight zone) in the chromatograms with UV absorption detection as well as with Hg- and S-specific ICP-MS detections. The small molecule bound with Hg was identified as cysteine through the cysteine-spiked experiment. In addition, the protein fraction on the chromatogram obtained by using the CHAPS-coated ODS column was further analyzed by SEC (size exclusion chromatography). Consequently, several protein peaks with molecular weight of 300, 50 and 12 kDa were observed in all the detections of UV absorption, Hg and Se, although two peaks among them were coincident in the case of S. These results indicate that Hg in salmon egg cell cytoplasm binds with proteins containing selenocysteine and/or cysteine residues in proteins.     

Synthesis of Arenethiolate Complexes of Divalent and Trivalent Lanthanides from Metallic Lanthanides and Diaryl Disulfides: Crystal Structures of [{Yb(hmpa)(3)}(2)(&mgr;-SPh)(3)][SPh] and Ln(SPh)(3)(hmpa)(3) (Ln = Sm, Yb; hmpa = Hexamethylphosphoric Triamide)

A convenient and one-pot synthetic method of lanthanide thiolate compounds was developed. An excess of metallic samarium, europium, and ytterbium directly reacted with diaryl disulfides in THF to give selectively Ln(II) thiolate complexes, [Ln(SAr)(&mgr;-SAr)(thf)(3)](2) (1, Ln = Sm; 2, Ln = Eu; Ar = 2,4,6-triisopropylphenyl), Yb(SAr)(2)(py)(4) (3, py = pyridine), and [{Ln(hmpa)(3)}(2)(&mgr;-SPh)(3)][SPh] (6, Ln = Sm; 7, Ln = Eu; 8, Ln = Yb; hmpa = hexamethylphosphoric triamide). Reaction of metallic lanthanides with 3 equiv of disulfides afforded Ln(III) thiolate complexes, Ln(SAr)(3)(py)(n)()(thf)(3)(-)(n)() (9a, Ln = Sm, n = 3; 9b, Ln = Sm, n = 2; 10, Ln = Yb, n = 3) and Ln(SPh)(3)(hmpa)(3) (11, Ln = Sm; 12, Ln = Eu; 13, Ln = Yb). Thus, Ln(II) and Ln(III) thiolate complexes were prepared from the same source by controlling the stoichiometry of the reactants. X-ray analysis of 8 revealed that 8 has the first ionic structure composed of triply bridged dinuclear cation and benezenethiolate anion [8, orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with a = 21.057(9), b = 25.963(7), c = 16.442(8) ?, V = 8988(5) ?(3), Z = 4, R = 0.040, R(w) = 0.039 for 5848 reflections with I > 3sigma(I) and 865 parameters]. The monomeric structures of 11 and 13 were revealed by X-ray crystallographic studies [11, triclinic, space group P&onemacr; with a = 14.719(3), b = 17.989(2), c = 11.344(2) ?, alpha = 97.91(1), beta = 110.30(2), gamma = 78.40(1) degrees, V = 2751.9(9) ?(3), Z = 2, R = 0.045, R(w) = 0.041 for 7111 reflections with I > 3sigma(I) and 536 parameters; 13, triclinic, space group P&onemacr; with a = 14.565(2), b = 17.961(2), c = 11.302(1) ?, alpha = 97.72(1), beta = 110.49(1), gamma = 78.37(1) degrees, V = 2706.0(7) ?(3), Z = 2, R = 0.031, R(w) = 0.035 for 9837 reflections with I > 3sigma(I) and 536 parameters]. A comparison with the reported mononuclear and dinuclear lanthanide thiolate complexes has been made to indicate that the Ln-S bonds weakened by the coordination of HMPA to lanthanide metals have ionic character.     

Synthesis and property of soluble poly(1,1′-dialkyl-3,3′-ferrocenylenevinylene)s via titanium-induced dicarbonyl-coupling reaction of 1,1′-dialkylferrocene-3,3′-dicarbaldehydes

1,1′-Dialkylferrocene-3,3′-dicarbaldehydes ( 1a–c ) with long alkyl chains such as ethyl, hexyl, and dodecyl groups were prepared in 13–25% yield via three-step reactions. The titanium-induced dicarbonyl-coupling reaction of 1a–c gave poly(1,1′-dialkyl-3,3′-ferrocenylenevi-nylene)s ( 2a–c ) in quantitative yields, which were the molecular weights of 3000–10,000 and highly soluble in chloroform, benzene, and hexane. The electrical conductivity and the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility for poly(1,1′-dihexyl-3,3′-ferrocenylenevinylene) ( 2b ) were estimated to be 1 × 10^?2 S/cm on doping with iodine and 1–4 × 10^?12 esu at a wavelength of 1–2.4 μm, respectively. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Reaction of octafluorocyclopentene with various carbon nucleophiles

The treatment of octafluorocyclopentene with organolithium reagents gave the corresponding symmetrical disubstituted perfluorocyclopentenes in good to high yields. The reaction with Grignard reagents led to the monosubstituted perfluorocyclopentenes, which were subjected to the further nucleophilic substitution reaction using another Grignard or aryllithium reagents, unsymmetrical disubstituted perfluorocyclopentenes being obtained in high yields.     

Radical cyclization by ipso substitution of the methoxy group: considerable effect of HMPA on samarium-mediated cyclization

Alkyl radicals generated by treatment of thiocarbamates of conformationally favorable 3-alkyl-3-arylpropan-1-ols with tris(trimethylsilyl)silane and AIBN efficiently undergo intramolecular ipso substitution of the methoxy group, yielding the corresponding cyclized products. In contrast, either conformationally favorable or flexible 1-arylalkan-3- or 4-ones easily cyclize into five- or six-membered condensed rings by treatment with SmI(2) via ketyl radical intermediates. The addition of HMPA as cosolvent dramatically changes the cyclization mode of the SmI(2)-induced reaction, and the para-cyclization products are exclusively formed. This "HMPA effect" can be rationalized by the strong chelating ability of HMPA with the samarium atom.     

Electrochemical analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms of p53 gene

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of cancer repression gene p53 were analyzed electrochemically with ferrocenyl naphthalene diimide (1) as a hybridization indicator. The SNPs studied were the transition to A from G in the codon for amino acid at positions 175, 248 or 273 and the transversion to C from G in the codon for the amino acid at position 72. Thus, 20-meric oligonucleotides carrying the SNP site were used both as a sample and a probe with the latter immobilized on an electrode. Even one base difference on the p53 gene resulted in a significant difference in the current response of 1 and the magnitude of the response correlated with the amount of the DNA hybrid on the electrode. Moreover, when PCR products of exon 4, on which the P72/R72 SNP resides, of the p53 gene were analyzed by this method, the heterozygote and homozygotes were discriminated with modest precision.     

Transformation of protoberberines into benzo[C]phenanthridines a novel and efficient synthesis of antitumor benzo[C]phenanthridine alkaloids,fagaronine and nitidine

Antileukemic benzo[C]phenanthridine alkaloids, fagaronine (1a) and nitidine (1c) were synthesized from the corresponding protoberberines through C₆-N bond fission and subsequent cyclization between C₆ and C₁₃ position of the protoberberines.     

Synthesis of nanoporous graphite-derived carbon-silica composites by a mechanochemical intercalation approach

A mechanochemical intercalation approach which applies a simple mechanical milling to induce intercalation reaction was applied to introduce controlled amount of tetraethoxylsilane (TEOS) into surfactant-preexpanded graphite oxide, and the relationships between the intercalation structure, the porosities of the calcined products, and the Si addition were examined. It was found that a small added amount of TEOS produced a more expanded ordered layer structure with the interlayer distance and silicon content increasing with the amount of TEOS added, although a large amount of added TEOS easily induces layer delamination, resulting in a less ordered structure. The silica structure in the composite is changed from a disordered structure having enhanced bond strain to a condensed silica network when the amount of TEOS added increases. The porosities of the final calcined samples increase with the increase of silicon content but then decrease slightly after reaching a maximum where silicon content starts to become constant, indicating that both silicon content and the composition state of silica particles and carbon layers play important roles in porosity formation.     

Analytical investigation of two-step adsorption kinetics on surfaces

Analytical equations of two-step adsorption kinetics on surface have been derived. Moreover, computer simulations have been carried out to interpret various experimental adsorption kinetics previously reported. In the first case, molecules are further adsorbed from a solution onto a layer consisting of previously adsorbed molecules. This model was applied to the adsorption kinetics of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (C16TAC) on a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 3-mercaptopropionic acid (T. Imae, H. Torii, J. Phys. Chem. B 104 (2000) 9218). The second case is that some of the initially adsorbed molecules are released from the adlayer with further time course. The adsorption of C16TAC on 1-dodecanethiol SAM (T. Imae, T. Takeshita, K. Yahagi, Stud. Surf. Sci. Catal. 132 (2001) 477) agrees with this mechanism. The strict mathematical developments presented in this work are demanded to specify the physical meaning of observed non-Langmuir adsorption kinetics, consisting of the two exponential terms.     

Determination of rare earth elements in geological samples by inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry after oxalate coprecipitation and cation-exchange column separation

A method for separation and determination of traces of 14 rare earth elements (REEs) in geological samples is described. Determination by inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry follows oxalate coprecipitation of the REEs with calcium as carrier and cation- exchange column separation in nitric acid. The combination of the two separation techniques improved the low recoveries found for Sm, Eu, and Gd when only ion-exchange was used, especially for iron- and aluminum-rich samples. The method was applied to the analysis of geological standard materials NBS SRM 688 (basalt), NBS SRM 278 (obsidian), GSJ JB-1 (basalt), GSJ JA- 2 (andesite), and CCRMP SY-3 (syenite). The results were evaluated on the basis of chondrite- normalized rare earth element distribution patterns.