Pentopyranosyl Oligonucleotide Systems. Communication No. 13

Among the members of a family of diastereoisomeric pentopyranosyl‐(4′→2′)‐oligonucleotide systems derived from D ‐ribose, D ‐xylose, L ‐lyxose, and L ‐arabinose, the α‐arabinopyranosyl system shows by far the strongest Watson? Crick base pairing. The system is, in fact, one of the strongest oligonucleotide‐type base‐pairing systems known. It undergoes efficient cross‐pairing with all the other members of the pentopyranosyl family, but not with RNA and DNA. The paper describes the synthesis and pairing of the properties of α‐L ‐arabinopyranosyl‐(4′→2′)‐oligonucleotides.     

Star-polarization: A natural link between phase space representation and operator representation of quantum mechanics

The method of *-polarization connects phase space mechanics to the usual operator formulation of quantum theory. A *-polarization is a linear submanifold of the space of C functions on phase space. Elements of a *-polarization are in direct correspondence with the Schroedinger wave functions and this correspondence induces the Weyl correspondence between classical observables and operators. All generalized Moyal algebras admit *-polarizations and a general method is thus available for translating *-quantization into operator language.     

Spotlight on Photoinduced Aryl Migration Reactions

Rearrangement reactions are certainly one of the most useful approaches towards complex structures in organic chemistry. With efficient conditions, it is indeed possible to convert simple substrates into highly functionalized products. Moreover, combining this approach with an attractive initiation process, such as visible-light catalysis, makes these reactions particularly powerful. Recently, tremendous improvements have been made, owing to a better understanding of photoredox mechanisms. In this review, recent progress on visible-light aryl migration reactions is discussed, focusing especially on Smiles rearrangement and related reactions.     

Competitive Affinity Release for Long‐Term Delivery of Antibodies from Hydrogels

With increased clinical use of antibodies, long‐term delivery strategies are needed to decrease injection frequency and improve health outcomes. A three‐component drug‐delivery system was developed for competitive affinity release of a streptavidin–antibody conjugate from agarose–desthiobiotin hydrogels via controlled dissolution of sparingly soluble biotin derivatives. The antibody conjugate was localized in the hydrogel through streptavidin–desthiobiotin complexation. Dissolution of sparingly soluble biotin derivatives disrupts streptavidin–desthiobiotin complexation for controlled release of the antibody conjugate. Release was tuned by altering the total biotin derivative concentration without further hydrogel or antibody modification. First‐order tunable release of bioactive Avastin, a therapeutic anti‐VEGF antibody, was demonstrated from a non‐cytotoxic system for over 100 days.     

M?ssbauer characterization of the iron-sulfur clusters in Desulfovibrio vulgaris hydrogenase.

The periplasmic hydrogenase of Desulfovibrio vulgaris (Hildenbourough) is an all Fe-containing hydrogenase. It contains two ferredoxin type [4Fe-4S] clusters, termed the F clusters, and a catalytic H cluster. Recent X-ray crystallographic studies on two Fe hydrogenases revealed that the H cluster is composed of two sub-clusters, a [4Fe-4S] cluster ([4Fe-4S](H)) and a binuclear Fe cluster ([2Fe](H)), bridged by a cysteine sulfur. The aerobically purified D. vulgaris hydrogenase is stable in air. It is inactive and requires reductive activation. Upon reduction, the enzyme becomes sensitive to O(2), indicating that the reductive activation process is irreversible. Previous EPR investigations showed that upon reoxidation (under argon) the H cluster exhibits a rhombic EPR signal that is not seen in the as-purified enzyme, suggesting a conformational change in association with the reductive activation. For the purpose of gaining more information on the electronic properties of this unique H cluster and to understand further the reductive activation process, variable-temperature and variable-field M?ssbauer spectroscopy has been used to characterize the Fe-S clusters in D. vulgaris hydrogenase poised at different redox states generated during a reductive titration, and in the CO-reacted enzyme. The data were successfully decomposed into spectral components corresponding to the F and H clusters, and characteristic parameters describing the electronic and magnetic properties of the F and H clusters were obtained. Consistent with the X-ray crystallographic results, the spectra of the H cluster can be understood as originating from an exchange coupled [4Fe-4S]-[2Fe] system. In particular, detailed analysis of the data reveals that the reductive activation begins with reduction of the [4Fe-4S](H) cluster from the 2+ to the 1+ state, followed by transfer of the reducing equivalent from the [4Fe-4S](H) subcluster to the binuclear [2Fe](H) subcluster. The results also reveal that binding of exogenous CO to the H cluster affects significantly the exchange coupling between the [4Fe-4S](H) and the [2Fe](H) subclusters. Implication of such a CO binding effect is discussed.     

Can Tetrylone Act in a Similar Fashion to Tetrylene in Ni(CO)2 Complexes? A Theoretical Study based on a Comparison using DFT Calculations

A comparison was made to investigate the structures and bonding of nickel complex that carry tetrylone and tetrylene ligands [(CO)₂Ni‐{E(PH₃)₂}] ( Ni1E ) and [(CO)₂Ni‐{NHE_Me}] ( Ni2E ) (E = C to Pb) using quantum chemical calculations at the BP86 level with various basis sets (SVP, TZVPP, TZ2P+). The nature of the Ni–E bonds was analyzed with charge‐ and energy decomposition methods. The structures of tetrylone complexes Ni1E exhibit an interesting trend with the ligands E(PH₃)₂ are bonded in a tilted orientation relative to the fragment Ni(CO)₂. In contrast, the calculated equilibrium structures of complexes Ni2E exhibit the NHE_Me ligands (E = C to Sn) bonded in a head‐on way to the Ni(CO)₂ fragment, while the bending angle gives the strongest side‐on bonded ligand NHPb_Me when E = Pb. The interesting trend of the bond dissociation energy (BDE) is observed for the tetrylone, which has the same trend BDEs compared with tetrylene complexes. The EDA‐NOCV results indicate that the tetrylone ligands {E(PH₃)₂} in complexes are similar to the tetrylene ligands NHE_Me as strong σ‐donors and weak π‐acceptors. The BDEs calculated for the Ni–E bonds in Ni1E and Ni2E show that the effect of bulky ligands may obscure the intrinsic Ni–E bond strength. The bonding analysis shows that the tetrylone ligands in Ni1E may act in a similar fashion to the tetrylene ligands in Ni2E . All complexes Ni1E and Ni2E are suitable targets for synthesis.     

Preparation and characterization of the first pyrazole-based remote N-heterocyclic carbene complexes of palladium(II)

The first pyrazolin-4-ylidene complexes of palladium(II) have been synthesized by oxidative addition of 4-iodopyrazolium salts to Pd(2)(dba)3/PPh(3) and were fully characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopies, ESI mass spectrometry and X-ray diffraction studies.     

Mediating Order and Modulating Porosity by Controlled Hydrolysis in a Phosphonate Monoester Metal–Organic Framework

A crystalline and permanently porous copper phosphonate monoester framework has been synthesized from a tetraaryl trigonal phosphonate monoester linker. This material has a surface area over 1000 m² g^?1, as measured by N₂ sorption, the highest reported for a phosphonate‐based metal–organic framework (MOF). The monoesters result in hydrophobic pore surfaces that give a low heat of adsorption for CO₂ and low calculated selectivity for CO₂ over N₂ and CH₄ in binary mixtures. By careful manipulation of synthetic conditions, it is possible to selectively remove some of the monoesters lining the pore to form a hydrogen phosphonate while giving an isomorphous structure. This increases the affinity of the framework for CO₂ giving higher ambient uptake, higher heat of adsorption, and much higher calculated selectivity for CO₂ over both N₂ and CH₄. Formation of the acid groups is noteworthy as complexation with the parent acid gives a different structure.     

Liquid Nickel Salts: Synthesis,Crystal Structure Determination,and Electrochemical Synthesis of Nickel Nanoparticles

New nickel‐containing ionic liquids were synthesized, characterized and their electrochemistry was investigated. In addition, a mechanism for the electrochemical synthesis of nanoparticles from these compounds is proposed. In these so‐called liquid metal salts, the nickel(II) cation is octahedrally coordinated by six N‐alkylimidazole ligands. The different counter anions that were used are bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Tf₂N^?), trifluoromethanesulfonate (OTf^?) and methanesulfonate (OMs^?). Several different N‐alkylimidazoles were considered, with the alkyl sidechain ranging in length from methyl to dodecyl. The newly synthesized liquid metal salts were characterized by CHN analysis, FTIR, DSC, TGA and viscosity measurements. An odd‐even effect was observed for the melting temperatures and viscosities of the ionic liquids, with the complexes with an even number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain of the imidazole having a higher melting temperature and a lower viscosity than the complexes with an odd number of carbons. The crystal structures of several of the nickel(II) complexes that are not liquid at room temperature were determined. The electrochemistry of the compounds with the lowest viscosities was investigated. The nickel(II) cation could be reduced but surprisingly no nickel deposits were obtained on the electrode. Instead, nickel nanoparticles were formed at 100 % selectivity, as confirmed by TEM. The magnetic properties of these nanoparticles were investigated by SQUID measurements.