Protein adsorption characteristics of calcium hydroxyapatites modified with pyrophosphoric acids

Protein adsorption characteristics of calcium hydroxyapatite (Hap) modified with pyrophosphoric acids (PP(a)) were examined. The PP(a) modified Hap particles (abbreviated as PP-Hap) possessed anchored polyphosphate (PP: P-{O-PO(OH)}(n)-OH) branches on their surfaces. The proteins of bovine serum albumin (BSA: isoelectric point (iep)=4.7, molecular mass (M(s))=67,200 Da, acidic protein), myoglobin (MGB: iep=7.0, M(s)=17,800 Da, neutral protein), and lysozyme (LSZ: iep=11.1, M(s)=14,600 Da, basic protein) were examined. The zeta potential (zp) of PP-Hap particles as a function of pH overlapped; zp-pH curves were independent of the concentration of pyrophosphoric acids (abbreviated as [PP(a)]) used for modifying Hap surface. The saturated amounts of adsorbed BSA (Delta n(ads)(BSA)) were increased three-fold by the surface modification with PP(a) though they were independent of the [PP(a)]. Furthermore, the fraction of BSA desorption was independent of the [PP(a)]. This enhancement of BSA adsorption onto the PP-Hap is due to the hydrogen bonding between oxygen and OH groups of the PP-branches and functional groups of BSA molecules. In the case of LSZ, a more higher adsorption enhancement was observed; the saturated amount of adsorbed LSZ (Delta n(ads)(LSZ)) for Hap modified at [PP(a)]=6 mmol/dm(3) was nine-fold than that for Hap unmodified. This remarkable adsorption enhancement was explained by a three-dimensional binding mechanism; LSZ molecules were trapped inside of the PP-branches. Hence, a fraction of LSZ desorption was decreased with an increase in the [PP(a)]; as more PP-branches are presented on the surface the higher retardation of LSZ desorption was induced. It was expected from their small size that MGB adsorb between the PP-branches as well as LSZ. However, the amounts of adsorbed MGB (Delta n(ads)(MGB)) did not vary and were independent of the [PP(a)] due to the small numbers of functional groups of MGB. In addition, no dependence of the fraction of MGB desorption on the [PP(a)] was observed. The results of zp for all the protein systems supported the mode of protein adsorption discussed. The anchored structure of the PP-branches developed on the Hap surface to provide three-dimensional protein adsorption spaces was proved by a comparative experiment that was elucidating the effect of pyrophosphate ions for BSA adsorption onto Hap.     

Ring‐Opening Reactions of 3‐Aryl‐1‐benzylaziridine‐2‐carboxylates and Application to the Asymmetric Synthesis of an Amphetamine‐Type Compound

Nucleophilic ring‐opening reactions of 3‐aryl‐1‐benzylaziridine‐2‐carboxylates were examined by using O‐nucleophiles and aromatic C‐nucleophiles. The stereospecificity was found to depend on substrates and conditions used. Configuration inversion at C(3) was observed with O‐nucleophiles as a major reaction path in the ring‐opening reactions of aziridines carrying an electron‐poor aromatic moiety, whereas mixtures containing preferentially the syn‐diastereoisomer were generally obtained when electron‐rich aziridines were used (Tables 1–3). In the reactions of electron‐rich aziridines with C‐nucleophiles, S_N2 reactions yielding anti‐type products were observed (Table 4). Reductive ring‐opening reaction by catalytic hydrogenation of (+)‐trans‐(2S,3R)‐3‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)aziridine‐2‐carboxylate (+)‐trans‐ 3c afforded the corresponding α‐amino acid derivative, which was smoothly transformed into (+)‐tert‐butyl [(1R)‐2‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)‐1‐methylethyl]carbamate((+)‐ 14 ) with high retention of optical purity (Scheme 6).     

Model Construction for the A–B–C Ring System of Lysergic Acid via Vilsmeier–Haack‐Type Cyclization of 1H‐Indole‐4‐propanoic Acid Derivatives

Vilsmeier–Haack‐type cyclization of 1H‐indole‐4‐propanoic acid derivatives was examined as model construction for the A–B–C ring system of lysergic acid ( 1 ). Smooth cyclization from the 4 position of 1H‐indole to the 3 position was achieved by Vilsmeier–Haack reaction in the presence of K₂CO₃ in MeCN, and the best substrate was found to be the N,N‐dimethylcarboxamide 9 (Table 1). The modified method can be successfully applied to an α‐amino acid derivative protected with an N‐acetyl function, i.e., to 27 (Table 2); however, loss of optical purity was observed in the cyclization when a chiral substrate (S)‐ 27 was used (Scheme 5). On the other hand, the intramolecular Pummerer reaction of the corresponding sulfoxide 20 afforded an S‐containing tricyclic system 22 , which was formed by a cyclization to the 5 position (Scheme 3).     

Stabilities in field electron emissions from noble‐metal covered W nano‐tips: apex structure dependence

We observed field emission microscopy (FEM) patterns of noble‐metal (NM) covered W nano‐tips with three different apex structures fabricated by field evaporation. Each of the three tips was terminated with a single atom, three atoms or ten atoms. We investigated the temporal changes in the FEM of these tips to discuss the stabilities in the spatial distributions of the field emission (FE) beams. The single‐atom tip showed two characteristics that were superior to the others. First, the beams emitted from the single‐atom tip were the most collimated among the three tips (the semi‐cone angle of 1.0° , FWHM). Second, adsorption of residual gas had little influence on FE from the single‐atom tip, while the other tips were easily contaminated even at ultra high vacuum, resulting in the emission fluctuation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New implementation of molecular double point‐group symmetry in four‐component relativistic Gaussian‐type spinors

A new, practical implementation of double‐group symmetry to relativistic Gaussian spinors is presented for four‐component relativistic molecular calculations. We show that the systematic adaptability to irreducible representations under arbitrary point‐group symmetry, as well as Kramers (time‐reversal) symmetry, is inherent in the present basis spinors, which possess the analytic structure of Dirac atomic spinors. The implementation of double‐group symmetry entails significant computational efficiencies in the relativistic second‐order Møller–Plesset perturbation calculation on Au₂ and the density functional theory (DFT) calculation with the B3LYP functional on octahedral UF₆, in which the highest symmetries used are, respectively, C and D. The four‐component B3LYP equilibrium geometry of UF₆ is reported. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

First observation of the B1A1 state of SiH2 and SiD2 radicals by optical-optical double resonance spectroscopy

The B1A1 state of SiH2 and SiD2 was observed by the optical-optical double resonance technique for the first time. The electronic band origin of the B state of SiD2 was determined to be 27 214.11 cm(-1). A very clear exclusive behavior depending on the even/odd value of the bending vibrational quantum number was observed in the spectra, representing a quasilinear behavior of the B state. The barrier height to linearity was estimated to be approximately 125 cm(-1) by the quasilinear analysis of the bending vibrational level structure of SiD2.     

Catalytic transformation of methane over in-loaded ZSM-5 zeolite in the presence of ethene

Methane is shown to react with ethene over In-loaded ZSM-5 to higher hydrocarbons such as propene and toluene at around 673 K. Such methane conversion is not catalyzed by proton-exchanged ZSM-5 (H-ZSM-5) under the same conditions, only C2H4 being converted to higher hydrocarbons. By using 13C-labeled methane (13CH4) as a reactant, the reaction paths for the formation of propene, benzene and toluene were examined. 13C-labeled propene (13CC2H6) is formed by the reaction of 13CH4 with C2H4. The lack of 13C-labeled benzene revealed that propene is not transformed to benzene, which instead originates entirely from C2H4. The 13C atom is inserted both into the methyl group and benzene ring in the toluene formed. This indicates that toluene is formed by two reaction paths; the reaction of 13CC2H6 with butenes formed by the dimerization of C2H4 and the reaction of benzene with 13CH4. The existence of the latter path was proved by the direct reaction of 13CH4 with benzene. The reaction of methane with benzene was also carried out in a continuous flow system over In-loaded ZSM-5. The reaction afforded 7.6% and 0.9% yields of toluene and xylenes, respectively, at 623 K.     

An accurate numerical multicenter integration for molecular orbital theory

A powerful and accurate numerical three‐dimensional integration scheme was developed especially for molecular orbital calculations. A multicenter integral is decomposed into the sum of single‐center integrals using nuclear weight functions and calculated using Gaussian quadrature rules. The decomposed single‐center integrands show strong anisotropy. With a careful selection of the Gaussian quadrature rule according to the anisotropy, it is possible to obtain an accuracy of 13 digits with a small number of integration points for the overlap integrals, normalization integrals, and molecular integrals for the hydrogen molecule. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quant Chem 72: 509–523, 1999     

Preparation and characterization of carbonated barium-calcium hydroxyapatite solid solutions

Particles of carbonated barium-calcium hydroxyapatite solid solutions (BaCaHap) with different Ba/(Ba+Ca) (X(Ba)) atomic ratios were prepared by a wet method at 100 degrees C and characterized by various means. The crystal phases and structures of the products strongly depended on the composition of the starting solution, that is, the Ba/(Ba+Ca) atomic ratio ([X(Ba)]) and H3PO4 concentration ([H3PO4]) in the solution. BaCaHap with X(Ba)0.43 could be prepared at [X(Ba)]0.7 by changing [H3PO4], but could never be obtained at [X(Ba)]=0.8-0.95 regardless of [H3PO4]. The carbonated calcium hydroxyapatite particles prepared at [X(Ba)]=0 were fine and short rod-shaped particles (ca. 14x84 nm). With increasing [X(Ba)] from 0 to 0.8, the particles obtained became large spherical agglomerates. The carbonated barium hydroxyapatite particles formed at [X(Ba)]=1 were long rod-shaped agglomerates (ca. 0.2x2 microm) of fine primary particles. The amount of CO2 adsorbed irreversibly on a series of BaCaHaps showed a minimum at (Ba+Ca)/(P+C) atomic ratio of around 1.56, which agreed well with the minimum cation/P ratio obtained for the other hydroxyapatites, as already reported.