A new route to the formation of biomimetic phosphate assemblies on gold: synthesis and characterization

A biomimetic model system based on long-chain alkanethiols tailored with serine, threonine and tyrosine side-chain groups is created as a platform for the study of phosphorylated amino acids. The phosphorylated analogues are synthesized with protective tert-butyl groups that after assembly on thin polycrystalline gold films are removed in an acidic deprotection solution to form the corresponding phosphate self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). The SAMs are thoroughly characterized with null ellipsometry, contact angle goniometry, infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The assembly and the subsequent deprotection process are optimized with respect to molecular orientation and chain conformation by varying the incubation time and the exposure time to the deprotection solution. The high quality of the generated SAMs suggests that the present assembly/deprotection approach is an attractive alternative when traditional synthetic routes become demanding because of solubility problems.     

Multi-step dielectrophoresis for separation of particles

A new concept for separation of particles based on repetitive dielectrophoretic trapping and release in a flow system is proposed. Calculations using the finite element method have been performed to envision the particle behavior and the separation effectiveness of the proposed method. As a model system, polystyrene beads in deionized water and a micro-flow channel with arrays of interdigited electrodes have been used. Results show that the resolution increases as a direct function of the number of trap-and-release steps, and that a difference in size will have a larger influence on the separation than a difference in other dielectrophoretic properties. About 200 trap-and-release steps would be required to separate particles with a size difference of 0.2%. The enhanced separation power of dielectrophoresis with multiple steps could be of great importance, not only for fractionation of particles with small differences in size, but also for measuring changes in surface conductivity, or for separations based on combinations of difference in size and dielectric properties.     

Directed development of high-performance membranes via high-throughput and combinatorial strategies

Combinatorial strategies are for the first time applied in membrane technology and prove to be a powerful new tool in the search for novel membrane materials. The selected system for this study is a polyimide solvent-resistant nanofiltration membrane prepared via phase inversion. The phase inversion process is a typical membrane synthesis procedure involving a large number of compositional components, which can each be varied in a wide concentration range. The optimization of the membrane dope composition was performed using evolutionary optimization via genetic algorithms. Compared with the best commercially available membranes, a substantially improved membrane performance could be realized, both on the level of membrane selectivity and on that of permeability. The miniaturized high-throughput synthesis procedure could be scaled up successfully when the polymer dope was sufficiently viscous. It can be anticipated that application of combinatorial techniques can potentially lead to major improvements in all fields of membrane technology, for example water treatment, gas separation, and dialysis, not only on the compositional level but also for instance on the level of membrane synthesis posttreatment and operational conditions.     

n- and isoalkane adsorption mechanisms on zeolite MCM-22

Low-coverage adsorption properties (Henry constants, adsorption enthalpy, and entropy) of linear and branched alkanes (C3-C8) on zeolite MCM-22 were determined using the chromatographic technique at temperatures between 420 and 540 K. It was found that adsorption enthalpy and entropy of linear alkanes vary in a nonmonotonic way with carbon number. The adsorption behavior of alkanes was rationalized on the basis of the pore geometry. Short molecules prefer to reside in the pockets of the MCM-22 supercage, where they maximize energetic interaction with the zeolite. Longer molecules reside in the larger central part of the supercage. For carbon numbers up to six, singly branched alkanes are selectively adsorbed over their linear counterparts. This preference originates from the entropic advantage of singly branched molecules inside MCM-22 supercages, where these species have high rotational freedom because of their small length.     

Continuum solvation models in the linear interaction energy method

The linear interaction energy (LIE) method in combination with two different continuum solvent models has been applied to calculate protein-ligand binding free energies for a set of inhibitors against the malarial aspartic protease plasmepsin II. Ligand-water interaction energies are calculated from both Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) and Generalized Born (GB) continuum models using snapshots from explicit solvent simulations of the ligand and protein-ligand complex. These are compared to explicit solvent calculations, and we find close agreement between the explicit water and PB solvation models. The GB model overestimates the change in solvation energy, and this is caused by consistent underestimation of the effective Born radii in the protein-ligand complex. The explicit solvent LIE calculations and LIE-PB, with our standard parametrization, reproduce absolute experimental binding free energies with an average unsigned error of 0.5 and 0.7 kcal/mol, respectively. The LIE-GB method, however, requires a constant offset to approach the same level of accuracy.     

Absence of reverse anomeric effect in furanosides

A series of conformationally restricted N-"furanosides" has been synthesized, where the carbons of the tetrahydrofuran ring are kept in one plane by a rigid norbornane skeleton, permitting only the ring oxygen to move above or below the tetrahydrofuran ring plane. This causes the substituents of the anomeric carbon to occupy a pseudoaxial or a pseudoequatorial position. On protonation of these "norbornane-furanosides" with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid, all three compounds exhibited decreasing coupling constants for the anomeric proton, indicating a shift toward the pseudoaxial conformation. The coupling constant measurements were supported by volume integration of NOESY cross-peaks, which also showed a change toward the pseudoaxial conformation upon protonation of the nitrogen. These results provide no evidence for the so-called reverse anomeric effect; on the contrary they are in full agreement with a small normal anomeric effect.     

Photodegradation of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate: biophysical aspects

5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5MTHF) absorbs UV radiation and has an absorption coefficient of 24250+/-1170 M(-1) cm(-1) at 290 nm. It has a weak fluorescence emission in the wavelength region around 360 nm. Our data demonstrated induction of 5-methyldihydrofolate by exposure to UVB and, after continues irradiation, p-aminobenzoyl-L-glutamic acid was found. The photodegradation of 5MTHF follows a first order kinetic with a degradation rate constant of 9.2 x 10(-3) min(-1) under our conditions (fluence rate of 2.15 mW cm(-2), exposure wavelengths from 280 to 350 nm). Our results indicate that a direct degradation of 5MTHF by UV exposure in humans in vivo is rather unlikely. 5MTHF mainly absorbs, and is degraded by, UVB and UVC, radiation that does not penetrate the earth's atmosphere and the human skin well.     

Colloidal dispersions of octadecyl grafted silica spheres in toluene: a global analysis of small angle neutron scattering contrast variation and concentration dependence measurements

In this paper we report measurements of the form factor and the structure factor of a sterically stabilized colloidal dispersion consisting of silica spheres coated with octadecane in toluene by small angle neutron scattering (SANS). The phase diagram of this system shows the liquid-liquid coexistence line and also a jamming transition at higher concentrations, where the jamming line intersects the coexistence line roughly at the critical point. We have performed SANS experiments at a temperature well above the transition temperature and at various volume fractions phi, spanning from the very dilute regime (phi=0.2%) to the critical concentration (phi=16%) and the highly viscous regime (phi=39.2%). Except for the very dilute regime, we observe a structure factor S(q) in all other cases. We fitted our data over the whole concentration regime using a global fitting routine with a core-shell model for the form factor P(q), taking into account the structure factor, which we describe with the Robertus model for an adhesive polydisperse core-shell particle. At a volume fraction of phi=5% a SANS contrast variation experiment has been performed. From that the product of the volume of the shell and the amount of solvent within the corona of our core-shell particle could be determined. At the most probable shell thickness of 2.3 nm a solvent content of about 50% within the corona was found. Moreover we could conclude that the core is not interpenetrated by solvent molecules. From the contrast variation experiment followed that the structure factor at zero average contrast exhibits a strong q dependence, which is an effect of an inhomogeneous particle in combination with a size distribution.     

Rhodium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Additions of Boronic Acids to enones using DIPHONANE: a novel chiral bisphosphine ligand

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of a novel enantiopure C2-symmetric bisphosphine, DIPHONANE, was accomplished starting from 2,5-norbornadione, utilizing (R,R)- and/or (S,S)-(2,3-O-di[(phenylamino)carbonyl]tartaric acid for the resolution of an intermediate phosphineoxide. The application of this ligand in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric conjugate addition of boronic acids to cyclic enones provides the 1,4-addition products in good yields (69-98%) and high ee's (78-95% ee). A byproduct arising from a consecutive 1,4-addition and 1,2-addition was also observed.     

Assessment of spatial BOLD sensitivity variations in fMRI using gradient-echo field maps

Clinical blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is becoming increasingly valuable in, e.g., presurgical planning, but the commonly used gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GE-EPI) technique is sometimes hampered by macroscopic field inhomogeneities. This can affect the degree of signal change that will occur in the GE-EPI images as a response to neural activation and the subsequent blood oxygenation changes, i.e., the BOLD sensitivity (BS). In this study, quantitative BS maps were calculated directly from gradient-echo field maps obtainable on most clinical scanners. In order to validate the accuracy of the calculated BS-maps, known shim gradients were applied and field maps and GE-EPI images of a phantom were acquired. Measured GE-EPI image intensity was then compared with the calculated (predicted) image intensity (pII) which was obtained from the field maps using theoretical expressions for image-intensity loss. The validated expressions for pII were used to calculate the corresponding predicted BOLD sensitivity (pBS) maps in healthy volunteers. Since the field map is assumed to be valid throughout an entire fMRI experiment, the influence of subject motion on the pBS maps was also assessed. To demonstrate the usefulness of such maps, pBS was investigated for clinically important functional areas including hippocampus, Broca's area and primary motor cortex. A systematic left/right pBS difference was observed in Broca's area and in the hippocampus, most likely due to magnetic field inhomogeneity of the particular MRI-system used in this study. For all subjects, the hippocampus showed pBS values above unity with a clear anterior–posterior gradient and with an abrupt drop to zero pBS in the anterior parts of hippocampus. It is concluded that GE field maps can be used to accurately predict BOLD sensitivity and that this parameter is useful to assess spatial variations which will influence fMRI experiments.