Hydrogen storage inside a toroidal carbon nanostructure C120: Density functional theory computer simulation

Ab initio density functional calculations were performed for a toroidal carbon C₁₂₀ nanostructure. Hydrogen molecules, n = 1–15, were added inside the nanotorus and for each one of these systems a geometry optimization was obtained. The cohesive energy shows that these structures are energetically stable. For example, the binding energies are ?34.95 and ?36.19 Hartrees and the interatomic distances H? H are 0.753 and 0.772 Å for 1 and 14 molecules, respectively. Considering only molecular hydrogen, we have always seen so far weak physisorption into the C₁₂₀ nanotorus. There is no chemisorption until the number oh hydrogen molecules are increased to 14. In this case, four hydrogen atoms are chemisorbed. With 15 molecules, there are 10 hydrogen atoms chemisorbed just at the inner nanotorus surface forming 10 H? C bondings with bond length close to that in methane. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 110:2495–2508, 2010     

The total synthesis of moenomycin A

Moenomycin A is the only known natural antibiotic that inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis by binding to the transglycosylases that catalyze formation of the carbohydrate chains of peptidoglycan. We report here the total synthesis of moenomycin A using the sulfoxide glycosylation method. A newly discovered byproduct of sulfoxide reactions was isolated that resulted in substantial loss of the glycosyl acceptor. A general method to suppress this byproduct was introduced, which enabled the glycosylations to proceed efficiently. The inverse addition protocol for sulfoxide glycosylations also proved essential in constructing some of the glycosidic linkages. The synthetic route is flexible and will allow for derivatives to be constructed to further analyze moenomycin A's mechanism of action.     

Degradation and reconstruction of moenomycin A and derivatives: dissecting the function of the isoprenoid chain

Moenomycin A is the only known natural product that inhibits peptidoglycan biosynthesis by binding the bacterial transglycosylases. We describe a degradation/reconstruction route to manipulate the reducing end of moenomycin A. A comparison of the biological and enzyme inhibitory activity of moenomycin A and an analogue containing a nerol lipid in place of the natural C25 lipid chain provides insight into the role of the moenocinol unit. Our results show that a lipid chain having ten carbons in moenocinol is sufficient for enzyme inhibition, but a longer chain is required for biological acitivity, apparently because the molecule must partition into biological membranes to reach its target in bacterial cells.     

THE SIMULATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF GRADIENT ELUTION HPLC

The movement of a particular component along an HPLC column is studied on the ba-sis of equilibrium equations. Numerical simulation of multi--step gradient elution HPLC isperformed by means o? a personal computer program. The location x, as a fraction of thecolumn length, for a given time t o? each compound is calculated, the velocity and corre-sponding acceleration are given as well. Diagrams for x,dx/dt and d~2x/dt~2 versus t display themovement process of the different components along the HPLC column during gradient elu-tion. The prediction of the retention time and peak width, and the optimization for the multi-step gradient elution HPLC are all based on such simulation and the molecular structure ofthe. components is separated as well.     

In vitro reconstitution of EryCIII activity for the preparation of unnatural macrolides

EryCIII is a desosaminyltransferase that converts an inactive macrolide precursor to a biologically active antibiotic. It may have potential for the synthesis of unnatural macrolides with useful biological activities. However, it has been difficult to reconstitute the activity of EryCIII in vitro. We report here that purified, inactive EryCIII can be converted to an active catalyst by the addition of another protein encoded in the same gene cluster, EryCII. The EryCII-treated protein retains activity even when EryCII is removed. We also show that AknT, an activator protein from an unrelated gene cluster, is capable of activating EryCIII. Although the mechanism of activation is not yet understood, we have concluded from these experiments that these antibiotic Gtf activator proteins do not function to deliver substrates to EryCIII and do not exert their effects by forming stable complexes with the Gtf during the glycosyltransfer reaction. We report that activated EryCIII is capable of utilizing an alternative sugar donor, so these results lay the groundwork for the production of novel macrolides.     

PHOTOREACTIVATION IN THE EXTREME HALOPHILIC ARCHAEBACTERIUM Halobacterium cutirubrum

Abstract— Photoreactivation in the extreme halophilic archaebacterium Halobacterium cutirubrum was studied both in vivo and in vitro. Cells irradiated with ultraviolet (UV)-fluences up to 350 J/m² could be completely photoreactivated, indicating very efficient repair of pyrimidine dimers in UV-irradiated DNA. Dark repair is apparently absent in Halobacterium since liquid holding under non-growth conditions did not influence the survival of UV-irradiated cells, while cells remained completely photoreactivable with no change in the kinetics of photoreactivation. Experiments with Halobacterium isolates of different carotenoid content indicated that carotenoids do not influence either UV-inactivation or photoreactivation. Small differences in the rates of UV-inactivation and photoreactivation could be assigned to the occurrence of gas vesicles. Flash experiments and the temperature dependence of photoreactivation indicated an enzymatical reaction. This was confirmed by in vitro experiments with partially purified photoreactivating enzyme. The in vivo action spectrum of photoreactivation showed a main band in the 400-470 nm region with a maximum at 440 nm. Comparison with action spectra of other microorganisms classified the Halobacterium enzyme as a 8-hydroxy-5-deazaflavin type photoreactivating enzyme.     

Differential inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus PBP2 by glycopeptide antibiotics

The glycopeptide antibiotics prevent maturation of the bacterial cell wall by binding to the terminal d-alanyl-d-alanine moiety of peptidoglycan precursors, thereby inhibiting the enzymes involved in the final stages of peptidoglycan synthesis. However, there are significant differences in the biological activity of particular glycopeptide derivatives that are not related to their affinity for d-Ala-d-Ala. We compare the ability of vancomycin and a set of clinically relevant glycopeptides to inhibit Staphylococcus aureus PBP2 (penicillin binding protein), the major transglycosylase in a clinically relevant pathogen, S. aureus. We report experiments suggesting that activity differences between glycopeptides against this organism reflect a combination of substrate binding and secondary interactions with key enzymes involved in peptidoglycan synthesis.     

AN APPROXIMATE PROJECTION SCHEME FOR INCOMPRESSIBLE FLOW USING SPECTRAL ELEMENTS

An approximate projection scheme based on the pressure correction method is proposed to solve the Navier–Stokes equations for incompressible flow. The algorithm is applied to the continuous equations; however, there are no problems concerning the choice of boundary conditions of the pressure step. The resulting velocity and pressure are consistent with the original system. For the spatial discretization a high-order spectral element method is chosen. The high-order accuracy allows the use of a diagonal mass matrix, resulting in a very efficient algorithm. The properties of the scheme are extensively tested by means of an analytical test example. The scheme is further validated by simulating the laminar flow over a backward-facing step.     

金属卟啉催化条件下有机化合物与二氧化碳的电羧化反应Ⅰ. 金属卟啉对苄基氯电羧化催化活性的研究

本文研究了系列金属卟啉对苯基氯(phCH~2Cl)和CO~2电羧化反应的催化活性.用熔点,MS,IR,UV鉴别产物为苯乙酸卟脂,利用高效液相色谱(HPLC)定量分析了羧化产物,选出最佳电羧化电解电位为-1.6v(相对于饱和甘汞电极,vs.SCE,下同). 并对催化活性较高的钴卟啉系列配合物进行了深入研究. 探讨了金属卟啉具有催化活性的原因,认为能形成M(Ⅰ)中间体的金属卟啉配合物.具有较高的催化活性.     

The coherent scattering function of the reptation model: Simulations compared to theory

We present results of Monte Carlo simulations measuring the coherent structure function of a chain moving through an ordered lattice of fixed topological obstacles. Our computer experiments use chains up to 320 beads and cover a large range of wave vectors and a time range exceeding the reptation time. For additional information we also measured the coherent structure function of internal pieces of the chain. We compare our results i) to the predictions of the primitive chain model, ii) to an approximate form resulting from Rouse motion in a coiled tube, and iii) to our recent evaluation of the full reptation model. i) The primitive chain model can fit the data for times , where T ₂ is the Rouse time of the chain. Besides some phenomenological amplitude factor this fit involves the reptation time T ₃ as a second fit parameter. For the chain lengths measured, the asymptotic behavior is not attained. ii) The model of Rouse motion in a tube, which we have criticized before on theoretical grounds, is shown to fail also on the purely phenomenological level. iii) Our evaluation of the full reptation model yields an excellent fit to the data for both total chains and internal pieces and for all wave vectors and all times, provided specific micro-structure effects of the MC dynamics are negligible. Such micro-structure effects show up for wave vectors of the order of the inverse segment size and enforce the introduction of some phenomenological, wave-vector-dependent prefactor. For the dynamics of the total chain our data analysis based on the full reptation model shows the importance of tube length fluctuations. Universal (Rouse-type) internal relaxation, however, is unimportant. It can be observed only in the form of the diffusive motion of a short central subchain in the tube. Finally, we present a fit formula which in a large range of wave vectors and chain lengths reproduces the numerical results of our theory for the scattering from the total chain.Received: 9 July 2003, Published online: 11 November 2003PACS: 83.10.Kn Reptation and tube theories - 82.35.Lr Physical properties of polymers - 83.10.Rs Computer simulation of molecular and particle dynamics