Chemical Derivatization of Peptide Carboxyl Groups for Highly Efficient Electron Transfer Dissociation

The carboxyl groups of tryptic peptides were derivatized with a tertiary or quaternary amine labeling reagent to generate more highly charged peptide ions that fragment efficiently by electron transfer dissociation (ETD). All peptide carboxyl groups—aspartic and glutamic acid side-chains as well as C-termini—were derivatized with an average reaction efficiency of 99 %. This nearly complete labeling avoids making complex peptide mixtures even more complex because of partially-labeled products, and it allows the use of static modifications during database searching. Alkyl tertiary amines were found to be the optimal labeling reagent among the four types tested. Charge states are substantially higher for derivatized peptides: a modified tryptic digest of bovine serum albumin (BSA) generates ~90% of its precursor ions with z? > ?2, compared with less than 40 % for the unmodified sample. The increased charge density of modified peptide ions yields highly efficient ETD fragmentation, leading to many additional peptide identifications and higher sequence coverage (e.g., 70 % for modified versus only 43 % for unmodified BSA). The utility of this labeling strategy was demonstrated on a tryptic digest of ribosomal proteins isolated from yeast cells. Peptide derivatization of this sample produced an increase in the number of identified proteins, a >50 % increase in the sequence coverage of these proteins, and a doubling of the number of peptide spectral matches. This carboxyl derivatization strategy greatly improves proteome coverage obtained from ETD-MS/MS of tryptic digests, and we anticipate that it will also enhance identification and localization of post-translational modifications.

The Influence of Aluminum-Containing Lewis Acids on Polyisobutylene,Isobutylene-lsoprene Copolymers (Butyl Rubber), and Chlorinated Isobutylene-lsoprene Copolymer (Chlorobutyl)

The influence of aluminum-containing Lewis acids, e.g., AlCl₃, AlEtCl₂, AlEt₂Cl, AlEt₃, and AliBu₃, on polyisobutylene, isobutylene-isoprene copolymer (butyl rubber), and chlorinated butyl rubber has been investigated in nonpolar and polar solvents at various Lewis acid concentrations in the temperature range -10 to -78°C. Polyisobutylene does not degrade even under the most aggressive conditions employed (AlEtCl₂, -10°C). Butyl rubber degrades rapidly in the presence of AlEtCl₂ in the range -10 to -50°C. In contrast, no degradation occurs with the milder Lewis acid AlEt₂Cl; however, in conjunction with small amounts of a suitable Bronsted acid (i.e., HCl) immediate and extensive degradation takes place with AlEt₂Cl as well. Chlorobutyl rubber severely and very rapidly degrades in the presence of AlCl₃ and AlEtCl₂. With the less acidic AlEt₂Cl and AlEt₃, molecular weight breakdown can be prevented only when employing milder conditions, i.e., at low Lewis acid concentrations in nonpolar solvents at lowest temperatures. A comprehensive mechanism involving carbonium ions of these degradation processes is proposed.     

Quasiliving Carbocationic Polymerization. XV. Forced Ideal Copolymerization of Isobutylene-lsoprene

Forced ideal carbocationic copolymerization of isobutylene and isoprene has been achieved by continuous addition of monomer mixtures of different compositions to cumyl chloride/TiCl₄ charges at -50°C. The overall rate of copolymerization could be kept equal to that of addition rate with up to 10 mol% isoprene in the mixed monomer feed. In this monomer concentration range the composition of the copolymer was identical to that of the feeds. At higher diene concentrations in the feed, chain transfer to monomer and other side reactions (intramolecular cyclization, gel formation) could not be completely avoided. The number-average molecular weight of the copolymers increased almost linearly with the amount of consumed monomers at 10 mol% isoprene concentrations in the feed (i.e., in the quasiliving range). According to ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy, the products are random copolymers.     

Contributions to the Mechanism of Isobutene Polymerization. VII. Effect of HCI and Chloroethyl Benzene and a Brief Summary of the Data

Der Einfluss von HCI und Chloräthylbenzol auf die Ausbeute und das Molekulargewicht von Polyisobutylen wurde untersucht. Es konnten keine sinnvollen Vergiftungs-und Übetrträgerkoeffizienten abgeleitet werden da HC1 als ausbeuteverbessernder Promotor wirkte und der Einfluss des Chloräthylbenzols sich als sehr komplex erwies. Die Molekulargewichte der Polyisobutylene waren geringer, je grösser die Menge der vorhandenen Halogenverbindungen war. Es wird postuliert, dass HC1 als Promotor und Überträger wirkt.

Die in dieser Untersuchungsreihe erhaltenen Ergebnisse wurden durch Auftragung des Vergiftungskoeffizienten jeder Verbindung gegen den ëbertragungskoeffizienten dargestellt. Die meisten der untersuchten Ver-bindungen sind sowohl Gifte als auch ëbertràger, nur wenige sind reine (oder fast reine) Gifte oder Ubertràger. Es wird betont, dass diese Eigen-schaften rein empirisch sind und dass diese Ergebnisse nur mit grösster Vorsicht verallgemeinert werden dürdrfen.     

Contributions to the Mechanism of Isobutene Polymerization. VI. Effect of Halides

The effects of various allyl chlorides and alkyl halides on the overall yield of polymerization and molecular weight of polyisobutene have been investigated and expressed quantitatively by poison and transfer coefficients. The poison and transfer coefficients of halides have been compared with those obtained previously for corresponding hydorcarbons. The poison coefficients of halides and hydrocarbons can be treated formally in a similar manner (1/W_p vs. [X] plots linear for both classes); however, the appropriate transfer coefficients indicate fundamentally dissimilar transfer mechanisms in these systems (1/MW_p vs. [X] plots linear for hydrocarbons, whereas 1/MW_p vs. [X]^1/2 plots linear for halides). These results are discussed in terms of the allylic termination mechanism.     

Olefin Polymerizations and Copolymerizations with Aluminum Alkyl-Cocatalyst Systems. V. The Molecular Weight and Molecular Weight Distribution of Polystyrene

Abstract

The polymerization of styrene with the cationic initiator system AlR₂Cl/RCl was investigated further. Earlier conclusions [1] were corroborated and expanded by an analysis of the number and weight average molecular weights. Alkyl halides with low (high) R?Cl bond dissociation energies are efficient (poor) coinitiators of the polymerization of styrene. In the presence of efficient RCl coinitiators, the molecular weights strongly decrease and the molecular weight distributions strongly increase with increasing conversions (Fig. 1). With poor cointiators, only low conversions are obtained even in the presence of large amounts of AlEt₂Cl. The data are discussed in terms of a previously proposed mechanism [1].     

Living Carbocationic Polymerization. XXIII. Analysis of Slow Initiation in Living Isobutylene Polymerization

The aim of this research was to develop a quantitative treatment of the consequences of relatively slow initiation on M _n and N (the number of molecules formed, W_p/M _n , where W_p =weight of polymer formed) in living carbocationic polymerizations, particularly for the case of the incremental monomer addition (IMA) technique. This has been achieved by analysis of the effect of initiator efficiency (I_eff (%) = 100N/[I ₀], where [I ₀] = initiator input) on M _n versus W_p , and N versus W_p plots. Three types of systems have been discerned: 1) I_eff equal to 100%; 2) I_eff constant but less than 100%; and 3) I_eff less than 100% but increasing with increasing number of monomer increments j by the IMA technique. Thus conditions can be found under which slowly initiating systems yield close to “ideal” product, i.e., one with M _n = [M₀ ]/[I₀ ] and narrow molecular weight distribution (M _w /M _n ≈ 1.1). The corresponding equations and plots can be used to diagnose the mechanism. Subsequently, this quantitative analysis was used to describe a novel living system, trans‐2,5‐diacetoxy‐2,5‐dimethyl‐3‐hexene (DiOAcDMH₆)/BCI₃/isobutylene/CH₃CI. This system produces linear t‐chlorine‐telechelic polyisobutylenes under homogeneous conditions. Surprisingly, cationation seems to be rate determining. This conclusion is illustrated by chemical equations.     

Living Carbocationic Polymerization. LII. Living Carbocationic Copolymerization of Indene and p-Methylstyrene. 2. Synthesis,Characterization, and Physical Properties of Poly((Indene-co-p-Methylstyrene)-b-Isobutylene-b-(Indene-co-p-Methylstyrene)) Thermoplastic Elastomers

Abstract

Novel thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs) consisting of a central rubbery polyisobutylene (PIB) segment flanked by two glassy outer segments comprising indene (Ind)-co-p-methylstyrene (pMeSt) random copolymers have been prepared. The synthesis was effected by sequential monomer addition in one reactor: The process starts by the biliving homopolymerization of isobutylene (IB) and yields the living dication ⁺PIB⁺; the latter, upon the introduction of Ind/pMeSt mixtures, induces the living copolymerization of these monomers and yields the target TPE P(Ind-co-pMeSt)-b-PIB-b-P(Ind-co-pMeSt) triblock. The length of the rubbery midblock and the composition of the Ind-co-pMeSt random copolymer outer blocks (i.e., the overall composition of the triblocks) can be readily controlled. The glass transition temperature (T_g ) of the outer blocks can be fine-tuned by controlling the relative Ind/ pMeSt composition. The triblocks are excellent TPEs; for example, a P(Ind-co-pMeSt)-b-PIB-b-P(Ind-co-pMeSt) of M _n ≈ 115,000 g/mol containing a PIB midblock of M _n ≈ 70,200 g/mol and glassy copolymer outer blocks of P(Ind-co-pMeSt) [Ind/pMeSt = 41/59 (w/w)] exhibited 23.4 MPa tensile strength and 460% elongation. Tensile strengths and 300% moduli increase with the relative amount of the glassy segment present. Hardness increases with increasing Ind content.     

The Synthesis of Poly(Dimethylsiloxane-b-Isobutylene-b-Dimethylsiloxane) and Poly-(Dimethylsiloxane-b-Isobutylene-b-Dimethylsiloxane) from Alcohol-Telechelic Polyisobutylenes

The purpose of these studies was to combine polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polyisobutylene (PIB) sequences into novel triblock, PDMS-b-PIB-b-PDMS, and multiblock, (-PDMS-b-PIB-b-PDMS-)n, copolymers. The key toward syntheses was the definition of conditions for the initiation of living anionic polymerization of hexamethyl-cyclotrisiloxane (D₃) at the CH₂OLi termini of well-defined tele-chelic PIB sequences. Subsequent deactivation of living D₃ polymerization charges with Me₃ SiCl yielded the target triblock whereas stoichiometric amounts of Me₂ SiCl₂ gave the multiblock copolymer.     

Transfection of Mammalian Cells Using Block Copolypeptide Vesicles

An arginine‐leucine block copolypeptide (R₆₀L₂₀) is synthesized, which is capable of forming vesicles with controllable sizes, able to transport hydrophilic cargo across the cell membrane, and exhibit relatively low cytotoxicity. The R₆₀L₂₀ vesicles also possess the ability to deliver DNA into mammalian cells for transfection. Although the transfection efficiency is lower than that of the commercially available transfection agent Lipofectamine 2000, the R₆₀L₂₀ vesicles are able to achieve transfection with significantly lower cytotoxicity and immunogenicity. This behavior is potentially due to its stronger interaction with DNA which subsequently provides better protection against anionic heparin.