Structure and Dynamics in the Nucleosome Revealed by Solid‐State NMR

Eukaryotic chromatin structure and dynamics play key roles in genomic regulation. In the current study, the secondary structure and intramolecular dynamics of human histone H4 (hH4) in the nucleosome core particle (NCP) and in a nucleosome array are determined by solid‐state NMR (SSNMR). Secondary structure elements are successfully localized in the hH4 in the NCP precipitated with Mg²⁺. In particular, dynamics on nanosecond to microsecond and microsecond to millisecond timescales are elucidated, revealing diverse internal motions in the hH4 protein. Relatively higher flexibility is observed for residues participating in the regulation of chromatin mobility and DNA accessibility. Furthermore, our study reveals that hH4 in the nucleosome array adopts the same structure and show similar internal dynamics as that in the NCP assembly while exhibiting relatively restricted motions in several regions consisting of residues in the N‐terminus, Loop 1, and the α3 helix region.     

Catalytic Asymmetric Oxidative γ‐Coupling of α,β‐Unsaturated Aldehydes with Air as the Terminal Oxidant

A novel concept for catalytic asymmetric coupling reactions is presented. Merging organocatalysis with single‐electron oxidation by using a catalytic amount of a copper(II) salt and air as the terminal oxidant, we have developed a highly stereoselective carbon–carbon oxidative coupling reaction of α,β‐unsaturated aldehydes. The concept relies on the generation of a dienamine intermediate, which is oxidized to an open‐shell activated species that undergoes highly selective γ‐homo‐ and γ‐heterocoupling reactions. In the majority of examples presented, only a single stereoisomer was formed.     

Preparative and 1H NMR Investigation on Regioselective Silylation of Starch Dissolved in Dimethyl Sulfoxide

Reaction of starch 1 dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with bulky thexyldimethylchlorosilane (TDSCl) in the presence of pyridine leads to regioselectively functionalized silyl ethers with a degree of substitution (DS) up to 1.8. The control of the DS_Si, of the regioselectivity, and of the reaction pathway is described in detail. The reaction proceeds homogeneously up to DS_Si of 0.6. With ongoing silylation the polymers form a separate phase incorporating the silylating agent to form TDS‐starches with DS_Si values higher than 1.0. After peracetylation of the silyl starches, the substitution pattern has been characterized not only in the anhydroglucose repeating units (AGU) but also in the non‐reducing terminal end groups (TEG) by means of two‐dimensional ¹H NMR techniques. Up to DS_Si 1.0, a very high regioselective functionalization of the primary 6‐OH groups in the AGU as well as in the TEG is detectable. With increasing silylation (DS_Si > 1.0), the subsequent silylation takes place at the 2‐OH groups of the AGU and at the 3‐OH groups of the TEG. These results are compared with our own investigations on the silylation of starch in the reaction system N‐methylpyrrolidone (NMP)/ammonia and on the silylation of cellulose in N,N‐dimethylacetamide (DMA)/LiCl/pyridine solution.     

Flow constant-current stripping analysis for antimony(III) and antimony(V) with gold fibre working electrodes : Application to Natural Waters

Antimony(III) is determined by means of electrolysis at ?0.40 V vs. Ag/AgCl on a gold-coated gold fibre electrode for 0.5–10 min in a redox buffer containing 0.01 M iron(II) in 0.10 M hydrochloric acid, and subsequent stripping with a constant current of 0.50μA either in 2 M hydrochloric acid or in 4 M hydrochloric acid/4 M calcium chloride. Antimony(V) is determined by the same procedure in 4 M hydrochloric acid medium. Bismuth(III) is masked by the addition of iodide to the sample prior to electrolysis. Antimony(III) and antimony(V) are determined by standard addition methods; the whole procedure including digital and graphical evaluation of the results is fully automated. The antimony(V) concentrations in the river water reference sample SLRS-1 and the seawater reference sample NASS-1 were found to be 0.63 and 0.31 μg l^?1 with standard deviations of 0.046 and 0.051 μg l^?1, respectively (n=15). The certified value for SLRS- 1 is 0.63±0.05 μg l^?1; no certified value is available for NASS-1.     

Carbon fibre electrodes in flow potentiometric stripping analysis

The construction of carbon fibre flow electrodes suitable for use in connection with potentiometric and constant-current stripping is described, and the fibre electrodes are compared with a glassy carbon disc thin layer cell. The signal-to-background ratio is approximately 1.6 times higher for an 8–10 μm carbon fibre compared to the glassy carbon disc electrode. If an Ag/AgCl tube is used as both counter and reference electrode, the signal-to-noise ratio of the fibre electrode is approximately five times better than for a glassy carbon disc electrode with a calomel reference; the latter electrode design, however, gives slightly better precision. The dead volume and internal potential drop of the fibre electrodes are more than one order of magnitude smaller than for the glassy carbon disc electrode. Because of the simplicity of the manufacturing process and low material cost, the fibre cells can be used as disposable electrodes and the polishing process necessary in connection with glassy carbon disc electrodes can be omitted.     

Copper and Silver Atoms in the β-Cage of a Zeolite: Model Calculations

The electronic structures of the 4-4 SBU, the β-cage, and the β-cage with two 4-4 SBU's attached to it have been studied by means of EH-MO calculations. No indication of the formation of a band structure has been found. The HOMO region consists of many closely spaced, localized states, 98.6% of them concentrated on the O-atoms. Reversible color changes of Cu⁺¹ and Ag⁺¹ zeolites observed upon hydration-dehydration experiments can be understood as charge-transfer transitions from the HOMO concentrated on the zeolite O-atoms to the metal cations. As soon as the Cu⁺¹ or Ag⁺¹ are partially hydrated, the ns* and np* states are shifted to higher energies. The luminescence observed with dehydrated Cu⁺¹-zeolites X is caused by a 4p*←HOMO absorption, followed by spontaneous 4s*←4p* emission. After a detailed study of a Cu⁺¹ in the 6-6 SBU, we discuss the electronic structure of a β-cage filled with 1,2,4,8, and 9 Cu⁺¹. In each case, the β-cage is found to be too small to allow the formation of a band structure. The levels caused by the added copper are distinctly quantized. Calculations on [Ag₃(H₂O)₃]³⁺ in a β-cage are reported. The direct interaction between the Ag-atoms is significant. As a consequence, the states formed by Ag 5s and 5p atomic orbitals are delocalized over the three Ag-centers. In both the Cu⁺¹ and the Ag⁺¹ zeolites, the ligand-field picture is found to be insufficient to explain the electronic structure, when the metal is coordinated to the zeolite oxygen framework.     

Deoxygenation of supporting electrolytes in stripping voltammetry by glocuse and co-immobilized glocuse oxidase and catalase in a flow system

Carrier solutions for stripping voltammetry in flow systems are deoxygenated by reaction with glucose added to the carrier. The reaction was catalyzed by glocuse oxidase and catalase co-immobilized in an enzyme reactor which was inserted before the injector. The oxygenated was removed at least as efficiently as with nitrogen purging and the voltametric behaviour of cadmium(II), lead(II) and zinc(II) was unaffected by the glucose/gluconic acid system. A particular advantage is the rapid start-up compared to the lengthy purging of carrier solution when nitrogen degassing is used. The enzyme reactor made from porous glass was effective for several months.     

Molecular structure of 2-methylamino-5-[(5-methyl-2-benzoxazolinone-3-yl)methyl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole dihydrophosphate: a combined X-ray crystallographic and ab initio study

Crystal structure of the compound entitled 2-methylamino-5-[(5-methyl-2-benzoxazolinone-3-yl)methyl]-1,3,4-thiadiazole dihydrophosphate is determined using X-ray analysis and compared with the structure obtained from semiempirical and RHF methods at various levels of theory. RHF/6-31G(d) calculations offer the best conformity with X-ray results for bond lengths and bond angles. Moreover, at the result of the comparison of various combinations of basis sets and methods, it appears that there is not much gain in accuracy by using sophisticated methods.     

1H and 13C hyperfine coupling constants of the tryptophanyl cation radical in aqueous solution from microsecond time-resolved CIDNP

Relative values of the 1H and 13C isotropic hyperfine couplings in the cationic oxidized tryptophan radical TrpH*+ in aqueous solution are determined. The data are obtained from the photo-CIDNP (chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) enhancements observed in the microsecond time-resolved NMR spectra of the diamagnetic products of photochemical reactions in which TrpH*+ is a transient intermediate. The method is validated using the tyrosyl neutral radical Tyr*, whose 1H and 13C hyperfine couplings have previously been determined by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Good agreement is found with hyperfine coupling constants for TrpH*+ calculated using density functional theory methods but only if water molecules are explicitly included in the calculation.