Self-Assembling of cytosine nucleoside into triply-bound dimers in acid Media. A comprehensive evaluation of proton-bound pyrimidine nucleosides by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry,X-rays diffractometry,and theoretical calculations

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) is used to evaluate the assembling of cytosine and thymine nucleosides in the gas phase, through the formation of hydrogen bonded supermolecules. Mixtures of cytidine analogues and homologues deliver in the gas phase proton-bound heterodimers stabilized by multiple interactions, as proven by the kinetics of their dissociation into the corresponding protonated monomers. Theoretical calculations, performed on initial structures of methylcytosine homodimers available in the literature, converged to a minimized structure whereby the two pyrimidine rings interact through the formation of three hydrogen bonds of similar energy. The crystallographic data here reported show the equivalency of the two interacting pyrimidines which is attributable to the presence of an inversion center. Thymine and uracil pyrimidyl nucleosides form, by ESI, gaseous proton-bound dimers. The kinetic of their dissociation into the related protonated monomers shows that the nucleobases are weekly interacting through a single hydrogen bond. The minimized structure of the protonated heterodimer formed by thymine and N-1-methylthymine confirmed the existence of mainly one hydrogen bond which links the two nucleobases through the O4 oxygens. No crystallographic data exists on thymine proton-bound species, nor have we been able to obtain these aggregates in the solid phase. The gaseous phase, under high vacuum conditions, seems therefore a suitable environment where vanishing structures produced by ESI can be studied with a good degree of approximation.     

Transformations of diphenylphosphinothioic acid tertiary amides mediated by directed ortho metallation

ortho-Lithiation of N,N-diisopropyl-P,P-diphenylphosphinothioic amide using n-BuLi in the presence of TMEDA in diethyl ether followed by electrophilic trapping is described as an efficient method for the synthesis of ortho-functionalised derivatives in high yields. The structural modification of the phosphinothioic amide includes C-X (X = P, S, Si, Sn, I) and C-C bond forming reactions with a large variety of electrophiles. Additional applications based on functional group transformations are also reported. They include imine formation, desulfurization and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions on selected compounds.     

Air‐Stable {(C5H5)Co} Catalysts for [2+2+2] Cycloadditions

Cobalt cyclopentadienyl complexes incorporating a fumarate and a CO ligand (see picture) efficiently catalyze inter‐ and intramolecular [2+2+2] cycloadditions of alkynes, nitriles, and/or alkenes to give benzenes, pyridines, or 1,3‐cyclohexadienes. Unlike catalysts such as [CpCo(CO)₂] or [CpCo(C₂H₄)₂] (Cp=C₅H₅), they are air‐stable, easy to handle, compatible with microwave conditions, and do not necessarily require irradiation to be active.

     

Adsorption of arsenic (V) from a water solution onto a surfactant-modified zeolite

In this study a surfactant-modified zeolite (SMZ) was prepared by adsorbing the cationic surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA) bromide on a clinoptilolite. The adsorption of the surfactant modified the surface properties of the clinoptilolite and enhanced the anionic capacity of the SMZ. The adsorption equilibrium data of As(V) from the water solution on the SMZ were obtained in a batch adsorber, and the Langmuir isotherm matched the data reasonably well. The As(V) adsorption capacity of the SMZ was 12.5 times greater than that of the clinoptilolite. The adsorption of As(V) on SMZ was mainly due to the interactions between the anionic sites of the SMZ and the As(V) anions in water solution. The adsorption capacity of the SMZ was dependent on the solution pH. The adsorption capacity was increased and decreased by augmenting the pH from 5 to 7 and from 7 to 12, respectively. This unusual behavior was due to the fact that the affinity of the As(V) for the SMZ was dependent on the As(V) species that were present in solution. The adsorption capacity of the SMZ was slightly favored by decreasing the temperature from 25 to 15 °C. The heat of adsorption was estimated to be ΔH _ads=−46.82 KJ/mol, indicating that the adsorption was exothermic and the As(V) was chemisorbed on the SMZ.     

Hydroboration of an alkene by amine-boranes catalysed by a [Rh(PR3)2]+ fragment. Mechanistic insight and tandem hydroboration/dehydrogenation

The catalytic hydroboration of tert-butylethene using H(3)B·NMe(3) gives RH(2)B·NMe(3). With H(3)B·NMe(2)H tandem hydroboration under mild conditions/dehydrocoupling occurs that produces R(2)B=NMe(2) (R = H, CH(2)CH(2)(t)Bu).     

Llama-derived single-domain antibodies for the detection of botulinum A neurotoxin

Single-domain antibodies (sdAb) specific for botulinum neurotoxin serotype A (BoNT A) were selected from an immune llama phage display library derived from a llama that was immunized with BoNT A toxoid. The constructed phage library was panned using two methods: panning on plates coated with BoNT A toxoid (BoNT A Td) and BoNT A complex toxoid (BoNT Ac Td) and panning on microspheres coupled to BoNT A Td and BoNT A toxin (BoNT A Tx). Both panning methods selected for binders that had identical sequences, suggesting that panning on toxoided material may be as effective as panning on bead-immobilized toxin for isolating specific binders. All of the isolated binders tested were observed to recognize bead-immobilized BoNT A Tx in direct binding assays, and showed very little cross-reactivity towards other BoNT serotypes and unrelated protein. Sandwich assays that incorporated selected sdAb as capture and tracer elements demonstrated that all of the sdAb were able to recognize soluble (“live”) BoNT A Tx and BoNT Ac Tx with virtually no cross-reactivity with other BoNT serotypes. The isolated sdAb did not exhibit the high degree of thermal stability often associated with these reagents; after the first heating cycle most of the binding activity was lost, but the portion of the protein that did refold and recover antigen-binding activity showed only minimal loss on subsequent heating and cooling cycles. The binding kinetics of selected binders, assessed by both an equilibrium fluid array assay as well as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) using toxoided material, gave dissociation constants (K _D ) in the range 2.2 × 10⁻¹¹ to 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁰ M. These high-affinity binders may prove beneficial to the development of recombinant reagents for the rapid detection of BoNT A, particularly in field screening and monitoring applications.