A new type of intermediate, C+(BCH3)11- <--> C(BCH3)11, in a Grob fragmentation coupled with intramolecular hydride transfer. A nonclassical carbocation ylide or a carbenoid?

In solvolysis of alkyl halides Hal-(CH(2))(n)-C(BCH(3))(11)(-) (n = 2, 5, 6, but not 3, 4, or 7) and protonation of alkenes CH(2)=CH-(CH(2))(n)(-)(2)-C(BCH(3))(11)(-) (n = 3, 6, 7, but not 4 or 5) carrying the icosahedral electrofuge -C(BCH(3))(11)(-) attached through its cage carbon atom, generation of incipient positive charge on C(alpha) (as shown in Scheme 1 in the article) leads to simultaneous cleavage of the C(beta)-C(BCH(3))(11)(-) bond. The products are a C(alpha)=C(beta) alkene and a postulated intermediate C(+)(BCH(3))(11)(-) <--> C(BCH(3))(11), trapped as the adduct Nu-C(BCH(3))(11)(-) by one of the nucleophiles (Nu(-)) present. The reaction kinetics is E1, first order in the haloalkylcarborane and zero order in [Nu(-)], and the elimination appears to be concerted, as in the usual E2 mechanism. The process is best viewed as a Grob fragmentation. The loss of the longer chains involves intrachain hydride transfer from the C(alpha)-H bond to an incipient carbocation on C(delta)(') or C(epsilon)(') via a five- or six-membered cyclic transition state, respectively. The electronic structure of the postulated intermediate is believed to lie between those of a nonclassical carbonium ylide C(+)(BCH(3))(11)(-) and a carbenoid C(BCH(3))(11) whose electronic ground state resembles the S(2) state of ordinary carbenes.     

Method development and validation for the analysis of didanosine using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A selective MEKC method was developed for the analysis of didanosine in bulk samples. Successful separation of didanosine from 13 of its potential impurities, derived from the various synthetic preparation procedures, was achieved. As CZE gave poor separation selectivity, MEKC was preferable. The use of EKC allowed achievement of the separation in a significantly shorter time than conventional HPLC. An anionic long-chain surfactant, lithium dodecyl sulfate (LiDS), was used as the pseudostationary phase and sodium tetraborate buffer as the aqueous phase. In order to obtain the optimal conditions and to test the method robustness, a central composite response surface modeling experiment was performed. The optimized electrophoretic conditions include the use of an uncoated fused-silica capillary with a total length of 40 cm and an ID of 50 microm, a BGE containing 40 mM sodium tetraborate and 110 mM LiDS at pH 8.0, an applied voltage of 18.0 kV, and the capillary temperature maintained at 15 degrees C. The method was found to be robust. The parameters for validation such as linearity, precision, and sensitivity are also reported. Three commercial bulk samples were analyzed with this system.     

Linking protein fractionation with multidimensional monolithic reversed-phase peptide chromatography/mass spectrometry enhances protein identification from complex mixtures even in the presence of abundant proteins

Recently, multidimensional shotgun proteomics has proven to be an alternative technology able to identify hundreds of proteins from single samples. Two major limitations of the technology are the presence of high abundance proteins (e.g. RUBISCO in plant leaf tissue) and the enormous number of co-eluting peptides that overstrain the loading and resolving capacity of conventional particle-packed columns as well as the capacity of electrospray ionisation due to ion suppression. Here, the coupling of fast performance liquid chromatography (FPLC) pre-fractionation of an Arabidopsis leaf protein extract and subsequent two-dimensional liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry with improved resolution using a monolithic silica C18 capillary column allowed the identification of 1032 unique proteins in a single 4 mg total protein plant leaf tissue sample. The reassignment of peptide IDs to distinct FPLC protein fractions enhances the identification procedure, especially in the case of present protein isoforms. The proposed strategy is useful to detect proteins otherwise not seen in conventional multidimensional chromatography/mass spectrometry approaches.     

Ortho‐Chalcogenotetrelate Anions as Chelating Ligands: Syntheses and Characterization of [K6(MeOH)9][Sn2Se6][Cr(en)2(SnSe4)]2, [Na(H2O)4][Cr(en)3]2[GeS3OH]2[Cr(en)2(GeS4)], and [Ba(H2O)10][{Cr(en)}2(GeSe4)2]

Reactions of K₄[SnSe₄], Na₄[GeS₄] or Ba₂[GeSe₄] with different 1,2‐diaminoethane (= en) coordinated complexes of CrCl₃ ([Cr(en)₂Cl₂]Cl or [Cr(en)₃]Cl₃) in MeOH or aqueous solution yielded three novel compounds that contain complexes of Cr³⁺ with ortho‐chalcogenotetrelate anions [E′E₄]^4? (E′ = Ge, Sn; E = S; Se): the crystal structures of [K₆(MeOH)₉][Sn₂Se₆][Cr(en)₂(SnSe₄)]₂ ( 1 ), [Na(H₂O)₄][Cr(en)₃]₂[GeS₃OH]₂[Cr(en)₂(GeS₄)] ( 2 ), and [Ba(H₂O)₁₀][{Cr(en)}₂(GeSe₄)₂] ( 4 ) have been determined by means of single crystal X‐ray diffraction ( 1 : triclinic space group ; lattice dimensions at 203 K: a = 1175.7(2), b = 1315.3(3), c = 1326.7(3) pm, α = 61.99(3)°, β = 64.05(3)°, γ = 83.57(3)°, V = 1617.4(6)·10⁶ pm³; R₁ [I > 2σ(I)] = 0.0788; wR₂ = 0.1306; 2 : monoclinic space group C2/c; lattice dimensions at 203 K: a = 2445.3(5), b = 1442.5(3), c = 1579.3(3) pm, β = 94.61(3)°, V = 5552.9(19)·10⁶ pm³; R₁ [I > 2σ(I)] = 0.0801; wR₂ = 0.2046; 4 : triclinic space group ; lattice dimension at 203 K: a = 1198.4(2), b = 1236.8(3), c = 1297.5(3) pm, α = 65.69(3)°, β = 63.35(3)°, γ = 81.21(3)°, V = 1565.2(5)·10⁶ pm³; R₁ [I > 2σ(I)] = 0.0732; wR₂ = 0.1855). 1 and 2 show the yet unprecedented complexation of transition metal ions by non‐bridging, single chalcogenotetrelate ligands to produce dinuclear, heterobimetallic complexes. Compound 2 contains the first structurally characterized complex with an ortho‐thiogermanate ligand. The formation of these compounds, and of a by‐product of 2 , [Cr(en)₃][GeS₃OH]·6H₂O ( 3 : monoclinic space group C2/c; lattice dimensions at 203 K: a = 2396.8(5), b = 1463.4(3), c = 1740.1(4) pm, β = 132.99(3)°, V = 4463.8(15)·10⁶ pm³; R₁ [I > 2σ(I)] = 0.0462; wR₂ = 0.1058), provides some insight in fundamental differences between the reaction behavior of [SnE₄]^4? anions one the one hand and [GeE₄]^4? anions on the other hand. The crucial role of the counterion charge becomes evident when comparing the structure motifs of the ternary anions in 1 and 2 with that observed in the Ba²⁺ compound 4 .     

Ring Opening Reactions of β-Propiolactam in Superacidic Media

The reaction of β-propiolactam in the superacidic systems HF/MF₅ (M=Sb, As) led to the formation of monoprotonated 3-aminopropanoyl fluoride in the form of [C(O)F(CH₂)₂NH₃][SbF₆] and [C(O)F(CH₂)₂NH₃][AsF₆]. In the presence of traces of water, the diprotonated species β-alanine [C(OH)₂(CH₂)₂NH₃][AsF₆]₂ was synthesized for the first time. All salts were characterized by low-temperature infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, single-crystal X-ray analyses were conducted in the case of [C(O)F(CH₂)₂NH₃][SbF₆] and [C(OH)₂(CH₂)₂NH₃][AsF₆]₂. By using SO₂ instead of HF as the solvent, the salt [C(OH)₂(CH₂)₂NHSO][SbF₆]₂ was obtained, and single-crystal X-ray analysis of this salt containing a thionylimide moiety was conducted. For the formation of these open-chain compounds, an acyl cationic species as intermediate is assumed, which is formed from N-protonated β-propiolactam. Quantum chemical calculations at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVTZ and MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ levels of theory were carried out to gain a better understanding of the formation and the structural properties of protonated β-propiolactam.     

Ligand-Induced Donor State Destabilisation – A New Route to Panchromatically Absorbing Cu(I) Complexes

The intense absorption of light to covering a large part of the visible spectrum is highly desirable for solar energy conversion schemes. To this end, we have developed novel anionic bis(4H-imidazolato)Cu(I) complexes (cuprates), which feature intense, panchromatic light absorption properties throughout the visible spectrum and into the NIR region with extinction coefficients up to 28,000 M⁻¹ cm⁻¹. Steady-state absorption, (spectro)electrochemical and theoretical investigations reveal low energy (Vis to NIR) metal-to-ligand charge-transfer absorption bands, which are a consequence of destabilized copper-based donor states. These high-lying copper-based states are induced by the σ-donation of the chelating anionic ligands, which also feature low energy acceptor states. The optical properties are reflected in very low, copper-based oxidation potentials and three ligand-based reduction events. These electronic features reveal a new route to panchromatically absorbing Cu(I) complexes.     

The generalized Randić index of trees

The generalized Randi?; index of a tree T is the sum over the edges of T of where is the degree of the vertex x in T. For all , we find the minimal constant such that for all trees on at least 3 vertices, , where is the number of vertices of T. For example, when . This bound is sharp up to the additive constant—for infinitely many n we give examples of trees T on n vertices with . More generally, fix and define , where is the number of leaves of T. We determine the best constant such that for all trees on at least 3 vertices, . Using these results one can determine (up to terms) the maximal Randi?; index of a tree with a specified number of vertices and leaves. Our methods also yield bounds when the maximum degree of the tree is restricted. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 56: 270–286, 2007     

Polyunsaturated fatty-acid-like trans-enoyl reductases utilized in polyketide biosynthesis

Polyketide biosynthesis is typically directed by cis-acting catalytic domains. In the case of the Bacillus subtilis secondary metabolite dihydrobacillaene, the cis-acting domains are not sufficient to generate the saturated C14'-C15' bond. In this communication, we identify PksE as a trans-acting enoyl reductase utilized in the biosynthesis of this portion of dihydrobacillaene. PksE is homologous to the enzymes predicted to serve as enoyl reductases in polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biosynthesis, and we confirmed this functional assignment in vitro. These results suggest a general enoyl reduction pathway in polyketide biosynthesis and a means by which PUFA-like biosynthetic machinery can modulate small-molecule function.     

Effect of lysozyme adsorption on the interfacial rheology of DPPC and cholesteryl myristate films

A model tear film lipid layer composed of a binary mixture of cholesteryl myristate (CM) and 1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) was characterized using surface tension measurements, Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and interfacial stress rheology (ISR). Isotherms showed that films containing >or=90 mol % CM have a 17-fold greater % area loss between the first and second compressions than the films with less CM. BAM images clearly showed that CM films did not expand after compression, and solid-like regions extending 1-2 mm were observed at low pressures (1 mN/m). Lipid films with or=50 mol % CM became elastic at higher surface pressures. Increasing CM content reduced the surface pressure at which the mixed film became elastic. Lysozyme adsorption into a CM film increased the compressibility and resulted in a more expanded film. Lysozyme increased the ductility of the CM/DPPC films with no film breakdown occurring up to the highest pressure measured (40 mN/m). In summary, CM increased the elasticity of the lipid films, but also caused them to become brittle and incapable of expansion following compression. Lysozyme adsorption increased the ductility and decreased the isotherm hysteresis for CM/DPPC films.     

Poly(ethylene imine)-controlled calcium phosphate mineralization

The current paper shows that poly(ethylene imine) (PEI) is an efficient template for the fabrication of spherical calcium phosphate (CaP)/polymer hybrid particles at pH values above 8. The polymer forms spherical entities, which contain one or a few CaP particles with diameters of ca. 6 nm. The samples contain up to 20 wt % polymer, which appears to be wrapped around the small CaP particles. The particles form via a mineralization-trapping pathway, where at the beginning of the precipitation small CaP particles form. Further particle growth is then prevented by precipitation of the PEI onto these particles at pH values of ca. 8. Stabilization of the particles is provided by the re-protonation of the PEI, which is adsorbed on the CaP particles, during the remainder of the mineralization process. At low pH, much larger particles form. They most likely grow via heterogeneous nucleation and growth on existing, polymer-modified CaP surfaces.