On the trimerization of cyanoacetylene: mechanism of formation of tricyanobenzene isomers and laboratory detection of their radio spectra

In support of a deeper understanding of the chemistry of cyanoacetylene--a known constituent of planetary atmospheres and interstellar space--theoretical and experimental studies address the chemical mechanism of dimerization and trimerization, and provide high-resolution rotational spectra of two of the trimeric products, 1,2,3- and 1,2,4-tricyanobenzene. Analysis of the rotational spectra is particularly challenging because of quadrupolar coupling from three (14)N nuclei. The laboratory rotational spectra provide the basis for future searches for these polar aromatic compounds in interstellar space by radio astronomy.     

Ground-state structures of atomic metallic hydrogen

Ab initio random structure searching using density functional theory is used to determine the ground-state structures of atomic metallic hydrogen from 500 GPa to 5 TPa. Including proton zero-point motion within the harmonic approximation, we estimate that molecular hydrogen dissociates into a monatomic body-centered tetragonal structure near 500 GPa (r(s)=1.23) that remains stable to 1 TPa (r(s)=1.11). At higher pressures, hydrogen stabilizes in an …ABCABC… planar structure that is similar to the ground state of lithium, but with a different stacking sequence. With increasing pressure, this structure compresses to the face-centered cubic lattice near 3.5 TPa (r(s)=0.92).     

Monitoring enzyme activity using a diamagnetic chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a new approach for generating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast that allows monitoring of protein properties in vivo. In this method, a radiofrequency pulse is used to saturate the magnetization of specific protons on a target molecule, which is then transferred to water protons via chemical exchange and detected using MRI. One advantage of CEST imaging is that the magnetizations of different protons can be specifically saturated at different resonance frequencies. This enables the detection of multiple targets simultaneously in living tissue. We present here a CEST MRI approach for detecting the activity of cytosine deaminase (CDase), an enzyme that catalyzes the deamination of cytosine to uracil. Our findings suggest that metabolism of two substrates of the enzyme, cytosine and 5-fluorocytosine (5FC), can be detected using saturation pulses targeted specifically to protons at +2 ppm and +2.4 ppm (with respect to water), respectively. Indeed, after deamination by recombinant CDase, the CEST contrast disappears. In addition, expression of the enzyme in three different cell lines exhibiting different expression levels of CDase shows good agreement with the CDase activity measured with CEST MRI. Consequently, CDase activity was imaged with high-resolution CEST MRI. These data demonstrate the ability to detect enzyme activity based on proton exchange. Consequently, CEST MRI has the potential to follow the kinetics of multiple enzymes in real time in living tissue.     

Mesoporous silica-coated hollow manganese oxide nanoparticles as positive T1 contrast agents for labeling and MRI tracking of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells

Mesoporous silica-coated hollow manganese oxide (HMnO@mSiO(2)) nanoparticles were developed as a novel T(1) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent. We hypothesized that the mesoporous structure of the nanoparticle shell enables optimal access of water molecules to the magnetic core, and consequently, an effective longitudinal (R(1)) relaxation enhancement of water protons, which value was measured to be 0.99 (mM(-1)s(-1)) at 11.7 T. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were efficiently labeled using electroporation, with much shorter T(1) values as compared to direct incubation without electroporation, which was also evidenced by signal enhancement on T(1)-weighted MR images in vitro. Intracranial grafting of HMnO@mSiO(2)-labeled MSCs enabled serial MR monitoring of cell transplants over 14 days. These novel nanoparticles may extend the arsenal of currently available nanoparticle MR contrast agents by providing positive contrast on T(1)-weighted images at high magnetic field strengths.     

Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Proton-Bound Dimer of Lysine

The structure of the proton-bound lysine dimer has been investigated by infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations. The structures of different possible isomers of the proton-bound lysine dimer have been optimized at the B3LYP/6-31 + G(d) level of theory and IR spectra calculated using the same computational method. Based on relative Gibbs free energies (298 K) calculated at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-31 + G(d) level of theory, LL-CS01, and followed closely (1.1 kJ mol^–1) by LL-CS02 are the most stable non-zwitterionic isomers. At the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//6-31 + G(d) and MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//6-31 + (d,p) levels of theory, isomer LL-CS02 is favored by 3.0 and 2.3 kJ mol^–1, respectively. The relative Gibbs free energies calculated by the aforementioned levels of theory for LL-CS01 and LL-CS02 are very close and strongly suggest that diagnostic vibrational signatures found in the IRMPD spectrum of the proton-bound dimer of lysine can be attributed to the existence of both isomers. LL-ZW01 is the most stable zwitterionic isomer, in which the zwitterionic structure of the neutral lysine is well stabilized by the protonated lysine moiety via a very strong intermolecular hydrogen bond. At the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-31 + G(d), MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//6-31 + G(d) and MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//6-31 + G(d,p) levels of theory, the most stable zwitterionic isomer (LL-ZW01) is less favored than LL-CS01 by 7.3, 4.1 and 2.3 kJ mol^–1, respectively. The experimental IRMPD spectrum also confirms that the proton-bound dimer of lysine largely exists as charge-solvated isomers. Investigation of zwitterionic and charge-solvated species of amino acids in the gas phase will aid in a further understanding of structure, property, and function of biological molecules.     

New candidaspongiolides, tedanolide analogues that selectively inhibit melanoma cell growth

Extracts of the sponge genus Candidaspongia showed selective cytotoxicity toward melanoma cells in the NCI 60-cell-line screen. Continued investigation of the Candidaspongia sp. extracts led to the isolation of three new tedanolide analogues, precandidaspongiolides A (1) and B (2) and candidaspongiolide B (4), as well as candidaspongiolide A (3) and tedanolide (5). Semisynthetic derivatives were also generated to develop SAR. Candidaspongiolides A/B were the most potent and showed low nanomolar activity against several melanoma cell lines.     

Pulsed jet discharge matrix isolation and computational study of bromine atom complexes: Br···BrXCH(2) (X = H, Cl, Br)

Halogen atoms are important reactive radicals in the atmosphere. In this work, pulsed jet discharge matrix isolation spectroscopy and computational methods were used to characterize prereactive complexes of halogen atoms with simple halons. Our experiments combined matrix isolation techniques with a pulsed DC discharge nozzle, where a dilute CH(2)XBr (X = H, Cl, Br)/rare gas sample was gently discharged and the products were deposited onto a cold KBr window. The Br···BrCH(2)X (X = H, Cl, Br) complexes were characterized by infrared and electronic spectroscopy, supported by ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which shed light on the structure of, bonding in, and binding energy of the complexes. The correlation of charge-transfer energy with donor ionization potential (Mulliken correlation) was examined, and the charge-transfer photochemistry of the complexes was explored.     

Tridentate ionic hydrogen-bonding interactions of the 5-fluorocytosine cationic dimer and other 5-fluorocytosine analogues characterized by IRMPD spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations

Ionic hydrogen-bonding interactions have been found in several clusters formed by 5-fluorocytosine (5-FC). The chloride and trimethylammonium cluster ions, along with the cationic (proton-bound) dimer have been characterized by infrared multiple-photon dissociation (IRMPD) spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations performed at the B2PLYP/aug-cc-pVTZ//B3LYP/6-311+G(d,p) level of theory. IRMPD action spectra, in combination with calculated spectra and relative energetics, indicate that it is most probable that predominantly a single isomer exists in each experiment. For the 5-FC-trimethylammonium cluster specifically, the calculated spectrum of the lowest-energy isomer convincingly matches the experimental spectrum. Interestingly, the cationic dimer of 5-FC was found to have a single energetically relevant isomer (Cationic-IV) involving a tridentate ionic hydrogen-bonding interaction. The three sites of intermolecular ionic hydrogen bonds in this isomer interact very efficiently, leading to a significant calculated binding energy of 180 kJ/mol. The magnitude of the calculated binding energy for this species, in combination with the strong correlation between the simulated and IRMPD spectra, suggests that a tridentate-proton-bound dimer was observed predominantly in the experiments. Comparison of the calculated relative Gibbs free energies (298 K) for this species and several of the other isomers considered also supports the likelihood of the dominant protonated dimer existing as Cationic-IV.     

Experimental comparison of Jψ production by π±, K±, p and p̄ beams at 39.5 GeV/c

Measurements have been made of relative production cross sections of the $\text{J}\text{ψ}$ by π^±, K^±, p and p? at 39.5 GeV/c incident on copper. $\text{J}\text{ψ}$ production rates from π^?, K^? and p? are similar. The $\text{J}\text{ψ}$ relative particle/anti-particle production cross sections for x>0 are $\text{σ(π}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}\text{σ(π}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)=(0.87±0.14)}$, σ(K⁺)/σ(K^?)=(0.85±0.5) and $\text{σ(}\text{p}\text{)}\text{σ(}\text{p}\text{?}\text{)=(0.15 ±0.08)}$. The small p/p? cross section ratio disagrees with models of J/ψ production by gluon amalgamation.