The Chemical Basis of Fungal Bioluminescence

Many species of fungi naturally produce light, a phenomenon known as bioluminescence, however, the fungal substrates used in the chemical reactions that produce light have not been reported. We identified the fungal compound luciferin 3‐hydroxyhispidin, which is biosynthesized by oxidation of the precursor hispidin, a known fungal and plant secondary metabolite. The fungal luciferin does not share structural similarity with the other eight known luciferins. Furthermore, it was shown that 3‐hydroxyhispidin leads to bioluminescence in extracts from four diverse genera of luminous fungi, thus suggesting a common biochemical mechanism for fungal bioluminescence.     

Composition of fullerene-containing styrene-diallyl isophthalate copolymers

The effect of fullerene C₆₀ on the composition of macromolecules in the free-radical copolymerization of styrene with diallyl isophthalate is estimated. It is shown that the maximum amount of C₆₀ is contained in the high-molecular-mass fraction of the products. Constants in the Kuhn-Mark-Houwink equation are determined for the fullerene-containing copolymer synthesized from an equimolar mixture of monomers.     

The band structures of superconducting MgB2 and the isostructural compounds CaGa2, AgB2, AuB2, ZrBe2, and HfBe2

This paper reports on a self-consistent, full-potential LMTO calculation of the band structure of the medium-T _c superconductor MgB₂ and of the isostructural hexagonal phases of CaGa₂, ZrBe₂, HfBe₂, AgB₂, and AuB₂. The factors responsible for the superconducting properties of magnesium diboride are considered. The results obtained are compared with previous calculations and available experimental data.     

Functional derivatives of thiophene

Acyl derivatives of substituted β-thienylhydrazines were obtained by reaction of 2-methyl-3-carbethoxy-4-hydroxythiophene with acyl hydrazines. Hydrolysis of the products gave a thienylhydrazine derivative and its hydrochloride.     

Hydration of secondary-tertiary δ-glycols of the acetylene series

Conclusions The hydration of five secondary-tertiary-glycols of acyclic, alicyclic and aliphatic-aromatic structure has been studied. The corresponding-ketoglycol is formed from the main course of the reaction. In the case of 1-(1-hydroxy-cyclopentyl)pent-1-yn-4-o1, the ultimate product of hydration is the corresponding tricyclic dioxane.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 1413–1415, June, 1968.