Reduced protein adsorption by osmolytes

Osmolytes are substances that affect osmosis and are used by cells to adapt to environmental stress. Here, we report a neutron reflectivity study on the influence of some osmolytes on protein adsorption at solid-liquid interfaces. Bovine ribonuclease A (RNase) and bovine insulin were used as model proteins adsorbing at a hydrophilic silica and at a hydrophobic polystyrene surface. From the neutron reflectivity data, the adsorbed protein layers were characterized in terms of layer thickness, protein packing density, and adsorbed protein mass in the absence and presence of urea, trehalose, sucrose, and glycerol. All data point to the clear effect of these nonionic cosolvents on the degree of protein adsorption. For example, 1 M sucrose leads to a reduction of the adsorbed amount of RNase by 39% on a silica surface and by 71% on a polystyrene surface. Trehalose was found to exhibit activity similar to that of sucrose. The changes in adsorbed protein mass can be attributed to a decreased packing density of the proteins in the adsorbed layers. Moreover, we investigated insulin adsorption at a hydrophobic surface in the absence and presence of glycerol. The degree of insulin adsorption is decreased by even 80% in the presence of 4 M of glycerol. The results of this study demonstrate that nonionic cosolvents can be used to tune and control nonspecific protein adsorption at aqueous-solid interfaces, which might be relevant for biomedical applications.     

Synthesis of pyrazoles via electrophilic cyclization

Electrophilic cyclizations of α,β-alkynic hydrazones by molecular iodine were investigated for the synthesis of 4-iodopyrazoles. α,β-Alkynic hydrazones were readily prepared by the reactions of hydrazines with propargyl aldehydes and ketones. When treated with molecular iodine in the presence of sodium bicarbonate, α,β-alkynic hydrazones underwent electrophilic cyclization to afford 4-iodopyrazoles in good to high yields. Iodocyclization was general for a wide range of α,β-alkynic hydrazones and tolerated the presence of aliphatic, aromatic, heteroaromatic, and ferrocenyl moieties with electron-withdrawing and electron-donating substituents.     

Unitary quantum groups,quantum projective spaces andq-oscillators

We discuss the parametrization of quantum groups in terms of independent operators. We find that this consideration leads to the parametrization ofSU _q(2) in terms of aq-oscillator plus a commuting phase. The commuting phase is naturally identified with the subgroupU(1) and the remaining cosetSU _q(2)/U(1)=CP _q(1) consists of aq-oscillator. For unitary quantum groupsSU _q (n), the analogous construction results in the quantum projective spaceSU _q(n+1)/U _q (n)=CP _q (n) being identified with then-dimensionalq-oscillator. This yields a nonlinear action of the quantum groupSU _q(n+1) on then-dimensionalq-oscillator.     

Quantum group invariant fermionic gases: GLp,q(2) and SUp/q(2) invariances

We first investigate the high-temperature behavior of a two-parameter deformed quantum group fermionic gas with GL_p,q(2) symmetry, where (p,q)C×C. We then discuss both the structural and thermodynamical differences between GL_p,q(2)- and SU_r(2)-fermions with r=p/q where (p,q)R×R.     

High temperature bromination. Part 22: Bromination of 1a,2,7,7a-tetrahydro-1H-cyclopropa[b]naphthalene

The high-temperature bromination of 1a,2,7,7a-tetrahydro-1H-cyclopropa[b]naphthalene and its carboethoxy derivative was studied. Reaction of the title compound with 1 mol of bromine in refluxing carbon tetrachloride resulted in the formation of ring-opening products. In the case of the carboethoxy derivative, bromination took place both regio- and stereospecifically at the benzylic positions, the cyclopropane ring did not undergo bond cleavage. A mechanism for the formation of the products and their dehydrobromination reactions is discussed.     

Exponential factor optimization in characteristic function method for electrically charged particles

In this work, the simplest basis function on hyperspherical coordinates with an optimization parameter is used to construct the characteristic function for a system of electrically charged particles. The first three coefficients of the serial expansion of the characteristic function in powers of eigenvalue parameter are evaluated in terms of well-known functions. The construction of a Padé table for this expansion with the aid of these coefficients, a theoretical discussion, the optimization of the exponential parameter, evaluation of ground state energies for certain systems, and finally comparison of accuracy increments due to optimization for several systems complete the work.     

Cycloheptatriene-norcaradiene-equilibrium cycloaddition reactions of the 1.2-benzocycloheptatriene with singlet oxygen and 4-phenyl-1.2.4-triazolin-3.5-dione

Cycloaddition reactions of the 1.2-benzocycloheptatriene with singlet oxygen and 4-phenyl-1.2.4-triazolin-3.5-dione (PTAD) have been studied. For the first time, addition of the PTAD to a cycloheptatriene derivative has been observed.     

A new and convenient synthesis of substituted benzobarrelenes

Bromination of 3-bromo-6,7-benzobicyclo [3.2.1] octa-2,6-diene at ?50°C gave anti-tribromo adduct (5) in essentially quantitative yield. The double dehydrobromination of (5) was achieved using potassium tert.- butoxide to give 2-bromo-benzobarrelene (7). Reaction of (7) with n-BuLi and subsequent quenching with CH₃I, CO₂, and dimethylformamide afforded the corresponding substituted benzobarrelenes in high yield.     

A super AKNS scheme

A super extension of the AKNS scheme is presented by proposing a super sl(2, R) valued connection. A class of super integrable equations, containing the super extension of the Lax hierarchy, is found.