Substituted diazatetracyclo[4.4.0.1(3,10).1(5,8)]dodecanes as stable caged proton sponges

Herein, we report a molecular framework design differing significantly from the traditional topology of proton sponges. We developed a synthetic approach to the preparation of caged secondary amines by acid-catalyzed rearrangement of fused tetracyclic heterocycles synthesized by intramolecular criss-cross cycloaddition. Alkylation of amines led to air nonsensitive diazatetracyclo[4.4.0.1(3,10).1(5,8)]dodecanes (DTDs) with rare alicyclic scaffolding in high overall yields. Their pK(BH)+ values were determined by transprotonation experiments as well as their sensitivity toward nucleophiles, acids and bases. Crystal structures of free base and monoprotonated form are discussed.     

Synthesis of novel thienonorbornylpurine derivatives

The synthesis and antiviral evaluation of 6-amino- and 6-chloro-9-(exo-bicyclo[2.2.1]hept-2yl)-9H-purine derivatives with thiophene and tetrahydrothiophenes annelated to a norbornane moiety are described. The key step in the synthesis of derivatives with the symmetrically annelated thiophene was the Mitsunobu reaction of endo-4-thiatricyclo[5.2.1.0^2,6]deca-2,5-dien-8-ol with 6-chloropurine. The key alcohol was obtained by DDQ mediated aromatization of the corresponding tetrahydro derivatives, which were used for the preparation of the target tetrahydrothieno analogs. The key intermediate for the synthesis of derivatives with the asymmetrically annelated thiophene was 8-exo-azido-3-thiatricyclo[5.2.1.0^2,6]deca-2(6),4-diene, which was prepared from 5-exo-azido[2.2.1]heptan-2-one by aldol condensation with O-ethyl S-(2-oxoethyl) carbonodithioate, deprotection and cyclization. The target compounds were obtained by the construction of the purine base on an amine, which was obtained by LAH reduction of the key azide. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for antiviral and cytostatic activity.     

Dissociation Enthalpies and Thermodynamic Constants of Sildenafil Citrate by the Regression of Multiwavelength pH-spectrophotometric Titration Data

pH-spectrophotometric titration data were used to determine the mixed dissociation constants of sildenafil citrate at different ionic strengths I at temperatures of 288.15, 298.15 and 310.15?K, with the use of two different multiwavelength and multivariate treatments of spectral data, SPECFIT32 and SQUAD(84) nonlinear regression analyses, and INDICES factor analysis. The reliability of the dissociation constants of this drug was proven with goodness-of-fit tests of the pH-spectra. The thermodynamic dissociation constants $ {\text{p}}K_{{{\text{a}},i}}^{\text{T}} $ were estimated by a nonlinear regression of (pK _a , I) data using the Debye-Hückel equation: $ {\text{p}}K_{{{\text{a}}, 1}}^{\text{T}} $ ?=?2.79 (1), 3.03 (3) and 3.53 (1); $ {\text{p}}K_{{{\text{a}}, 2}}^{\text{T}} $ ?=?4.97 (2), 5.23 (2) and 5.34 (1); $ {\text{p}}K_{{{\text{a}}, 3}}^{\text{T}} $ ?=?8.14 (2), 7.93 (1) and 7.47 (1); $ {\text{p}}K_{{{\text{a}}, 4}}^{\text{T}} $ ?=?9.47 (2), 9.30 (1) and 9.13 (4); and $ {\text{p}}K_{{{\text{a}}, 5}}^{\text{T}} $ ?=?10.73 (5), 10.75 (3) and 10.79 (5) at T?=?288.15, 298.15 and 310.15?K, respectively, where the numbers in parentheses are the standard deviations in the last significant digits. Concurrently, the experimentally determined five thermodynamic dissociation constants are in a good agreement with their computational prediction of the SPARC program based on knowledge of the chemical structures. The factor analysis of spectra in the INDICES program predicts the correct number of light-absorbing components when the instrumental error is known and when the signal-to-error ratio SER is higher than 10. A rough estimation of the dissociation enthalpies ??H ⁰ (kJ·mol^?1) and entropies ??S ⁰ (J·K^?1·mol^?1) has been obtained from the temperature variation of the thermodynamic dissociation constants by means of the van??t Hoff equation.     

On characterizing proteomics maps by using weighted Voronoi maps

In contrast to the standard construction of Voronoi regions, in which the boundaries between different regions are at equal distance from the given points, we consider the construction of modified Voronoi regions obtained by giving greater weights to spots reported to have higher abundance. Specifically we are interested in applying this approach to 2-D proteomics maps and their numerical characterization. As will be seen, the boundaries of the weighted Voronoi regions are sensitive to the relative abundances of the protein spots and thus the abundances of protein spots, the z component of the (x, y, z) triplet, are automatically incorporated in the numerical analysis of the adjacency matrix, rather than used to augment the adjacency matrix as non-zero diagonal matrix elements. The outlined approach is general and it may be of interest for numerical analyses of other maps that are defined by triplets (x, y, z) as input information.     

3D Slicer as an image computing platform for the Quantitative Imaging Network

Quantitative analysis has tremendous but mostly unrealized potential in healthcare to support objective and accurate interpretation of the clinical imaging. In 2008, the National Cancer Institute began building the Quantitative Imaging Network (QIN) initiative with the goal of advancing quantitative imaging in the context of personalized therapy and evaluation of treatment response. Computerized analysis is an important component contributing to reproducibility and efficiency of the quantitative imaging techniques. The success of quantitative imaging is contingent on robust analysis methods and software tools to bring these methods from bench to bedside.     

Toward single-molecule detection with sensors based on propagating surface plasmons

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors are known to be able to detect very low surface concentrations of (bio)molecules on macroscopic areas. To explore the potential of SPR biosensors to achieve single-molecule detection, we have minimized the read-out area (to ～64 μm²) by employing a sensor system based on spectroscopy of surface plasmons generated on a diffractive structure via a microscope objective and light collection through a small aperture. This approach allows for decreasing the number of detected molecules by 3 orders of magnitude compared to state-of-the-art SPR sensors. A protein monolayer has been shown to produce a response of 5000 times the baseline noise, suggesting that as few as ～500 proteins could be detected by the sensor.     

Removal of lead from aqueous solutions by using the natural and Fe(III)-modified zeolite

In the present study, the sorption of lead by the natural and Fe(III)-modified zeolite (clinoptilolite) is described. The characterization of the natural zeolite-rich rock and the Fe(III)-modified form was performed by chemical analysis, point of the zero charge (pH_pzc), X-ray powder diffraction, applying the Rietveld/RIR method for the quantitative phase analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The effects of sorbents dose and the initial lead concentrations on its sorption by two sorbents were investigated. For both sorbents, it was determined that at lower initial concentrations of lead, ion exchange of inorganic cations in zeolites with lead, together with uptake of hydrogen dominated, while at higher initial lead concentrations beside these processes, chemisorption of lead occurred. Significantly higher sorption of lead was achieved with Fe(III)-modified zeolite. From sorption isotherms, maximum sorbed amounts of lead, under the applied experimental conditions, were 66 mg/g for the natural and 133 mg/g for Fe(III)-modified zeolite. The best fit of experimental data was achieved with the Freundlich model (R² ≥ 0.94).     

On bounds for the mode and median of the generalized hyperbolic and related distributions

Except for certain parameter values, a closed form formula for the mode of the generalized hyperbolic (GH) distribution is not available. In this paper, we exploit results from the literature on modified Bessel functions and their ratios to obtain simple but tight two-sided inequalities for the mode of the GH distribution for general parameter values. As a special case, we deduce tight two-sided inequalities for the mode of the variance-gamma (VG) distribution, and through a similar approach we also obtain tight two-sided inequalities for the mode of the McKay Type I distribution. The analogous problem for the median is more challenging, but we conjecture some monotonicity results for the median of the VG and McKay Type I distributions, from we which we conjecture some tight two-sided inequalities for their medians. Numerical experiments support these conjectures and also lead us to a conjectured tight lower bound for the median of the GH distribution.     

Z‐DNA Recognition in B‐Z‐B Sequences by a Cationic Zinc Porphyrin

For the first time it has been shown by spectroscopic studies such as circular dichroism and UV/Vis that cationic zinc porphyrin serves as a selective spectroscopic sensor that is able to recognize short left‐handed Z‐DNA tracts embedded in the B‐Z‐B sequences.     

Non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of some aventurine decorative glaze

Thermal and structural properties of three clays (sepiolite and two kaolinites) from Turkey were studied by thermal analysis (TG–DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and surface area measurement techniques The adsorption of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) gas by these clays was also investigated. SO₂ adsorption values of K1, K2, and S clay samples were measured at 20 °C and pressures up to 106 kPa. Sepiolite sample (S) primarily consists of pure sepiolite, only dolomite present as accompanying mineral. Both kaolinite samples, K1 and K2, mainly contain kaolinite as the major clay mineral and quartz as impurity. In K2 sample, muscovite phase is also present. Simultaneous TG–DTA curves of all clay samples were obtained at three different heating rates 10, 15, and 20 °C min⁻¹ over the temperature range 30–1200 °C. It was found that the retention value of SO₂ by S clay (2.744 mmol/g) was higher than those of K1 (0.144 mmol/g) and K2 (0.164 mmol/g) samples.