Quantitative detection of well-based DNA array using switchable lanthanide luminescence

In this report a novel wash-free method for multiplexed DNA detection is demonstrated employing target specific probe pairs and switchable lanthanide luminescence technology on a solid-phase array. Four oligonucleotide capture probes, conjugated at 3′ to non-luminescent lanthanide ion carrier chelate, were immobilized as a small array on the bottom of a microtiter plate well onto which a mix of corresponding detection probes, conjugated at 5′ to a light absorbing antenna ligand, were added. In the presence of complementary target nucleic acid both the spotted capture probe and the liquid-phase detection probe hybridize adjacently on the target. Consequently the two non-luminescent label molecules self-assemble and form a luminescent mixed lanthanide chelate complex. Lanthanide luminescence is thereafter measured without a wash step from the spots by scanning in time-resolved mode. The homogeneous solid-phase array-based method resulted in quantitative detection of synthetic target oligonucleotides with 0.32 nM and 0.60 nM detection limits in a single target and multiplexed assay, respectively, corresponding to 3× SD of the background. Also qualitative detection of PCR-amplified target from Escherichia coli is described.     

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as a catalyst for the formation of dansylhydrazone derivatives

Trifluoromethanesulfonic acid (TFMSA) is presented as a new, efficient catalyst in the pre-column fluorescent derivatization of the 3-ketosteroid budesonide with dansylhydrazine and compared to the commonly used catalyst trifluoroacetic acid. With TFMSA the derivatization reaction may be carried out at room temperature, with a considerably higher reaction rate compared to previously used acids. The chromatograms also show that TMFSA results in less formation of spurious peaks from the reagent. Derivatization of steroid solutions ranging from 0.5 to 64 μM could be performed using identical reaction conditions.     

Ion mobility spectrometers with doped gases

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is an instrumental technique used successfully for the detection of wide range of organic compounds in the gas phase. In this paper, advances in using special substances called dopants for gases flowing through IMS detectors are reviewed. These substances influence the ion-molecule chemistry in sample ionisation region as well as change conditions for the drift of ions. Improved selectivity and sensitivity of detection can be obtained by the use of dopants. In some cases, especially when measurements are conducted in the presence of different substances disturbing detection, the use of dopants is indispensable. The theory of the function of dopants is based on the knowledge of ion-molecule reactions. Fundamental information about these reactions is presented here. Mechanisms of changing the composition of ions produced in reactant section of IMS detector are explained on this basis. The most commonly used dopants are acetone and ammonia for positive mode and chloride for negative mode IMS. Other substances, such as higher ketones, organophosphorous compounds or methyl salicylate are used for special purposes and are selected for given analytical problem. Particular examples for the application of these substances are described.     

Synthesis, reactivity and complexation studies of N,S exo-heterodisubstituted o-carborane ligands. Carborane as a platform to produce the uncommon bidentate chelating (pyridine)N-C-C-C-s(H) motif

The synthesis of N,S-heterodisubstituted 1-(2'-pyridyl)-2-SR-1,2-closo-C2B10H10 compounds (R = Et, 2; R = (i)Pr, 3) has been accomplished starting from 1-(2'-pyridyl)-l,2-closo-C2B10H11 (1), and their partial deboronation reaction leading to the structurally chiral [7-(2'-pyridyl)-8-SR-7,8-nido-C2B9H10]-derivatives (R = Et, [4]-; R = (i)Pr, [5]-) has been studied. Capillary electrophoresis combined with the chiral selector alpha-cyclodextrin has permitted the separation of the electrophoretically pure racemic [7-(2'-pyridyl)-8-SR-7,8-nido-C2B9H11]- ions into two peaks each one corresponding to the interaction of one enantiomer with the alpha-cyclodextrin. The N,S-heterodisubstituted o-carborane containing a mercapto group, 1-(2'-pyridyl)-2-SH-1,2-closo-C2B10H10, 1, is one of the two examples of a rigid bidentate chelating (pyridine)N-C-C-C-S(H) motif having been structurally fully characterized. To study the potential of such a binding site, 1 has been tested as a ligand with metal ions requiring different coordination numbers, two (Au(+)) and four (Pd2+ and Rh+). The crystal structures of the Pd(II) and Au(I) complexes are reported. For the Pd(II) complex, 1 acts as a bidentate ligand whereas for Au(I), 1 acts as a monodentate ligand through the thiolate.     

Borane reaction chemistry. Alkyne insertion reactions into boron-containing clusters. Products from the thermolysis of [6,9-(2-HC[triple bond]C-C5H4N)2-arachno-B10H12

The stirring of [ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N] with [nido-B(10)H(14)] in benzene affords [6,9-{ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N}(2)-arachno-B(10)H(12)] 1 in 93% yield. In the solid state, 1 has an extended complex three-dimensional structure involving intramolecular dihydrogen bonding, which accounts for its low solubility. Thermolysis of 1 gives the known [1-(ortho-C(5)H(4)N)-1,2-closo-C(2)B(10)H(11)] 2 (13%), together with new [micro-5(N),6(C)-(NC(5)H(4)-ortho-CH(2))-nido-6-CB(9)H(10)] 3 (0.4%), [micro-7(C),8(N)-(NC(5)H(4)-ortho-CH(2))-nido-7-CB(10)H(11)] (0.4%) , 4 binuclear [endo-6'-(closo-1,2-C(2)B(10)H(10))-micro-(1(C),exo-6'(N))-(ortho-C(5)H(4)N)-micro-(exo-8'(C),exo-9'(N))-(ortho-(CH(2)CH(2))-C(5)H(4)N)-arachno-B(10)H(10)] (0.5%) 5, and [exo-6(C)-endo-6(N)-(ortho-(CH[double bond]CH)-C(5)H(4)N)-exo-9(N)-(ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N)-arachno-B(10)H(11)] 6. An improved solvent-free route to 2 is also presented. This set of compounds features an increasing cluster incorporation of the ethynyl moiety, initially by an effective internal hydroboration, affording an arachno to nido and then a nido to arachno:closo sequence of cluster geometry. An alternative low-temperature route to internal hydroboration is demonstrated in the room temperature reaction of [closo-B(11)H(11)][N(n)Bu(4)](2) with CF(3)COOH and [ortho-(HC[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N], which gives [micro-1(C),2(B)-[ortho-C(5)H(4)N-CH(2)]-closo-1-CB(11)H(10)] 7 (40%) in which one carbon atom is incorporated into the cluster; a similar reaction with [ortho-(N[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N] affords [N(n)Bu(4)][7-(ortho-N[triple bond]C-C(5)H(4)N)-nido-B(11)H(12)], 8 (68%) and stirring [ortho-(N[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N] with [nido-B(10)H(14)] quantitatively affords the cyano analogue of 1, [6,9-{ortho-(N[triple bond]C)-C(5)H(4)N}(2)-arachno-B(10)H(12)] 9. All compounds were characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and NMR spectroscopy.     

Secondary nucleation and accessible surface in insulin amyloid fibril formation

At low pH insulin is highly prone to self-assembly into amyloid fibrils. The process has been proposed to be affected by the existence of secondary nucleation pathways, in which already formed fibrils are able to catalyze the formation of new fibrils. In this work, we studied the fibrillation process of human insulin in a wide range of protein concentrations. Thioflavin T fluorescence was used for its ability to selectively detect amyloid fibrils, by mechanisms that involve the interaction between the dye and the accessible surface of the fibrils. Our results show that the rate of fibrillation and the Thioflavin T fluorescence intensity saturate at high protein concentration and that, surprisingly, the two parameters are proportional to each other. Because Thioflavin T fluorescence is likely to depend on the accessible surface of the fibrils, we suggest that the overall fibrillation kinetics is mainly governed by the accessible surface, through secondary nucleation mechanisms. Moreover, a statistical study of the fibrillation kinetics suggests that the early stages of the process are affected by stochastic nucleation events.     

Metallacarboranes as building blocks for polyanionic polyarmed aryl-ether materials

Polyanionic species have been obtained in high yield by a new route in the ring-opening reaction of cyclic oxonium [3,3'-Co(8-C4H8O2-1,2-C2B9H10)(1',2'-C2B9H11)] (2) by using carboxylic acids, Grignard reagents, and thiocarboranes as nucleophiles. The crystal structures of Na3(H2O)(C2H5OH)[1',3',5'-{3,3'-Co(8-O(CH2CH2O)2-1,2-C2B9H10)(1',2'-C2B9H11)}3-C6H3] and Na(H2O)[3,3'-Co(8-O(CH2CH2O)2C(O)CH3-1,2-C2B9H10)(1',2'-C2B9H11)] show that the chain contributes three or two oxygen atoms for coordination to Na(+), and interestingly, the [3,3'-Co(1,2-C2B9H11)2](-) moiety provides extra B-H coordination sites. These B-H...Na interactions in the solid state have also been confirmed by dynamic NMR studies in solution. These new polyanionic compounds that contain multiple carborane or metallacarborane clusters at their periphery may prove useful as new classes of boron neutron capture therapy compounds with enhanced water solubility and as a core to make a new class of dendrimers.     

Kindergartners’ Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity in Relation to Their Number-Related Utterances During Numerical Picture Book Reading

This study investigated the relationship between kindergartners’ Spontaneous Focusing on Numerosity (SFON) and their number-related utterances during numerical picture book reading. Forty-eight 4- to 5-year-olds were individually interviewed via a SFON Imitation Task and a numerical picture book reading activity. We expected differences in the frequency of number-related utterances during picture book reading between children with a higher SFON score, providing more number-related utterances, and children with a lower SFON score. Our results showed large inter-individual differences in both kindergartners’ SFON and the frequency of their number-related utterances during picture book reading, yet SFON was not related to the frequency of number-related utterances. This unexpected result is discussed in terms of its scientific, methodological, and educational implications.     

Coordination of pyridinethiols in gold(I) complexes

High-yield synthesis of gold(I) thionato complexes, bis(pyridine-2-thionato)gold(I) chloride (1) and bis(pyridine-4-thionato)gold(I) chloride (2), are described. According to their solid-state structures, a linear coordination of Au(I), equiplanar coordination of the ligands and two weak gamma-agostic interactions are found in both of these complexes despite of different relative positions of N and S atoms in the pyridinethionato ligands. Density functional theory calculations on 1 and 2 reproduce the observed X-ray structures. Even though the C-H...Au interactions of Au(I) and two pyridine moieties (2.83 and 2.88 A in 1 and 2.86 A in 2) are relatively weak, according to calculations they seem to provide further stabilization for the coordination and orientation of the ligands. In 1 the shortest Au...Au distances of 3.50 A indicate that aurophilic interactions, even though weak, are present in the solid state, whereas in 2 these interactions are absent.     

Heterogeneous multicomponent nucleation theorems for the analysis of nanoclusters

In this paper we present a new form of the nucleation theorems applicable to heterogeneous nucleation. These heterogeneous nucleation theorems allow, for the first time, direct determination of properties of nanoclusters formed on pre-existing particles from measured heterogeneous nucleation probabilities. The theorems can be used to analyze the size (first theorem) and the energetics (second theorem) of heterogeneous clusters independent of any specific nucleation model. We apply the first theorem to the study of small water and n-propanol clusters formed at the surface of 8 nm silver particles. According to the experiments the size of the two-component critical clusters is found to be below 90 molecules, and only less than 20 molecules for pure water, less than 300 molecules for pure n-propanol. These values are drastically smaller than the ones predicted by the classical nucleation theory, which clearly indicates that the nucleating clusters are too small to be quantitatively described using a macroscopic theory.