Homolysis of weak Ti-O bonds: experimental and theoretical studies of titanium oxygen bonds derived from stable nitroxyl radicals

Titanium-oxygen bonds derived from stable nitroxyl radicals are remarkably weak and can be homolyzed at 60 degrees C. The strength of these bonds depends sensitively on the ancillary ligation at titanium. Direct measurements of the rate of Ti-O bond homolysis in Ti-TEMPO complexes Cp2TiCl(TEMPO) (3) and Cp2TiCl(4-MeO-TEMPO) (4) (TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl, 4-MeO-TEMPO = 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-methoxypiperidine-N-oxyl) were conducted by nitroxyl radical exchange experiments. Eyring plots gave the activation parameters, deltaH++ = 27(+/- 1) kcal/mol, deltaS++ = 6.9(+/- 2.3) eu for 3 and deltaH++ = 28(+/- 1) kcal/mol, deltaS++ = 9.0(+/- 3.0) eu for 4, consistent with a process involving the homolysis of a weak Ti-O bond to generate the transient Cp2Ti(III)Cl and the nitroxyl radical. Thermolysis of the titanocene TEMPO complexes in the presence of epoxides leads to the Cp2Ti(III)Cl-mediated ring-opening of the epoxide followed by trapping by the nitroxyl radical. The X-ray crystal structure of the Ti-TEMPO derivative, Cp2TiCl(4-MeO-TEMPO) (4), is reported. DFT (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations and experimental studies reveal that the strength of the Ti-O bond decreases dramatically with the number of cyclopentadienyl groups on titanium. The calculated Ti-O bond strength of the monocyclopentadienyl complex 2 is 43 kcal/mol, whereas that of the biscyclopentadienyl complex 3 is 17 kcal/mol, a difference of 26 kcal/mol. These studies reveal that the strength of these Ti-O bonds can be tuned over an interesting and experimentally accessible temperature range by appropriate ligation on titanium.     

ASSESSMENT OF GENOTOXICITY AND MUTAGENICITY OF 1,2-DIOXETANES IN HUMAN CELLS USING A PLASMID SHUTTLE VECTOR

Abstract— 1,2-Dioxetanes are efficient sources of triplet excited carbonyl compounds on thermal decomposition. They cause photochemical and photobiological transformations in the dark. In order to study the genotoxicity and mutagenicity of 1,2-dioxetanes, the replicating shuttle vector pZ189 was damaged with 3,3,4-trimethyl-l,2-dioxetane(TrMD) or 3-hydroxymethyl-3,4,4-trimethyl-l,2-dioxetane (HTMD) in vitro and subsequently transfected into normal human lymphoblasts. We found a dose-dependent increase of genotoxicity (decrease of plasmid survival) and increase of mutation frequency with both dioxetanes. However, TrMD was less mutagenic than HTMD at similar genotoxicity. Sequence analysis of the supF gene revealed more point mutations than deletions. Single base substitutions occurred exclusively at G:C sites: 94.6% of point mutations with TrMD and 100% with HTMD were G:C to T:A and G:C to C:G transversions. These are the typical mutations following 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (8-oxo-G) formation, the main DNA lesion induced by TrMD and HTMD. Only with TrMD we found 5.4% G:C to A:T transitions, probably reflecting the more pronounced ability of TrMD to form some pyrimidine dimers. Our results indicate that 8-oxo-G is also the most relevant modification in in vivo mutagenesis.     

Development and validation of methods for the trace determination of phthalates in sludge and vegetables

A routine method which is simple, quick and precise has been set up and validated for phthalate analysis in environmental samples (tomato plants and sewage sludges). Six phthalates have been studied simultaneously: dimethylphthalate, diethylphthalate, di-n-butylphthalate, n-butylbenzylphthalate, di-2-ethyl-hexyl phthalate (DEHP) and di-n-octylphthalate. Optimization of sample, solvent extraction uses a Soxtec apparatus and extract purification with an a solid-phase extraction cartridge allows between 90 and 110% recovery of phthalates. Precise, sensitive and selective identification and quantifying of analytes is by GC-MS in the single ion monitoring mode. This protocol allows analytes with concentrations as low as 10 microg/kg dry matter (DM) to be determined from small (1-2 g DM) samples. This analytical method has been applied to the phthalate transfer study for agricultural recycling of sludges, where phthalate bioavailability has been studied in aquiculture using two types of experiments. Tomatoes have been grown in containers where the trace organics have been directly introduced as pure substances, and in a second experiment under the same growth conditions, sewage sludge has replaced the pure substances. Transfer of these trace organics has been followed into the various parts of the tomato plant and in general only the DEHP is worthy of note although its percentage transfer remains very low even in an experiment designed to maximize this.     

Electronic spectroscopy of small toluene clusters

Small clusters of toluene(n) (n = 1-8) were created in a supersonic expansion of toluene with argon as a carrier gas. Mass-selected resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization spectra of these clusters were recorded for each n. For the dimer, the appearance of the spectrum under warm and very cold conditions was studied. We discuss previous results in the light of the present spectra. For n>2, the spectra resemble very closely that of the dimer.     

Synthesis of some heterocyclic systems from nucleophilic substitution reactions with η6-o-dichlorobenzene-η5-cyclopentadienyliron hexafluorophosphate

A method for the synthesis of heterocylic systems related to 9,10-dihydroanthracene with two hetero-atoms at the 9,10-positions is described. It involves the nucleophilic substitution reaction of η⁶-o-dichlorobenzene-η⁵-cyclopentadienyliron hexafluorophosphate with two nucleophilic groups (OH, SH and/or NH₂) located in the 1,2-positions of a benzene ring to give a cyclopentadienyliron complexed heterocycle. Upon pyrolytic sublimation of the complex, the free heterocyclic compound is then obtained.     

Contributions to the basic problems of complexometry-XXVIII New method for successive determination of calcium and magnesium

A new method for successive determination of calcium and magnesium is proposed. It is based on the indirect determination of calcium in borax media by back-titration of excess of EGTA with lead nitrate. Magnesium is then determined in ammonia buffer with DCTA. For both titrations Thymolphthalexone is used as indicator. The exceptional role of DCTA in direct titration of magnesium is established experimentally and explained.     

Irreversible and Reversible Deactivation of Bilirubin Oxidase by Urate

Oxygen is electroreduced to water on a carbon cathode coated with wired bilirubin oxidase in a pH 7.4 0.15 M NaCl phosphate buffer solution at 37 °C at much lesser polarization than it is on a pure platinum cathode in 0.5 M H₂SO₄. While the wired bilirubin oxidase cathode operates for over a week in the aerated or oxygenated buffer solution, it is degraded rapidly when in serum. We reported earlier that in the presence of O₂ an intermediate product of the electrooxidation of urate, which is a normal serum component, irreversibly damages the wired bilirubin oxidase and also reported that the electrocatalyst is irreversibly damaged, in the absence of urate, when it is brought, by disconnecting the electrode, to the O₂/H₂O half cell potential at pH 7.4. Here we report that a) dissolved bilirubin oxidase is irreversibly and rapidly damaged by urate in the presence of O₂; and b) that the immobilized wired bilirubin oxidase electrocatalyst is not only irreversibly deactivated by urate in the presence of O₂ in a few hours, but is initially reversibly deactivated, in 1 min or less, by the urate in the presence of O₂.     

Palladium-catalyzed, stereoselective rearrangement of a tetracyclic allyl cyclopropane under arylation

The first example of a pi,sigma domino-Heck reaction under concomitant rearrangement of the tetracyclic allylcyclopropane endo,exo-bishomobarrelene (5) is reported; the stereoselective reaction proceeds via an intramolecular insertion of a primarily-formed carbopalladation intermediate into a strained cyclopropane C-C sigma-bond, giving 9.     

Effects of viscosity on droplet formation and mixing in microfluidic channels

This paper characterizes the conditions required to form nanoliter-sized droplets (plugs) of viscous aqueous reagents in flows of immiscible carrier fluid within microfluidic channels. For both non-viscous (viscosity of 2.0 mPa s) and viscous (viscosity of 18 mPa s) aqueous solutions, plugs formed reliably in a flow of water-immiscible carrier fluid for Capillary number less than 0.01, although plugs were able to form at higher Capillary numbers at lower ratios of the aqueous phase flow rate to the flow rate of the carrier fluid (in all the experiments performed, the Reynolds number was less than 1). The paper also shows that combining viscous and non-viscous reagents can enhance mixing in droplets moving through straight microchannels by providing a nearly ideal initial distribution of reagents within each droplet. The study should facilitate the use of this droplet-based microfluidic platform for investigation of protein crystallization, kinetics, and assays.     

Comparison of standard capillary and chip separations of sodium dodecylsulfate-protein complexes

Conditions for converting a set of five standard proteins to electrochemically active sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) complexes were worked out with the aim of using such complexes for conductivity detection with a a chip electrophoresis system. The results obtained were compared with standard capillary electrophoresis (37 cm (effective length 30 cm)×75 μm I.D. capillary, 10 kV, negative polarity at the inlet). The chip separations were run at 500 V per chip (100 V/cm) as compared to the standard capillary arrangement, which was run at 266.6 V/cm. For the capillary set-up the protein complexes were prepared in aqueous solution (Milli-Q water) made 10 mM with respect to SDS. If the SDS concentration was increased to 50 mM, the separation in the capillary was incomplete. On the other hand with the chip system both approaches yielded acceptable results. The chip separations were slightly (but not distinctly) shorter and offered better separations than the standard set-up. The concentration of the surfactant used for the preparation the complexes results in alternations of the elution sequence, which is preserved if the chip separation is used instead of the capillary set-up. Apparently the full capacity of protein–SDS binding is not exploited for the preparation of the adducts.