Kinetic studies on the formation of N-nitroso compounds

Acetic acid/acetate ion buffer acts catalytically upon the nitrosation of amines under conditions in which the only nitrosating agents are N₂O₃ and NOBr, but inhibits nitrosation by H₂NO ₂ ⁺ . The kinetic characteristics of these phenomena have been analysed quantitatively and compared with similar effects caused by the solventsTHF, DMSO and dioxane. The experimental results show that this behaviour is an effect of the medium.

---

Kinetische Untersuchungen zur Bildung von N-Nitroso-Verbindungen, 8. Mitt.: Nachweis eines Medium-Effekts von Essigsäure/Acetat-Puffer auf die Geschwindigkeitskonstante der Nitrosierung

Zusammenfassung Essigsäure/Acetat-Puffer wirkt bei der Nitrosierung von Aminen katalytisch, unter Bedingungen, wo die alleinigen nitrosierenden Agentien N₂O₃ und NOBr sind; andererseits wird die Nitrosierung durch H₂NO ₂ ⁺ unterbunden. Die kinetischen Charakteristika dieses Phänomens wurden quantitativ analysiert und mit ähnlichen Effekten der LösungsmittelTHF, DMSO und Dioxan verglichen. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse zeigen, daß dieses Verhalten auf einen Mediumeffekt zurückzuführen ist.

     

Quantum theory of atoms in molecules analysis on the conformational preferences of vinyl alcohol and related ethers

Vinyl alcohol, methyl vinyl ether, and tert-butyl vinyl ether were studied within the framework of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules at the B3LYP/6-311++G(2d,2p) level. Local and integrated properties of the charge density indicate that the anti conformational preference of the tert-butyl derivative is not due to a differing resonance contribution with regard to the less bulky vinyl ethers but to steric effects. There is a small delocalization of charge density, either total or pi, between oxygen and the terminal vinyl carbon, which does not support the resonance picture of vinyl compounds.     

On the applicability of resonance forms in pyrimidinic bases. II. QTAIM interpretation of the sequence of protonation affinities

The atomic properties of neutral and protonated forms of uracil and some model compounds, computed from B3LYP/6-31++G//B3LYP/6-31G charge densities with the QTAIM theory, indicate that sigma electron reorganization plays a significant role in the protonation processes. This reorganization is substantially different for O=C-C=C and O=C-C-X (X = N, O) units, involving transfers of electron population between all atoms in the first case but not across the C-X bond in the second unit. O-Protonation is basically favored over the N-protonation because of the lower electron population transferred to the proton. The stability sequence of N-protonated forms can be rationalized in terms of the closer position of the proton, when attached to N3, to regions of larger electron population (carbonyl groups).     

ALS-associated mutant SOD1<Superscript>G93A</Superscript> causes mitochondrial vacuolation by expansion of the intermembrane space and by involvement of SOD1 aggregation and peroxisomes

Background  

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an age-dependent neurodegenerative disease that causes motor neuron degeneration, paralysis and death. Mutations in Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) are one cause for the familial form of this disease. Transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1 develop age-dependent motor neuron degeneration, skeletal muscle weakness, paralysis and death similar to humans. The mechanism whereby mutant SOD1 induces motor neuron degeneration is not understood but widespread mitochondrial vacuolation has been observed during early phases of motor neuron degeneration. How this vacuolation develops is not clear, but could involve autophagic vacuolation, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) or uncharacterized mechanisms. To determine which of these possibilities are true, we examined the vacuolar patterns in detail in transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1^G93A.     

Dichlorocarbene Addition to

In contrast to the terminal phosphinidene complex PhPW(CO)(5) (2), which adds to [5]metacyclophane (1) in a 1,4-fashion, dichlorocarbene preferentially adds in a 1,2-fashion to the formal "anti-Bredt" type double bond of the aromatic ring of 1 to afford the norcaradiene 11b, which immediately rearranges to the bridged cycloheptatriene 12b and further by a [1,5] sigmatropic chlorine migration to the isomeric 13b as the first observable product. More slowly, the latter isomerizes via a dissociative mechanism to give 15b. A computational study supports the notion that the [1,5] chlorine migration in the rearrangement 12b --> 13b, for which an activation barrier of 70.2 kJ mol(-)(1) was calculated, is essentially concerted with minor charge separation. In contrast, the analogous [1,5] chlorine migration in the flat model compound 7,7-dichlorocycloheptatriene (12a) displays features of a dissociative pathway.     

Kinetic studies on the formation of N-nitroso compounds X. The nitrosation ofN-methylacetamide and its differences with respect to the nitrosation of amines

The kinetics of the nitrosation ofN-methylacetamide have been studied using spectrophotometry. Significant differences with respect to the mechanism of nitrosation of amines were observed: the absence of catalysis by halides, the existence of general basic catalysis by acetate and its chlorated derivatives obeyingBrønsted's law (with =0.49), and the primary isotopic effect (with a ratio of 7.9 between the rate constants for the elementary process in H₂O and D₂O). All this indicates that the slow step of the mechanism must be the transfer of a proton from the protonated nitrosamide to the reaction medium.

---

Kinetische Untersuchungen zur Bildung von N-Nitroso-Verbindungen, 10. Mitt.: Die Nitrosierung vonN-Methylacetamid und die Unterschiede in bezug auf die Nitrosierung von Aminen

Zusammenfassung Die Kinetik der Nitrosierung vonN-Methylacetamid wurde mittels Spektrophotometrie untersucht. Es wurden signifikante Unterschiede zum Mechanismus der Nitrosierung von Aminen beobachtet: die Abwesenheit einer Katalyse durch Halogenide, die Existenz einer generellen basischen Katalyse durch Acetat und dessen chlorierten Derivaten unter Übereinstimmung mit demBrønstedschen Gesetz (mit =0,49) und einem beobachtbaren Isotopeneffekt (mit einem Verhältnis von 7,9 zwischen den Geschwindigkeitskonstanten in H₂O und D₂O). All das zeigt an, daß der geschwindigkeitsbestimmende Schritt im Mechanismus der Transfer eines Protons vom protonierten Nitrosamid zum Reaktionsmedium sein muß.

     

Structure of hybrid colloid-polymer xerogels

Crack-free monolithic gels were prepared from different mixtures of colloidal silica with a sol solution containing tetraethoxysilane, under powerful ultrasonic agitation (sonosol). Recently, information on the structure of these gels, inferred from N2 adsorption and mercury intrusion porosimetry, was presented. In the present paper, these data were used to construct structural models of the gels using Monte Carlo calculations on the basis of random close packing (RPC) premises. In addition, the structure of gels under study was investigated by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The material can be described as a composite in which the sonogel is the matrix and the colloid particles the reinforcing phase. For low colloid content, the colloid forms discrete clusters, and the main structural characteristic of sonogels, i.e., a network of uniformly sized particles of approximately 3-4-nm radius, remains unmodified. However, for high colloid silica content, a multimode distribution appears, the structure is discontinuous, and only colloid aggregates larger than 100 nm are observed. For medium colloid content, aggregates of approximately 50-100 nm can be seen, but the sonogel structure extends throughout the whole material. By the processing method and election of a suitable precursor concentration, it is possible to design the composite for specific purposes.     

Effect of molecular structure on the hydration of structurally related antidepressant drugs

Apparent molal volumes and adiabatic compressibilities of aqueous solutions of the amphiphilic cationic antidepressant drugs butriptyline and doxepin hydrochlorides have been determined from density and ultrasound velocity measurements in the temperature range 20–50°C. Critical concentrations for aggregation of these drugs were obtained from ultrasound velocity measurements. Negative deviations from the Debye–Hückel limiting law of the apparent molal volume were obtained from both drugs in all temperature ranges, except for doxepin at 50°C, which provides evidence of no pre-association at concentrations below the critical concentration. Apparent molal adiabatic compressibilities of the aggregates formed by these drugs were typical of those corresponding for an aggregate formed by a stacking process.     

Estimates for nonlinear harmonic measures on trees

In this paper we give some estimates for nonlinear harmonic measures on trees. In particular, we estimate in terms of the size of a set D the value at the origin of the solution to u(x) = F((x, 0),...,(x,m ? 1)) for every x ∈ \(\mathbb{T}_m \) , a directed tree with m branches with initial datum f + χD. Here F is an averaging operator on ? ^m , x is a vertex of a directed tree \(\mathbb{T}_m \) with regular m-branching and (x, i) denotes a successor of that vertex for 0 ≤ i ≤ m ? 1.