Discrete Hf18 Metal‐oxo Cluster as a Heterogeneous Nanozyme for Site‐Specific Proteolysis

The selective hydrolysis of proteins by non‐enzymatic catalysis is difficult to achieve, yet it is crucial for applications in biotechnology and proteomics. Herein, we report that discrete hafnium metal‐oxo cluster [Hf₁₈O₁₀(OH)₂₆(SO₄)₁₃?(H₂O)₃₃] ( Hf₁₈ ), which is centred by the same hexamer motif found in many MOFs, acts as a heterogeneous catalyst for the efficient hydrolysis of horse heart myoglobin (HHM) in low buffer concentrations. Among 154 amino acids present in the sequence of HHM, strictly selective cleavage at only 6 solvent accessible aspartate residues was observed. Mechanistic experiments suggest that the hydrolytic activity is likely derived from the actuation of Hf^IV Lewis acidic sites and the Brønsted acidic surface of Hf₁₈ . X‐ray scattering and ESI‐MS revealed that Hf₁₈ is completely insoluble in these conditions, confirming the HHM hydrolysis is caused by a heterogeneous reaction of the solid Hf₁₈ cluster, and not from smaller, soluble Hf species that could leach into solution.     

Accurate estimation of Brillouin frequency shift in Brillouin optical time domain analysis sensors using cross correlation

Current methods of estimating the Brillouin frequency shift in Brillouin optical time domain analysis sensors are based on curve-fitting techniques. These techniques apply the same weight to all portions of the curve and dutifully fit into the peak and noisy ends of the curve. This makes them very sensitive to noise, initialization of fitting parameters, symmetry, and start and stop frequencies. We introduce a method based on the cross-correlation technique to estimate the central frequency of noisy Lorentzian curves, which is more robust to noise and free from initial settings of fitting parameters.     

Time-evolution of electronic states in a Rashba anisotropic two-dimensional quantum dot

In this article we present the time evolution of the electronic spin and subbands states, of an electron in an anisotropic two dimensional Rashba quantum dot, to which a magnetic field of arbitrary strength is applied. We also explicitly include the confining (gate) effects as a two dimensional anisotropic harmonic oscillator. From the governing Hamiltonian we compute the time evolution of the initial state, leading to spin and subbands averages as functions of time. Our results indicate that the spin, on the average, precesses about the magnetic field, on an ellipse with intrinsic wobbling. The subbands populations, similar to the case of atom-photon interaction, follow the pattern of collapse–revivals.     

The combinatorial bandwidth packing problem

In managing a telecommunications network, decisions need to be made concerning the admission of requests submitted by customers to use the network bandwidth. The classical bandwidth packing problem requires that each request submitted by a customer use network resources to establish a one-to-one connection involving one single pair of nodes. We extend the problem to the more practical case where each request submitted by a customer to use the network resources includes a set or combination of calls. This extension suggests that each request requires one-to-many or many-to-many connections to be established between many communicating node pairs. The extension has applications in many important areas such video conferencing and collaborative computing. The combinatorial nature of the requests makes the admission decision more complex because of bandwidth capacity limitations and call routing difficulties. We develop an integer programming formulation of the problem and propose a procedure that can produce verifiably good feasible solutions to the problem. The results of extensive computational experiments over a wide range of problem structures indicate that the procedure provides verifiably good feasible solutions to the problem within reasonable computational times.     

Electrocatalytic determination of sumatriptan on the surface of carbon-paste electrode modified with a composite of cobalt/Schiff-base complex and carbon nanotube

The electrochemical oxidation of sumatriptan on the surface of carbon paste electrode modified with multi-walled carbon nanotube and cobalt methyl-salophen complex is studied by using cyclic voltammetry and polarization studies. The results indicate that the drug is irreversibly oxidized in a one electron oxidation mechanism. It was found that the peak potential shifted negatively with increasing pH, confirms that H(+) participate in the oxidation process. The electrode is shown to be very effective for the detection of sumatriptan in the presence of other biological reductant compounds. The prepared modified electrode exhibits a very good resolution between the voltammetric peaks of sumatriptan, ascorbic acid and uric acid, which makes it suitable for the simultaneous detection of sumatriptan in the presence of these compounds in clinical and pharmaceutical preparations. It can be concluded that multi-walled carbon nanotube and Shiff base complex have synergic effect on electroacatalytic oxidation of sumatriptan. A linear range of 1-1000μM and detection limit of 0.3μM was obtained for sumatriptan from DPV measurements using this electrode in 0.1M acetate buffered solution of pH 5.0. The electrode has been applied successfully for the determination of sumatriptan in synthetic serum and commercial tablets.     

One pot four-component reaction for the efficient synthesis of spiro[indoline-3,4′-pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole]-3′-carboxylate derivatives

A novel one pot protocol has been developed to synthesize various spiro[indoline-3,4′-pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole]-3′-carboxylate derivatives from the four-component reaction of isatin, malononitrile, hydrazine derivatives and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates. In this process two C–C bonds, two C–N bonds and one C–O bond have formed in one pot. The notable features of this protocol are simple and environmentally benign reaction condition, easy isolation of products, applicable to a wide range of readily available starting materials and good yields.     

Simple Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nickel Hydroxide Flower-Like Nanostructures

α-Ni(OH)₂ flower-like nanostructures were successfully synthesized through one-step hydrothermal method with nickel acetate tetrahydrate, ethylene-1,2-diamine (en), hexamethylenetetramine (HMT) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as morphology-directing agents. Optimum conditions to obtain high yield and pure phase α-Ni(OH)₂ were identified by varying experimental parameters such as: en, HMT and CTAB concentration and reaction temperature. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared and thermogravimetric analysis. These results indicated that the α-nickel hydroxide contains water molecules and anions. The hierarchical NiO nanostructures were obtained by the as-synthesized α-Ni(OH)₂ nanostructures annealed at 300 °C for 4 h.     

Organoselenium/Tellurium-Bearing Macroacyclic and Cyclic Ligand Systems and Their Complexation Reactions

Abstract

A series of phenol-substituted acyclic Schiff bases, 2,6-{RE(CH₂) _n N═C(CH₃)}₂-C₆H₂(4-CH₃)(OH), (E = Te: R = C₆H₅, n = 2(L _a), 3(L _b); R = C₆H₄-4-OCH₃, n = 2(L _c), 3(L _d); E = Se: R = C₆H₅, n = 2(L _e), 3(L _f)), of the type E₂N₂O have been synthesized by condensation of 2,6-diacetyl-4-methylphenol with arylchalcogenoalkylamines. This ligand framework is useful for designing molecular complexes with a variety of coordination modes depending upon the nature of the central metal atom. The reactivity of the tellurium-bearing macroacyclics ligands towards Zn(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II) has been examined. The ligands L _a?L _d with Zn(II) and Cd(II), and only L _a and L _b with Hg(II) form complexes of composition M₂X₄L, (X = Cl or Br), whereas L _c and L _d with Hg(II) give products of composition HgBr₂L. The modes of ligand interaction with Zn(II) and Cd(II) are different than that with Hg(II).

Following a multistep reaction involving abstraction of bridged Br atoms and subsequent addition of more ligand, the mercury complex, Hg₂Br₄L has been used for developing metallocyclic system of the type [Hg₂Br₂L₂]²⁺. The latter has been found to encapsulate Zn(II) and Cd(II) to give multimetallic systems.     

An Ab Initio Study of Conformational Energies in Dioxo-, Trioxo-, and Tetroxo-Dithianes

Ab initio Hartree–Fock calculations at the HF/6-31G* level of theory for geometry optimization and the MP2/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-311G(2df,p)//HF/6-31G* levels for a single point total energy calculation are reported for the important energy-minimum conformations of 1,1-dioxo-thiane (2), 1,1-dioxo-1,2-dithiane (3), 1,1-dioxo-1,3-dithiane (4), 1,1-dioxo-1,4-dithiane (5), 1,1,2-trioxo-1,2-dithiane (6), 1,1,3-trioxo-1,3-dithiane (7), 1,1,4-trioxo-1,4-dithiane (8), 1,1,2,2-tetroxo-1,2-dithiane (9), 1,1,3,3-tetroxo-1,3-dithiane (10), and 1,1,4,4-tetroxo-1,4-dithiane (11). According to the MP2/6-31G*//HF/6-31G* calculations, compound 5 is more stable than 3 and 4 by 7.8 and 8.9 kJ mol^?1, respectively. The axial geometries of 6 and 8 are more stable than the equatorial forms by 21.4 and 19.1 kJ mol^?1, respectively, but the equatorial form of 7 is 4.1 kJ mol^?1 more stable than the axial geometry. Compound 11 is more stable than 9 and 10 by 49.3 and 31.0 kJ mol^?1, respectively.     

An Experimental and Theoretical Study on Influence of H‐bonding on the Synthesized Azo Derivatives Structures

We have reported a simple and efficient reaction for the synthesis of some new functionalized azo structures which were prepared by electron deficient acetylenic compounds in the presence of triphenylphosphine. The characterization of the synthesized azo compounds has been determined by FTIR, UV‐Vis, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and Mass spectroscopic techniques. The influence of H‐bonding on the products has been shown by different experimental analysis. Also, the regioselectivity of the reaction, tautomerization equilibrium and the stability of products was investigated using DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6‐31G level of theory.