OXYGEN-DEPENDENT PHOTOSENSITIVITY and MITOTIC RECOMBINATION IN THE SMUT FUNGUS Ustilago violacea

Abstract— The effect of high intensity incandescent radiation on survival and mitotic recombination in the phlph + diploid strain of Ustilago violacea was studied with and without atmospheric O₂. In the presence of atmospheric O₂, strain phlph+ was characterized by photokilling to approximately 50% survival, and induction of mitotic recombination to about 60% by 90 min of light exposure. No photokilling and little induction of mitotic recombination were observed when light exposure was carried out in an 0₂ depleted environment. Photokilling and photo-induced mitotic recombination in U. violacea may be due to DNA damage or repair in response to a photosensitized reaction, involving an endogeneous photosensitizer.     

Reaction of monocyclic ferrocenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazoles with β-dicarbonyl compounds

Monocyclic 3- and 5-ferrocenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazoles with a free NH group in the molecule react with acetylacetone to form the corresponding enaminocarbonyl compounds. The latter were isolated as a single isomer, presumably E. 3-Ferrocenyldihydropyrazoles and 5-ferrocenyl-3-(p-methoxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydropyrazole analogously react with acetoacetic ester. 5-Ferrocenyl-3-phenyl-, 3-(p-bromophenyl)-5-ferrocenyl, and 3,5-diferrocenyl-4,5-dihydropyrazoles react with acetoacetic ester to form acetoacetylpyrazolides.Translated from Zhurnal Obshchei Khimii, Vol. 74, No. 12, 2004, pp. 1942–1947.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by E. Klimova, Vazquez Lopez, T. Klimova, Martinez Garcia, Meleshonkova, Ruiz Ramirez.This revised version was published online in April 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Crystal structures and voltammetric behavior of three copper(II) complexes derived from bulky Schiff bases

Three Schiff base copper(II) complexes have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, mass spectra, i.r., electronic spectra, _eff and X-ray crystal structures. Cyclic voltammetry studies on the complexes indicate a dependence of the cathodic potentials upon electronic effects, but independence on the solid state structure.     

Non-Born-Oppenheimer treatment of the H2 Hookean molecule

We show that the exact non-Born-Oppenheimer Schrodinger equation for the Hookean diatomic molecule H2 (a two-proton, two-electron system where the electron-proton interaction is harmonic while the proton-proton and electron-electron interactions are Coulombic) can be decoupled into equations describing the relative motion of the electrons, the relative motion of nuclei, the motion of a collective mode representing a three-dimensional harmonic oscillator, and the motion of a free particle expressed as a linear combination of the individual center-of-mass coordinates of the nuclei and electrons. Analytic solutions to the relative motion of electrons can be readily obtained for the given values of the harmonic coupling constant. However, exact analytic solutions to the equation for the relative motion of the nuclei cannot be obtained simultaneously due to the fact that the harmonic constants in these two equations are coupled. For this reason, we present for the relative nuclear motion approximate analytic wave functions, one of them obtained variationally and the other by a series solution where the coefficients are determined recursively. We also explore a variational solution to the Taylor-series expansion of the nuclear interaction potential. Properties of the electronic and nuclear intracule densities are examined at different values of the coupling constant. An interesting result of the present non-Born-Oppenheimer treatment of this harmonic model is the fact that the relative nuclear motion occurs in a highly correlated regime. This leads in a natural way to a spatial localization of the nuclei akin to Wigner electronic crystallization.     

Thermal and FTIR spectroscopic analysis of the interactions of aniline adsorbed on to MCM-41 mesoporous material

The adsorption of aniline on Na-AlMCM-41 synthesized by us has been characterized by infrared spectroscopy, temperature programmed desorption (TPD), and differential thermal analysis methods. Aniline would be mostly bound to the mesostructure through weak pi interactions. On the mesostructure containing adsorbed water, the co-adsorption of aniline could occur by weak hydrogen bonding through surface water molecules. For water, two possible modes of adsorption have been identified. Different associations between aniline and hydrated and nonhydrated mesostructures have been evaluated in order to favor the posterior in situ polymerization of adsorbed aniline.     

Monitoring of the metal displacement from the recombinant mouse liver metallothionein Zn(7)-complex by capillary zone electrophoresis with electrospray MS detection

A solution of a Zn-complex of recombinant mouse MT-1 isoform (Zn(7)-MT-1) was prepared and titrated with Cd(2+) ions. A method based on the coupling of capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with electrospray MS detection was developed for the analysis of the stoichiometry of the species formed during the titration. The method offered the possibility of the on-line removal of up to 100 mM Tris or phosphate buffer solutions that would otherwise suppress the electrospray signal. By allowing the determination of the metal stoichiometry of the complex species present in solution the method was shown to be complementary to circular dichroism and UV-VIS spectrophotometry conventionally used for similar studies. The titration of the Zn(7)-MT complex with Cd(II) showed the sequential displacement of the Zn by Cd. The unusually high stability of the Cd(6)Zn(1)-MT species was observed which suggests a structural role of the remaining Zn(II) ion.     

The Radical Cations of 4,5,7,13,15,16-Hexamethyl- and 4,5,7,8,12,13,15,16-Octamethyl [2.2]paracyclophane

4,5,7,13,15,16-Hexamethyl- (3) and 4,5,7,8,12,13,15,16-octamethyl[2.2]paracyclophane (4) have been oxidized to their radical cations in solution under relatively mild conditions. Substantial hyperfine splittings in the ESR. spectra of 3⊕. and 4⊕. arise from the methyl protons, whereas those from methylene protons are very small. This result indicates that the ethano bridges, unlike the methyl substituents, are rather ineffective in delocalizing the positive charge in 3⊕. and 4⊕. It is in line with the interpretation proposed previously to rationalize the gas-phase ionization potentials of multiply bridged [2_N]cyclophanes and methyl derivatives of [2.2]paracyclophane. The π-spin distributions in 3⊕. and 4⊕. are discussed in terms of a simple model in which the singly occupied orbitals are represented as the antibonding combinations of two benzene HOMO's.     

Why copper is intrinsically more selective than silver in alkene epoxidation: ethylene oxidation on Cu(111) versus Ag(111)

The heterogeneously catalyzed epoxidation of alkenes is experimentally challenging, theoretically interesting, and technologically important. Although large-scale ethylene epoxidation is universally carried out with Ag catalysts, recent laboratory studies on single crystal surfaces show that Cu is intrinsically much more selective than Ag in the epoxidation of a variety of terminal alkenes. The reasons for this striking difference between Ag and Cu have been investigated by means of density functional theory. It is found that the fundamental cause is the inversion in the ordering of activation barriers for the competing pathways to epoxide formation versus acetaldehyde formation (the latter being the first step on the route to combustion). On Cu, epoxide formation is less activated than aldehyde formation; the opposite is true on Ag. This behavior is associated with a late transition state to epoxidation on Cu (i.e., product-like) compared to an early (reactant-like) transition state to epoxidation on Ag.     

New phosphite-oxazoline ligands for efficient Pd-catalyzed substitution reactions

We have designed and synthesized a new family of readily available highly modular phosphite-oxazoline ligands for the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic substitution reactions. The introduction of a pi-acceptor flexible bulky biphenyl phosphite moiety in the ligand design is highly adventitious in the product outcome. Thus, this ligand series affords excellent reaction rates (TOF's up to >2400 mol.(mol.h)-1) and enantioselectivities (ee's up to >99%) and, at the same time, shows a broad scope for different substrate types.     

Synthesis of novel C-2 substituted pyrimidine nucleoside analogs

A series of 2-(2-oxoalkylidene)-4(1H)-pyrimidinone nucleoside analogs were synthesized by the addition of the lithium enolates of methylketones to 2,5′- and 2,2′-anhydrouridines and to 2,5′-anhydrothymidines. Alternatively, 2-thiouridine was alkylated with bromomethyl ketones to yield 2-(2-oxoalkyl)thio-4(1H)-pyrimidinone ribofuranosides in good yields. These intermediates were subsequently transformed into the title compounds via an Eschenmoser sulfur extrusion reaction. The 2-(2-oxoalkylidene)-4-(1H)-pyrimidinone nucleoside analogs exhibit enol proton signals in their ¹H nmr spectra indicative of hydrogen bonding between N-3 and keto oxygen. These structures offer functional groups with potential for Watson-Crick hydrogen bonding.