Tracking X‐ray‐derived redox changes in crystals of a methylamine dehydrogenase/amicyanin complex using single‐crystal UV/Vis microspectrophotometry

X‐ray exposure during crystallographic data collection can result in unintended redox changes in proteins containing functionally important redox centers. In order to directly monitor X‐ray‐derived redox changes in trapped oxidative half‐reaction intermediates of Paracoccus denitrificans methylamine dehydrogenase, a commercially available single‐crystal UV/Vis microspectrophotometer was installed on‐line at the BioCARS beamline 14‐BM‐C at the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne, USA. Monitoring the redox state of the intermediates during X‐ray exposure permitted the creation of a general multi‐crystal data collection strategy to generate true structures of each redox intermediate.     

Intramolecular azide-diene cycloadditions. An approach to fused bicyclic 3-pyrrolines based on a one-pot nitrene-diene cycloaddition equivalent.

Cyclization of heterosubstituted ω-azidodienes 11 provides fused bicyclic 3-pyrrolines 12 in one operation. These pyrrolines are potentially useful intermediates for natural products synthesis, as illustrated by further functionalization.     

Thermal degradation in a trimodal poly(dimethylsiloxane) network studied by (1)H multiple quantum NMR

Thermal degradation of a filled, cross-linked siloxane material synthesized from poly(dimethylsiloxane) chains of three different average molecular weights and with two different cross-linking species has been studied by (1)H multiple quantum (MQ) NMR methods. Multiple domains of polymer chains were detected by MQ NMR exhibiting residual dipolar coupling () values of 200 and 600 Hz, corresponding to chains with high average molecular weight between cross-links and chains with low average molecular weight between cross-links or near the multifunctional cross-linking sites. Characterization of the values and changes in distributions present in the material were studied as a function of time at 250 degrees C and indicate significant time-dependent degradation. For the domains with low , a broadening in the distribution was observed with aging time. For the domain with high , increases in both the mean and the width in were observed with increasing aging time. Isothermal thermal gravimetric analysis reveals a 3% decrease in weight over 20 h of aging at 250 degrees C. Degraded samples also were analyzed by traditional solid-state (1)H NMR techniques, and off-gassing products were identified by solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results, which will be discussed here, suggest that thermal degradation proceeds by complex competition between oxidative chain scissioning and postcuring cross-linking that both contribute to embrittlement.     

REMPI-TOF studies of the translational anisotropy and the polarization of the O ((1)D2) photofragment angular momentum following ozone photolysis at 298 nm

The translational anisotropy and the polarization of the electronic angular momentum of the O ((1)D2) fragment produced from the 298 nm photodissociation of ozone have been determined using resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) in conjunction with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS). The translational anisotropy parameter beta, which is necessarily averaged over the O2 co-fragment rotational distribution, is measured to be 1.08 +/- 0.04. This is consistent with that expected for the (1)B2 <-- (1)A1 transition within an impulsive model if the tangential velocity associated with the zero point motion of the bend is constricted to opening the bond angle. Molecular frame polarization parameters of rank up to k = 4 have been extracted for the O ((1)D2) fragment and the calculated m(J) populations show a strong preference for the absolute value(m(J)) = 1 states. A small coherence term is also observed, a manifestation of the nuclear geometry of the dissociating molecule and the existence of possible non-adiabatic processes in the exit channel. The orientation associated with the mapping of the photon helicity onto the O ((1)D2) electronic angular momentum distribution was observed to have been quenched. However, the parameter gamma1', which describes the contribution to the orientation from a coherent superposition of a parallel and perpendicular excitation where the photofragment angular momentum lies perpendicular to both the recoil velocity and to the transition dipole moment, was determined to be -0.06.     

The S-matrix for abstract scattering systems

Let S() be the S-matrix at energy for an abstract scattering system. We derive a bound, in terms of the interaction, on integrals of the form h () S()- _HS ² d, where denotes the Hilbert-Schmidt norm.Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

TRIUMF resonant ionization laser ion source

The range of isotopes available at the TRIUMF Isotope Separator Accelerator (ISAC) facility has been greatly enhanced by adding a Resonance Ionization Laser Ion Source (RILIS). A large wavelength range is accessible with the fundamental, second and third harmonic generation of titanium-sapphire laser light. In addition a dedicated laser is available for non-resonant laser ionization. The first on-line beam ⁶²Ga was delivered in Dec. 2004. In general RILIS improves the intensity, purity and emittance of ion beams. ⁶²Ga and ²⁶Al and Be beams have been delivered so far on-line. This work was financed by TRIUMF which is federally funded via a contribution agreement through the National Research Council of Canada.     

A practical synthesis of kifunensine analogues as inhibitors of endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase I

[reaction: see text] A practical synthesis of the potent class I alpha-mannosidase inhibitor kifunensine (1) beginning from the inexpensive and readily available starting material L-ascorbic acid (15) is described. The protected amino-alcohol ((2R,3R,4R,5R)-5-amino-2,3:4,6-diisopropylidenedioxyhexanol, 11) served as a key intermediate from which several N-1 substituted kifunensine analogues (including N-methyl, N-cyclohexyl, and N-bis(hydroxymethyl)methyl) and 2-desoxakifunensine analogues (including N-H and N-methyl) were prepared and screened for inhibition of human endoplasmic reticulum alpha-mannosidase I (ER Man I) and mouse Golgi alpha-mannosidase IA (Golgi Man IA). In addition, several pseudodisaccharide kifunensine analogues in which a mannose residue was tethered to N-1 of kifunensine via a two-, three-, or four-carbon linker and an affinity-bound kifunensine analogue were also prepared and evaluated for biological activity. While the synthesized N-1 kifunesine analogues were found to be less potent inhibitors of Class I alpha-mannosidases than kifuensine itself, the bis(hydroxymethyl)methylkifunensine analogue 6 was shown to selectively inhibit ER Man I over Golgi Man IA.     

Interpreting ultrafast molecular fragmentation dynamics with ab initio electronic structure calculations

High-level ab initio electronic structure calculations are used to interpret the fragmentation dynamics of CHBr(2)COCF(3), following excitation with an intense ultrafast laser pulse. The potential energy surfaces of the ground and excited cationic states along the dissociative C-CF(3) bond have been calculated using multireference second order perturbation theory methods. The calculations confirm the existence of a charge transfer resonance during the evolution of a dissociative wave packet on the ground state potential energy surface of the molecular cation and yield a detailed picture of the dissociation dynamics observed in earlier work. Comparisons of the ionic spectrum for two similar molecules support a general picture in which molecules are influenced by dynamic resonances in the cation during dissociation.