A DFT study of the structures of pyruvic acid isomers and their decarboxylation

Pyruvic acid and its isomers, including the enol tautomers and enantiomeric lactone structures, have been investigated at the B3LYP/6-311 + + G(3df,3pd) level, and it is found that a keto form with trans C(methyl)C(keto)C(acid)O(hydroxyl) and cis C(keto)C(acid)OH, and with one methyl hydrogen in a synperiplanar position with respect to the keto oxygen, is the most stable. This agrees with previous theoretical and experimental determinations. However, no minimum corresponding to protonated pyruvate could be located, although previous semiempirical calculations had found such structures. Decarboxylation by different possible routes was then studied. It was found that the direct formation of acetaldehyde, the most stable of the resulting C2H4O isomers, via a four-center-like transition state is the most feasible, although there is a high activation barrier of 70 kcal mol(-1). In contrast to semiempirical calculations, it is found that no hydroxyethylidene-carbon dioxide complex exists as a product, and no transition state leading to the dissociation to hydroxethylidene could be located.     

Multifractal fluctuations in joint angles during infant spontaneous kicking reveal multiplicativity-driven coordination

Previous research has considered infant spontaneous kicking as a form of exploration. According to this view, spontaneous kicking provides information about motor degrees of freedom and may shape multijoint coordinations for more complex movement patterns such as gait. Recent work has demonstrated that multifractal, multiplicative fluctuations in exploratory movements index energy flows underlying perceptual-motor information. If infant spontaneous kicking is exploratory and occasions an upstream flow of information from the motor periphery, we expected not only that multiplicativity of fluctuations at the hip should promote multiplicativity of fluctuations at more distal joints (i.e., reflecting downstream effects of neural control) but also that multiplicativity at more distal joints should promote multiplicativity at the hip. Multifractal analysis demonstrated that infant spontaneous kicking in four typically developing infants for evidence of multiplicative fluctuations in multiple joint angles along the leg (i.e., hip, knee, and ankle) exhibited multiplicativity. Vector autoregressive modeling demonstrated that only one leg exhibited downstream effects but that both legs exhibited upstream effects. These results confirm the exploratory aspect of infant spontaneous kicking and suggest chaotic dynamics in motor coordination. They also resonate with existing models of chaos-controlled robotics and noise-based interventions for rehabilitating motor coordination in atypically developing patients.     

A rapid method toward the synthesis of new substituted tetrahydro α-carbolines and α-carbolines

A rapid and efficient method for stereoselective synthesis of new substituted tetrahydro-α-carbolines using Diels-Alder reaction under microwave irradiation has been developed. Further, dehydrogenation of these adducts resulted in synthesis of new substituted α-carbolines.     

Mass spectra of some 2-(4′-butyl-3,′5′-dimethylpyrazol-1′-yl)-6-substituted benzothiazoles

The fragmentation of the title compounds on electron impact has been studied and the major processes interpreted. The base peak invariably appears at [M ? 43]⁺ whose origin from the butyl chain has been traced with the help of metastable ion studies and accurate mass measurements. Loss of methyl cyanide, involving the decomposition of the pyrazole moiety, is observed only from the fragment ions.     

Hypervalent Iodine Oxidation of Amines in the Presence of Nitroso Compounds: A Method for the Preparation of Unsymmetrically Substituted Azoxy Compounds

Various amines and amino derivatives such as (tert-butylamine, 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole-p-toluenesulfonamide), and cyanamide, when treated with |(diacetoxy)iodo|benzene in the presence of nitroso compounds (2) yield unsymmetrically substituted azoxy compounds (3).     

Thermal and Microwave‐Assisted Conjugate Additions of Indole on Electron‐Deficient Nitro‐olefins

Conjugate addition of indole on nitro‐olefins was carried out by three different methods: (i) thermal heating in a sealed tube, (ii) reaction with indolyl magnesium iodide, and (iii) microwave irradiation. Comparison of the results indicated that the microwave technique is most efficient.     

The Effect of a Hydrogen Bonding Environment (Dimethyl Sulfoxide) on the Ionisation and Redox Properties of the Thiol Group in Cysteine and a Protein Disulfide Isomerase Mimic (Vectrase)

Increasing enrichment of dimethyl sulfoxide, DMSO, in DMSO-water mixtures causes a reversal in the thermodynamic dissociation constants, pK _as, and has a marked effect on the redox potentails of the thiolic and amino groups in cysteine and the protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) mimic BMC, Vectrase. This paper illustrates the effect of a hydrogen-bonding environment on the ionisation and redox properties of thiol groups in amino acids. A combination of potentiometry and Raman spectroscopy was applied to rationalise the observations. Intracellular environments are full of hydrophobic, hydrogen-bonding environments. The results illustrate the profound effects of the local environment on the thiol group.     

Hexakis(4-(N-butylpyridylium))benzene: a six-electron organic redox system

The cobalt-catalyzed cyclotrimerization of bis(4-pyridyl)acetylene affords hexakis(4-pyridyl)benzene in moderate yield. Alkylation with n-butyltriflate gives hexakis(4-(N-butylpyridylium))benzene triflate (1 6+), which can be reduced with Na/Hg in DMF to neutral 10. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction structure reveals that 1 0 has a chair-cyclohexane-like core and a [6]radialene structure. Cyclic voltammetry shows that 1 6+ is reversibly reduced to 1 2+ in one four-electron step and 1 2+ is reversibly reduced to 1 0 in one two-electron step. A reduction by four electrons at one potential is unprecedented for a molecule in which the electrochemically active centers are in electronic communication. The large structural transformation from 1 6+ to 1 0 is responsible for the "potential inversion" in the cyclic voltammetry, and DFT calculations suggest a possible structure for the stable intermediate 1 2+. A comparison is made to the electrochemistry and structural transformations in a previously prepared [4]radialene analogue of 1 0.     

A note on fermion and gauge couplings in field theory models for tachyon condensation

We study soliton solutions in supersymmetric scalar field theory with a class of potentials. We study both bosonic and fermionic zero-modes around the soliton solution. We study two possible couplings of gauge fields to these models. While the Born–Infeld like coupling has one normalizable mode (the zero mode), the other kind of coupling has no normalizable modes. We show that quantum mechanical problem which determines the spectrum of fluctuation modes of the scalar, fermion and the gauge field is identical. We also show that only the lowest lying mode, i.e., the zero mode, is normalizable and the rest of the spectrum is continuous.     

Reversible oxidation state change in germanium(tetraphenylporphyrin) induced by a dative ligand: aromatic GeII(TPP) and antiaromatic GeIV(TPP)(pyridine)2

Treatment of GeCl2(dioxane) with Li2(TPP)(OEt2)2 (TPP = tetraphenylporphyrin) in THF yields Ge(TPP), the first free Ge(II) porphyrin complex. In pyridine Ge(TPP) is converted to Ge(TPP)(py)2, an antiaromatic Ge(IV) complex, whereas in benzene the reaction is reversed, and pyridine dissociates from Ge(TPP)(py)2 to form Ge(TPP). That reversible reaction represents an unusual, if not unique, example of an oxidation-state change in a metal induced by coordination of a dative ligand. UV-vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy show that Ge(TPP) is an aromatic Ge(II) porphyrin complex, while the 1H NMR spectrum of Ge(TPP)(py)2 clearly indicates the presence of a strong paratropic ring current, characteristic of an antiaromatic compound. Both Ge(TPP) and Ge(TPP)(py)2 have been crystallographically characterized, and the antiaromaticity of Ge(TPP)(py)2 leads to alternating short and long C-C bonds along the 20-carbon periphery of its porphine ring system. Coordination of pyridine to Ge(TPP) greatly increases its reducing ability: the Ge(TPP)0/2+ redox potential is about +0.2 V, while the Ge(TPP)(py)2(0/+) redox potential is -1.24 V (both vs. ferrocene). The equilibrium constant of the reaction Ge(TPP) + 2 py = Ge(TPP)(py)2 in C6D6 is 22 M-2. The germanium complex of the more electron-withdrawing tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]porphyrin, Ge(TArFP), and its pyridine adduct Ge(TArFP)(py)2 were synthesized. The equilibrium constant of the reaction Ge(TArFP) + 2 py = Ge(TArFP)(py)2 in C6F6/C6D6 is 2.3 x 10(4) M-2. Density functional theory calculations are consistent with the experimental observation that M(TPP)(py)2 formation from M(TPP) and pyridine is most favorable for M=Si, borderline for Ge, and unfavorable for Sn.