Electron spin exchange processes in strongly coupled spin triads

The complexes of Cu2+ hexafluoroacetylacetonate with two pyrazol-substituted nitronyl nitroxides are the choice systems to study the spin dynamics of strongly exchange-coupled spin triads. The large values of exchange coupling (ca. 100 cm-1) and high-resolution electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) at Q- and W-bands (35 and 94 GHz) allowed us to observe and interpret specific characteristics of these systems. An electron spin exchange process has been found between different multiplets of the spin triad, which manifests itself as a significant shift of the EPR line position with temperature. We propose that the spin exchange process is caused by the modulation of exchange interaction between copper and nitroxides by lattice vibrations. The estimations of the rate of exchange process and model calculations essentially support the observed phenomena. The studied characteristics of strongly coupled spin triads explain previously obtained results, agree with literature, and should be accounted for in future investigations of similar spin systems.     

The Role of Cannabis sativa L. as a Source of Cannabinoids against Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): An In Silico Study to Evaluate Their Activities and ADMET Properties

Cannabis sativa L. is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the family Cannabinaceae. In this study, the potential use of forty-five cannabinoids, previously identified from Cannabis sativa to alleviate COVID-19 infection via prohibition of crucial SARS-CoV-2 proteins using molecular docking, was examined. In silico studies were performed on three vital enzymes that serve as principle therapeutic targets to prevent SARS-CoV-2 replication. These enzymes are the main protease SARS-CoV-2 M^Pro, papain-like protease SARS-CoV-2 PL^pro and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Regarding SARS-CoV-2 M^Pro, cannabichromanon (32) showed the best fitting within its active centers, followed by cannabinolic acid (22) and cannabinol (21), displaying ∆G of −33.63, −23.24, and −21.60 kcal/mol, respectively. Concerning SARS-CoV-2 PL^pro, cannabichromanon (32) followed by cannabinolic acid (22) and cannabicyclolic acid (41) revealed the best binding within its active pockets owing to multiple bond formation with ∆G values of −28.36, −22.81, and −19.89 kcal/mol. Furthermore, cannabichromanon (32), cannabinolic acid (22), and cannabinol (21) showed considerable fitting within the active sites of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) evidenced by their significant ∆G values that were estimated as −41.77, −31.34, and −30.36 kcal/mol, respectively. ADME/TOPKAT (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) evaluation was performed on the tested cannabinoids to further explore their pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and toxicity properties. The results indicated the considerable pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and toxicity properties of cannabinol (21), cannabinolic acid (22), cannabichromanon (32), and cannabicyclolic acid (41) that showed best fitting scores within the active sites of the tested enzymes. Multivariate data analysis revealed that cannabichromanon and cannabinolic acid showed a discriminant nature and hence can be incorporated in pharmaceutical dosage forms to alleviate COVID-19 infection.     

Self-decelerating relaxation of the light-induced spin states in molecular magnets Cu(hfac)2L(R) studied by electron paramagnetic resonance

Molecular magnets Cu(hfac)(2)L(R) (hfac = hexafluoroacetylacetonate) called "breathing crystals" exhibit thermally and light-induced magnetic anomalies very similar to iron(II) spin-crossover compounds. They are physically different systems, because the spin-state switching occurs in exchange-coupled nitroxide-copper(II)-nitroxide clusters, in contrast to classical spin crossover in d(4)-d(7) transition ions. Despite this difference, numerous similarities in physical behavior of these two types of compounds have been observed, including light-induced excited spin-state trapping (LIESST) phenomenon recently found in the Cu(hfac)(2)L(R) family. Similar to iron(II) spin-crossover compounds, the excited spin state in breathing crystals relaxes to the ground state on the time scale of hours at cryogenic temperatures. In this work, we investigate this slow relaxation in a series of breathing crystals using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Three selected compounds represent the cases of relatively strong or weak cooperativity and different temperature of thermal spin transition. They all were studied in a neat magnetically concentrated form; however, sigmoidal self-accelerating relaxation was not observed. On the contrary, the relaxation shows pronounced self-decelerating character for all studied compounds. Relaxation curves and their temperature dependence could be fitted assuming a tunneling process and broad distribution of effective activation energies in these 1D materials. A number of additional experimental and theoretical arguments support the distribution-based model. Because self-decelerating relaxation behavior was also found in 1D polymeric iron(II) spin-crossover compounds previously, we compared general relaxation trends and mechanisms in these two types of systems. Both similarities and differences of copper-nitroxide-based breathing crystals as compared to iron(II) spin-crossover compounds make future research of light-induced phenomena in these new types of spin-crossover-like systems topical in the field of molecule-based magnetic switches.     

Relationship between the thermally induced reorientations of aromatic solvate molecules in Cu(hfac)2-nitroxide breathing crystals and the character of the magnetic anomaly

A new group of "breathing" crystals has been synthesized. These are aromatic solvates of the copper(II) hexafluoroacetylacetonate complex with spin-labeled pyrazole Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5Solv, where L is 2-(1-butyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole-3-oxide-1-oxyl and Solv is benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene, butylbenzene, styrene, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene, 1,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene, 1-methyl-4-ethylbenzene, 1-methyl-4-vinylbenzene, 1,4-diethylbenzene, 1,2,3-trimethylbenzene, or 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene. The main feature of Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5Solv single crystals is their remarkable mechanical stability and ability to undergo thermally induced structural rearrangements accompanied by spin-crossover-like phenomena. The structures of Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5Solv solvates are similar and based on mutually parallel {Cu(hfac)(2)L}(∞) heterospin chains with a "head-to-head" motif. The localization of voids with guest molecules being the same in all crystals, the temperature dependence of the effective magnetic moment (μ(eff)) for Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5Solv is determined by the structure of the guest molecules, along which the polymer chains are "gliding" when the temperature changes. When the temperature decreased from 300 to 100-50 K, μ(eff) decreased, abruptly or gradually, from 2.7-2.4 to ~1.8 β for the majority of Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5Solv except the solvates with benzene, toluene, and 1,4-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene. When Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5C(6)H(6) and Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5CH(3)-C(6)H(5) were cooled to 50 K, μ(eff) decreased to ~2.1-2.2 β. When Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5(1,4-(CF(3))(2)-C(6)H(4)) was cooled to 50 K, μ(eff) initially decreased from ~2.7 to 1.9 β and then abruptly increased to ~2.4 β. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of each solvate within a temperature range wider than the range of magnetic anomaly temperatures revealed a complex interrelated dynamics of the aromatic solvent guest molecules and heterospin chains. The dynamics largely depended on the orientation of the solvent guest molecules relative to the polymer chains. An analysis of the thermally induced phase transformations revealed a relationship between the structural rearrangement of Cu(hfac)(2)L·0.5Solv and the form of the magnetic anomaly on the μ(eff)(T) curve and between the structural rearrangement of the solvate and the temperature of the magnetic effect.     

Noninvasive in situ visualization of supported catalyst preparations using multinuclear magnetic resonance imaging

Multinuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is employed as a new noninvasive tool for monitoring supported catalyst preparation by visualizing precursor transport within the porous support. In particular, liquid phase 31P MRI experiments were used to visualize the dynamics of H3PO4 penetration into an alumina pellet and have revealed a strong interaction of H3PO4 with the support. Solid state 31P MRI was applied to map the distribution of the adsorbed phosphate inside the support after its drying. Comparison of the liquid phase and solid phase MRI results confirms the correlation of the phosphate distribution in the liquid phase during impregnation and the phosphate adsorbed on the support. The possibility to monitor the transport of metal atoms within the support by a direct detection of their NMR signal is demonstrated for 195Pt nucleus during impregnation of an alumina pellet with an aqueous solution of H2PtCl6. Other possible strategies for the utilization of MRI to characterize in situ the preparation of supported catalysts and other supported materials are briefly discussed.     

Intramolecular electron transfer in lysozyme studied by time-resolved chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization

The kinetics of the chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP) produced in reactions of hen lysozyme with photosensitizers have been studied for the native state of the protein at pH 3.8 and for two denatured states. The latter were generated by raising the temperature to 80 degrees C or by combining a temperature rise (to 50 degrees C) with the addition of chemical denaturant (10 M urea). Detailed analysis of the CIDNP time dependence on a microsecond time scale revealed that, in both denatured states, intramolecular electron transfer (IET) from a tyrosine residue to the cation radical of a tryptophan residue (rate constant k(f)) is highly efficient and plays a decisive role in the evolution of the nuclear polarization. To describe the observed CIDNP kinetics with a self-consistent set of parameters, IET in the reverse direction, from a tryptophan residue to a tyrosine residue radical (rate constant k(r)), has also to be taken into account. The IET rate constants determined by analysis of the CIDNP kinetics are, at 80 degrees C: k(f) = 1 x 10(5) s(-1) and k(r) = 1 x 10(4) s(-1); at 50 degrees C in the presence of 10 M urea: k(f) = 7 x 10(4) s(-1), k(r) = 1 x 10(4) s(-1). IET does not appear to influence the CIDNP kinetics of the native state.     

Time-resolved CIDNP study of non-native states of bovine and human alpha-lactalbumins

The reaction mechanism and details of the formation of CIDNP (chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) in the photoreactions of the aromatic dye 2,2'-dipyridyl with non-native states of bovine and human alpha-lactalbumins (BLA and HLA) in aqueous solution have been studied using the time-resolved CIDNP technique. Non-native states have been obtained at pH 2 in the presence of 0, 8, and 10 M urea-d(4) and at pH 6.7 in the presence of 10 M urea-d(4). The dependence of the geminate CIDNP spectra of the two proteins on the denaturant concentration is shown to be determined by the intrinsic reactivity of the amino acid residues toward the triplet excited dye rather than by structural changes in the proteins. Values of the proton paramagnetic relaxation times (T(1)) have been obtained from an analysis of the CIDNP kinetics. For tryptophan and tyrosine residues, the T(1) values change in opposite directions when the proteins are progressively denatured, reflecting the different internal mobilities of the two types of residues. It has been found that for both BLA and HLA the CIDNP kinetics of the non-native states formed at pH 6.7 in the presence of 10 M urea are almost identical to those at pH 2 with no urea, suggesting that the polarizable amino acid side chains have closely similar solvent accessibilities and motional properties in the two non-native states.     

Electron transfer between guanosine radical and amino acids in aqueous solution. 1. Reduction of guanosine radical by tyrosine

As a model of chemical DNA repair, the reductive electron transfer from the aromatic amino acid tyrosine to the radical of the purine base guanosine monophosphate (GMP) was studied by time-resolved chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (CIDNP). The guanosyl radicals were photochemically generated in the quenching reaction of the triplet excited dye 2,2'-dipyridyl. Depending on the pH of the aqueous solution, four different guanosyl radicals were observed. The identification of the radicals was possible because of the high sensitivity of CIDNP to distinguish them through their ability or disability of participating in the degenerate electron hopping reaction with the diamagnetic molecules of guanosine monophosphate in the ground state. The CIDNP kinetics in this three-component system containing the dye, GMP, and N-acetyl tyrosine is strongly dependent on the efficiency of the electron-transfer reaction from tyrosine to the nucleotide radical. Quantitative analysis of the CIDNP kinetics obtained at different concentrations of the amino acid, together with the comparison with the CIDNP kinetics of the two-component systems (dipyridyl/tyrosine and dipyridyl/GMP) allowed for the determination of the rate constant ke of the reductive electron-transfer reaction for five pairs of reactants, with different protonation states depending on the pH: GH++*/TyrOH (pH 1.3), G+*/TyrOH (pH 2.9), G(-H)*/TyrOH (pH 7.5), G(-H)*/TyrO- (pH 11.3), and G(-2H)-*/TyrO- (pH 13.3). The rate constant ke varies from (7.1 +/- 3.0) x 10(8) M-1 s-1 (pH 1.3, 2.9) to less than 6 x 10(6) M-1 s-1 (pH 13.3).     

Temperature changes visualization during chemical wave propagation

Magnetic resonance imaging was used for two-dimensional temperature visualization of chemical waves propagation in the autocatalytic exothermal reaction of thiosulfate oxidation by chlorite. The technique presented is based on the temperature dependence of the water chemical shift. Temperature maps were acquired by employing the TurboFLASH imaging method. The results obtained allow one to judge about directions of buoyancy flows. Two types of convection critical modes in a vertical tube during the wave propagation were detected.