Achievable accuracy of parameter estimation for multidimensional NMR experiments

A fundamental issue in NMR spectroscopy is the estimation of parameters such as the Larmor frequencies of nuclei, J coupling constants, and relaxation rates. The Cramer-Rao lower bound provides a method to assess the best achievable accuracy of parameter estimates resulting from an unbiased estimation procedure. We show how the Cramer-Rao lower bound can be calculated for data obtained from multidimensional NMR experiments. The Cramer-Rao lower bound is compared to the variance of parameter estimates for simulated data using a least-squares estimation procedure. It is also shown how our results on the Cramer-Rao lower bound can be used to analyze whether an experimental design can be improved to provide experimental data which can result in parameter estimates with higher accuracy. The concept of nonuniform averaging in the indirect dimension is introduced and studied in connection with nonuniform sampling of the data.     

Do light colored scalars exist?

The general question of the properties of light, neutral colored spin-zero particles in QCD is examined. Models with spontaneous breaking of QCD at very large distances, such as that of DeRújula, Giles, and Jaffe and the SO(3) scheme of Slansky, Goldman, and Shaw, require such light colored Higgs scalars. These scalars will form color-singlet hadronic bound states at short distances and estimates are given of bound state masses, decay widths, and production rates in processes such as ψ → γ + X within the MIT bag model. The resulting states are expected in the mass neighborhood ～1.5 GeV and should resemble glueballs.     

Dimetallic complexes of acyclic pyridine-armed ligands derived from 3,6-diformylpyridazine

A bis(pyridine-armed) acyclic Schiff base ligand L1 has been synthesised from 3,6-diformylpyridazine and two equivalents of 2-(2-aminoethyl)pyridine. Reduction of this ligand using NaBH(4) resulted in the formation of the amine analogue L2. Complexes of the form [M(2)L1(mu-X)]Y(2)ClO(4)[where: M = Cu(II), X = OH(-) and Y = ClO(4)(-) 1, Cl(-) 2, Br(-) 3 or I(-) 4; M = Co(II), X = OH(-) and Y = ClO(4)(-) 5; M = Ni(II), X = SCN(-) 6 or X = N(3)(-) 7 and Y = ClO(4)(-)], and [Cu(2)L2(mu-OH)](ClO(4))(3) 8 were prepared and characterised. The complexes 1 and 5-7 have been characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The acyclic L1 ligand provides three nitrogen donor atoms per metal centre, including a pyridazine bridge between the metal centres, and the anion X also bridges the two metal centres. As required, coordinating solvent molecules or additional anions make up the remainder of the coordination sphere. The two copper centres of 1 are very strongly antiferromagnetically coupled (2J=-1146 cm(-1))via the pyridazine and hydroxide ion bridges, whereas the competing antiferromagnetic pyridazine bridging pathway and ferromagnetic 1,1-bridging azide pathway resulted in the observation of weak antiferromagnetic exchange in the dinickel(II) complex 7 (2J=-14 cm(-1)). Electrochemical examination of L1, L2 and complexes 1 and 5-8 revealed multiple redox processes. These have been tentatively assigned to a mixture of metal centred and ligand centred redox processes on the basis of cyclic voltammetry and coulometry results and comparisons with literature examples.     

Control of molecular architecture by the degree of deprotonation: self-assembled di- and tetranuclear copper(II) complexes of N,N'-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)pyrazine-2,3-dicarboxamide

In the absence of added base, a deep navy-blue dimeric copper complex [CuII(H2L)(MeCN)]2(BF4)4 (1) of the non-deprotonated bis-terdentate diamide ligand H2L self-assembles whereas in the presence of base a grass-green [2 x 2] grid complex [CuII(HL)]4(BF4)4 (2) of the monodeprotonated ligand HL-, a rare example of a discrete grid of pyrazine-bridged metal ions, is formed.     

NMR analysis of lignins in CAD-deficient plants. Part 1. Incorporation of hydroxycinnamaldehydes and hydroxybenzaldehydes into lignins

Peroxidase/H2O2-mediated radical coupling of 4-hydroxycinnamaldehydes produces 8-O-4-, 8-5-, and 8-8-coupled dehydrodimers as has been documented earlier, as well as the 5-5-coupled dehydrodimer. The 8-5-dehydrodimer is however produced kinetically in its cyclic phenylcoumaran form at neutral pH. Synthetic polymers produced from mixtures of hydroxycinnamaldehydes and normal monolignols provide the next level of complexity. Spectral data from dimers, oligomers, and synthetic polymers have allowed a more substantive assignment of aldehyde components in lignins isolated from a CAD-deficient pine mutant and an antisense-CAD-downregulated transgenic tobacco. CAD-deficient pine lignin shows enhanced levels of the typical benzaldehyde and cinnamaldehyde end-groups, along with evidence for two types of 8-O-4-coupled coniferaldehyde units. The CAD-downregulated tobacco also has higher levels of hydroxycinnamaldehyde and hydroxybenzaldehyde (mainly syringaldehyde) incorporation, but the analogous two types of 8-O-4-coupled products are the dominant features. 8-8-Coupled units are also clearly evident. There is clear evidence for coupling of hydroxycinnamaldehydes to each other and then incorporation into the lignin, as well as for the incorporation of hydroxycinnamaldehyde monomers into the growing lignin polymer. Coniferaldehyde and sinapaldehyde (as well as vanillin and syringaldehyde) co-polymerize with the traditional monolignols into lignins and do so at enhanced levels when CAD-deficiency has an impact on the normal monolignol production. The implication is that, particularly in angiosperms, the aldehydes behave like the traditional monolignols and should probably be regarded as authentic lignin monomers in normal and CAD-deficient plants.     

Samarium diiodide mediated intramolecular cyclisation of mixed enone-enoate systems: a simple preparation of spirocyclic ethers

Samarium(II) diiodide mediated intramolecular cyclisation of mixed enone-enoate substrates in THF/MeOH is described. Spirocyclic ethers are obtained, and the stereodefined preparation of 1-oxaspiro[4.4]nonan-7-one products is included.     

Extending the Entropy Stability Measure for Manpower Planning

In manpower planning, it is essential to be able to monitor stability of the length-of-service structure of the staff. Such a stability index is provided by the formula for entropy of a continuous distribution, evaluated for length of service. This measure improves on the previous discrete version by removing the necessity of introducing arbitrary tenure classes, thus facilitating inter-company comparisons. It is closely related to the entropy formula used in demography, and manpower planners may therefore avail themselves of results already used by demographers.     

Determination of thiodicarb using a biosensor based on alfalfa sprout peroxidase immobilized in self-assembled monolayers

A biosensor based on alfalfa sprout (Medicago sativa) homogenate as a source of peroxidase is proposed for the determination of thiodicarb by square-wave voltammetry. This enzyme was immobilized in self-assembled monolayers of l-cysteine on a gold electrode. Several parameters were investigated to evaluate the optimum conditions for operation of the biosensor. The analytical curve was linear for thiodicarb concentrations of 2.27 × 10⁻⁶ to 4.40 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ with a detection limit of 5.75 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The lifetime of the Au-alfalfa sprout-SAMs was 20 days (at least 220 determinations). The average recovery of thiodicarb from samples of vegetable extracts ranged from 99.02 to 101.04%. The results obtained for thiodicarb in vegetable extracts using the proposed method are in close agreement with those using a high performance liquid chromatography procedure at the 95% confidence level.     

Rapid fabrication of glass/PDMS hybrid µIMER for high throughput membrane proteomics

Mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomics has brought a radical approach to systems biology, offering a platform to study complex biological functions. However, key proteomic technical challenges remain, mainly the inability to characterise the complete proteome of a cell due to the thousands of diverse, complex proteins expressed at an extremely wide concentration range. Currently, high throughput and efficient techniques to unambiguously identify and quantify proteins on a proteome-wide scale are in demand. Miniaturised analytical systems placed upstream of MS help us to attain these goals. One time-consuming step in traditional techniques is the in-solution digestion of proteins (4-20 h). This also has other drawbacks, including enzyme autoproteolysis, low efficiency, and manual operation. Furthermore, the identification of α-helical membrane proteins has remained a challenge due to their high hydrophobicity and lack of trypsin cleavage targets in transmembrane helices. We demonstrate a new rapidly produced glass/PDMS micro Immobilised Enzyme Reactor (μIMER) with enzymes covalently immobilised onto polyacrylic acid plasma-modified surfaces for the purpose of rapidly (as low as 30 s) generating peptides suitable for MS analysis. This μIMER also allows, for the first time, rapid digestion of insoluble proteins. Membrane protein identification through this method was achieved after just 4 min digestion time, up to 9-fold faster than either dual-stage in-solution digestion approaches or other commonly used bacterial membrane proteomic workflows.