Hydrolysis of chemically distinct sites of human serum albumin by polyoxometalate: A hybrid QM/MM (ONIOM) study

In this study, mechanisms of hydrolysis of all four chemically diverse cleavage sites of human serum albumin (HSA) by [Zr(OH)(PW₁₁O₃₉)]⁴⁻ (ZrK) have been investigated using the hybrid two-layer QM/MM (ONIOM) method. These reactions have been proposed to occur through the following two mechanisms: internal attack (IA) and water assisted (WA). In both mechanisms, the cleavage of the peptide bond in the Cys392-Glu393 site of HSA is predicted to occur in the rate-limiting step of the mechanism. With the barrier of 27.5 kcal/mol for the hydrolysis of this site, the IA mechanism is found to be energetically more favorable than the WA mechanism (barrier = 31.6 kcal/mol). The energetics for the IA mechanism are in line with the experimentally measured values for the cleavage of a wide range of dipeptides. These calculations also suggest an energetic preference (Cys392-Glu393, Ala257-Asp258, Lys313-Asp314, and Arg114-Leu115) for the hydrolysis of all four sites of HSA. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Near-infrared photoluminescence of lanthanide complexes containing the hemicyanine chromophore

The near-infrared luminescence properties of three (E)-N-hexadecyl-N′,N′-dimethylamino-stilbazolium tetrakis(1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolonato) lanthanide(III) complexes are described. These three complexes, containing trivalent neodymium, erbium and ytterbium, respectively, show near-infrared luminescence in acetonitrile solution upon UV irradiation. Luminescence decay times have been measured. The complexes consist of a positively charged hemicyanine chromophore with a long alkyl chain and a tetrakis(pyrazolonato) lanthanide(III) anion. Because of the absence of an -hydrogen atom in the pyrazolonato ligands, and because of the saturation of the coordination sphere by four bidentate ligands, the luminescence properties are enhanced when compared to, e.g. quinolinate complexes.     

Determination of Low-Molecular-Mass Phenolic and Non-Phenolic Lignin Degradation Compounds in Wood Digestion Solutions by Capillary Electrophoresis

 Different capillary electrophoretic techniques were investigated and compared for the separation of low-molecular-mass phenolic and neutral lignin degradation compounds. Simple capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) was not suited for this problem. Switching to micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) by adding micelle-forming reagents to the carrier electrolyte enhanced the separation performance considerably. Alternatively, microemulsion electrokinetic chromatography (MEEKC) was investigated. This is a CE technique in which analytes interact with moving oil droplets present in a microemulsion buffer. Using the optimized carrier electrolyte systems and a 60 cm×50 μm I.D. bubble cell capillary it was possible to analyse solutions of different wood digestion procedures and to investigate differences in lignin degradation products during use of different kinds of wood (eucalyptus, beech, scotch pine and acacia). Received August 25, 1999. Revision April 13, 2000     

Cobalt(II) Complexes of Nitrile‐Functionalized Ionic Liquids

A series of nitrile‐functionalized ionic liquids were found to exhibit temperature‐dependent miscibility (thermomorphism) with the lower alcohols. Their coordinating abilities toward cobalt(II) ions were investigated through the dissolution process of cobalt(II) bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and were found to depend on the donor abilities of the nitrile group. The crystal structures of the cobalt(II) solvates [Co(C₁C_1CNPyr)₂(Tf₂N)₄] and [Co(C₁C_2CNPyr)₆][Tf₂N]₈, which were isolated from ionic‐liquid solutions, gave an insight into the coordination chemistry of functionalized ionic liquids. Smooth layers of cobalt metal could be obtained by electrodeposition of the cobalt‐containing ionic liquids.     

Extraction of lutetium(III) from aqueous solutions by employing a single fibre‐supported liquid membrane

Transport behaviour of Lu(III) across a polypropylene hollow fibre‐supported liquid membrane containing di(2‐ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (DEHPA) in dihexyl ether as a carrier has been studied. The donor phase was LuCl₃ in the buffer solution consisting of 0.2 M sodium acetate at pH 2.5–5.0. A miniaturised system with a single hollow fibre has been operated in a batch mode. The concentration of Lu(III) was determined by indirect voltammetric method using Zn–EDTA complex. The effect of pH and volume of the donor phase, DEHPA concentration in the organic (liquid membrane) phase, the time of extraction and the content of the acceptor phase on the Lu(III) extraction and stripping behaviour was investigated. The results were discussed in terms of the pertraction and removal efficiency, the memory effect and the mean flux of Lu(III). The optimal conditions for the removal of ¹⁷⁷Lu(III) from labelled ¹⁷⁷Lu‐radiopharmaceuticals were discussed and identified. The removal efficiency of Lu(III) greater than 99% was achieved at pH of the donor phase between 3.5 and 5.0 using DEHPA concentration in the organic phase of 0.47 M and the ratio of the donor to the acceptor phase of 182.     

More on “Connected (n, m)-graphs with minimum and maximum zeroth-order general Randi? index”

Let G be a graph and d(u) denote the degree of a vertex u in G. The zeroth-order general Randi? index ⁰R_α(G) of the graph G is defined as ∑_u∈V(G)d(u)^α, where the summation goes over all vertices of G and α is an arbitrary real number. In this paper we correct the proof of the main Theorem 3.5 of the paper by Hu et al. [Y. Hu, X. Li, Y. Shi, T. Xu, Connected (n,m)-graphs with minimum and maximum zeroth-order general Randi? index, Discrete Appl. Math. 155 (8) (2007) 1044-1054] and give a more general Theorem. We finally characterize ¹ for α<0 the connected G(n,m)-graphs with maximum value ⁰R_α(G(n,m)), where G(n,m) is a simple connected graph with n vertices and m edges.     

The first synthesis and X-ray structures of polyfluorinated 1,2-, 2,3- and 2,4a-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorenes

Acetic acid-catalyzed condensation of 2-amino-3-(1-imino-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-1,1,4,5,6,7-hexafluoroindene (1b) with acetone and cyclopentanone gives 5,6,7,8,9,9-hexafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-4-trifluoromethyl-2,3-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorene (2a) and 5,6,7,8,9,9-hexafluoro-4-trifluoromethyl-2,3-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorene-2-spiro-1′-cyclopentane (3a) together with small amounts of 5,6,7,8,9,9-hexafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-4-trifluoromethyl-1,2-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorene (2b) and 5,6,7,8,9,9-hexafluoro-4-trifluoromethyl-1,2-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorene-2-spiro-1′-cyclopentane (3b), respectively. When acted upon by (CH₃)₂SO₄ compounds 2, 3 were converted into corresponding fluorine-containing 1-methyl-1,2-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorenes 6, 7. 4a-Chloro-5,6,7,8,9,9-hexafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-4-trifluoromethyl-2,4a-dihydro-1,3-diazafluorene (8) has been synthesized by the interaction of compound 2 with SOCl₂. Solution of compound 2 as well as 8 in CF₃SO₃H-CD₂Cl₂ generated 5,6,7,8,9,9-hexafluoro-2,2-dimethyl-4-trifluoromethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-1,3-diazafluorene-4-yl cation (2c). The structures of compounds 2, 3, 6-8 have been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction.