Synthesis and structural characterization of new oxorhenium and oxotechnetium complexes with XN2S-tetradentate semi-rigid ligands (X = O, S, N)

Twelve novel oxo-technetium and oxo-rhenium complexes based on N2S2-, N2SO- or N3S-tetradentate semi-rigid ligands have been synthesised and studied herein. By reacting the ligands with a slight excess of suitable [MO]3+ precursor (ReOCl3(PPh3)2 or [NBu4][99gTcOCl4]), the monoanionic complexes of general formula [MO(Ph-XN2S)]- could be easily produced in high yield. The complexes have been characterized by means of IR, electrospray mass spectrometry, elemental analysis, NMR and conductimetry. The crystal structures of [PPh4][ReO(Ph-ON2S)] 1b and [NBu4][99gTcO(Ph-ON2S)] 1c have been established. The [MO]3+ moiety was coordinated via the two deprotonated amide nitrogens, the oxygen and the terminal sulfur atoms in 1b and 1c. In both compounds, the ON2S coordination set is in the equatorial plane, and the complexes adopted a distorted square-pyramidal geometry with an axial oxo-group. The chemical and structural identity of the different prototypic complexes (rhenium, 99gTc complexes and their corresponding 99mTc radiocomplexes) have been also established by a comparative HPLC study.     

Nitrogen fixation under mild ambient conditions: part I--the initial dissociation/association step at molybdenum triamidoamine complexes

In several recent studies Schrock and collaborators demonstrated for the first time how molecular dinitrogen can be catalytically transformed under mild and ambient conditions to ammonia by a molybdenum triamidoamine complex. In this work, we investigate the geometrical and electronic structures involved in this process of dinitrogen activation with quantum chemical methods. Density functional theory (DFT) has been employed to calculate the coordination energies of ammonia and dinitrogen relevant for the dissociation/association step in which ammonia is substituted by dinitrogen. In the DFT calculations the triamidoamine chelate ligand has been modeled by a systematic hierarchy of increasingly complex substituents at the amide nitrogen atoms. The most complex ligand considered is an experimentally known ligand with an HMT = 3,5-(2,4,6-Me3C6H2)2C6H3 substituent. Several assumptions by Schrock and collaborators on key reaction steps are confirmed by our calculations. Additional information is provided on many species not yet observed experimentally. Particular attention is paid to the role of the charge of the complexes. The investigation demonstrates that dinitrogen coordination is enhanced for the negatively charged metal fragment, that is, coordination is more favorable for the anionic metal fragment than for the neutral species. Coordination of N2 is least favorable for the cationic metal fragment. Furthermore, ammonia abstraction from the cationic complex is energetically unfavorable, while NH3 abstraction is less difficult from the neutral and easily feasible from the anionic low-spin complex.     

Validation of a screening method for the simultaneous identification of fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins (A,E, B<Subscript>1</Subscript>, B<Subscript>2</Subscript> and B<Subscript>6</Subscript>) in an aqueous micellar medium of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride

Simultaneous determination of the fat-soluble vitamins A and E and the water-soluble vitamins B₁, B₂ and B₆ has been carried using a screening method from fluorescence contour graphs. These graphs show different colour zones in relation to the fluorescence intensity measured for the pair of excitation/emission wavelengths. The identification of the corresponding excitation/emission wavelength zones allows the detection of different vitamins in an aqueous medium regardless of the fat or water solubility of each vitamin, owing to the presence of a surfactant which forms micelles in water at the used concentration (over the critical micelle concentration). The micelles dissolve very water insoluble compounds, such as fat-soluble vitamins, inside the aggregates. This approach avoids the use of organic solvents in determining these vitamins and offers the possibility of analysing fat- and water-soluble vitamins simultaneously. The method has been validated in terms of detection limit, cut-off limit, sensitivity, number of false positives, number of false negatives and uncertainty range. The detection limit is about g L^–1. The screening method was applied to different samples such as pharmaceuticals, juices and isotonic drinks.     

New fluorescent probes for testing combinatorial catalysts with phosphodiesterase and esterase activities

Combinatorial development of new catalysts with phosphodiesterase and esterase activities requires specific fluorescent probes for rapid visual detection of hydrolytic activity. Such fluorescent probes have been synthesized with special attention to solubility in water and stability towards spontaneous hydrolysis at a given pH. The probes reported here include compound 5 based on a fluorescein fluorophore, compound 12 for FRET-detection of phosphodiester hydrolysis and compound 25 based on a quinolinium fluorophore.     

Natural Abundance 17O-NMR. Study of Some Macrocyclic Complexes with Alkali Metal Cations

Complexation between crown ethers 12C4, 15C5, 18C6 and cryptand 222, and alkali cations Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺ in various solvents were studied by ¹⁷O-NMR. spectroscopy. Small diamagnetic shifts arising from the cation electric field are observed. They increase according to the sequence K⁺ < Na⁺ < Li⁺. ¹⁷O-linewidth are discussed and compared to the ¹³C relaxation times. Linewidth modification results mainly from modifications of the effective correlation time. In general, for crown ethers, considerable line broadening occurs when the cation fits well into the cavity but line narrowing occurs when the cation is much smaller than the cavity.     

Méthylène-indolines,indolénines et indoléniniums—XIII: L'hydroxy-16 déhydro-1 vincadifformine,intérmédiaire dans le réarrangement biomimétique de la vincadifformine en vincamine

The title compound is a crucial intermediate in the biomimetic conversion of vincadifformine 1 into vincamine 7. Its configuration at C-16 is established by a combination of chemical and spectroscopic evidence. Iodine oxidation converts 14 into the bridged lactam 18, thus proving a β configuration for the hydroxy group at C-16. The same reaction applied to vindoline 19 gives 21 identical with one of the compounds obtained by microbiological transformation of 19. The ¹³C NMR spectra of derivatives 3 and 8 (obtained by oxidation of vincadifformine) show that oxidation proceeds with introduction of the substituent at C-16, with a β-configuration. The alcohol 3 however, posesses a different conformation due to strong hydrogen bonding with N-4.     

PHOTOVOLTAIC ACTION SPECTRA AND EFFICIENCIES OF CHLOROPHYLL a SPECIES ABSORBING NEAR 700 nm

Abstract— Alcohol vapors affect the photovoltaic properties of anhydrous chlorophyll a (Chi a). At 23°C, a photovoltaic cell of the type Allanhydrous Chi a|Ag has been successively submitted to non saturating vapors of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, cyclopropyl carbinol, cyclopentanol, methyl cyclopropyl carbinol, 1-butanol, 1-pentanol and chloroethanol. The action spectrum of anhydrous Chi a has a maximum in the red at 672 nm. This maximum is shifted towards 700 nm under the influence of alcohol vapors. The most important changes occur for ethanol, 1-propanol and 2-propanol. In the same way, the conversion efficiencies of light energy into electrical energy, measured at the maximum in the red are, for the same alcohols, higher than the initial value 1.7 times 10^-2% obtained on the average for anhydrous Chi a. A maximum value of 6.3 times 10^-2% has been obtained after rehydration of Chi a solvated with 2-propanol. The influence of alcohol vapors has been interpreted in terms of microcapillarity of anhydrous Chi a and a mean microcavity radius of 11 ± 6 Å has been deduced from the photocurrent variation with the amount of alcohol vapor present in the measuring area. Furthermore, the action spectrum shift towards 700 nm has been interpreted by the formation, at 23°C, of Chi a special aggregates whose action spectrum has been obtained by difference. Infrared spectroscopy demonstrated that anhydrous Chi a obtained from electrodeposition is an assembly of Chi a dimers and that alcohol vapors, producing the special aggregates formation at 23°C, induce a decrease of the free C=O ketone band and an increase of the associated C=O ketone. The C=O esters band is not affected by the Chi a reorganization.     

Synthesis and spectral characterization of some complexes of platinum(II) containing η-methyleugenol

Several complexes of the formula trans-[Pt(Meug)(Am)Cl₂], Meug: methyleugenol (4-allyl-1,2-dimethoxybenzene), a η²-coordinated olefin, and Am: ammine, methylamine, diethylamine, o-toluidine, m-toluidine, p-toluidine, o-anisidine, m-anisidine and p-anisidine have been prepared. UV, IR, Raman, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and 2D NMR spectra of the complexes were recorded and analyzed.     

Reverse zymography using fluorogenic substrates for protease inhibitor detection

A novel, sensitive method for detecting protease inhibitors by using fluorescent protease substrates in gels is described. The protease inhibitors were separated on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gels containing a copolymerized peptide substrate, namely 4-methyl-coumaryl-7-amide (MCA). As the incorporated substrates in the gel, Boc-Phe Ser-Arg-MCA was used for trypsin, Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-MCA for alpha-chymotrypsin, and Z-Phe-Arg-MCA for papain. After electrophoresis, washing and incubating the gel with the target protease solutions allowed the substrate to be cleaved by the protease, and the release of the fluorescent 7 amino-4 methyl-coumarin (AMC), which was detected under a UV transilluminator. The uncleaved peptide-MCA substrate remained where the inhibitors were present, and was visualized as dark blue bands on the light-green fluorescent background gel. This new method offers several advantages over other previous methods including: (i) greatly increased sensitivity can be achieved in a shorter period of time, which may be useful for discovering new protease inhibitors in small amounts of crude material; (ii) the procedure is quite simple and quick since the incubation period is very short and no time is needed for staining and destaining steps; (iii) since these probes using substrate specificity/target proteases, they are excellent tools for detection and discrimination of unknown protease inhibitors for various target proteases.     

Micellar properties of zwitterionic phosphobetaine amphiphiles in aqueous solution: Influence of the intercharge distance

Zwitterionic amphiphiles of the general formula H(CH₂)_y ⁺ N(CH₃)₂(CH₂)_n PO₂C₆H ₅ ^– , where the number of intercharge methylenesn is varied, were studied in dilute aqueous solution. Their critical micellar concentrations show a peculiar variation withn, first increasing asn varies from 1 to 4 and then slowly decreasing as methylenes are added up to 10. This behavior is interpreted as being the consequence of two opposite contributions. The first is the classical CMC lowering due to the increase of hydrophobic character with the total number of methylene groups in the surfactant molecule. The second contribution is the increase in the dipole moment of the zwitterionic headgroup withn, leading to stronger dipole-dipole repulsions between headgroups at the micellar surface. Experimental results suggest that the dipole moment does not increase linearly withn because of the polymethylene chain flexibility. This is supported by¹³C NMR relaxation experiments.