Quantum chemistry with an attached processor

The Floating Point Systems, Inc. Model 164 Attached Processor (FPS-164) is a high-speed, pipelined, parallel processor designed for large-scale scientific computation. Benchmark studies of operations common in quantum chemistry codes are discussed and the performance of the FPS-164 is compared with other commonly available computers. A complete system of electronic structure codes has been implemented on the FPS-164 using the Fortran-77 cross-compiler and calls to optimized vector and matrix routines. The conversion of a generalized valence bond (GVB ) code illustrates the strategy adopted to adapt Fortran codes to the FPS-164. A typical production example, a large scale (GVB ) and configuration interaction calculation on the vinyl radical, shows a net throughput equivalent to nearly nine VAX 11/780 computers.     

Rhodopsin exhibits a preference for solvation by polyunsaturated docosohexaenoic acid

An all-atom molecular dynamics simulation of rhodopsin in a membrane environment has been carried out with lipid composition similar to that of the retinal membrane. The initial conformation of the protein was taken from the X-ray crystallographic structure (1F88), while those of the lipids came from a previous molecular dynamics simulation. During the course of the 12.5 ns simulation, the initially randomly placed lipids adopt an anisotropic solvation structure around the protein. The lipids, having one saturated stearic acid chain and one polyunsaturated docosohexaenoic acid chain with a zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine headgroup, arrange themselves to maximize contact between the polyunsaturated chain and the protein surface. This organization is driven by energetically favorable interactions between the transmembrance helices and the docosohexaenoyl chains that are largely of the van der Waals type. These observations are consistent with various experimental studies on rhodopsin and other G-protein coupled receptors and with the picture of extreme flexibility in polyunsaturated fatty acid chains that has arisen from recent NMR and computational work.     

Studies on the Chemistry of Thienoannelated O , N - and S , N -Containing Heterocycles, 28 [1]. Synthesis of Imidazo[1,5- d ]thieno[2,3- b ][1,4]thiazine Derivatives as GABA -Receptor Ligands

Summary.  GABA-receptor-ligands are still very interesting in drug-development. Usually benzodiazepines are used in the treatment but they have serious side-effects. Thus, a recently synthesized quioxaline derivative which showed reduced side-effects in an animal model was used as a model-substance. The cyclus was modified to optimize the pharmacological profile. Accordingly, a series of imidazo-thieno-thiazines was synthesized starting from 5-acetyl-2-chloro-3-nitrothiophene to yield 6-ethyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-thieno[2,3-b][1,4]thiazine-2-one. Reaction with potassium tert-butoxide and diethylchlorophosphate gave an intermediate, which resulted in the desired ring system after adding the corresponding isocyanides and potassium tert-butoxide. Corresponding author. E-mail: thomas.erker@univie.ac.at Received August 6, 2002; accepted August 13, 2002     

Beiträge zur Chemie der Pyrrolpigmente, 38. Mitt.: Zur Assoziation von Gallenpigmenten

The long standing problem of solvent dependent absorption spectra of certain bile pigments such as bilirubindimethylester has been solved by measurement of molecular masses by means of vapour pressure osmometry. Using this method and the investigation of the concentration and temperature dependence of the absorption spectra on several model compounds an association equilibrium for pigments of the rubinoid structural type could be confirmed. Moreover the optical properties of the coexisting species and the corresponding equilibrium constants could be deduced by spectroscopic techniques. Verdinoid pigments lacking free carboxylic functions on the other hand tend to be monomeric in solution. A heteroassociated species involving equimolar amounts of a verdinoid and a rubinoid pigment could be verified existing on adsorbents like silicagel.

37. Mitt.:Falk, H., Thirring, K., Tetrahedron, im Druck.     

Phenyldimethylsilyl-Substituted Ketenes and Bisketenes

The phenyldimethylsilyl-substituted monoketene PhMe(2)SiCH=C=O (1) and bisketene (PhMe(2)SiC=C=O)(2) (3) have been prepared and compared to the corresponding Me(3)Si- and t-BuMe(2)Si-substituted species. The (13)C, (17)O, and (29)Si NMR spectra fit the pattern shown by other silylketenes and provide no evidence for transmission of a substituent effect of the Ph group through the silicon to the ketenyl group, as has been proposed for PhMe(2)Si-substituted radicals. The UV spectrum of 1 does show a longer lambda and greater epsilon than for t-BuMe(2)SiCH=C=O, and this may indicate some interaction of the phenyl group with the ketene chromophore, while the greater reactivity of 1 in hydration compared to t-BuMe(2)SiCH=C=O is ascribed to the inductive effect of the phenyl. The very similar ring-opening reactivity of the bis(phenyldimethylsilyl)cyclobutenedione (6) to form 3 compared to the bis(Me(3)Si) analogues also provides no evidence of a significant interaction of the phenyl with the ketene. A new type of stabilized 1,8-bisketene based on the arylbis(dimethylsilyl) grouping, namely, 1,4-bis(ketenyldimethylsilyl)benzene (12), has been prepared for the first time.