Fibril Structure Demonstrates the Role of Iodine Labelling on a Pentapeptide Self-Assembly

Iodination has long been employed as a successful labelling strategy to gain structural insights into proteins and other biomolecules via several techniques, including Small Angle X-ray Scattering, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS), and single-crystal crystallography. However, when dealing with smaller biomolecular systems, interactions driven by iodine may significantly alter their self-assembly behaviour. The engineering of amyloidogenic peptides for the development of ordered nanomaterials has greatly benefitted from this possibility. Still, to date, iodination has exclusively been applied to aromatic residues. In this work, an aliphatic bis-iodinated amino acid was synthesized and included into a custom pentapeptide, which showed enhanced fibrillogenic behaviour. Peptide single crystal X-ray structure and powder X-ray diffraction on its dried water solution demonstrated the key role of iodine atoms in promoting intermolecular interactions that drive the peptide self-assembly into amyloid fibrils. These findings enlarge the library of halogenated moieties available for directing and engineering the self-assembly of amyloidogenic peptides.     

Structural,Magnetic and Catalytic Properties of a New Vacancy Ordered Perovskite Type Barium Cobaltate BaCoO2.67

A new vacancy ordered, anion deficient perovskite modification with composition of BaCoO_2.67 (Ba₃Co₃O₈□₁) has been prepared via a two-step heating process. Combined Rietveld analysis of neutron and X-ray powder diffraction data shows a novel ordering of oxygen vacancies not known before for barium cobaltates. A combination of neutron powder diffraction, magnetic measurements, and density functional theory (DFT) studies confirms G-type antiferromagnetic ordering. From impedance measurements, the electronic conductivity of the order of 10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ is determined. Remarkably, the bifunctional catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is found to be comparable to that of Ba_0.5Sr_0.5Co_0.8Fe_0.2O_3–y, confirming that charge-ordered anion deficient non-cubic perovskites can be highly efficient catalysts.     

Nonlinear frequency response analysis: a recent review and perspectives

The nonlinear frequency response analysis (NFRA) can be seen as an extension of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. NFRA gives a full and detailed representation of the system response and can establish a connection between model parameters and the experimentally observed phenomena. In this article, different theoretical NFRA approaches and the most recent application examples are discussed. A simple electrochemical example is used to showcase the benefits and disadvantages of analyzing the system response by using different approaches. In addition, it was shown how to extract experimental harmonic values and analyze them.     

Characterization of SiO2 protective coatings on polycarbonate

SiO₂ protective coatings have been deposited on polycarbonate substrates by plasma ion assisted deposition. The influence of ion energy on the water permeability and the surface topography of the coatings was studied by infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Coatings deposited at sufficiently high ion energies show a barrier effect against moisture uptake and considerably reduced film roughness. Both effects are attributed to an increase of the packing densities of the coatings.     

A Redox‐Confused Bismuth(I/III) Triamide with a T‐Shaped Planar Ground State

Reaction of a tethered triamine ligand with Bi(NMe₂)₃ gives a Bi triamide, for which a Bi^I electronic structure is shown to be most appropriate. The T‐shaped geometry at bismuth provides the first structural model for edge inversion in bismuthines and the only example of a planar geometry for pnictogen triamides. Analogous phosphorus compounds exhibit a distorted pyramidal geometry because of different Bi?N and P?N bond polarities. Although considerable Bi^I character is indicated for the title Bi triamide, it exhibits reactivity similar to Bi^III electrophiles, and expresses either a vacant or a filled p orbital at Bi, as evidenced by coordination of either pyridine N‐oxide or W(CO)₅. The product of the former shows evidence of coordination‐induced oxidation state change at bismuth.     

Photocatalyzed [2 + 2 + 2]-cycloaddition of nitriles with acetylene: an effective method for the synthesis of 2-pyridines under mild conditions

The photocatalyzed [2 + 2 + 2]-cycloaddition of nitriles with 2 equiv of acetylene to 2-pyridines can be carried out under mild conditions and represents a valuable extension to common synthetical methods. For the ideal wavelength range (350-500 nm), lamps as well as sunlight can be used. Working at room temperature and in organic solvents such as toluene or hexane as well as in water gives satisfying results in many cases. However, it is also possible to vary the solvent and the reaction temperature of the photocatalyzed synthesis and to choose, with respect to the specific substrate, specific requirements for this particular reaction and general requirements of the method. This simple and selective method derives its potential mainly from the large variety of applicable nitriles. Suitable substrates include (functionalized) aliphatic and aromatic nitriles as well as cyanamides derived from secondary amines.     

Development and application of a simple routine method for the determination of selenium in serum by octopole reaction system ICPMS

The aim of the study was to develop an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) method for robust and simple routine determination of selenium in serum. Polyatomic interferences on ⁷⁶Se, ⁷⁷Se, and ⁷⁸Se were removed by applying an octopole reaction system ICPMS with the reaction cell pressurized with H₂ gas. We developed a novel simple optimization routine for the H₂ gas flow based on a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) calculation of the selenium signal measured in a single selenium standard. The optimum H₂ flow was 2.9 mL min^–1. The selenium content in serum was determined after a 50-fold dilution with 0.16 M HNO₃ and quantified by using addition calibration and gallium as an internal standard. The method detection limit was 0.10 g L^–1 for ⁷⁶Se and ⁷⁸Se and 0.13 g L^–1 for ⁷⁷Se. Human serum samples from a case-control study investigating if selenium was associated with risk of colorectal adenoma were analyzed. The average selenium concentration for the control group (n=768) was 137.1 g L^–1 and the range was 73.4–305.5 g L^–1. The within-batch repeatability (a batch is ten samples) estimated from 182 replicate analyses was 6.3% coefficient of variation (CV), whereas the between-batch repeatability was 7.4% CV estimated from 361 replicates between batches. The method accuracy was evaluated by analysis of a human serum certified reference material (Seronorm Serum level II, Sero A/S, Norway). There was a fairly good agreement between the measured average of 145±3 g L^–1 (n=36) and the certified value of 136±9 g L^–1. In addition the method was successfully applied for analysis of zinc serum concentrations without further optimization. For the Seronorm certified reference material a value of 911±75 g L^–1 (n=31) for zinc was obtained, which corresponds well to the certified zinc value of 920±60 g L^–1.