Crystal Structure and Packing of Isocyclosporin A

The crystal structure of isocyclosporin A ( 1 ), a rearrangement product of the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin A, has been determined at 193 (2) K. Crystals are orthorhombic with cell dimensions a = 26.684 (7), b = 26.936 (3) Å, c = 28.549 (7) Å, space group C222₁. The structure was solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares methods to a conventional R value of 0.110. In contrast to the structure of cyclosprin A in solution and in the crystal, isocyclosporin A ( 1 ) has no regular secondary structural elements. The backbone adopts an open, irregular conformation with cis amide bonds between residue 2 and 3, and 3 and 4, respectively. All the other amide bonds and the ester linkage are trans. Contrary to crystal structures of cyclosporin derivatives, this crystal structure is stabilized by two transannular and four intermolecular H-bonds.     

An ab initio study of the geometry,harmonic and anharmonic force fields,and fundamental vibrational frequencies of cis- and trans- thiolformic acid

The geometry, harmonic and anharmonic force fields, and fundamental vibrational frequencies of cis- and trans-thiolformic acid are studied ab initio in the 4-31G basis set. An extensive comparison is made between changes in diagonal and off-diagonal quadratic and cubic force constants and diagonal stretching quartic constants in going from the chain to the ring structure in thiolformic acid and formic acid. The changes in the force constants are indicative of a much weaker interaction in the trans conformer between S? H and O?C, compared with O–H and O?C, in keeping with the weaker hydrogenbonding property of the S? H group in general.     

Gradient expansion of the atomic kinetic energy functional

It is demonstrated that the ground-state atomic kinetic energy functional T[?], where ? is the electron density, can be computed to surprising accuracy from the truncated gradient expansion: T[?] = + T₂[?] + T₄[?], with T_o[?] = $\text{3}\text{10}$(3π²)$\text{2}\text{3}$ ∫ ?$\text{5}\text{3}$ d_τ, T₂ [?] = $\text{1}\text{72}$ ∫ (??)²?^?1 d_τ, and T₄ [?] given by the formula of Hodges. Calculations of T₀, T₂ and T₄ are reported for He with ? both the Hartree—Fock and a very accurate density, and for Ne, Ar and Kr with ? the Hartree—Fock density. For Kr, T₀ + T₂ + T₄ is within 0.3% of the exact Hartree—Fock T, with T₂/T₀ = 0.05, T₄/T₂ = 0.17.     

The crystal structure of tetrakis(methyldiphenylphosphine)iridium(I) tetrafluoroborate with cyclohexane of solvation: Ir[P(C6H5)2CH3]4BF4 - C6H12

The crystal structure of tetrakis(methyldiphenylphosphine)iridium(I) tetrafluoroborate with cyclohexane of solvation, [Ir(PPh₂Me)₄]BF₄·C₆H₁₂, has been determined from a three-dimensional X-ray analysis. The compound has been analysed in space group C₂/c of the monoclinic system. There are twelve molecules (i.e. 1.5 molecules per asymmetric unit) in a cell of dimensions a = 36.804(8), b = 22.93(2), c = 21.676(4) Å, β = 121.41(1)°. Block-diagonal least-squares refinement has given a final R-factor of 0.060 for 7905 reflections having I > 3σ(I).The structure consists of two crystallographically distinct, but structurally similar molecules, one on a general position and one on a crystallographic two-fold axis. The phosphine ligands around the iridium atoms are in a very distorted square-planar arrangement. The reactions of the cation axe discussed in terms of this structure.     

Anionic-initiated polymerization of β-nitrostyrenes

β-Nitrostyrene and many of its derivatives have been shown to yield high polymers via anionic initiation with alkoxide ions in protic solvents, e.g., alcohols. A study was conducted to determine the effect of certain substituents on the polymerization characteristics of representative monomers of this series and the properties of their polymers. A kinetic study was conducted and the relative rates of propagation were unexpectedly found to correlate well with brown's σ⁺ values. The rates of initiation of two representative monomers, β-nitrostyrene and p-methoxy-β-nitrostyrene, with sodium ethoxide were found to be 3.51 and 2.86 liter/mole sec, respectively. The rate of chain transfer in ethanol was studied qualitatively by using gel-permeation chromatography (GPC) to obtain molecular weight distribution (MWD) curves. The low values of the M _w/M _n ratios indicated little chain transfer in the protic solvent.     

Self-assembled luminescent CdSe-ZnS quantum dot bioconjugates prepared using engineered poly-histidine terminated proteins

We report a simple and versatile approach for the conjugation of luminescent CdSe-ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) to proteins through coordination of engineered C-terminal oligohistidine sequences. Several histidine tail containing proteins were self-assembled onto the QD surface using this method. A recombinant antibody specific for the high explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) was conjugated to QDs through a carboxy terminal histidine tail and the bioconjugate used to detect TNT by competitive immunoassay. TNT was detected over the range of 10 μg/ml down to 41 ng/ml using the scFv conjugated to QDs. These results open up the possibility to conjugate luminescent QDs to a whole range of proteins to form QD bioconjugates that can be effectively used in bio-oriented applications, such as sensing, imaging, immunoassay and other diagnostics.     

The growth of crystals in solution

The crystallization of sparingly soluble salts from their aqueous supersaturated solutions is discussed from the standpoint of two important applications; scale formation and biological mineralization. Theories of crystal growth are outlined and the importance of kinetic factors in determining the nature of the growing phases is discussed. The kinetic factors can be studied by using a highly reproducible seeded growth technique and under certain conditions secondary nucleation can also be induced on the surface of the inoculating seed crystals. The kinetics of crystallization of the alkaline earth surfaces and the calcium phosphates is discussed. In the latter systems, temperature, supersaturation, surface concentration, pH, ionic strength and the presence of foreign ions are important in determining the nature of the phase which grows on the added seed crystals. The mechanism of the retardation of crystal growth by added crystallization inhibitors is illustrated by the influence of organic phosphonate molecules upon the precipitation of calcium carbonate.     

Comparison of 17beta-estradiol structures from x-ray diffraction and solution NMR

The NMR-derived structure of estrogen (17beta-estradiol, E2), the drug of choice for postmenopausal women, was compared with a recent literature crystal x-ray structure of Fab-bound E2. 1H and 13C NMR spectra of E2 were acquired in DMSO-d6. Assignments were obtained from an analysis of DQF-COSY, TOCSY, HETCOR, HMQC and HMBC 2D NMR spectra. The 1H and 13C NMR assignments are the first reported for E2 in DMSO-d6. Two solution structures, S1 and S2, were obtained with molecular modeling using NOE constraints. S1 overlaps with the crystal structure for all rings. S2 shows prominent differences in the C-ring (C9--C11--C12--C13) segment, which deviates from a chair conformation, and excellent overlap in the A-, B- and D-rings of E2. The C-ring in S2 adopts a boat conformation as opposed to a chair conformation in the x-ray and S1 structures. The S2 structure is about 6 degrees more twisted than the bound x-ray and S1 models. The S1, S2 and x-ray structures had ring bowing values of 10.1 +/- 0.3, 11 +/- 1 and 10.37 degrees , respectively. Of the 100 solution conformers generated, 83 had S1 conformation and 17 had S2 conformation, with average internal energies of 112 +/- 2 and 141 +/- 2 kcal mol(-1), respectively. The 100 S1- and S2- derived conformers showed a r.m.s.d. of 0.72 A for all atoms. The x-ray, S1 and S2 C18--O17 distances were 2.93, 2.92 +/- 0.01 and 2.93 +/- 0.01 A, respectively, and the O3--O17 distances were 11.06, 11.18 +/- 0.12, and 10.89 +/- 0.05 A, respectively.     

Adhesion between graphite and modified polyester surfaces: a theoretical study

This study examines the adhesion of graphite to functionalized polyester surfaces using a range of qualitative and quantitative measures of theoretical adhesion. Modifications to the polyester surfaces include the addition of hydroxyl, carboxyl, or fluorine substituents with coverages of 0.4 and 0.9 groups per nm(2). In each case, the introduction of substituents to the surface of the polyester was calculated to lead to reduced adhesion to graphite. Effects of surface relaxation on adhesion are studied by employing different simulation protocols. The theoretical results suggest one mechanism to reduce adhesion to carbonaceous solids is to increase atomic roughness using strongly hydrophilic or alternatively strongly hydrophobic substituents.