New pressure-density-temperature measurements and new rational equations for the saturated liquid and vapour densities of oxygen

The results of pressure, density, temperature (p, ?, T) measurements in the temperature range from 65 K to 300 K, for pressures up to 7.2 MPa, and for densities from 0.3 mol dm^?3 to 39 mol dm^?3, are presented for pure oxygen. Using the experimental results, new values for the densities of saturated liquid and vapour are evaluated. To check the accuracy of these results, corresponding sets reported in the literature are critically analysed to determine the most reliable p, ?, T set for oxygen. Finally, new equations for the densities of saturated liquid and vapour are developed using a statistical procedure.     

Le cation méthylènecyclopropyle: Etude théorique. Solvolyse des halogénocyclopropènes et des halogénométhylenecyclopropanes

The solvolysis in acid solution of allylic halides and acetates of methylenecyclopropanes and cyclopropylmethanes does not lead to ring opening when there is an ethoxycarbonyl substituent on the ring methylene. Only the cyclopropenyl derivative is obtained. A study of the electronic structure and the geometry of the possible allylic cation intermediate has been carried out using the MNDO method. In addition, the influence of the substituents on the ring opening of this cation has beeen examined. It appears that the ring opening is disfavoured upon substitution of an alkyl group by alkoxymethyl on the ring methylene group.     

TreeDock: a tool for protein docking based on minimizing van der Waals energies

Predicting protein-protein and protein-ligand docking remains one of the challenging topics of structural biology. The main problems are (i) to reliably estimate the binding free energies of docked states, (ii) to enumerate possible docking orientations at a high resolution, and (iii) to consider mobility of the docking surfaces and structural rearrangements upon interaction. Here we present a novel algorithm, TreeDock, that addresses the enumeration problem in a rigid-body docking search. By representing molecules as multidimensional binary search trees and by exploring a sufficient number of docking orientations such that two chosen atoms, one from each molecule, are always in contact, TreeDock is able to explore all clash-free orientations at very fine resolution in a reasonable amount of time. Due to the speed of the program, many contact pairs can be examined to search partial or complete surface areas. The deterministic systematic search of TreeDock is in contrast to most other docking programs that use stochastic searches such as Monte Carlo or simulated annealing methods. At this point, we have used the Lennard-Jones potential as the only scoring function and show that this can predict the correct docked conformation for a number of protein-protein and protein-ligand complexes. The program is most powerful if some information is known about the location of binding faces from NMR chemical-shift perturbation studies, orientation information from residual dipolar coupling, or mutational screening. The approach has the potential to include docking-site mobility by performing molecular dynamics or other randomization methods of the docking site and docking families to families of structures. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated by docking three complexes of immunoglobulin superfamily domains, CD2 to CD58, the V(alpha) domain of a T-cell receptor to its V(beta) domain, and a T-cell receptor to a pMHC complex as well as a small molecule inhibitor to a phosphatase.     

Tautomerism and stereochemistry of hypericin: Force field,NMR, and X-ray crystallographic investigations

Summary Stereochemistry and tautomerism of hypericin, pseudohypericin, and several of their partial structure models were investigated using an MM2 derived force field method. Besides the propeller type conformer, which was also found by the X-ray crystallographic study, the complicated energy hypersurface was shown to contain a novel double-butterfly conformer of similar stability. The upper limit interconversion barrier between these conformers and their enantiomers was found to be in the order of 115 kJ/mol.¹H-NMR experiments suggested a lower limit interconversion barrier of at least 80 kJ/mol. From the ten tautomers possible in principle, the 7,14-species was derived to be the most stable one by at least 48 kJ/mol.

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Tautomerie und Stereochemie von Hypericin: Untersuchungen mit Hilfe der Kraftfeld-Methodik, NMR-Spektroskopie und Röntgenstrukturanalyse

Zusammenfassung Die Stereochemie von Hypericin, Pseudohypericin und einigen seiner Partialstrukturmodelle wurde mit Hilfe einer von MM2 abgeleiteten Kraftfeldmethodik untersucht. In der komplizierten Energiehyperfläche wurde neben dem auch durch Röntgenstrukturanalyse gefundenen Propeller-Konformeren ein neues Doppelschmetterling-Konformer ähnlicher Stabilität aufgefunden. Die obere Grenze für die Interkonversionsbarrieren zwischen diesen Konformeren und ihren Enantiomeren sind in der Größenordnung von 115 kJ/mol. Aus¹H-NMR-Experimenten konnte eine untere Grenze von wenigstens 80 kJ/mol abgeleitet werden. Es wurde gefunden, daß von den zehn prinzipiell möglichen Tautomeren die 7,14-Spezies die um wenigstens 48 kJ/mol stabilste ist.

     

The consecutive [2+2] cycloaddition-ring expansion route to diastereomeric 1,4-diazepin-5-ones from imino-ketenimines. Alternative intramolecular transamidation of β-lactams

Azeto[1,2-a]imidazoles are prepared by a formal intramolecular [2+2] cycloaddition of imino-ketenimines in which an ethylene chain is linking the nitrogen atoms of both functionalities, bearing a methyl and a phenyl group on the terminal carbon atom of the heterocumulene. By acid-catalyzed hydrolysis these azeto[1,2-a]imidazoles are converted into 6,6,7-trisubstituted hexahydro-1,4-diazepin-5-ones, which have been alternatively prepared via intramolecular transamidation of N-(2-aminoethyl)-β-lactams.     

Ligand discrimination in the reaction of nitrones with [PtCl2(PhCN)2]. Selective formation of mono-oxadiazoline and mixed bis-oxadiazoline complexes under thermal and microwave conditions

[2+3] Cycloaddition of nitrones to the nitrile ligands in the complexes cis- or trans-[PtCl2(PhCN)2] occurs under ligand differentiation and allows for selective synthesis of complexes of the type cis- or trans-[PtCl2(oxadiazoline)(PhCN)]. Microwave irradiation enhances the reaction rates of the cycloaddition considerably and further favours the selectivity towards the mono-cycloadduct with respect to thermal conditions, because the first cycloaddition is accelerated to a higher extent than the second one. Reaction of the trans-substituted mono-oxadiazoline complexes with a nitrone different from the one used for the first cycloaddition step gives access to mixed bis-oxadiazoline compounds of the composition trans-[PtCl2(oxadiazoline-a)(oxadiazoline-b)]. The corresponding cis-configured complexes, however, do not undergo further cycloaddition. All reactions described occur without isomerisation of the stereochemistry around the platinum center, independently of whether thermal or microwave heating is applied.     

SIACON—Equipment for the on-line determination of the silicon content of coal

The paper describes an automatic equipment which allows to determine the silicon content of coal by neutron activation analysis. The technique is based on the measurement of gamma-ray intensity of the²⁸Al radionuclide, which is the result of the fast neutron reaction²⁸Si(n, p)²⁸ Al. The Activation part includes a Pu-238/Be neutron source which is located in the middle of the sample container; the measuring part includes two NaI(Tl)-scintillation counters. The total time of the anlysis of one sample amounts to a few minutes; the standard deviation of a single determination is 0.2% SiO₂.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Magnetic Properties of New Dinuclear Copper(II) Complexes with N,N′‐Disubstituted Dithiooxamides derived from α‐Amino Acids

Four new dinuclear copper(II) complexes have been synthesized and have the general formula [Cu₂(L)(H₂O)₂], where L = GLYDTO [N,N′‐bis(carboxymethyl)dithiooxamide], ALADTO [N,N′‐bis(carboxyethyl)dithiooxamide], VALDTO [N,N′‐bis(1‐carboxy‐2‐methylpropyl)dithiooxamide] and LEUDTO [N,N′‐bis(1‐carboxy‐3‐methylbutyl)dithiooxamide]. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis as well as by IR, electronic and EPR spectroscopy. These techniques provided evidence for the presence of the CuNO₂S chromophore. Magnetic susceptibility measurements on all the complexes in the range 4–300 K show the existence of a dominant antiferromagnetic interaction with ?J values greater than 300 cm^?1. Thermal decomposition behaviour of the complexes was studied by thermogravimetry.     

Recent Advances in Electropolymerized Conducting Polymers in Amperometric Biosensors

Conducting electroactive polymers (CPs) are materials discovered just over 20 years ago which have aroused considerable interest on account of their electronic conducting properties and unique chemical and biochemical properties. Consequently, they have numerous (bio)analytical and technological applications. CPs are easily synthesized and deposited onto the conductive surface of a given substrate from monomer solutions by electrochemical polymerization with precise electrochemical control of their formation rate and thickness. Coating electrodes with CPs under mild conditions opens up enormous possibilities for the immobilization of biomolecules and bioaffinity or biorecognizing reagents, the improvement of their electrocatalytic properties, rapid electron transfer and direct communication to produce a range of analytical signals and new analytical applications. Co-immobilization of other molecules (enzymatic co-factors or charge-transfer mediators) by entrapment within electropolymerized films or by covalent binding on these films permits straightforward fabrication of reagentless biosensors. The characteristics of CPs and their uses, mainly in amperometric biosensors, are reviewed. The most recent applications and lines of research related to CP films are summarized in the different sections of the paper, and probable future trends are discussed.