Monitoring of microenvironmental changes in the major and minor grooves of DNA by dan-modified oligonucleotides

[graph: see text] We describe the synthesis of new environmentally sensitive fluorescence probes to elucidate DNA structures. DNA oligonucleotides containing fluorophore dan (6-(dimethylamino)-2-acylnaphthalene)-modified dC or dG were able to monitor the microenvironmental changes in both the major and minor grooves of DNA with a B- to A-DNA conformational transition and RNA hybridization.     

Ultrafast photoinduced intramolecular charge separation and recombination processes in the oligothiophene-substituted benzene dyads with an amide spacer

Photoinduced intramolecular charge separation (CS) and recombination (CR) processes of the tetrathiophene-substituted benzene dyads with an amide spacer (4T-PhR, R = 4-H (1), 4-CN (2), 3,4-(CN)2 (3), 4-NO2 (4), 3,5-(NO2)2 (5)) in solvents of different polarities were investigated using various fast spectroscopies. It was revealed that the CS rates depend on the ability of the acceptor and solvent polarity. Ultrafast CS with the rate of 5 x 10(12) s(-1) was revealed for 5 in PhCN and MeCN. The ultrafast CS can be attributed to the large electronic coupling matrix element between the donor and the acceptor despite the relative long donor-acceptor distance. The existence of the state with large electron density on the spacer between 14T*-PhR and LUMO should facilitate the CS process in the present dyad system. It was also revealed that the CR rates in these dyads were rather fast because of the enhanced superexchange interaction through the amide spacer.     

Flavonol glycosides in leaves of two Diospyros species

Fourteen flavonol glycosides including two new compounds were isolated from the leaves of two Diospyros plants (D. cathayensis and D. rhombifolia). The structures of isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic analysis. The scavenging activity of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical of the isolated compounds was also investigated.     

Four-way-branched DNA-porphyrin conjugates for construction of four double-helix-DNA assembled structures

[reaction: see text] DNA-porphyrin conjugates having four DNA strands were designed and synthesized. Four double helices were assembled using two DNA-porphyrin conjugates and their complementary strands, and the formation of the four double-helix assembled structures with the two DNA-porphyrin units was examined by gel electrophoresis and spectroscopic analysis. The interaction between two porphyrin chromophores in the complex was investigated by measurement of fluorescence lifetimes, and the singlet energy transfer between the two different phorphyrin units (Zn-porphyrin and H2-porphyrin) was observed. These results indicate that multiple and different porphyrin chromophores can be integrated into the DNA structures by programming the sequences of the DNA strands.     

Nature of adsorption and desorption branches in cylindrical pores

To examine the nature of the adsorption and desorption branches in hysteretic adsorption isotherms of gases on mesoporous materials, we measured the temperature dependence of the adsorption and desorption isotherms of argon, oxygen, and carbon dioxide onto MCM-41 with a pore diameter of 4.4 nm. The results clearly show that in the open-ended cylindrical pores of MCM-41, capillary condensation rather than evaporation takes place near a thermodynamical equilibrium transition, as opposed to the general statement that capillary evaporation can occur via a meniscus formed at the pore mouth, and, thus, takes place at equilibrium.     

Theoretical modeling of photo-induced wave propagation in liquid-crystalline Langmuir monolayers

A phenomenological model of wave propagation in photo-excited liquid-crystalline Langmuir monolayers is constructed. The spontaneous splay deformation of the liquid-crystalline order and the anisotropy of photo-excitation of molecules are taken into account in this model. Numerical simulations of the model well reproduce qualitative features of the wave propagation phenomenon observed in recent experiments. A linear stability analysis of the model equations reveals that an interplay between the spontaneous splay deformation and the anisotropy of the photo-excitation can lead to the wave propagation.     

Evaluation of the efficiency of the photocatalytic one-electron oxidation reaction of aromatic compounds adsorbed on a TiO2 surface

The TiO2 photocatalytic one-electron oxidation mechanism of aromatic sulfides with a methylene bridging group (-(CH2)n-, n=0-4) between the 4-(methylthio)phenyl chromophore and the carboxylate binding group on the surface of a TiO2 powder slurried in acetonitrile (MeCN) has been investigated by time-resolved diffuse reflectance (TDR) spectroscopy. The electronic coupling element (H(DA)) between the hole donor and acceptor, which was estimated from the spectroscopic characteristics of the charge transfer (CT) complexes of the substrates (S) and the TiO2 surface, exhibited an exponential decline with the increasing of the methylene number of S. The determined decay factor (beta) of 9 nm(-1) also supports the fact that the 4-(methylthio)phenyl chromophore is separated from the TiO2 surface. The efficiency of the one-electron oxidation of S adsorbed on the TiO2 surface, which was determined from the relationship between the amount of adsorbates and the concentration of the generated radical cations, significantly depended on the H(DA) value, but not on the oxidation potential of S determined in homogeneous solution.     

Formal total synthesis of (±)-magellanine

Formal total synthesis of magellanine is described. Key features in the synthesis were stereoselective Ireland-Claisen rearrangement and intramolecular Pauson-Khand reaction of exo-cyclic enynes.