Adsorption of myoglobin to Cu(II)-IDA and Ni(II)-IDA functionalized langmuir monolayers: study of the protein layer structure during the adsorption process by neutron and X-ray reflectivity

The structure and orientation of adsorbed myoglobin as directed by metal-histidine complexation at the liquid-film interface was studied as a function of time using neutron and X-ray reflectivity (NR and XR, respectively). In this system, adsorption is due to the interaction between iminodiacetate (IDA)-chelated divalent metal ions Ni(II) and Cu(II) and histidine moieties at the outer surface of the protein. Adsorption was examined under conditions of constant area per lipid molecule at an initial pressure of 40 mN/m. Adsorption occurred over a time period of about 15 h, allowing detailed characterization of the layer structure throughout the process. The layer thickness and the in-plane averaged segment volume fraction were obtained at roughly 40 min intervals by NR. The binding constant of histidine with Cu(II)-IDA is known to be about four times greater than that of histidine with Ni(II)-IDA. The difference in interaction energy led to significant differences in the structure of the adsorbed layer. For Cu(II)-IDA, the thickness of the adsorbed layer at low protein coverage was < or = 20 A and the thickness increased almost linearly with increasing coverage to 42 A. For Ni(II)-IDA, the thickness at low coverage was approximately 38 A and increased gradually with coverage to 47 A. The in-plane averaged segment volume fraction of the adsorbed layer independently confirmed a thinner layer at low coverage for Cu(II)-IDA. These structural differences at the early stages are discussed in terms of either different preferred orientations for isolated chains in the two cases or more extensive conformational changes upon adsorption in the case of Cu(II)-IDA. Subphase dilution experiments provided additional insight, indicating that the adsorbed layer was not in equilibrium with the bulk solution even at low coverages for both IDA-chelated metal ions. We conclude that the weight of the evidence favors the interpretation based on more extensive conformational changes upon adsorption to Cu(II)-IDA.     

Optimization of Fe/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> based metal oxides as selective oxidation catalyst of propane with combinatorial approach

A combinatorial optimization with genetic algorism was performed on the five generations of 0.05 atm% Fe/SiO₂ added multi-metal oxides to be used as catalytic materials for the selective oxidation of propane to give aldehydes at 623-773 K. The loaded multi-metal oxides consist of some elements selected from seven elements with various atomic charges or redox properties. For the best materials, selectivity toward aldehydes from 35% at 1st generation to 45% at 4th generation were achieved at 5% propane conversion. Further rational optimization of the best performance catalyst also improves the selectivity up to 49.5%.     

Isotope effect in retention value between55Cr and51Cr in recoll chemistry of Cr/acac/3

Recoiling behaviour of⁵⁵Cr produced by⁵⁴Cr/n, /⁵⁵Cr reaction was studied by choosing solid Cr/acac/₃ or its benzene solution as target material and by using rapid separation technique. The approximate retention value /R-value/ of⁵⁵Cr, defined as the percentage of the activity retained in the benzene phase which was not extracted with an oxalic acid solution, was found to be higher than that of⁵⁵Cr for practically all experimental runs tested /15 runs/. The ratio (⁵⁵Cr/⁵¹Cr) was 1.115±0.027.     

Diverted total synthesis and biological evaluation of gambierol analogues: elucidation of crucial structural elements for potent toxicity

Gambierol is a polycyclic ether toxin, which has been isolated from the marine dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus. A series of gambierol analogues have been prepared from an advanced intermediate of our total synthesis of gambierol and investigated for their toxicity against mice, thus providing the first systematic structure-activity relationships (SAR) of this polycyclic ether class of marine toxin. The SAR studies described herein clearly indicate that 1) the C28=C29 double bond within the H ring and the unsaturated side chain are the crucial structural elements required for exerting potent biological activity and 2) the C1 and C6 hydroxy groups, the C30 methyl group, and the C37=C38 double bond have little influence on the degree of neurotoxicity against mice.     

Synthesis of the axially substituted titanium Pc-C60 dyad with a convenient method

[structure: see text] We successfully synthesized the axially substituted titanium Pc-C(60) dyad with a convenient method that improves on the traditional asymmetrical phthalocyanine routine to covalently linked phthalocyanines with other functional molecules. The intramolecular photoinduced process between phthalocyanine donor and fullerene acceptor was preliminarily studied.     

Cross-coupling reaction of alpha-chloroketones and organotin enolates catalyzed by zinc halides for synthesis of gamma-diketones

The reaction of tin enolates 1 with alpha-chloro- or bromoketones 2 gave gamma-diketones (1,4-diketones) 3 catalyzed by zinc halides. In contrast to the exclusive formation of 1,4-diketones 3 under catalytic conditions, uncatalyzed reaction of 1 with 2 gave aldol-type products 4 through carbonyl attack. NMR study indicates that the catalyzed reaction includes precondensation between tin enolates and alpha-haloketones providing an aldol-type species and their rearrangement of the oxoalkyl group with leaving halogen to produce 1,4-diketones. The catalyst, zinc halides, plays an important role in each step. The carbonyl attack for precondensation is accelerated by the catalyst as Lewis acid and the intermediate zincate promotes the rearrangement by releasing oxygen and bonding with halogen. Various types of tin enolates and alpha-chloro- and bromoketones were applied to the zinc-catalyzed cross-coupling. On the other hand, the allylic halides, which have no carbonyl moiety, were inert to the zinc-catalyzed coupling with tin enolates. The copper halides showed high catalytic activity for the coupling between tin enolates 1 and organic halides 7 to give gamma,delta-unsaturated ketones 8 and/or 9. The reaction with even chlorides proceeded effectively by the catalytic system.     

Unequal hydrolysis of salicylic acid-D-alanine and salicylic acid-L-alanine conjugate in rabbit intestinal microorganisms.

The behavior of salicylic acid-D-alanine conjugate (salicyl-D-alanine) following intravenous, oral and intracecal administration was examined in rabbits, then compared with that of salicylic acid-L-alanine conjugate (salicyl-L-alanine) as reported previously. Following intravenous administration, salicyl-D-alanine eliminated rapidly from the blood, and its blood concentration was almost identical with that of salicyl-L-alanine. In both cases, salicylic acid could not be detected in the blood, indicating that systemic de-conjugation of D-alanine might not occur. Unchanged salicyl-D-alanine was found in the blood mainly following oral and intracecal administration of salicyl-D-alanine. On the other hand, salicylic acid formed extensively following oral and intracecal administration of salicyl-L-alanine, suggesting that the presystemic de-conjugation of D-alanine and L-alanine was unequal. Furthermore, in vitro incubation of salicyl-D-alanine with cecal content, in which the major source of salicyl-L-alanine hydrolysis is found, showed that the hydrolysis of salicyl-D-alanine was negligible in rabbit intestinal microorganisms.     

Synthesis of dysiherbaine analogue

Synthesis of dysiherbaine analogue 4, which corresponds to 8,9-epi-neodysiherbaine A, is described. The synthesis features a concise route to the bicyclic ether skeleton through stereoselective C-glycosylation to set the C₆ stereocenter and 5-exo ring-closure to form the tetrahydrofuran ring. The results of preliminary biological studies of 4 are also provided.