Mechanistic insights into the C55-P targeting lipopeptide antibiotics revealed by structure–activity studies and high-resolution crystal structures

The continued rise of antibiotic resistance is a global concern that threatens to undermine many aspects of modern medical practice. Key to addressing this threat is the discovery and development of new antibiotics that operate by unexploited modes of action. The so-called calcium-dependent lipopeptide antibiotics (CDAs) are an important emerging class of natural products that provides a source of new antibiotic agents rich in structural and mechanistic diversity. Notable in this regard is the subset of CDAs comprising the laspartomycins and amphomycins/friulimicins that specifically target the bacterial cell wall precursor undecaprenyl phosphate (C₅₅-P). In this study we describe the design and synthesis of new C₅₅-P-targeting CDAs with structural features drawn from both the laspartomycin and amphomycin/friulimicin classes. Assessment of these lipopeptides revealed previously unknown and surprisingly subtle structural features that are required for antibacterial activity. High-resolution crystal structures further indicate that the amphomycin/friulimicin-like lipopeptides adopt a unique crystal packing that governs their interaction with C₅₅-P and provides an explanation for their antibacterial effect. In addition, live-cell microscopy studies provide further insights into the biological activity of the C₅₅-P targeting CDAs highlighting their unique mechanism of action relative to the clinically used CDA daptomycin.

Structural and mechanistic studies give new insights into calcium-dependent lipopeptide antibiotics that target C₅₅-P.     

A brief critique of the Adam–Gibbs entropy model

This paper critically discusses the entropy model proposed by Adam and Gibbs in 1965 for the dramatic temperature dependence of glass-forming liquids’ average relaxation time, which is one of the most influential models during the last four decades. We discuss the Adam–Gibbs model’s theoretical bases as well as its reported experimental model confirmations; in the process of doing this a number of problems with the model are identified.     

Dynamics of polypropene and propene-ethylene copolymers at temperatures above ambient

Several applications of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to studying polyolefin mobility at temperatures ranging from room temperature to above the polymer melt are described. 13_C NMR can be used with magic-angle spinning and high-power proton decoupling to determine the fraction of mobile polymer in polypropene and to characterize the nature of the polymer chain motions as a function of sample temperature. Similar techniques can be used to characterize the local motions of complex copolymer systems such as heterophasic ethylene-propene copolymers. The practicality of low-speed magic angle spinning to observe quantitative high-resolution NMR spectra of neat, molten polymer samples is also described.     

Formal Aniline Synthesis from Phenols through Deoxygenative N-Centered Radical Substitution

Phenolic, lignin-derived substrates have emerged as desirable biorenewable chemical feedstocks for coupling reactions. A radical-mediated conversion of phenol derivatives to anilines is reported, using unfunctionalized hydroxamic acids as the N-centered radical source. The applicability of this triethyl phosphite mediated O-atom transfer approach, which tolerates a range of steric and electronic demands to naturally occurring phenols and lignin models, has been demonstrated in this work to access the corresponding aniline derivatives.     

Cross-validation and evaluation of the performance of methods for the elemental analysis of forensic glass by μ-XRF, ICP-MS, and LA-ICP-MS

Elemental analysis of glass was conducted by 16 forensic science laboratories, providing a direct comparison between three analytical methods [micro-x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (μ-XRF), solution analysis using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry]. Interlaboratory studies using glass standard reference materials and other glass samples were designed to (a) evaluate the analytical performance between different laboratories using the same method, (b) evaluate the analytical performance of the different methods, (c) evaluate the capabilities of the methods to correctly associate glass that originated from the same source and to correctly discriminate glass samples that do not share the same source, and (d) standardize the methods of analysis and interpretation of results. Reference materials NIST 612, NIST 1831, FGS 1, and FGS 2 were employed to cross-validate these sensitive techniques and to optimize and standardize the analytical protocols. The resulting figures of merit for the ICP-MS methods include repeatability better than 5 % RSD, reproducibility between laboratories better than 10 % RSD, bias better than 10 %, and limits of detection between 0.03 and 9 μg g^?1 for the majority of the elements monitored. The figures of merit for the μ-XRF methods include repeatability better than 11 % RSD, reproducibility between laboratories after normalization of the data better than 16 % RSD, and limits of detection between 5.8 and 7,400 μg g^?1. The results from this study also compare the analytical performance of different forensic science laboratories conducting elemental analysis of glass evidence fragments using the three analytical methods.

Synthesis and characterization of fused‐thiophene containing naphthalene diimide n‐type copolymers for organic thin film transistor and all‐polymer solar cell applications

Naphthalene diimide copolymers are attractive n‐type materials due to their high electron affinities, high electron mobilities, and exceptional stability. Herein, we report a series of NDI‐fused‐thiophene based copolymers with each copolymer differing in the number of fused thiophenes in the donor monomer. Increasing the number of fused‐thiophene moieties within an NDI‐copolymer backbone is shown to not only enable tuning of the electronic structure but also improve charge mobilities within the active layer of organic field‐effect transistors. Electron mobilities and on/off ratios as high as 0.012 cm² V^?1 s^‐1 and I_on/I_off > 10⁵ were measured from n‐channel thin‐film transistors fabricated using NDI‐xfTh copolymers. Bulk heterojunction solar cell devices were also fabricated from the NDI‐xfTh copolymer series in blends with poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) with PNDI‐4fTh ‐ based devices yielding the largest J_sc (0.57 mA cm^?2) and fill factor (55%) in addition to the highest measured PCE for this series (0.13%). © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4061–4069     

Quantitative analysis of amylopectin unit chains by means of high-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection

High-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPAEC–PAD) is a widely used technique to study the chain length distribution of amylopectin. The chromatograms, however, do not directly reflect this distribution, since the PAD response changes with the degree of polymerization. In this study, waxy maize starch was debranched and fractionated on a Bio-Gel P-6 column and the response factors for maltosaccharides with DP 3–65 were determined. The detector response per μg glucan chains was shown to decrease considerably for DP 3–7 while the curve leveled out for DP larger than 15.     

Electronic structure and spectrum of UO2 2+ and UO2Cl4 2-

A theoretical study is presented of the electronic spectra of the UO(2) (2+) and UO(2)Cl(4) (2-) ions, based on multiconfigurational perturbation theory (CASSCF/CASPT2), combined with a recently developed method to treat spin-orbit coupling [P.-A. Malmqvist et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 357, 230 (2002); B. O. Roos and P.-A. Malmqvist, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 6, 2919 (2004)]. The results are compared to the experimental spectroscopic data obtained for uranyl ions in Cs(2)UO(2)Cl(4) crystals from Denning [Struct. Bonding (Berlin) 79, 215 (1992)] and to previous theoretical calculations performed using a combined configuration-interaction spin-orbit treatment [Z. Zhang and R. M. Pitzer, J. Phys. Chem. A 103, 6880 (1999); S. Matsika and R. M. Pitzer, J. Phys. Chem. A. 105, 637 (2001)]. As opposed to the latter results, the calculations performed in this work point to a significant effect of the weakly bound equatorial chlorine ligands on the excitation energies.     

Microcalorimetry of oxygen adsorption on fcc Co{110}

The coverage dependent heats of adsorption and sticking probabilities for oxygen on fcc Co{110} have been measured at 300 K using single crystal adsorption calorimetry (SCAC). Initial adsorption is consistent with dissociative chemisorption at low coverage followed by oxide formation above 0.6 ML coverage. The initial heat of adsorption of 633 kJ mol(-1) is similar to heat values calorimetrically measured on other ferromagnetic metal surfaces, such as nickel and iron. As the coverage increases, the heat of adsorption and sticking probability drop very rapidly up to the onset of oxidation. As already observed for other oxygen-metal surface systems, strong lateral adatom repulsions are responsible for the transition from the chemisorption regime to oxide film formation at higher coverage. The heat of oxide formation at the onset is 475 kJ mol(-1), which is consistent with the formation of CoO crystallites. The oxide film formation is discussed in terms of nucleation and island growth, and the Mott-Cabrera mechanisms, the latter being evidenced by the relatively constant heat of adsorption and sticking probability in contrast to the nickel and iron oxidation cases.     

Density matrix averaged atomic natural orbital (ANO) basis sets for correlated molecular wave functions

Summary Generally contracted Basis sets for the atoms H-Kr have been constructed using the atomic natural orbital (ANO) approach, with modifications for allowing symmetry breaking and state averaging. The ANO's are constructed by averaging over the most significant electronic states, the ground state of the cation, the ground state of the anion for some atoms and the homonuclear diatomic molecule at equilibrium distance for some atoms. The contracted basis sets yield excellent results for properties of molecules such as bond-strengths and-lengths, vibrational frequencies, and good results for valence spectra, ionization potentials and electron affinities of the atoms, considering the small size of these sets. The basis sets presented in this article constitute a balanced sequence of basis sets suitable for larger systems, where economy in basis set size is of importance.