A new inorganic-organic polymer for the passivation of thin film capacitors

Inorganic-organic polymers with barrier properties against water vapor, excellent electrical data (3, 2, R _D>10¹⁶ cm, E _D up to 400 V/µm) and good adhesion to various substrate materials have been developed. Tailored modifications of these materials provide an excellent protective coating for thin film capacitors. Several mm thick, expensive, encapsulations could be replaced by thin coatings (up to 10 µm). The polymer coating allows the use of thin film chip capacitors in surface-mount technology. As a measure for the efficiency of the coating, the capacitance decrease under controlled humidity has been used. The influence of the material composition, the type of catalyst during sol-gel processing and the curing conditions have been studied. Adhesion and water vapor permeation properties of the polymers and rheological properties of the coating solutions have been investigated. A protective coating is developed, which increases the withstandness of capacitors against humid conditions (90°C, 100% rel. humidity) by a factor of about 30 (compared to uncoated capacitors) and shows no crack formation during thermal cycling.     

Struktur von 7,11-Diphenyl-2,4-diazaspiro[5,5]undecan-1,3,5,9-tetraonen durch LIS-NMR

A semi-quantitative method for determining distances between a possible coordination centre and protons from LIS-NMR values is developed for the title compounds3, although these have four coordination points. This makes it possible to propose structures and conformations for the isomers of3.

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H.-H. Otto undH. Yamamura, Ann. Chem., im Druck.     

Solid-state binding of dimethyl sulphoxide involving carboxylic host molecules. X-ray crystal structures of four inclusion species

The crystal structures of four dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) inclusion compounds with different carboxylic acid hosts,1–4, have been studied by single crystal X-ray analysis. Crystals of thetrans-9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene-11,12-dicarboxylic acid inclusion compound (1a), [1 · DMSO (1: 1)] show monoclinic (P2₁/n) symmetry with the unit cell dimensionsa = 11.522(4),b = 18.658(2),c = 8.709(1) Å and = 98.92(2)°. The clathrate of the 9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene-11,12-dicarboxylic acid (2a), [2 · DMSO (1: 2)] is triclinic (P) with the cell dimensionsa = 15.043(7),b =9.657(4),c = 8.118(7) Å, = 101.81(5), = 96.05(4) and = 100.04(4)°. Triclinic (P) symmetry is shown also by the inclusion compound of 9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene-11-monocarboxylic acid (3a) [3 · DMSO (1:1)] with the cell dimensionsa=6.3132(1),b=7.9846(2),c=17.5314(4) Å, = 96.46(2), = 87.08(2) and = 106.02(2)°. The 9,9-bianthryl-2-monocarboxylic acid clathrate (4a) [4 · DMSO (1:1)] is monoclinic (P2₁/n) and the cell dimensions area = 19.625(18),b = 8.817(1),c = 14.076(8) Å and = 97.92(6)°. In all these structures, the hosts show the same basic recognition pattern for the DMSO guest, involving a strong O-H ... O bond from the COON to the S=O group, and a possible C-H ... O type interaction between the carbonyl O atom of the host and a CH₃ group of the guest. The crystals consist of discrete host-guest aggregates which are mainly held together by weak intermolecular interactions of the Van der Waals' type. The stoichiometries of the aggregates are, however, different.     

Photoelectron spectroscopy of isolated multiply negatively charged oligonucleotides

Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy in an ion beam was used to investigate the electronic properties of isolated DNA oligonucleotides [dA(5)-4H](4-) and [dT(5)-4H](4-), carrying four excess negative charges. We find the fourth adiabatic electron affinity to be slightly negative for [dA(5)-4H](4-), while it is positive for [dT(5)-4H](4-). This implies a significant influence of the base composition on energetics, which is in turn relevant for analytic applications and also for charge transport properties.     

Ab initio calculation of the C/D ratio of magnetic circular dichroism

A procedure for calculating the magnetic circular dichroism C/D ratio from density functional theory calculations is discussed. The method is simplified considerably through the application of group theory and the irreducible-tensor method and only requires integrals of the magnetic dipole moment operator over a few orbitals and published tables of symmetry factors. The implementation of the method is tested through application to several small and medium-sized molecules.     

Aza-Claisen Rearrangement: Synthesis of 5′-branched 5′-aminothymidines

The syntheses of both diastereoisomers of 5′-ethyl-substituted thymidine dimers, the (5′R)- and (5′S)-configurated 33a and 33b respectively, in which the natural phosphodiester linkage is replaced by an amide group (C(3′)-CH₂CONH-CH(5′)(Et)), arc described. Their fully protected derivatives 35a and 35b , respectively, are suitable for incorporation into antisense oligonucleotides. Unexpectedly, an attempted Pd^II-catalysed aza-Claisen rearrangement of trichloroacetimidate 7 provided the diastereoisomerically pure cyclopropane derivative 17 , whose structure was confirmed by X-ray analysis.     

Copper—A “Modern” Bioelement

Copper is a bioessential element in biology with truly unique chemical characteristics in its two relevant oxidation states +I and +II. Significant progress has been made in recent years in the elucidation of the frequently surprising biochemistry of this trace element. Those advances were especially furthered through mutual stimulation involving results from biochemistry, molecular biology, and medicine on one hand and the synthesis as well as the structural and spectroscopic characterization of low molecular weight model complexes on the other. The most notable features of protein-bound active copper are its almost exclusive function in the metabolism of O₂ or N/O compounds (NO, N₂O) and its frequent association with oxidizing organic and inorganic radicals such as tyrosyl, semiquinones, superoxide, or nitrosyl. This unique biological role of copper can be rationalized given its chemical and assumed evolutionary background.     

A theoretical study of the large Hg-Hg spin-spin coupling constants in Hg(2)(2+), Hg(3)(2+), and Hg(2)(2+)-crown ether complexes

Nuclear spin-spin coupling constants (1)J(Hg-Hg) in the systems Hg(2)(2+) and Hg(3)(2+) represent the largest coupling constants so far observed in NMR experiments. We have performed a computational study on these ions, on Hg(2)(2+) complexes with 18-crown-6 and 15-crown-5, and on Hg(3)(2+) with solvent molecules and counterions. The results obtained with our recently developed program for the density functional computation of heavy nucleus spin-spin coupling constants are in good agreement with experiments. The data reveal that the bare ions Hg(2)(2+) and Hg(3)(2+) would afford much larger coupling constants than those experimentally observed, with an upper limit of approximately 0.9 MHz for Hg(2)(2+). This limit is much larger than that previously estimated by Hückel theory. It is demonstrated that in solution or due to complexation the experimentally determined values are much smaller than the free ion's coupling constants. With the help of intuitive MO arguments, it is illustrated how the environment strongly reduces the coupling constants in Hg(2)(2+) and Hg(3)(2+). The two-bond coupling constant (2)J(Hg-Hg) in Hg(3)(2+) is also examined.     

Generic method for systematic phase selection and method development of biochromatographic processes. Part I. Selection of a suitable cation-exchanger for the purification of a pharmaceutical protein

Even if the first protein therapeutics are now for more than 20 years on the market the selection of suitable adsorbents for the preparative downstream processing (DSP) of these biomolecules as well as the method development towards process conditions are still based mainly on 'trial and error'. Therefore, theses processes are not perfectly efficient, but indeed very time consuming and laborious. In this study a novel systematic method is introduced to find a suitable adsorbent (not necessarily the best one) with appropriate separation parameters for a specific separation with reduced effort. Following this strategy, the adsorbents must first be packed into columns under preparative conditions and then characterized completely with regard to, e.g. pressure drop, k'-values, plate heights (HETP curves), selectivity and capacity by using test substances, which are similar in their characteristics (molecular mass, size, charge distribution, hydrophobicity) to the target proteins. With the database once determined, a preselection of most suitable adsorbents including separation parameters is made regarding chromatographic and also economical properties. After this, preparative experiments must be conducted with a reduced number of adsorbents to figure out the individual influence of side components. This approach is demonstrated for the separation of an exemplary industrial protein mixture using cation-exchange chromatography (CEX). Characterization of different weak CEX-adsorbents is illustrated. After comparing these phases with each other, a first preselection and a prediction of suitable adsorbents is made. In the following preparative separation conditions (load, velocity, gradient) are determined for the preparative separations using the database and results of some additional experiments. The final comparison of separation performance in preparative scale confirms this selection and so the applicability of the new method.     

New antimalarial drugs

Approximately 40% of the world population live in areas with the risk of malaria. Each year, 300-500 million people suffer from acute malaria, and 0.5-2.5 million die from the disease. Although malaria has been widely eradicated in many parts of the world, the global number of cases continues to rise. The most important reason for this alarming situation is the rapid spread of malaria parasites that are resistant to antimalarial drugs, especially chloroquine, which is by far the most frequently used. The development of new antimalarial drugs has been neglected since the 1970s owing to the end colonialism, changes in the areas of military engagement, and the restricted market potential. Only in recent years, in part supported by public funding programs, has interest in the development of antimalarial drugs been renewed. New data available from the recently sequenced genome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum and the application of methods of modern drug design promise to bring significant development in the fight against this disease.