A molecular dynamics study of the lateral free energy profile of a pair of cholesterol molecules as a function of their distance in phospholipid bilayers

Free energy profile of a pair of cholesterol molecules in a leaflet of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) bilayers in the liquid-crystalline phase has been calculated as a function of their lateral distance using a combination of NPT-constant atomistic molecular dynamics calculations (P = 1 atm and T = 310.15 K) and the thermodynamic integration method. The calculated free energy clearly shows that the two cholesterol molecules form a dimer separated by a distance of 1.0-1.5 nm in POPC bilayers. Well depth of the free energy profile is about 3.5 kJ/mol, which is comparable to the thermal energy k(B)T at 310.15 K. This indicates that the aggregation of cholesterol molecules in the bilayers depends on the temperature as well as the concentration of the system. The free energy function obtained here may be used as a reference when coarse grained potential model is investigated for this two-component system. Local structure of POPC molecules around two cholesterol molecules has also been investigated.     

Syntheses of amphiphilic block copolymers by living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers and their selective solvent‐induced physical gelation

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers were prepared by the living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers in the presence of added bases, and their selective solvent‐induced physical gelation behavior was investigated. The block copolymerization of 2‐phenoxyethyl vinyl ether (PhOVE) and 2‐methoxyethyl vinyl ether (MOVE) was carried out in the presence of ethyl acetate with Et_1.5AlCl_1.5 in toluene at 0 °C. Despite the rate difference, diblock copolymers with a very narrow molecular weight distribution were obtained, quantitatively. By adding the selective solvent, water, to the acetone solution of the diblock copolymer, PhOVE₂₀₀‐b‐MOVE₄₀₀, physical gelation occurred suddenly and the system ceased to flow, maintaining transparency. Viscoelastic measurements and transmission electron microscopic observations were performed to examine the characteristic gelation behavior and structure of the obtained gels. Various gelation conditions and physical gelation by other amphiphilic block copolymers were also designed on the basis of the solubility of each block segment. Further, new forms of physical gelation, accompanied by the solubilization of immiscible organic compounds, were achieved using similar diblock copolymers. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3190–3197, 2001     

A novel method to quantize systems of damped motion

A novel method to quantize systems of damped motion is proposed in the frameworks of canonical quantization and path integral quantization. It can be afforded by considering a Lagrangian multiplied by a time-dependent function, which may represent an effective interaction with “environment.”     

An improved synthesis of pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines

An improved and efficient synthesis of 1,3-dialkylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-2,4-(1H,3H)-diones from 6-methylaminouracils and methyl propiolate or diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate is described.     

Effect of introducing acrylic and methacrylic acid groups on molecular relaxation of poly(ethyl methacrylate)

Dielectric and infrared data have been obtained over a wide temperature range on copolymers of ethyl methacrylate with methacrylic and acrylic acid synthesized by radical copolymerization. The dissociation energy ΔH⁰ for the acid dimer in the copolymer is estimated from the temperature dependence of the relaxation strength Δε_α of the α relaxation, which is associated with the glass transition. The value of δH⁰ obtained by this method is in fair agreement with that determined by infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The strength of the α relaxation and its activation energy are both increased by the incorporation of methacrylic acid units but are decreased by acrylic acid units. This behavior is attributed to the restriction of main-chain motions by hydrogen-bonded acid dimers in the copolymers with methacrylic acid and to the incorporation of more flexible links in the copolymers with acrylic acid. The β relaxation observed below the glass transition temperatures is almost unaffected by the incorporation of methacrylic acid.     

On imaginary abelian number fields of type (2, 2,..., 2) with one class in each genus

We show that there exist only finitely many imaginary abelian number fields of type (2,2,...,2) with one class in each genus. Moreover, if the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis is true, we have exactly 301 such fields, whose degrees are less than or equal to 2³. Finally we give the table of those 301 fields.     

Barrier height to inversion of aliphatic carbonyl compounds in the S1(n,π*) state; ab initio study of formaldehyde

Recently the double-minimum potentials for the pyramidal distortion in the S₁(n,π*) state of a number of aliphatic carbonyl compounds like acetaldehyde, acetone and cyclic ketones have been determined using the supersonic nozzle beam technique We have found a good correlation between the barrier height to inversion and the angle between the two bonds adjacent to the carbonyl carbon atom. In order to elucidate the correlation in more detail, we performed ab initio calculations for the S₁ state of formaldehyde with the HCH angle as a parameter. The SCFCI calculation verified the observed correlation. It is postulated that the barrier height can be correlated with a single geometric parameter, the HCH angle.