Pre-concentration of traces of tin by coprecipitation with yttrium hydroxide for electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry

Summary Trace amounts of tin were concentrated by coprecipitation and determined by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry. Yttrium hydroxide coprecipitated quantitatively 0.1–3 g of tin from 50–500 ml of sample solution at pH 9.5–11.2. The atomic absorbance of tin increased about twice by using an impregnated graphite tube with yttrium. The impregnated graphite tube, furthermore, improved the reproducibility of the measurement of tin. A linear calibration graph was obtained in the range of 0.004–0.12 g/ml of tin. Twenty-three foreign ions did not interfere seriously. The method was applicable to the determination of tin in zinc metal.     

Positive muons in [Co(NH3)6]Cl3 and [Co(ND3)6]Cl3

We have carried out SR experiments on [Co(NH₃)₆]Cl₃ and [Co(ND₃)₆]Cl₃. At 293 K, all the muons implanted into the complexes were in the diamagnetic state. The observed Gaussian-type muon spin relaxation function proved that the internal magnetic field was caused by nuclear dipole moments of the atoms in the complexes. In addition, another exponential-type muon spin relaxation function was observed in [Co(ND₃)₆]Cl₃ below 50 K.     

Conformation of poly(<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">l</Emphasis>-glutamic acid) in bipolar amphiphiles with alkyl ammonium cations of different hydrophobicity

The conformation of the sodium salt of poly(l-glutamic acid) (P(Glu)) in solutions of the cationic bipolar amphiphile 1, 20-isosanediylbis(alkylammonium chloride) (C ₂₀(RA) ₂) with different alkyl head groups as a function of amphiphile concentration was investigated using circular dichroism (CD). RA included methylammonium (MA), ethylammonium (EA), propylammonium (PA), butylammonium (BA), and pentylammonium (PeA) cationic groups. The CD spectrum of each C ₂₀(RA) ₂ had a double minima corresponding to the a-helix of P(Glu), which was replaced by CD spectra with a single minimum at wavelengths larger than 222 nm as concentration increased. These changes in the CD spectrum were ascribed to the conformational change from random coil to a-helix and to aggregates of helices. In C ₂₀(EA) ₂ solutions, a step-like change in the CD intensity was observed at 222 nm as a function of the ratio of C ₂₀(RA) ₂ to P(Glu). At the step, the CD spectrum of the complete a-helix was observed. At 10–35 °C, an a-helix was induced in P(Glu) in the order: C ₂₀(EA) ₂>C ₂₀(MA) ₂>C ₂₀(PA) ₂>C ₂₀(BA) ₂>C ₂₀(PeA) ₂. This order was ascribed to the best fit of ethylammonium to the P(Glu) side chain.     

Transformation of indole alkaloids—I : Conversion of oxindole alkaloids into indole alkaloids

Chemical conversion of some natural oxindoles (pteropodine, isopteropodine and isorhynchophylline) into the corresponding indole alkaloids has been made by way of a sequence of reactions which include formation of iminoethers of the natural oxindoles with Meerwein's reagent, reduction of the iminoethers to 2,3-seco-indoles and cyclization of 2,3-seco-indoles to the desired natural indole alkaloids. Sodium borohydride in acetic acid was found to be a specific reagent for the reduction of oxindole-iminoethers to 2,3-seco-indoles which were the key intermediates in these transformations. Yohimbine-oxindole iminoether was similarly converted to yohimbine and pseudoyohimbine. A number of by-products were obtained and their structures were elucidated.     

Electrostatics of cell membrane recognition: structure and activity of neutral and cationic rigid push-pull rods in isoelectric, anionic, and polarized lipid bilayer membranes.

Design, synthesis, and structural and functional studies of rigid-rod ionophores of different axial electrostatic asymmetry are reported. The employed design strategy emphasized presence of (a) a rigid scaffold to minimize the conformational complexity, (b) a unimolecular ion-conducting pathway to minimize the suprastructural complexity and monitor the function, (c) an extended fluorophore to monitor structure, (d) variable axial rod dipole, and (e) variable terminal charges to create axial asymmetry. Studies in isoelectric, anionic, and polarized bilayer membranes confirmed a general increase in activity of uncharged rigid push-pull rods in polarized bilayers. The similarly increased activity of cationic rigid push-pull rods with an electrostatic asymmetry comparable to that of alpha-helical bee toxin melittin (positive charge near negative axial dipole terminus) is shown by fluorescence-depth quenching experiments to originate from the stabilization of transmembrane rod orientation by the membrane potential. The reduced activity of rigid push-pull rods having an electrostatic asymmetry comparable to that in alpha-helical natural antibiotics (a positive charge near the positive axial dipole terminus) is shown by structural studies to originate from rod "ejection" by membrane potentials comparable to that found in mammalian plasma membranes. This structural evidence for cell membrane recognition by asymmetric rods is unprecedented and of possible practical importance with regard to antibiotic resistance.