Natural abundance 13C - 13C coupling constants observed via double quantum coherence. Structural elucidation by the one- and the two-dimensional NMR experiements of velloziolone,a new seco-diterpene.

With the help of Natural Abundance ¹³C - ¹³C Coupling Constants, observed via double quantum coherence, the structural determination of VELLOZIOLONE (1), a new diterpene, has been carried out.     

Reactivity of methyl mandelate-Ti(IV)-enediolate: oxidative homocoupling versus aldol and direct Mannich-type syn-diastereoselective condensation

[reaction: see text] Methyl mandelate undergoes quantitative oxidative homocoupling on treatment with TiCl4/amine at room temperature. In the presence of ArCHO, quantitative syn-diastereoselective aldol condensation takes over the dimerization, whereas exclusive Mannich-type syn-diastereoselective reaction is observed in the presence of both ArCHO and PhNH2. The subsequent reactions of the title intermediate do not depend on how it is generated.     

Structure factors calculated from molecular wavefunctions. II. Analysis of the molecular charge distribution in diborane

The electron density distribution in the crystal of diborane has been determined using structure factors based on molecular densities. The libration-correction and third-cumulant terms have also been included in the expression for the temperature factor. The equilibrium r_e values for BH bond lengths obtained by this treatment are about 0.02Åshorter than the spectroscopic ones. A total librational motion of the diborane molecule is determined: the root-mean-square oscillations about inertial axis are 11.0° (8), 9.6° (5) and 7.2° (5), respectively. The dynamic theoretical deformation density shows a three-center BHB bond picture for the bridge structure.     

Asymmetric synthesis by chiral ruthenium complexes : VI. Enantiomer-discrimination in the hydrogen transfer from racemic alcohols to prochiral ketones in the presence of H4Ru4(CO)8[(−)-diop]2

Hydrogen transfer from racemic alcohols to prochiral ketones in the presence of H₄Ru₄(CO)₈[(?)-DIOP]₂ has been examined. The enantiomer-discrimination is influenced by the structure of the reactants, temperature and the excess of phosphine present.     

A more convenient and general procedure for O-monobenzylation of diols via stannylenes: a critical reevaluation of the Bu2SnO method

A more consistent, straightforward, and economical protocol for generation of stannylene species and their reaction with BnBr leading to products of O-monobenzylation of diols has been set. It has shown to be specially indicated for substrates bearing vicinal trans 1,2-diol moieties on cyclohexane backbones, which are more resistant to these transformations. Such protocol has been successfully applied to myo-inositol derivatives and acyclic diols.     

Recovery of pyridine from aqueous solution by membrane pervaporation

Three different membranes, based on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), cation-exchange material and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) respectively, were tudied for the separation of pyridine-water mixtures by pervaporation. The PDMS membrane was preferentially permeable to pyridine and the other two were selective towards water. Three membranes showed different permeation performance, allowing the application of the technique to the separation of feeds of different composition. The temperature profile of the permeability suggests that it is possible to carry out the operation at an elevated temperature in order to achieve high productivity. A combination of the three types of membranes was designed for the production of anhydrous pyridine from dilute pyridine aqueous solution by pervaporation.     

Molecular recognition and crystal energy landscapes: an X-ray and computational study of caffeine and other methylxanthines

We introduce a new approach to crystal-packing analysis, based on the study of mutual recognition modes of entire molecules or of molecular moieties, rather than a search for selected atom-atom contacts, and on the study of crystal energy landscapes over many computer-generated polymorphs, rather than a quest for the one most stable crystal structure. The computational tools for this task are a polymorph generator and the PIXEL density sums method for the calculation of intermolecular energies. From this perspective, the molecular recognition, crystal packing, and solid-state phase behavior of caffeine and several methylxanthines (purine-2,6-diones) have been analyzed. Many possible crystal structures for anhydrous caffeine have been generated by computer simulation, and the most stable among them is a thermodynamic, ordered equivalent of the disordered phase, revealed by powder X-ray crystallography. Molecular recognition energies between two caffeine molecules or between caffeine and water have been calculated, and the results reveal the largely predominant mode to be the stacking of parallel caffeine molecules, an intermediately favorable caffeine-water interaction, and many other equivalent energy minima for lateral interactions of much less stabilization power. This last indetermination helps to explain why caffeine does not crystallize easily into an ordered anhydrous structure. In contrast, the mono- and dimethylxanthines (theophylline, theobromine, and the 1,7-isomer, for which we present a single-crystal X-ray study and a lattice energy landscape) do crystallize in anhydrous form thanks to the formation of lateral hydrogen bonds.     

Fractionation of basic nuclear proteins of human sperm by zinc chelate affinity chromatography

Immobilized metal affinity chromatography was investigated for the fractionation of basic nuclear proteins of human sperm. Human sperm nuclei essentially contain two classes of protamines: a protamine of type P1 (HPl), rich in cysteine but with only one histidine, and three protamines of type P2 (HP2, HP3, HP4), rich in cysteine and histidine (nine in protamine HP2), potential ligands for transition metal ions. The critical conditions for metal affinity chromatography were defined: choice of metal, protein material and buffer, type of elution and sample loading. Chromatography of nuclear proteins, without histones and with cysteine residues alkylated by iodoacetamide, was optimum on zinc Chelating Sepharose in a Tris-acetate buffer and elution with an increasing concentration gradient of imidazole. Under these conditions, the two classes of protamines were completely separated. The intermediate basic proteins were further purified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Heterogeneity of binding to zinc of protamine HP1 was demonstrated. The proposed method is simple and reproducible and the recovery of proteins is high. It may be applied to study the expression and function of P1 and P2 protamines, e.g., in the case of infertile men.     

Discriminating the helical forms of peptides by NMR and molecular dynamics simulation

The HNCO NMR pulse sequence was applied to three selectively labeled (15)N and (13)C isotopic homologues of the peptide Ac-WAAAH(AAARA)(3)A-NH(2) to probe directly for hydrogen bonds between residues 8 and 11 (characteristic of a 3(10)-helix), 8 and 12 (alpha-helix), and 8 and 13 (pi-helix). The experiments demonstrate conclusively, and in agreement with circular dichroism studies, that the center of the peptide is alpha-helical; there is no discernible 3(10)- or pi-helix at these specific positions. Molecular dynamics simulations of the preceding peptide and Ac-(AAAAK)(3)A-NH(2) in water using the potential energy parameter set CHARMM22/CMAP correctly yield an alpha-helix, in contrast to simulations with the set CHARMM22, which result in a pi-helix.     

Heats of adsorption of linear CO species adsorbed on the Au degrees and Ti+delta sites of a 1% Au/TiO2 catalyst using in situ FTIR spectroscopy under adsorption equilibrium

The heats of adsorption of two linear CO species adsorbed on the Au degrees particles (denoted L(Au degrees)) and on the Ti(+delta) sites (denoted L(Ti+delta)) of a 1% Au/TiO(2) catalyst are determined as the function of their respective coverage by using the AEIR procedure (adsorption equilibrium infrared spectroscopy) previously developed. Mainly, the evolutions of the IR band area of each adsorbed species (2184 cm(-1) for L(Ti+delta) and at 2110 cm(-1) for L(Au degrees)) as a function of the adsorption temperature T(a), at a constant CO adsorption pressure P(CO), provide the evolutions of the coverages theta(LTi+delta) and theta(LAu degrees ) of each adsorbed CO species with T(a) in isobar conditions that give the individual heats of adsorption. It is shown that they linearly vary from 74 to 47 kJ/mol for L(Au degrees ) and from 50 to 40 kJ/mol for L(Ti+delta) at coverages 0 and 1, respectively. These values are consistent with literature data on model Au particles and TiO(2). In particular, it is shown that the mathematical formalism supporting the AEIR procedure can be applied to literature data on Au-containing solids (single crystals and model particles).