Anomalous NMR behavior of meso compounds with remote stereogenic centers on addition of chiral shift reagent or chiral solvating agent

A problem has arisen in using chiral shift reagents (CSR) and chiral solvating agents (CSA) to determine meso and racemic forms of diastereoisomers in which the stereogenic centers of the molecules are separated by achiral spacers. It is found that NMR signals of both meso and racemic forms of diastereoisomers may exhibit doubling on addition of CSR/CSA, which means that unequivocal assignments cannot be made without characterizing the effects for separate meso and racemic forms; this is particularly important for additions of CSR/CSA at relatively low concentrations, which always result in the splitting of some NMR signals of diastereoisomers. The phenomenon is demonstrated in the (31)P NMR spectra of meso and racemic forms of three spermine-bridged gem-disubstituted cyclotriphosphazatrienes, 1a-c, and compared with analogous achiral molecules, the per-substituted spermine-bridged cyclotriphosphazatrienes 2a-d. As expected, only one set of (31)P NMR signals was observed for the achiral compounds 2a-d, even on addition of CSA. Two sets of (31)P NMR ABX multiplets corresponding to meso and racemic diastereoisomers were observed for compounds 1a-c; on addition of CSA, the signals of at least one of the multiplets for each compound separated into more than the expected groups of three lines with an intensity distribution of 2:1:1. To understand this phenomenon, the meso and racemic forms of 1a and 1b and the meso form of 1c have been separated and characterized by X-ray crystallography. On addition of CSA to the racemic forms of 1a and 1b, the (31)P NMR spectrum shows the expected doubling of signals, but, unexpectedly, the same is observed for each of the meso forms of 1a-c. Analogous results using both CSA and CSR have been obtained for the meso and racemic forms of the diastereoisomeric piperazine-bridged macrocyclic-phosphazene compound, 3, whereas no effect was observed for the two meso forms of the doubly bridged macrocyclic-phosphazene compound 4. The phenomenon of doubling of the (31)P NMR signals of the meso form of singly bridged cyclotriphosphazatrienes, 1a-c and 3, is explained by consideration of the equilibrium in solution of independent complexation of a chiral ligand with molecules that have two chiral cyclophosphazene moieties separated by an achiral spacer group. The results show that the stereogenicity of such diastereoisomeric molecules in solution cannot be characterized unequivocally by NMR measurements on addition of either CSR or CSA.     

Point mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants induce long-range dynamical perturbations in neutralizing antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies are emerging as a viable treatment for the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). However, newly evolved variants of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can reduce the efficacy of currently available antibodies and can diminish vaccine-induced immunity. Here, we demonstrate that the microscopic dynamics of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies can be profoundly modified by the mutations present in the spike proteins of the SARS-COV-2 variants currently circulating in the world population. The dynamical perturbations within the antibody structure, which alter the thermodynamics of antigen recognition, are diverse and can depend both on the nature of the antibody and on the spatial location of the spike mutation. The correlation between the motion of the antibody and that of the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) can also be changed, modulating binding affinity. Using protein-graph-connectivity networks, we delineated the mutant-induced modifications in the information-flow along allosteric pathway throughout the antibody. Changes in the collective dynamics were spatially distributed both locally and across long-range distances within the antibody. On the receptor side, we identified an anchor-like structural element that prevents the detachment of the antibodies; individual mutations there can significantly affect the antibody binding propensity. Our study provides insight into how virus neutralization by monoclonal antibodies can be impacted by local mutations in the epitope via a change in dynamics. This realization adds a new layer of sophistication to the efforts for rational design of monoclonal antibodies against new variants of SARS-CoV2, taking the allostery in the antibody into consideration.

Mutations in the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein modulates the dynamics of the neutralizing antibodies. Capturing such modulations from MD simulations and graph network model identifies the role of mutations in facilitating immune evasion.     

The effects of cubic potentials on discrete breathers in a mixed Klein－Gordon /Fermi－Pasta－Ulam chain

Nonlinearity has a crucial impact on the symmetry properties of dynamical systems. This paper studies a one-dimensional mixed Klein--Gordon/Fermi--Pasta--Ulam diatomic chain using the expanded rotating plane-wave approximation and numerical calculations to determine the effect of cubic potentials on the symmetry properties of discrete breathers in this system. The results will be very useful to researchers in the field of numerical calculations on discrete breathers.     

Variational Operators,Symplectic Operators,and the Cohomology of Scalar Evolution Equations

For a scalar evolution equation u_t = K(t, x, u, u_x, . . . , u_2m+1) with m ≥ 1, the cohomology space H^1,2() is shown to be isomorphic to the space of variational operators and an explicit isomorphism is given. The space of symplectic operators for u_t = K for which the equation is Hamiltonian is also shown to be isomorphic to the space H^1,2() and subsequently can be naturally identified with the space of variational operators. Third order scalar evolution equations admitting a first order symplectic (or variational) operator are characterized. The variational operator (or symplectic) nature of the potential form of a bi-Hamiltonian evolution equation is also presented in order to generate examples of interest.     

On the difference spaces of almost convergent and strongly almost convergent double sequences

In this paper, we study the difference spaces \({\mathcal {F}}(\varDelta )\), \({\mathcal {F}}_0(\varDelta )\), \({\mathcal {[F]}}(\varDelta )\) and \({\mathcal {[F]}}_0(\varDelta )\) of double sequences obtained as the domain of four-dimensional backward difference matrix \(\varDelta \) in the spaces \({\mathcal {F}}\), \({\mathcal {F}}_{0}\), \({\mathcal {[F]}}\) and \({\mathcal {[F]}}_{0}\) of almost convergent, almost null, strongly almost convergent and strongly almost null double sequences; respectively. We examine general topological properties of those spaces and give some inclusion theorems. Furthermore, we deal with their dual spaces.

     

Investigation of spectroscopic studies and DFT calculations on glucofuranose derivatives of dithiophosphonates

Abstract

2,4-Bis(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3,2,4-dithiadiphosphetane-2,4-disulfide (Lawesson’s reagent: LR) was reacted with 1,2:5,6-di-O-cyclohexylidene-α-D-glucofuranose and 1,2:5,6-di-O-isopropylidene-α-D-glucofuranose in toluene and gave rise to crude dithiophosphonic acids. The crude dithiophosphonic acids were treated with excess triethylamine and the triethylammonium salts of dithiophosphonic acids (1) and (2) were isolated by crystallization method. Compounds 1 and 2 were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, and NMR (¹H-, ¹³C- and ³¹P-) spectroscopies and mass spectrometry. In addition, NMR spectra, the electronic properties (the electronic chemical potential, electronegativity, chemical hardness and the global electrophilicity index) and NBO analysis of compound 2 have been calculated by using the Gaussian 16?W program. The electronic properties were calculated using Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) and Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) energies by density functional method (DFT/B3LYP) at 6-31G(d,p) level. The HOMO and LUMO energies are ?5.9 and ?0.72?eV, respectively. The HOMO–LUMO energy difference is 5.18?eV and this value shows that compound 2 has a high stability and low reactivity.