Study of interaction of proteins with fumed silica in aqueous suspensions by adsorption and photon correlation spectroscopy methods

The interaction of fumed silica A-300 (S(BET) = 297 m2 g(-1)) with bovine serum albumin (prepared by different methods), ovalbumin, human hemoglobin, and gelatin as a function of pH, salinity, and concentrations of components in aqueous medium was studied by adsorption and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) methods. Comparison of equilibrium (incubation time t(i) approximately 1 h) adsorption of proteins on A-300, minute (t(i) approximately 1 min) flocculation rate, and the particle size distributions measured by the PCS method shows different rearrangement of particle swarms depending on pH, salinity, and concentration of proteins, especially at pH close to IEP of silica or proteins. The electrokinetic mobility of protein/silica swarms is greater than that of individual components at pH far from the IEP of proteins. Changes in the Gibbs free energy (DeltaG) on protein adsorption depend on pH (-DeltaG is minimal at pH 2, close to the IEP of silica, and maximal at pH between the IEP of protein and silica), concentration (-DeltaG is maximal at C(p) between 1 and 6 mg/ml), type of proteins, and their preparation technique.     

Interaction with glycine increases stability of a mutagenic tautomer of uracil. A density functional theory study

The most stable structures for the gas-phase complexes of minor tautomers of uracil (U) with glycine (G) were characterized at the density functional B3LYP/6-31++G level of theory. These are cyclic structures stabilized by two hydrogen bonds. The relative stability of isolated tautomers of uracil was rationalized by using thermodynamic and structural arguments. The stabilization energies for complexes between the tautomers of U and G result from interplay between the stabilizing two-body interaction energies and destabilizing one-body terms. The latter are related to the energies of (i) tautomerization of the unperturbed moieties and (ii) distortions of the resulting rare tautomers in the complex. The two-body term describes the interaction energy between distorted tautomers. The two-body interaction energy term correlates with perturbations of length of the proton-donor bonds as well as with deprotonation enthalpies and proton affinities of the appropriate monomer sites. It was demonstrated that the relative instability of rare tautomers of uracil is diminished due to their interactions with glycine. In particular, the instability of the third most stable tautomer (U(III)) is decreased from 11.9 kcal/mol for non-interacting uracil to 6.7 kcal/mol for uracil in a complex with the zwitterionic tautomer of glycine. A decrease of instability by 5.2 kcal/mol could result in an increase of concentration of U(III) by almost 5 orders of magnitude. This is the tautomer with proton donor and acceptor sites matching guanine rather than adenine. Moreover, kinetic characteristics obtained for the glycine-assisted conversion of the most stable tautomer of uracil (U(I)) to U(III) indicate that the U(I)<-->U(III) thermodynamic equilibrium could be easily attained at room temperature. The resulting concentration of this tautomer falls in a mutationally significant range.     

Divergent coordination mode of magnesium and zinc alkyls supported by the bifunctional pyrrolylaldiminato ligand

The first magnesium and zinc alkyls derived from N-(iso-propyl)-pyrrolylaldimine have been synthesised and structurally characterised: both tBuM(N,N')-type compounds exist as three-coordinate monomers in benzene solution, but in the solid state the magnesium complex is a centrosymmetric dimer with Mg2(mu-N)2 bridges, whereas the zinc complex is a Zn...pi bonded dimer with a pi-coordinated pyrrole unit.     

Adsorption of water vapour from humid air by selected carbon adsorbents

The water uptake by carbon molecular sieves (CMS) and graphitized carbons, all of which are used to determine volatile organic compounds in air, was investigated using a direct experimental approach. CMS, e.g. Carboxen 1002, Carboxen 1003 and Anasorb CMS adsorb substantial amounts of water, in the range 400 to 450 mg per gram of adsorbent. Graphitized carbons, e.g. Carbrogaph 5TD and Carbopack X show low water trapping, less than 30 mg g(-1) and Carbopack Y as little as 5 mg g(-1) or less. The water sorption capacity for graphitized carbons is strongly dependent on the relative humidity (RH). The change of RH from 95 to 90% decreases the amount of adsorbed water by more than a factor of 2. Two different water adsorption mechanisms are operative: adsorption on polar centers and micropore volume filling. For graphitized carbons and CMS at low RH, adsorption on polar centers is involved. For CMS, once the threshold value of relative humidity (RHth) is surpassed, micropore volume filling becomes predominant. RHth is 44 +/- 3 and 42 +/- 3% for Carboxen 1002 and 1003, respectively, and 32 +/- 3% for Anasorb CMS. The CMS mass in the trap was found not to affect the mass of retained water under condition of incomplete saturation of adsorbent bed with water. Thus, the restrictions commonly imposed on the CMS mass are not necessary. The dry purging technique is suggested to remove adsorbed water. Carbograph 5TD and Carbopack X require only a few hundred ml of dry air to remove adsorbed water entirely. Water can also be purged out from CMS; however, much larger volumes of dry air are needed.     

Synthesis,crystal structure,magnetism, and absorption spectra of A2UX5 Type Halides (A = K,Rb; X = Cl,Br, I)

The ternary uranium(III) halides A₂UX₅ (A = K, Rb; X = Cl, Br, I) have been prepared from the binary components AX and UX₃ in sealed tantalum containers. According to their Guinier X-ray powder patterns, they all crystallize with the K₂PrCl₅/Y₂HfS₅ type of structure. Lattice constants for ambient temperature are reported. Single-crystal structure refinemens were undertaken for K₂UI₅ and Rb₂UCl₅. Magnetic susceptibility data were recorded with a SQUID magnetometer from liquid helium to room temperature. One-dimensional (intrachain) and three-dimensional antiferromagnetic ordering occur at low temperatures dependent upon the U³⁺? U³⁺ distance. Absorption spectra were recorded between 4 000 and 28 000 cm^?1. They show f—f transitions typical for U³⁺ and, depending on the halide, very strong f—d transitions above 14 000 to 15 000 cm^?1, respectively.     

Attractive halogen–halogen interactions: F3CCl⋯FH and F3CCl⋯FCH3 dimers

The F₃CCl?FH and F₃CCl?FCH₃ dimers, which feature the halogen–halogen contacts, are investigated at MP2/6–311++G(d,p) and MP2/aug–cc–pVDZ levels of approximation. The binding energies of these complexes are found to be comparable to those of the weak hydrogen bonds. In both complexes the Cl?F are found to be significantly shorter than the sum of the corresponding van der Waals radii. The C–Cl?F contacts are also found to exhibit certain deviation from linearity. However, the energy differences between linear and bent structures are very small and primarily accounted for by electrostatic interactions between remote parts of the dimer. This indicates a high conformational flexibility of the halogen–halogen contacts and may help to explain the diversity of structural features in crystals formed by halogen-containing molecules. In both dimers the halogen–halogen interaction leads to certain shortening of the C–Cl electron accepting bond. This is accompanied by a small increase of the C–Cl stretching frequency. Hence, the two investigated dimers can possibly be classified as the blue-shifting halogen–halogen contacts.     

On a characterization of finite dimensional real linear spaces

LetX be a real linear space; if is a linear topology onX, let denote the class of all bounded with respect to subsets ofX. In this paper it is shown that the spaceX is algebraically finite dimensional if and only if the class of all convex, absorbing and radially bounded subsets ofX is included in the intersection of all , where runs the set of all linear topologies onX.     

Modification of the Cp′ ring in the ferrocifen precursor and its influence on the recognition by the estrogen receptor

A synthetic pathway giving access to diphenyl ethylene organometallic derivatives possessing the ferrocifen precursor skeleton modified in the Cp′ ring is described. It relies on reaction of the (η⁵-propionylcyclopentadienyl) (η⁶-benzene)iron(II) salt 7 with substituted cyclopentadienyl anions or their heteroanalogs followed by the McMurry coupling reaction with 4,4′-dihydroxybenzophenone. Using this approach pentamethylcyclopentadienyl and 3,4-dimethylphospholyl analogs of ferrocifen precursor (10 and 11) have been synthesized. Even with the presence of the bulky and containing phosphorus η⁵-ligands these compounds are still recognized by the two subtypes of estrogen receptor(ERα and ERβ).     

Stabilization of very rare tautomers of 1-methylcytosine by an excess electron

We characterized valence anionic states of 1-methylcytosine using various electronic structure methods. We found that the most stable valence anion is related to neither the canonical amino-oxo nor a rare imino-oxo tautomer, in which a proton is transferred from the N4 to N3 atom. Instead, it is related to an imino-oxo tautomer, in which the C5 atom is protonated. This anion is characterized by an electron vertical detachment energy (VDE) of 2.12 eV and it is more stable than the anion based on the canonical tautomer by 1.0 kcal/mol. The latter is characterized by a VDE of 0.31 eV. Another unusual low-lying imino-oxo tautomer with a VDE of 3.60 eV has the C6 atom protonated and is 3.6 kcal/mol less stable than the anion of the canonical tautomer. All these anionic states are adiabatically unbound with respect to the canonical amino-oxo neutral, with the instability of 5.8 kcal/mol for the most stable valence anion. The mechanism of formation of anionic tautomers with carbon atoms protonated may involve intermolecular proton transfer or dissociative electron attachment to the canonical neutral tautomer followed by a barrier-free attachment of a hydrogen atom to the C5 or C6 atom. The six-member ring structure of anionic tautomers with carbon atoms protonated is unstable upon an excess electron detachment. Indeed the neutral systems collapse without a barrier to a linear or a bicyclo structure, which might be viewed as lesions to DNA or RNA. Within the PCM hydration model, the anions become adiabatically bound with respect to the corresponding neutrals, and the two most stable tautomers have a carbon atom protonated.     

Barrier-free intermolecular proton transfer induced by excess electron attachment to the complex of alanine with uracil

The photoelectron spectrum of the uracil-alanine anionic complex (UA)(-) has been recorded with 2.540 eV photons. This spectrum reveals a broad feature with a maximum between 1.6 and 2.1 eV. The vertical electron detachment energy is too large to be attributed to an (UA)(-) anionic complex in which an intact uracil anion is solvated by alanine, or vice versa. The neutral and anionic complexes of uracil and alanine were studied at the B3LYP and second-order M?ller-Plesset level of theory with 6-31++G(*) (*) basis sets. The neutral complexes form cyclic hydrogen bonds and the three most stable neutral complexes are bound by 0.72, 0.61, and 0.57 eV. The electron hole in complexes of uracil with alanine is localized on uracil, but the formation of a complex with alanine strongly modulates the vertical ionization energy of uracil. The theoretical results indicate that the excess electron in (UA)(-) occupies a pi(*) orbital localized on uracil. The excess electron attachment to the complex can induce a barrier-free proton transfer (BFPT) from the carboxylic group of alanine to the O8 atom of uracil. As a result, the four most stable structures of the uracil-alanine anionic complex can be characterized as a neutral radical of hydrogenated uracil solvated by a deprotonated alanine. Our current results for the anionic complex of uracil with alanine are similar to our previous results for the anion of uracil with glycine, and together they indicate that the BFPT process is not very sensitive to the nature of the amino acid's hydrophobic residual group. The BFPT to the O8 atom of uracil may be relevant to the damage suffered by nucleic acid bases due to exposure to low energy electrons.