Effect of urea addition on chiral separation of dansylamino acids by capillary zone electrophoresis with cyclodextrins

The chiral separation ability of unmodified and di- and trimethylated -, β- and γ-cyclodextrins (CDs) as chiral selectors in capillary zone electrophoresis was investigated in the presence of urea derivatives using twelve dansylamino acids as model solutes. The addition of these urea derivatives (unsubstituted, methyl-, ethyl- and 1,3-dimethylureas) produced dramatic enhancement in the enantioselectivity of unmodified β-CD but also reduced the enantioselectivities of the other CDs.     

Selective preconcentration of Au(III), Pt(IV) and Pd(II) on silica gel modified with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane

Silica gel functionalized by reaction with γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane was prepared and its adsorption characteirstics for metal ions were studied. This material selectively removes the Au(III), Pt(IV) and Pd(II) chloro complex ions from sample solutions containing Fe(III) and Cu(II) ions by ion exchange.     

Determination of the change of nuclear charge radius of the119Sn Mössbauer transition by internal conversion

Radioactive¹¹⁹Sb was implanted into six host matrices (CaSnO₃, Pt, Y, Au,-Sn, Pb) and internal conversion electrons of the 23.87 keV transition in¹¹⁹Sn were measured with an iron-free magnetic spectrometer as well as Mössbauer spectra. In the analysis of the conversion spectra of outermost electrons, the overlapping K-LM Auger lines were subtracted using the Auger spectrum of tin measured with another source of^117mSn, and the shake-off effect accompanying the conversion process was considered. From the correlation between the Mössbauer isomer shifts and the intensity ratios of O-shell to N₁-shell conversion electrons, the change of the nuclear charge radius of the 23.87 keV transition of¹¹⁹Sn was deduced to be R/R=(0.87 ± 0.25) × 10^–4 for a uniform charge distribution ofR= 1.2 ×A ^1/3 fm or, equivalently, r²>—=(3.6 ± 1.0) ×10^–3 fm².     

Total synthesis of cis-solamin

[structure: see text] A convergent total synthesis of cis-solamin and its diastereomer was accomplished using VO(acac)2-catalyzed diastereoselective epoxidation followed by cyclization of bis-homoallylic alcohol as the key step. By comparison of the optical rotation of two possible diastereomers, it is suggested that the absolute configuration of natural cis-solamin is 1a.     

Selectivities in 1,2,3-triazolide displacements of halides and additions to alkynes

4,5-Dicarbomethoxy-1,2,3-triazolide or 4-phenyl-1,2,3-triazolide displace chloride from ethyl chloroacetate or β-chloropropionate to give both 1-N and 2-N alkylated products. Our highest 2-N to 1-N selectivity was ca 5/1 and was found with the base triethylamine in DMF. The same triazolides and others add to alkynes, e.g. ethyl propiolate, methyl acetylenedicarboxylate, phenylpropiolaldehyde, ethyl phenylpropiolate, etc, to give Michael adducts at the 2-N position exclusively. Here the usual preference holds, i.e., the anti adduct is favored, but anti to syn isomerization usually sets in. On the basis of the available data for nucleophilic substitutions and additions, a limited directioselectivity pattern emerges for H-1,2,3-triazoles (T) and their anions (T^?): neutral T almost invariably leads with 1-N; T^t-- usually adds to unsaturates at 2-N; unsubstituted, 4-substituted and 4,5-disubstituted T^? attack organic halides at both 1-N and 2-N. Compared to phenyl, 2-triazolyl exerts a greater deshielding effect on proton chemical shifts; these and other patterns in the PMR spectra of the Michael adducts are discussed. CNDO calculations indicate that the 1-H is more stable than the 2-H-1,2,3-triazole and that in both neutral triazole and in triazolide, the 1-nitrogen position should lead nucleophilic attacks-this directioselectivity prediction is only partly (and probably fortuitously) correct.     

Studies on the biaxial stretching of polypropylene film. III. Electron microscopic observation of the one-step biaxial stretching of isotactic polypropylene spherulites

Polypropylene films of various isotacticities and crystallinities were stretched biaxially in one step in air at 140–152°C or polyaxially in poly(ethylene glycol) at 130–160°C, and the morphological changes were studied by electron microscopy (replica). In the initial stage of stretching, with v_A = 1.4, the spherulites of one of the films used for the experiment were broken both from the centers and boundaries, and those of another film were broken mainly from the center. This difference in the deformation behavior seems to be characteristic of the film properties and independent of the method of stretching, although the factors involved are still unknown. On further stretching (v_A = 22), well annealed spherulites were broken into many small blocklike fragments with unfolded fibrils running among them, particularly at the low stretching temperature (140°C), and fibrillation proceeded at the expense of the residual fragments. In the case of quenched or slightly crystallized material, the fragments were dendritic and divided into finer and finer fibrils on stretching. At elevated temperature, however, even for well annealed spherulites, the deformation behavior resembles that of the quenched material, and at a high degree of stretching the spherulites take on the fibrillar net structure in every case. In films containing a high amount of atactic fraction, radial, tangential, and boundary cracking occurred more easily, and broad fibrils were observed across the cracks.     

Synthesis of open-ended MoS2 nanotubes and the application as the catalyst of methanation

We report the synthesis of open-ended MoS2 nanotubes and their application as the catalyst for methanation of carbon monoxide with hydrogen. Because the catalysis of the methanation reaction occurs at relatively low temperatures, such nanotubes may provide new solutions toward harnessing the environmental load caused by CO emission.     

Total synthesis of (+/-)-stemodinone via an efficient ring-exchange strategy

A total synthesis of (+/-)-stemodinone, a tetracyclic stemodane diterpene, from the known tricyclic methyl olefin 11 is described. The key steps involve an efficient ring-exchange reaction and palladium(0)-catalyzed lactone migration. The ring-exchange strategy for controlling the stereochemistry was based on an initial Diels-Alder reaction to form a new ring followed by cleavage of the original ring. Cleavage of the original ring of the Diels-Alder adduct 9 was achieved by an initial regio- and chemoselective Baeyer-Villiger oxidation followed by the Pd(0)-catalyzed lactone-migration reaction reported by us.     

Functionally relevant protein motions: extracting basin-specific collective coordinates from molecular dynamics trajectories

Functionally relevant motion of proteins has been associated with a number of atoms moving in a concerted fashion along so-called "collective coordinates." We present an approach to extract collective coordinates from conformations obtained from molecular dynamics simulations. The power of this technique for differentiating local structural fluctuations between classes of conformers obtained by clustering is illustrated by analyzing nanosecond-long trajectories for the response regulator protein Spo0F of Bacillus subtilis, generated both in vacuo and using an implicit-solvent representation. Conformational clustering is performed using automated histogram filtering of the inter-C(alpha) distances. Orthogonal (varimax) rotation of the vectors obtained by principal component analysis of these interresidue distances for the members of individual clusters is key to the interpretation of collective coordinates dominating each conformational class. The rotated loadings plots isolate significant variation in interresidue distances, and these are associated with entire mobile secondary structure elements. From this we infer concerted motions of these structural elements. For the Spo0F simulations employing an implicit-solvent representation, collective coordinates obtained in this fashion are consistent with the location of the protein's known active sites and experimentally determined mobile regions.     

Midgap levels of photoexcited conductive polymers. I. A simple description of the midgap levels based on molecular orbital interaction

We studied the midgap levels appearing in the photoexcited conductive polymers such as trans- and cis-polyacetylenes, poly(p-phenylene), polypyrrole, and polyacene based on the molecular orbital analysis. The midgap levels are constructed from the transformation of the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of the ground state. As the result of the localization of the wave functions associated with these midgap levels, large polarization is induced between adjacent carbon atoms. Based on the examination of the energy gap between the two midgap levels, the polymers with a nondegenerate ground state such as cis-polyacetylene, poly(p-phenylene), and polypyrrole would show no sizable photoconductivities.