Experimental studies of the dynamics of the bond-forming reactions of CF2(2+) with H2O using position-sensitive coincidence spectroscopy

The dynamics of the product channels forming OCF(+)+H(+)+HF and HCF(2) (+)+H(+)+O following the collisions of CF(2) (2+) with H(2)O have been investigated with a new position-sensitive coincidence experiment at a center-of-mass collision energy of 5.6 eV. The results show the formation of OCF(+) occurs via the formation of a doubly charged collision complex [H(2)O-CF(2)](2+) which subsequently undergoes a charge separating dissociation to form H(+) and HOCF(2) (+). The HOCF(2) (+) monocation subsequently fragments to form HF+OCF(+). The lifetimes of the collision complex and the HOCF(2) (+) ion are at least of the order of their rotational period. The kinetic energy release in this reaction indicates that it involves the ground state of CF(2) (2+) and forms the ground electronic states of OCF(+) and HF. The mechanism for forming HCF(2) (+) involves the direct and rapid abstraction of a hydride ion from H(2)O by CF(2) (2+). The resulting OH(+) ion subsequently fragments to H(+)+O, on a time scale at least comparable with its rotational period.     

Dithiolene transfer from nickel to a dimolybdenum centre: the first dithiolene alkyne complex

Transfer of dithiolene ligands from [Ni(S₂C₂Ph₂)₂] to the dimolybdenum complex [Mo₂(μ-C₂R₂)(CO)₄Cp₂] (R=CO₂Me, Cp=η-C₅H₅) affords the first example of a dithiolene alkyne complex, [Mo₂(μ-C₂R₂)(μ-S₂C₂Ph₂)₂Cp₂], together with [Mo₂(μ-SCRCR)(μ-SCPhCPh)Cp₂] in which sulfur transfer from dithiolene to alkyne has occurred.     

Interference between the hydrogen bonds to the two rings of nicotine

The biochemical transport and binding of nicotine depends on the hydrogen bonding between water and binding site residues to the pyridine ring and the protonated pyrrolidinium ring. To test the independence of these two moderately separated hydrogen-bonding sites, we have calculated the structures of clusters of protonated nicotine with water and a bicarbonate anion, benzene, indole, or a second water molecule. Unprotonated nicotine-water clusters have also been studied for contrast. The potential energy surfaces are first explored with an intermolecular anisotropic atom-atom model potential. Full geometry optimizations are then carried out using density functional theory to include nonadditive terms in the interaction energies. The presence of the charge on the pyrrolidine nitrogen removes the conventional hydrogen-bonding site on the pyridine ring. The hydrogen-bond ability of this site is nearly recovered when the protonated pyrrolidinium ring is bound to a bicarbonate anion, whereas its interaction with benzene shows a much smaller effect. Indole appears to partially restore the hydrogen-bond ability of the pyridine nitrogen, although indole and benzene both pi-bond to the pyrrolidinium ring. A second hydrogen-bonding water produces a significant conformational distortion of the nicotine. This demonstrates the limitations of the conventional qualitative predictions of hydrogen bonding based on the independence of molecular fragments. It also provides benchmarks for the development of atomistic modeling of biochemical systems.     

Traceability and analytical chemistry

 The basic concepts of traceability as they are defined by the Comité Consultatif pour la Cluantité de Matière are contrasted with the practical exploitation in chemical analysis. The applicability of traceability concepts are tested for their practical applicability on four different analytical methodologies, neutron activation analysis, plasma mass spectrometry, beam microscopical analysis and speciation analysis of organometallic compounds. Received: 31 March 1998 · Accepted: 6 June 1998     

Probing the surface polarity of native celluloses using genuine solvatochromic dyes

The surface polarity of native celluloses has been investigated by the following solvatochromic dyes: dicyano-bis (1,10)-phenanthroline iron (II) Fe(phen)2 (CN)2 (1), bis(4-N,N-dimethylamino)-benzophenone (2), and cou-marine 153 (3). Linear Solvation Energy (LSE) relationships and the UV/Vis data have been used to characterize the surface polarity of different native cellulose batches in terms of the empirical Kamlet–Taft polarity parameters (hydrogen bond acidity), (hydrogen bond basicity), and * (dipolarity/polarizability). , , *and calculated Reichardt's E T (30) values are reported for various native and regenerated cellulose samples with different degrees of crystallinity. The degree of crystallinity of the cellulose samples has been determined by X-ray. The microcrystalline environment of cellulose can be exactly parameterized in terms of the , and *values. It shows a fairly strong acidity and a low dipolarity/polarizability. For the amorphous sections smaller and larger * values are observed. The correspondence of the empirical polarity parameters determined has been discussed in relation to results from pyrene fluorescence and zetapotential measurements.     

Strong solute-solute dispersive interactions in a protein-ligand complex

The contributions of solute-solute dispersion interactions to binding thermodynamics have generally been thought to be small, due to the surmised equality between solute-solvent dispersion interactions prior to the interaction versus solute-solute dispersion interactions following the interaction. The thermodynamics of binding of primary alcohols to the major urinary protein (MUP-I) indicate that this general assumption is not justified. The enthalpy of binding becomes more favorable with increasing chain length, whereas the entropy of binding becomes less favorable, both parameters showing a linear dependence. Despite the hydrophobicity of the interacting species, these data show that binding is not dominated by the classical hydrophobic effect, but can be attributed to favorable ligand-protein dispersion interactions.     

Automated linkage of proteins and payloads producing monodisperse conjugates

Controlled protein functionalization holds great promise for a wide variety of applications. However, despite intensive research, the stoichiometry of the functionalization reaction remains difficult to control due to the inherent stochasticity of the conjugation process. Classical approaches that exploit peculiar structural features of specific protein substrates, or introduce reactive handles via mutagenesis, are by essence limited in scope or require substantial protein reengineering. We herein present equimolar native chemical tagging (ENACT), which precisely controls the stoichiometry of inherently random conjugation reactions by combining iterative low-conversion chemical modification, process automation, and bioorthogonal trans-tagging. We discuss the broad applicability of this conjugation process to a variety of protein substrates and payloads.

Controlled protein functionalization holds great promise for a wide variety of applications.

Applications of protein conjugates are limitless, including imaging, diagnostics, drug delivery, and sensing.^1–4 In many of these applications, it is crucial that the conjugates are homogeneous.⁵ The site-selectivity of the conjugation process and the number of functional labels per biomolecule, known as the degree of conjugation (DoC), are crucial parameters that define the composition of the obtained products and are often the limiting factors to achieving adequate performance of the conjugates. For instance, immuno-PCR, an extremely sensitive detection technique, requires rigorous control of the average number of oligonucleotide labels per biomolecule (its DoC) in order to achieve high sensitivity.⁶ In optical imaging, the performance of many super-resolution microscopy techniques is directly defined by the DoC of fluorescent tags.⁷ For therapeutics, an even more striking example is provided by antibody–drug conjugates, which are prescribed for the treatment of an increasing range of cancer indications.⁸ A growing body of evidence from clinical trials indicates that bioconjugation parameters, DoC and DoC distribution, directly influence the therapeutic index of these targeted agents and hence must be tightly controlled.⁹Standard bioconjugation techniques, which rely on nucleophile–electrophile reactions, result in a broad distribution of different DoC species (Fig. 1a), which have different biophysical parameters, and consequently different functional properties.¹⁰Open in a separate windowFig. 1Schematic representation of the types of protein conjugates.To address this key issue and achieve better DoC selectivity, a number of site-specific conjugation approaches have been developed (Fig. 1b). These techniques rely on protein engineering for the introduction of specific motifs (e.g., free cysteines,¹¹ selenocysteines,¹² non-natural amino acids,^13,14 peptide tags recognized by specific enzymes^15,16) with distinct reactivity compared to the reactivity of the amino acids present in the native protein. These motifs are used to simultaneously control the DoC (via chemo-selective reactions) and the site of payload attachment. Both parameters are known to influence the biological and biophysical parameters of the conjugates,¹¹ but so far there has been no way of evaluating their impact separately.The influence of DoC is more straightforward, with a lower DoC allowing the minimization of the influence of payload conjugation on the properties of the protein substrate. The lowest DoC that can be achieved for an individual conjugate is 1 (corresponding to one payload attached per biomolecule). It is noteworthy that DoC 1 is often difficult to achieve through site-specific conjugation techniques due to the symmetry of many protein substrates (e.g., antibodies). Site selection is a more intricate process, which usually relies on a systematic screening of conjugation sites for some specific criteria, such as stability or reactivity.¹⁷Herein, we introduce a method of accessing an entirely new class of protein conjugates with multiple conjugation sites but strictly homogenous DoCs (Fig. 1c). To achieve this, we combined (a) iterative low conversion chemical modification, (b) process automation, and (c) bioorthogonal trans-tagging in one workflow.The method has been exemplified for protein substrates, but it is applicable to virtually any native bio-macromolecule and payload. Importantly, this method allows for the first time the disentangling of the effects of homogeneous DoC and site-specificity on conjugate properties, which is especially intriguing in the light of recent publications revealing the complexity of the interplay between payload conjugation sites and DoC for in vivo efficacy of therapeutic bioconjugates.¹⁸ Finally, it is noteworthy that this method can be readily combined with an emerging class of site-selective bioconjugation reagents to produce site-specific DoC 1 conjugates, thus further expanding their potential for biotechnology applications.¹⁹     

Photoinduced Ru-Yb energy transfer and sensitised near-IR luminescence in a coordination polymer containing co-crystallised [Ru(bipy)(CN)4]2- and Yb(III) units

Co-crystallisation of the anionic cyanometallate chromophore [Ru(bipy)(CN)4]2- with Yb(III) provides coordination polymers or oligomers containing Ru-CN-Yb bridges; in [K(H2O)4][Yb(H2O)6][Ru(bipy)(CN)4]2.5H2O Ru-->Yb energy-transfer (k > 5 x 10(6) s(-1)) results in partial quenching of the Ru-based luminescence and sensitised near-IR luminescence from the Yb(III) unit.     

New disulfido molybdenum-manganese complexes exhibit facile addition of small molecules to the sulfur atoms

The reaction of Mn(2)(CO)(7)(mu-S2) (1) with [CpMo(CO)(3)](2) (Cp = C(5)H(5)) and [Cp*Mo(CO)(3)](2) (Cp* = C(5)(CH(3))(5)) yielded the new mixed-metal disulfide complexes CpMoMn(CO)(5)(mu-S2) (2) and Cp*MoMn(CO)(5)(mu-S2) (3) by a metal-metal exchange reaction. Compounds 2 and 3 both contain a bridging disulfido ligand lying perpendicular to the Mo-Mn bond. The bond distances are Mo-Mn = 2.8421(10) and 2.8914(5) A and S-S = 2.042(2) and 1.9973(10) A for 2 and 3, respectively. A tetranuclear metal side product CpMoMn(3)(CO)(13)(mu3-S)(mu4-S) (4) was also isolated from the reaction of 1 with [CpMo(CO)(3)](2). Compounds 2 and 3 react with CO to yield the dithiocarbonato complexes CpMoMn(CO)(5)[mu-SC(=O)S] (5) and Cp*MoMn(CO)(5)[mu-SC(=O)S] (6) by insertion of CO into the S-S bond. Similarly, tert-butylisocyanide was inserted into the S-S bond of 2 and 3 to yield the complexes CpMoMn(CO)(5)[mu-S(C=NBu(t))S] (7) and Cp*MoMn(CO)(5)[mu-S(C=NBu(t))S] (8), respectively. Ethylene and dimethylacetylene dicarboxylate also inserted into the S-S bond of 2 and 3 at room temperature to yield the ethanedithiolato ligand bridged complexes CpMoMn(CO)(5)(mu-SCH(2)CH(2)S) (9), Cp*MoMn(CO)(5)(mu-SCH(2)CH(2)S) (10), CpMoMn(CO)(5)[mu-SC(CO(2)Me)=C(CO(2)Me)S] (11), and Cp*MoMn(CO)(5)[mu-SC(CO(2)Me)=C(CO(2)Me)S] (12). Allene was found to insert into the S-S bond of 2 by using one of its two double bonds to yield the complex CpMoMn(CO)(5)[mu-SCH(2)C(=CH(2))S] (13). The molecular structures of the new complexes 2-7 and 9-13 were established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses.     

Dipole-bound anions of highly polar molecules: ethylene carbonate and vinylene carbonate

Results of experimental and theoretical studies of dipole-bound negative ions of the highly polar molecules ethylene carbonate (EC, C3H4O3, mu=5.35 D) and vinylene carbonate (VC, C3H2O3, mu=4.55 D) are presented. These negative ions are prepared in Rydberg electron transfer (RET) reactions in which rubidium (Rb) atoms, excited to ns or nd Rydberg states, collide with EC or VC molecules to produce EC- or VC- ions. In both cases ions are produced only when the Rb atoms are excited to states described by a relatively narrow range of effective principal quantum numbers, n*; the greatest yields of EC- and VC- are obtained for n*(max)=9.0+/-0.5 and 11.6+/-0.5, respectively. Charge transfer from low-lying Rydberg states of Rb is characteristic of a large excess electron binding energy (Eb) of the neutral parent; employing the previously derived empirical relationship Eb=23/n*(max)(2.8) eV, the electron binding energies are estimated to be 49+/-8 meV for EC and 24+/-3 meV for VC. Electron photodetachment studies of EC- show that the excess electron is bound by 49+/-5 meV, in excellent agreement with the RET results, lending credibility to the empirical relationship between Eb and n*(max). Vertical electron affinities for EC and VC are computed employing aug-cc-pVDZ atom-centered basis sets supplemented with a (5s5p) set of diffuse Gaussian primitives to support the dipole-bound electron; at the CCSD(T) level of theory the computed electron affinities are 40.9 and 20.1 meV for EC and VC, respectively.