Electrochemical Reduction of Arylxenon Tetrafluoroborates

Reduction potentials of arylxenon(II) tetrafluoroborates have been measured by cyclic voltammetry method on platinum disc and ultramicro electrodes. The electrochemical properties of the arylxenon(II) tetrafluoroborates are quite different to those of corresponding arylperfluoralkyliodine(III) salts.     

Fluorescence polarization immunoassays for pesticides

Fluorescence polarization immunoassay methods for the detection of pesticides and their metabolites or degradation products are reviewed. Advantages and limitations for application to pesticide detection in environmental and food samples are discussed. The influence of the structure of fluorescent-labeled tracers and the affinity and specificity of antibodies on analytical performance is examined. The methods are simple, readily automated, and rapid (total time for assay of a water sample is about 1 min) with sensitivity of 1 - 10 ng/ml pesticide in 0.01 - 0.1 ml sample.     

1,1,4,4-Tetranitrobutane-2,3-diol and its derivatives. 5. Reaction of 1,1,4,4-tetranitrobutane-2,3-diol with formaldehyde; synthesis and crystal structure of 4,4-dinitro-2,3-dihydroxytetrahydrofuran

1,1,4,4-Tetranitrobutane-2,3-diol reacts with formaldehyde, forming 2,2-dinitropropane-1,3-diol or a cyclic ether — 4,4-dinitro-2,3-dihydroxytetrahydrofuran — as a function of the reaction conditions.Institute of Chemical Physics, Chernogolovka, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142432 Chernogolovka. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 12, pp. 2755–2759, December, 1992.     

Ring-closing olefin metathesis on ruthenium carbene complexes: model DFT study of stereochemistry

Ring-closing metathesis (RCM) is the key step in a recently reported synthesis of salicylihalamide and related model compounds. Experimentally, the stereochemistry of the resulting cycloolefin (cis/trans) depends strongly on the substituents that are present in the diene substrate. To gain insight into the factors that govern the observed stereochemistry, density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been carried out for a simplified dichloro(2-propylidene)(imidazole-2-ylidene)ruthenium catalyst I, as well as for the real catalyst II with two mesityl substituents on the imidazole ring. Four model substrates are considered, which are closely related to the systems studied experimentally, and in each case, two pathways A and B are possible since the RCM reaction can be initiated by coordination of either of the two diene double bonds to the metal center. The first metathesis yields a carbene intermediate, which can then undergo a second metathesis by ring closure, metallacycle formation, and metallacycle cleavage to give the final cycloolefin complex. According to the DFT calculations, the stereochemistry is always determined in the second metathesis reaction, but the rate-determining step may be different for different catalysts, substrates, and pathways. The ancillary N-heterocyclic carbene ligand lies in the Ru-Cl-Cl plane in the simplified catalyst I, but is perpendicular to it in the real catalyst II, and this affects the relative energies of the relevant intermediates and transition states. Likewise, the introduction of methyl substituents in the diene substrates influences these relative energies appreciably. Good agreement with the experimentally observed stereochemistry is only found when using the real catalyst II and the largest model substrates in the DFT calculations.     

Biosensors based on enzyme field-effect transistors for determination of some substrates and inhibitors

This paper is a review of the authors' publications concerning the development of biosensors based on enzyme field-effect transistors (ENFETs) for direct substrates or inhibitors analysis. Such biosensors were designed by using immobilised enzymes and ion-selective field-effect transistors (ISFETs). Highly specific, sensitive, simple, fast and cheap determination of different substances renders them as promising tools in medicine, biotechnology, environmental control, agriculture and the food industry.The biosensors based on ENFETs and direct enzyme analysis for determination of concentrations of different substrates (glucose, urea, penicillin, formaldehyde, creatinine, etc.) have been developed and their laboratory prototypes were fabricated. Improvement of the analytical characteristics of such biosensors may be achieved by using a differential mode of measurement, working solutions with different buffer concentrations and specific agents, negatively or positively charged additional membranes, or genetically modified enzymes. These approaches allow one to decrease the effect of the buffer capacity influence on the sensor response in an aim to increase the sensitivity of the biosensors and to extend their dynamic ranges.Biosensors for the determination of concentrations of different toxic substances (organophosphorous pesticides, heavy metal ions, hypochlorite, glycoalkaloids, etc.) were designed on the basis of reversible and/or irreversible enzyme inhibition effect(s). The conception of an enzymatic multibiosensor for the determination of different toxic substances based on the enzyme inhibition effect is also described.We will discuss the respective advantages and disadvantages of biosensors based on the ENFETs developed and also demonstrate their practical application.     

Dispersing nanotubes with surfactants: a microscopic statistical mechanical analysis

A first theoretical study of surfactant-stabilized carbon nanotube dispersions is presented. Density functional theory is used to compute potential of mean force between nanotubes in an aqueous solution of cationic surfactant n-decyltrimethylammonium chloride. In agreement with experimental results, it is found that stable dispersions can be prepared for surfactant bulk concentrations below the critical micelle concentration. Computed density profiles of head and tail segments indicate that surfactants adsorb on nanotube surfaces in a random fashion rather than form cylindrical micelles, which is also in agreement with recent small-angle neutron scattering measurements.     

Resonant interaction between intense electromagnetic waves during ionization of an atom

Resonant interaction through the continuum between two intense electromagnetic waves of different frequencies during ionization of an atom is considered. A general solution of the problem is found by using a procedure based on the application of the Laplace transform to the equations for the time-dependent amplitudes of the probability. When one of the EM waves is considerably weaker than the other, the dynamics of the absorption of light by an atom are investigated, and a final value for the ionization probability in the illumination region is found.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 63–70, January, 1978.     

Fluorescence of the single tryptophan of cutinase: temperature and pH effect on protein conformation and dynamics

The cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi is an enzyme with a single L-tryptophan (Trp) involved in a hydrogen bond with an alanine (Ala) residue and located close to a cystine formed by a disulfide bridge between two cysteine (Cys) residues. The Cys strongly quenches the fluorescence of Trp by both static and dynamic quenching mechanisms. The Trp fluorescence intensity increases by about fourfold on protein melting because of the disruption of the Ala-Trp hydrogen bond that releases the Trp from the vicinity of the cystine residue. The Trp forms charge-transfer complexes with the disulfide bridge, which is disrupted by UV light irradiation of the protein. This results in a 10-fold increase of the Trp fluorescence quantum yield because of the suppression of the static quenching by the cystine residue. The Trp fluorescence anisotropy decays are similar to those in other proteins and were interpreted in terms of the wobbling-in-cone model. The long relaxation time is attributed to the Brownian rotational correlation time of the protein as a whole below the protein-melting temperature and to protein-backbone dynamics above it. The short relaxation time is related to the local motion of the Trp, whose mobility increases on protein denaturation.     

A Comparative PMR study of Exchange reactions in organo- Mercury, -TIN and -LEAD derivatives of some thiols

Metal—proton and metal—metal exchange reactions have been studied by PMR for thiophenol, 2-methylthiophenol, 2,6-dimethylthiophenol, benzyl mercaptan and their C₆H₅HG, (C₆H₅)₃Sn and (C₆H₅)₃Pb derivatives in chlorobenzene and pyridine solutions. In chlorobenzene the metal—metal exchange has been found to proceed in many cases at a greater rate than the metal—proton type, the exchange mobility of hydrogen and organometallic groups in chlorobenzene increasing in the order (C₆H₅)₃Sn<H<(C₆H₅)₃Pb<C₆H₅Hg. In the case of the (C₆H₅)₃Sn and (C₆H₅)₃Pb groups, pyridine accelerates the metal—proton exchange to a greater extent than the metal—metal exchange.The influence of various factors on the exchange reactions has been studied Analysis of the experimental findings and literature data has led to the conclusion that most probably the mechanism of the exchange reactions involves an associative pathway, the ease of exchange being mainly determined by the ability of the migrating group to form a cyclic transition state with delocalized bonds. The data on the exchange equilibria of the organometallic derivatives of 2-methylthiophenol and 2,6-dimethylthiophenol with thiophenol and its derivatives demonstrate that the C₆H₅HgS, (C₆H₅)₃SnS and (C₆H₅)₃PbS groups have equal steric requirements when involved in non-bonded interactions with o-methyl substituents.