Proton-coupled electron transfer in ruthenium(II)-pterin complexes: formation of ruthenium-coordinated pterin radicals and their electronic structures

Ruthenium(II)-pterin complexes were prepared using tetradentate and tripodal tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine (TPA) and tris(5-methyl-2-pyridylmethyl)amine (5-Me3-TPA) as auxiliary ligands together with 2-(N,N-dimethyl)-6,7-dimethylpterin (Hdmdmp) and 6,7-dimethylpterin (Hdmp) as pterin derivatives for ligands. Characterization was made by spectroscopic methods, X-ray crystallography, and electrochemical measurements. The pterin ligands coordinated to the ruthenium centers as monoanionic bidentate ligands via the 4-oxygen of the pyrimidinone moiety and the 5-nitrogen of the pyrazine parts. The striking feature is that the coordinated dmp- ligand exhibits a quinonoid structure rather than a deprotonated biopterin structure, showing a short C-N bond length for the 2-amino group. Those complexes exhibit reversible two-step protonation for both pterin derivatives coordinated to the ruthenium centers to give a drastic spectral change in the UV-vis spectroscopy. Doubly protonated Ru(II)-pterin complexes were stabilized by pi-back-bonding interaction and exhibited clear and reversible proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) to give ruthenium-coordinated neutral monohydropterin radicals as intermediates of PCET processes. Those ESR spectra indicate that the unpaired electron delocalizes onto the PCET region (N5-C6-C7-N8) of the pyrazine moiety.     

Electrostatic Maxwell stress model of the shapes of condensed phase domains in monolayers at the air-water interface

The formation mechanism of the shapes of condensed phase domains in monolayers at the air-water interface was investigated taking into account the surface pressure, line tension, and electrostatic energy due to the spontaneous polarization generated in normal and in-plane direction. By deriving the shape equation of monolayer domains as the mechanical balance at the domain boundary, we found that the electrostatic energy contributes to the shape equation as electrostatic Maxwell stress. Development of a cusp from condensed phase domains of fatty acid monolayers, which has been experimentally observed, was analyzed by the shape equation. It was found that the development of a cusp originated from the strong Maxwell stress, which was induced by the non-uniform orientational distribution in the fatty acid domain, and that cusped shapes gave a minimum of the free energy of the domain. It demonstrates that the shape equation with Maxwell stress, which is derived in the present study, is useful to study the formation mechanism of the shapes of condensed phase domains in monolayers.     

Chemistry in heterocyclic ammonium fluorohydrogenate room-temperature ionic liquid

Investigation on alkali fluoride-HF system has been initiated in the 19th century. The technique is currently utilized in fluorine-chemical industry. But, the problem is that this system readily releases hazardous HF. Although organic base, e.g., amine, with HF, which is mainly applied to fluorination treatment for organic compound, reduces the HF release, the solution still requires careful handling because of limited amount of free HF. Recently family of fluorohydrogenate room-temperature ionic liquid, XF(HF)_2.3, that consists of heterocyclic ammonium cation (X⁺), F(HF)₂⁻, and F(HF)₃⁻, has gotten a lot of attentions due to the interesting physicochemical properties such as negligible vapor pressure (<7.5 × 10⁻³ Torr (=1 Pa) at 298 K), high conductivity, and low corrosiveness. This novel solvent will greatly contribute to development of fluorine chemistry. In this article, fundamental techniques and physicochemical data on the fluorohydrogenate RTIL are summarized, and molecular science in the dialkylimidazolium fluorohydrogenates leading to the understanding of the unusual properties is reviewed based on recent experimental and theoretical considerations.     

Spectroscopic and electronic structure studies of phenolate Cu(II) complexes: phenolate ring orientation and activation related to cofactor biogenesis

A combination of spectroscopies and DFT calculations have been used to define the electronic structures of two crystallographically defined Cu(II)-phenolate complexes. These complexes differ in the orientation of the phenolate ring which results in different bonding interactions of the phenolate donor orbitals with the Cu(II), which are reflected in the very different spectroscopic properties of the two complexes. These differences in electronic structures lead to significant differences in DFT calculated reactivities with oxygen. These calculations suggest that oxygen activation via a Cu(I) phenoxyl ligand-to-metal charge transfer complex is highly endergonic (>50 kcal/mol), hence an unlikely pathway. Rather, the two-electron oxidation of the phenolate forming a bridging Cu(II) peroxoquinone complex is more favorable (11.3 kcal/mol). The role of the oxidized metal in mediating this two-electron oxidation of the coordinated phenolate and its relevance to the biogenesis of the covalently bound topa quinone in amine oxidase are discussed.     

Dodecyl thioglycopyranoside sulfates: novel sugar-based surfactants for enantiomeric separations by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

Four novel chiral anionic surfactants having carbohydrate hydrophilic heads, sodium n-dodecyl 1-thio-beta-D-glucopyranoside 6-hydrogen sulfate (6-betaGlcD), sodium n-dodecyl 1-thio-beta-L-glucopyranoside 6-hydrogen sulfate (6-betaGlcL), sodium n-dodecyl 1-thio-beta-L-fucopyranoside 3-hydrogen sulfate (3-betaFucL), and sodium n-dodecyl 1-thio-alpha-L-rhamnopyranoside 3-hydrogen sulfate (3-alphaRhaL), were synthesized by selective sulfation of the corresponding thioglycosides. Their CMC determined by fluorescence using pyrene as a probe in water was 1.3-2.7 mM. These surfactants found to be useful as chiral selectors for enantiomeric separation by MEKC. The enantiomeric separation was optimized with respect to pH, buffer concentration, and surfactant concentration. Under the optimized conditions (50 mM phosphate buffer at pH 6.5, 30 mM surfactant, 20 kV), the enantiomeric separations of five dansylated amino acids (Dns-AAs) were achieved within approximately 20 min with the migration order of Val相似文献   

New Oxyhalide Solid Electrolytes with High Lithium Ionic Conductivity >10 mS cm−1 for All-Solid-State Batteries

All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) with inorganic solid electrolytes (SEs) have attracted significant interest as next-generation energy storage. Halides such as Li₃YCl₆ are promising candidates for SE because they combine high oxidation stability and deformability. However, the ionic conductivities of halide SEs are not as high as those of other SEs, especially sulfides. Here, we discover new lithium-metal-oxy-halide materials, LiMOCl₄ (M=Nb, Ta). They exhibit extremely high ionic conductivities of 10.4 mS cm⁻¹ for M=Nb and 12.4 mS cm⁻¹ for M=Ta, respectively, even in cold-pressed powder forms at room temperature, which are comparable to or surpass those of organic liquid electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries. Bulk-type ASSB cells using the oxyhalides as the cathode SE demonstrate an outstanding rate capability with a capacity retention of 80 % at 5 C/0.1 C. We believe that the proposed oxyhalides are promising SE candidates for the practical applications of ASSBs.     

Temperature-sensitive nonionic vesicles prepared from Span 80 (sorbitan monooleate)

Different types of nonionic vesicles were prepared from commercial Span 80 (also called sorbitan monooleate), as an inexpensive, biocompatible alternative to conventional phospholipid-based vesicles (liposomes). The vesicles were characterized by different techniques and comparison was made with vesicles formed from POPC (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) or DOPC (1,2-dioleoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine). Dynamic light scattering measurements, electron microscopy analyses, and two types of fusion assays indicate that Span 80 vesicles are stable for at least 7 days at 4 or 25 degrees C, while storage at 42 degrees C causes irreversible vesicle fusion. This indicates that Span 80 vesicles are thermoresponsive with vesicle fusion occurring at elevated temperature. This property may be related to headgroup dehydration and is certainly not directly linked to the phase transition temperature (Tm) of the vesicles, since the Tm is below -30 degrees C, as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The measured Tm value for Span 80 vesicles is lower than in the case of DOPC or POPC, correlating with a higher fluidity of Span 80 vesicles as compared to POPC or DOPC vesicles, as determined with DPH (1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene) as fluorescent membrane probe. High fluidity correlates with increased leakage of entrapped water-soluble dye molecules. Addition of cholesterol and soybean phosphatidylcholine lowers the extent of leakage, allowing a tuning of the bilayer permeability.     

Nectrianolins A,B, and C,new metabolites produced by endophytic fungus Nectria pseudotrichia 120-1NP

Two sesquiterpene-epoxycyclohexenone conjugates, nectrianolins A (1) and B (2), together with a sesquiterpene, nectrianolin C (3), were isolated from the brown rice culture of Nectria pseudotrichia 120-1NP, an endophytic fungus isolated from Gliricidia sepium. Their structures were determined on the basis of 1D-/2D-NMR spectroscopy and HRESIMS data analyses in combination with chemical means. Nectrianolins A–C (1–3) exhibited cytotoxic activity against both HL60 and HeLa cells.     

X-ray microdiffraction and strain gradient crystal plasticity studies of geometrically necessary dislocations near a Ni bicrystal grain boundary

We compare experimental measurements of inhomogeneous plastic deformation in a Ni bicrystal with crystal plasticity simulations. Polychromatic X-ray microdiffraction, orientation imaging microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, were used to characterize the geometrically necessary dislocation distribution of the bicrystal after uniaxial tensile deformation. Changes in the local crystallographic orientations within the sample reflect its plastic response during the tensile test. Elastic strain in both grains increases near the grain boundary. Finite element simulations were used to understand the influence of initial grain orientation and structural inhomogeneities on the geometrically necessary dislocations arrangement and distribution and to understand the underlying materials physics.     

The Basin of Attraction of the Steady-States for a Chemotaxis Model in {\mathbb{R}^2} with Critical Mass

We consider the Cauchy problem for a parabolic–elliptic system in ${\mathbb{R}^2}$ , which is amathematical model of chemotaxis and also amodel of self-attracting particles. In the critical mass case, we determine the basin of attraction of the steady-states for the Cauchy problem through a Lyapunov functional.