A molecular mechanics study of the effect of substitution in position 1 on the conformational space of the oxytocin/vasopressin ring

Summary The effect of the substitution in position 1 on the low-energy conformations of the oxytocin/vasopressin 20-membered ring was investigated by means of molecular mechanics. Three representative substitutions were considered: -mercapto-,-dimethyl)propionic acid (Dmp), (-mercapto-,-cyclopentamethylene)propionic acid (Cpp), both forming strong antagonists, and (,-dimethyl--mercapto)propionic acid (-Dmp), forming analogs of strongly reduced biological activity, with the -mercaptopropionic (Mpa) residue taken as reference. Both ECEPP/2 (rigid valence geometry) and AMBER (flexible valence geometry) force fields were employed in the calculations. Three basic types of backbone conformations were taken into account which are distinguished by the type of -turn at residues 3 and 4: 1/III, II, and I/III, all types containing one or two intra-annular hydrogen bonds. The allowed (ring-closed) disulfide-bridge conformations were searched by an algorithm formulated in terms of scanning the disulfide-bridge torsional angle C-S-S-C. The ECEPP/2 and AMBER energies of the obtained conformations were found to be in reasonable agreement. Two of the low-energy conformers of the [Mpa¹]-compound agreed very well with the cyclic part of the two conformers found in the crystal structure of [Mpa¹]-oxytocin. An analysis of the effect of -substitution on relative energies showed that the conformations with the N-C-CH₂-CH₂ (₁) and C-CH₂-CH₂-S (₁) angles of the first residue around (–100°, 60°) and (100°, –60°) are not affected; this in most cases implies a left-handed disulfide bridge. In the case of -substitution the allowed values of ₁ are close to ± 60°. This requirement, being in contradiction to the one concerning -substitution, could explain the very low biological activity of the -substituted analogs. The conformational preferences of substituted compounds can largely be explained by the analysis of local interactions within the first residue. Based on the selection of the conformations which are low in energy for both the reference and -substituted compounds, two distinct types of possible binding conformations were proposed, the first one being similar to the crystal conformer with a left-handed disulfide bridge, the second one having a right-handed bridge, but a geometry different from that of the crystal conformer with the right-handed bridge. The first type of disulfide-bridge arrangement is equally favorable for both I/III and II types of backbone structure, while the second one is allowed only for the II type of backbone. No conformation of the I/III type has a low enough energy to be considered as a possible binding conformation for all of the active compounds studied in this work.     

Addition of dipropylamine to multiacrylate and its model compound catalyzed by lithium dipropylamide

The nucleophilic addition reaction of dipropylamine to vinyl groups of multiacrylate - poly(2-acryloyloxyethyl methacrylate) and to 2-butyrylethyl acrylate as model compound has been investigated. Based on the results obtained, it has been shown that the addition reaction rate of dipropylamine to multiacrylate and 2-butyrylethyl acrylate is proportional to [CH₂=CH-] and to [(C₃H₇)₂NLi] with the ratio [(C₃H₇)₂NH]_o/[(C₃H₇)₂NLi]_o = 20. Second-order addition reaction rate constants and activation energies for the systems under investigation have been determined. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determination of microgram amounts of azide by gas chromatography

Azide ions (5–120 μg) are oxidized by cerium(IV) in an acidic medium. The nitrogen evolved is displaced by helium carrier and quantified by gas chromatography with a thermal conductivity detector. The relative standard deviation is <5%. Many sulphur anions, cyanide and some metal ions which form azide complexes do not interfere.     

Sticking probability for oxygen adsorption and readsorption on thin iron films

Sticking probability for oxygen adsorption on thin iron films and readsorption on surface sites liberated due to incorporation of the adsorbate adatoms below the surface during thermal treatment has been studied by means of the Wagener flow method. Sticking probability for oxygen adsorption on oxidized thin iron films has also been measured for comparison.

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Lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution approach toward enantiomerically enriched 1-(β-hydroxypropyl)indoles

In a route towards enantiomerically enriched 1-(β-hydroxypropyl)indoles, which are potentially useful building blocks for high value-added chemicals synthesis, a kinetic resolution approach by means of lipase-catalyzed enantioselective acylation as well as hydrolysis/methanolysis has been elaborated for the first time. The enzymatic resolution of chiral N-substituted indole-based sec-alcohols was successfully accomplished, yielding both enantiomeric forms of the employed derivatives with up to >99% enantiomeric purity via an enantioselective transesterification under mild reaction conditions. The most selective resolutions were obtained using fungal (CAL-B and TLL) and bacterial (PFL and BCL) lipases and vinyl acetate as the acyl?group donor. The synthetic protocol described herein is very simple, user-friendly and efficient, thus paving the way for future access towards more complex compounds of this type. The absolute configurations of novel enantiomeric derivatives, and thus stereoselectivity of the described enzymatic reactions were confirmed by application of CDA-based NMR methodology and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.     

Effect of Re addition on the crystallization,heat treatment and structure of the Cu–Ni–Si-Cr alloy

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to investigate the thermal behavior and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of the Fe₆₇Nb₅B₂₈ metallic glasses prepared by melt-spinning method. DSC traces exhibit that the crystallization takes place through a single exothermic reaction, and it processes a good thermal stability in thermodynamics. The activation energies for nucleation and grain growth processes were calculated to be 536 ± 22 and 559 ± 20 kJ mol^?1 by Kissinger equation, respectively, and 551 ± 24 and 574 ± 20 kJ mol^?1 by Ozawa equation, respectively. It means that the grain growth process is more difficult than the nucleation process. The variation of local Avrami exponent n(x) with crystallized fraction x demonstrates that the crystallization mechanism varies at different stages. The n(x) is larger than 2.5 at the initial stage of 0 < x < 0.3, implying a mechanism of diffusion-controlled three-dimensional growth with increasing nucleation rate. The n(x) decreases from 2.5 to 1.5 in the range of 0.3 < x < 0.65, suggesting that the crystallization belongs to three-dimensional nucleation and grain growth with decreasing nucleation rate. And n(x) lies between 1.0 and 1.5 in the range of 0.65 < x < 0.95, indicating that the crystallization corresponds to the growth of particles with an appreciable initial volume. Low-temperature annealing corresponds to the precipitation of α-Fe, Fe₂B, and Fe₂₃B₆ phases, and further annealing leads to the formation of α-Fe, Fe₂B, and FeNbB phases. The magnetic properties in relation to microstructure change of the Fe₆₇Nb₅B₂₈ metallic glasses are discussed.     

Coordination modes of 2-mercapto-1,3-benzothiazolate in gallium and indium complexes

2-Mercapto-1,3-benzothiazole (mbztH) may act as a chelating or bridging ligand. In this study, reactions of mbztH with Me₃Ga and Me₃In were examined. The products were characterized by NMR spectroscopy, elemental analyses, melting point, and molecular weight determinations. Formation of mononuclear chelating complexes Me₂M(mbzt) (M = Ga, In) was observed in solutions. Crystallization of Me₂M(mbzt) yielded uncommon non-symmetrical dinuclear complexes Me₄M₂(mbzt)₂, in which one metal is bonded to two sulfurs and the other to two nitrogens.     

Limit distributions and one-parameter groups of linear operators on Banach spaces

Let = {U_t: t > 0} be a strongly continuous one-parameter group of operators on a Banach space X and Q be any subset of a set (X) of all probability measures on X. By (Q; ) we denote the class of all limit measures of {U_tn(μ₁ * μ₂*…*μ_n)*δ_xn}, where {μ_n}Q, {x_n}X and measures U_tnμ_j (j=1, 2,…, n; N=1, 2,…) form an infinitesimal triangular array. We define classes L_m( ) as follows: L₀( )= ( (X); ), L_m( )= (L_m−1( ); ) for m=1, 2,… and L_∞( )=_m=0^∞L_m( ). These classes are analogous to those defined earlier by Urbanik on the real line. Probability distributions from L_m( ), m=0, 1, 2,…, ∞, are described in terms of their characteristic functionals and their generalized Poisson exponents and Gaussian covariance operators.     

An algebraic formula for the intersection number of a polynomial immersion

An algorithm is presented for computing the topological degree for a large class of polynomial mappings. As an application there is given an effective algebraic formula for the intersection number of a polynomial immersion M→R^2m, where M is an m-dimensional algebraic manifold.