Synthesis of the eastern portion of ajudazol a based on Stille coupling and double acetylene carbocupration

[structure: see text] A strategy for the synthesis of ajudazol A, an unusual, pharmacologically active metabolite from myxobacteria, based on the Stille cross-coupling of a 2-stannyl-oxazole with a vinyl iodide unit is described; the vinyl halide unit containing a (Z,Z)-diene was prepared in one pot by the double acetylene carbocupration of a functionalized alkyl cuprate followed by trapping with 2,3-dibromopropene.     

Picosecond thermometer in the amide I band of myoglobin

The amide I and II bands in myoglobin show a heterogeneous temperature dependence, with bands at 6.17 and 6.43 microm which are more intense at low temperatures. The amide I band temperature dependence is on the long wavelength edge of the band, while the short wavelength side has almost no temperature dependence. We compare concepts of anharmonic solid-state crystal physics and chemical physics for the origins of these bands. We suggest that the long wavelength side is composed of those amino acids which hydrogen bond to the hydration shell of the protein, and that temperature dependent bands can be used to determine the time it takes vibrational energy to flow into the hydration shell. We determine that vibrational energy flow to the hydration shell from the amide I takes approximately 20 ps to occur.     

Kinetic roughening of laser deposited polymer films: crossover from single particle character to continuous growth

The crossover in kinetic roughening of thin films from a particle-character-dominated regime to continuous growth behavior has been observed in this work. This has been accomplished by atomic force microscopy investigations of pulsed laser deposited amorphous organic films with thicknesses ranging from several nanometers to more than 4 microm. The early-stage random-deposition-like processes end once a closed layer is formed, which grows without saturation on the characteristic length scales. In addition, the influence of oblique film deposition has been examined and interpreted.     

Accurate mass measurement and tandem mass spectrometry of intact globin chains identify the low proportion variant hemoglobin Lepore-Boston-Washington from the blood of a heterozygote

Within a mixture of proteins, minor polymorphic components are difficult to identify using a conventional proteomic approach. Their identification generally requires multi-dimensional separation steps, before or after proteolytic cleavage, followed by sequence analysis of the proteolytic products. In this study, we investigated the potential of tandem mass spectrometry for protein characterization by identifying the delta-beta hybrid human hemoglobin variant Lepore-Boston-Washington using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Hemoglobin Lepore-Boston-Washington occurs mainly in heterozygotes, where it comprises approximately 10% of the total non-alpha-chains, the dominant non-alpha-chain being the normal beta (approximately 90%). Furthermore, Hemoglobin Lepore-Boston-Washington has an average molecular mass (15,865.23 Da) that is only 2 Da lower than that of the normal beta-chain (15,867.24 Da). Consequently, it cannot be resolved from the normal beta-chain by mass spectrometry. Here we show how Hemoglobin Lepore-Boston-Washington was identified directly from the diluted blood of a heterozygote by analyzing the product ions from the Lepore-Boston-Washington and normal beta-chain ions without prior separation of the individual chains. This study shows the potential of the tandem mass spectrometry for identifying a minor component in an unseparated mixture of proteins.     

Directional synthesis of a dye-linked conducting homopolymer

We report a new synthesis of a 10,20-diphenyl-5,15-bis(4-cyanophenyl)porphyrin (1) and its reduction to give 10,20-diphenyl-5,15-bis(4-formylphenyl)porphyrin (2). When the conducting polymer poly(2',5'-dioctyl-4,4' '-terphenylenecyanovinylene) was prepared in the presence of 2, we obtained a three-domain structure, compound 3, consisting of two homopolymer blocks (J domains) with the porphyrin dye molecule (P domain) in the middle. The JPJ assembly was subjected to photophysical studies where we showed that the J domain could serve as a light-harvesting antenna for the P domain.     

Intramolecular and intermolecular kinetic isotope effects (KIE) in the nitrosoarene ene reaction: experimental evidence for reversible intermediate formation

The intramolecular and intermolecular kinetic isotope effects (KIE) have been determined for the nitrosoarene ene reaction with deuterium-stereolabeled 2,3-dimethyl-2-butenes (TME). trans-TME-d(6) (k(H)/k(D) = 3.0) and gem-TME-d(6) (k(H)/k(D) = 4.0) show large intramolecular primary isotope effects. In contrast, the intramolecular competition in cis-TME-d(6) (k(H)/k(D) = 1.5) and the intermolecular competition for the TME-d(0)/TME-d(12) pair (k(H)/k(D) = 1.98) show considerably smaller, but mechanistically significant kinetic isotope effects. The latter fact is rationalized in terms of reversible formation of a three-membered-ring intermediate, namely the aziridine N-oxide, or a similar unsymmetrical, polarized diradical in the first step of the reaction. Such reversibility has also been implied earlier for triazolinedione (TAD) and singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)) with deuterium-stereolabeled 2-butenes, but of the three enophiles, ArNO is the most sensitive toward reversibility, which is due to its moderate reactivity and its high steric demand.