Pyridinium p-toluenesulfonylmethylide as a formyl anion equivalent

Pyridinium $\text{p}$-toluenesulfonylmethylide serves as a formyl anion equivalent and, in the presence of an alcohol, undergoes 1,4-addition to $\text{N}$-substituted maleimides to give alkoxy- (or aryloxy)-methylene-succinimides. The protected aldehyde group can be liberated readily.     

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry of 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate-derivatized peptides on AnchorChip sample supports using the sodium-tolerant matrix 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone and diammonium citrate

The reagent 4-sulfophenyl isothiocyanate (SPITC) is an effective, stable, and inexpensive alternative to commercially available reagents used in the N-terminal sulfonation of peptides for enhanced postsource decay (PSD) in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometric (MALDI-TOFMS) analyses. However, suppression of ionization of sulfonated peptides due to sample and matrix contaminants such as sodium can be a problem when using prestructured MALDI target sample supports, such as the Bruker Daltonics AnchorChip. We show that use of the salt-tolerant matrix 2,4,6-trihydroxyacetophenone containing diammonium citrate (THAP/DAC) as an alternative to alpha-cyanohydroxycinnamic acid (HCCA) reduces the need for extensive washing of ZipTip-bound peptides or additional on-target sample clean-up steps. Use of the THAP/DAC matrix results in selective ionization of sulfonated peptides with greater peptide coverage, as well as detection of higher mass derivatized peptides, than was observed for HCCA or THAP alone. The THAP/DAC matrix is quite tolerant of sodium contamination, with SPITC-peptides detectable in preparations containing up to 50 mM NaCl. In addition, THAP/DAC matrix was found to promote efficient PSD fragmentation of sulfonated peptides. We demonstrated the utility of using the THAP/DAC MALDI matrix for peptide sequencing with DNA polymerase beta tryptic peptide mixture, as well as tryptic peptides derived from Xiphophorus maculatus brain extract proteins previously separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE).     

Role of radiolytically formed protonating agents in gas phase competitive reactions

Radiolytically formed O₂H⁺, N₂H⁺, and CO₂H⁺ ions were allowed to react with gaseous p-cymene. Dealkylation and isomerization reactions were observed with O₂H⁺ and N₂H⁺ ions, while only the first process occurred when CO₂H⁺ ions were employed. The results show that dealkylation is favored with respect to isomerization as the protonation exothermicity decreases.     

Comparison of methods to estimate the free energy of solvation:Importance in the modulation of the affinity of 3-benzazepines for the D1receptor

We computed the free energy of solvation for a series of ions and neutral molecules using two different continuum approaches. First, we used the AM1–SM1 technique, where the AM1 Fock matrix is modified to include a generalized Born contribution. Second, we applied the DelPhi approach, where the electrostatic component of the free energy of solvation is evaluated by resolving the Poisson–Boltzman equation by a finite difference method. Both methods appear equally reliable for ionic systems. For neutral compounds, AM1–SM1 performs better than DelPhi; however, the differences become less pronounced for compounds with larger free energies of solvation. In parallel, both methods were applied to study the influence of the solvation process in the overall drug receptor interaction for a series of closely related ligands for the D₁ dopamine receptor. An inverse linear relationship was found between the free energy of solvation and the logarithm of the affinity of the ligands; nevertheless, electrostatic properties are likely to modulate affinity as well. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Localization in the ground state of a disordered array of quantum rotators

We consider the zero-temperature behavior of a disordered array of quantum rotators given by the finite-volume Hamiltonian: $$H_\Lambda = - \mathop \Sigma \limits_{x \in \Lambda } \frac{{h(x)}}{2}\frac{{\partial ^2 }}{{\partial \varphi (x)^2 }} - J\mathop \Sigma \limits_{\left\langle {x,y} \right\rangle \in \Lambda } \cos (\varphi (x) - \varphi (y))$$ , wherex,y∈Z ^d , 〈,〉 denotes nearest neighbors inZ ^d ;J>0 andh={h(x)>0,x∈Z ^d } are independent identically distributed random variables with common distributiondμ(h), satisfying ∫h ^?δ dμ(h)<∞ for some δ>0. We prove that for anym>0 it is possible to chooseJ(m) sufficiently small such that, if 0<J<J(m), for almost every choice ofh and everyx∈Z ^d the ground state correlation function satisfies $$\left\langle {\cos (\varphi (x) - \varphi (y))} \right\rangle \leqq C_{x,h,J} e^{ - m\left| {x - y} \right|} $$ for ally∈Z ^d withC _x,h,J <∞.     

Influence of heating and cooling rates on the glass transition temperature and the fragility parameter of sorbitol and fructose as measured by DSC

The glass transition temperatures of sorbitol and fructose were characterized by four points determined on DSC heating thermograms (onset, mid-point, peak and end-point), plus the limit fictive temperature. The variations of these temperature values, observed as functions of cooling and heating rates, were used to determine the fragility parameter, as defined by Angell [1] to characterize the temperature dependence of the dynamic behavior of glass-forming liquids in the temperature range above the glass transition. The apparent activation energy values, determined for the different temperatures studied, were similar for fructose and sorbitol. These values were compared to data obtained from other techniques, such as mechanical spectroscopy. The variations of the apparent activation values, observed in experiments involving cooling and heating at the same rate, slow cooling followed by rate-heating, or rate-cooling followed by fast heating, were explained by aging effects occurring during the heating step.     

Estimating reaction parameters in mechanism-enabled population balance models of nanoparticle size distributions: A Bayesian inverse problem approach

In order to quantitatively predict nano- as well as other particle-size distributions, one needs to have both a mathematical model and estimates of the parameters that appear in these models. Here, we show how one can use Bayesian inversion to obtain statistical estimates for the parameters that appear in recently derived mechanism-enabled population balance models (ME-PBM) of nanoparticle growth. The Bayesian approach addresses the question of “how well do we know our parameters, along with their uncertainties?.” The results reveal that Bayesian inversion statistical analysis on an example, prototype nanoparticle formation system allows one to estimate not just the most likely rate constants and other parameter values, but also their SDs, confidence intervals, and other statistical information. Moreover, knowing the reliability of the mechanistic model's parameters in turn helps inform one about the reliability of the proposed mechanism, as well as the reliability of its predictions. The paper can also be seen as a tutorial with the additional goal of achieving a “Gold Standard” Bayesian inversion ME-PBM benchmark that others can use as a control to check their own use of this methodology for other systems of interest throughout nature. Overall, the results provide strong support for the hypothesis that there is substantial value in using a Bayesian inversion methodology for parameter estimation in particle formation systems.