All-trans-N-retinylidenetryptamine Schiff base in surfactant solubilized water pools in heptane—a fluorescence study

All-trns-N-retinylidenetryptamine Schiff base was incorporated into aerosol-OT (AOT, sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulphosuccinate)/heptane reverse micelles. This micellar system was used as a model to study the retinal-tryptophan interactions in retinal proteins. The retinylidene Schiff base remains stable in the presence of reverse micelle-solubilized water pools. Partition coefficient and microviscosity measurements show that the Schiff base is located in the micellar interphase. The results are discussed in terms of the interaction between the retinylidene chromophore and the active site environment of rhodopsin and bacteriorhodopsin. In the present model, the quencher and emitting units are covalently attached, and are separated by two carbon spacer units. The fluorescence emission data obtained for the micelle-intercalated Schiff base chromophore are compared with the fluorescence of the native protein and intermediates in the photochemical cycle of bacteriofhodopsin. A comparison of the data obtained for tryptamine and the Schiff base with the results available for bacteriorhodopsin and bacterioopsin reveals that there is a large degree of quenching on intercalation of the retinylidene chromophore in the vicinity of the fluorophore. Evidence provided by this model suggests that energy transfer to retinal can occur from tryptophan residues located in the retinal pocket in the native protein. Thus the retinylidene unit can act as a quencher of the energy of tryptophan, the nature and extent of which may depend on the conformation and relative orientation of the protein-bound fluorophore.     

One-Pot Convenient and High Yielding Synthesis of Dithiocarbamates

Summary. A convenient and high yielding method for the synthesis of diverse dithiocarbamates having various substituents including alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, and alkylaryl at the thiol chain or at the amine chain or at both thiol and amine chains were developed by the one-pot reaction of mercaptans, amines, and bis(benzotriazolyl)methanethione in presence of amidine base under mild reaction conditions.     

Ligand exchange separation of amines on copper (II) sorbed on zinc silicate

Summary Papers impregnated with Cu(II) sorbed on zinc silicate have been used to study the ligand exchange chromatographic behavior of amines. R_F values of 16 amines have been studied in 6 different systems. On the basis of differences in R_F values various analytically important qualitative separations of amines on impregnated papers and quantitative separations on columns of copper(II) sorbed on zinc silicate have been achieved.     

Effect of cooperativity on the O-H stretching force constant in associated water species

CNDO/force calculations have been employed to calculate the O-H stretching force constants for various structures of associated water species such as water-dimethylether, water-acetonitrile, water-lithium fluoride, linear and cyclic water polymers. The variation in the O-H stretching force constant in A_m… O-H… D_n species where A_m and D_n represent, respectively,m number of electron-acceptor andn number of electron-donor molecules, is explained on the basis of the cooperativity effect. With increasing electron-acceptor power of A and electron-donor power of D, the hydrogen-bonded O-H stretching force constant is significantly reduced. The results obtained in these studies are in general agreement with experimental observations reported earlier.     

Derivative spectrophotometric determination of copper(II) in non-ionic micellar medium

A photometric method for trace analysis of Cu(II) with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) in presence of a neutral surfactant, Triton X-100, has been reported in normal and derivative modes. The molar absorption coefficient () and Sandell's sensitivity (S) of PAN-Cu(II) complex at 555 nm is 5.21 x 10(4) l mol(-1) cm(-1) and 1.22 ng cm(-2) respectively. The detection limit of Cu(II) is 4.0 ng ml(-1) and Beer's law is obeyed in the range 0.08-4.00 mug ml(-1) of the analyte. Copper content of a number of commercially available alcoholic beverages, biological and standard alloy samples is reported. The results obtained are in excellent agreement with those obtained using AAS.     

Chemometric analysis of groundwater quality data of alluvial aquifer of Gangetic plain, North India

Water quality data set from the alluvial region in the Gangetic plain in northern India, which is known for high fluoride levels in soil and groundwater, has been analysed by chemometric techniques, such as principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant analysis (DA) and partial least squares (PLS) in order to investigate the compositional differences between surface and groundwater samples, spatial variations in groundwater composition and influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. Trilinear plots of major ions showed that the groundwater in this region is mainly of Na/K-bicarbonate type. PCA performed on complete data matrix yielded six significant PCs explaining 65% of the data variance. Although, PCA rendered considerable data reduction, it could not clearly group and distinguish the sample types (dug well, hand-pump and surface water). However, a visible differentiation between the water samples pertaining to two watersheds (Khar and Loni) was obtained. DA identified six discriminating variables between surface and groundwater and also between different types of samples (dug well, hand pump and surface water). Distinct grouping of the surface and groundwater samples was achieved using the PLS technique. It further showed that the groundwater samples are dominated by variables having origin both in natural and anthropogenic sources in the region, whereas, variables of industrial origin dominate the surface water samples. It also suggested that the groundwater sources are contaminated with various industrial contaminants in the region.     

Conductance studies in amide-water mixtures. II. Sodium salts inN,N-dimethylformamide-water mixtures at 35°C

Conductance data for sodium nitrite, chloride, and acetate in water andN,N-dimethylformamide (DMF)-water mixtures (74.82D42.48) for the concentration range 0.001–0.04N, as well as the densities, viscosities, and dielectric constants of the solvent mixtures at 35°C, are reported. The data have been analyzed by the Fuoss (1975) equation. The existence of a maximum in the viscosity at a 13 mole ratio of DMF and water is indicated. The Walden products for all the three salts pass through a maximum while the equivalent conductances show a minimum with increasing DMF content. The maxima in the Walden product are attributed to the dehydration of ions by the cosolvent (DMF).Part I:Indian J. Chem. 14A, 1015 (1976).Deceased.     

Palladium-catalysed 5-endo-trig allylic (hetero)arylation

A palladium-catalysed intramolecular allylic (hetero)arylation strategy for the synthesis of fused cyclopentenes incorporated with all-carbon quaternary and spiro centres is described. The method is straightforward, shows broad scope, proceeds in synthetically useful yields, and provides a rare means to construct complex cyclopentanoids. The reaction is believed to involve a kinetically unfavourable 5-endo-trig carbocyclisation of the tethered (π-allyl)palladium system. Further, this method was successfully applied as the key step in the total synthesis of diterpene natural products taiwaniaquinone H and dichroanone.

A palladium-catalysed intramolecular allylic (hetero)arylation strategy for the synthesis of fused cyclopentenes incorporated with all-carbon quaternary and spiro centres is described.     

In situ assembled ZIF superstructures via an emulsion-free soft-templating approach

Assembling well-defined MOF superstructures remains challenging as it requires easily removable hard templates or readily available immiscible solutions for an emulsion-based soft-template approach. In this work, a single-step emulsion-free soft templating approach is reported to spontaneously prepare hollow ZIF-8 and ZIF-67 colloidosomes with no further purification. These superstructures can load different enzymes regardless of the size and charge with a high encapsulation efficiency of 99%. We envisage that this work will expand the repertoires of MOF superstructures by the judicious selection of precursors and the reaction medium.

An emulsion-free approach for the preparation of hollow ZIF-8 superstructures in a single step is established based on metal sulfate hydrates in methanol.     

First systematic investigation of C-H...Cl hydrogen bonding using inorganic supramolecular synthons: lamellar, stitched stair-case, linked-ladder, and helical structures

Using a group of six neutral M(II)Cl(2)-containing coordination compounds as building blocks, the first systematic investigation of C-H...Cl hydrogen-bonding interactions was performed. Single-crystal X-ray structural analyses of four new compounds (pseudo-tetrahedral Co(II) and Zn(II); distorted trigonal bipyramidal Zn(II)) authenticate the metal coordination geometry. To provide a unified view of the presence of noncovalent interactions in this class of compounds, we have re-examined the packing diagram of two previously reported compounds (a distorted square-pyramidal Cu(II) complex and a trans-octahedral Co(II) complex). The organic ligands of our choice comprise bidentate/tridentate pyrazolylmethylpyridines and an unsymmetrical tridentate pyridylalkylamine. This systematic investigation has allowed us to demonstrate the existence of versatile C-H...Cl(2)M interactions and to report the successful application of such units as inorganic supramolecular synthons. Additional noncovalent interactions such as C-H...O and O-H...Cl hydrogen bonding and pi-pi stacking interactions have also been identified. Formation of novel supramolecular architectures has been revealed: 2D lamellar (p-cyclophane) and 3D lamellar, 3D "stitched staircase" (due to additional hydrogen-bonding interactions by water tetramers, with an average O-O bond length in the tetramer unit of 2.926 A, acting as "molecular clips" between staircases), 3D linked ladder, and single-stranded 1D helix.