Comment on “on the possibility of a three-temporal Lorentz transformation”

In a recent paper it has been suggested that, strictly speaking, light speed invariance is not fully consistent with ordinary space geometry unless our concept of time is drastically modified. This note argues against that paper.     

Voltammetric study of the ion-exchange binding of non-electroactive metal cations to DNA-modified surfaces

We describe a simple electrochemical protocol for studying the ion-exchange binding of non-electroactive ions, specifically mono- and divalent metal cations of biological relevance (Mg(2+), Ca(2+), and K(+)), to DNA-modified surfaces. After incubation in a dilute solution of multiply charged transition metal complex (5.0 microM [Ru(NH(3))(6)]Cl(3)), gold electrodes modified with thiolate-DNA monolayers respond to the presence of these non-electroactive metal cations by producing significant changes in the cyclic voltammograms (i.e., decrease of the integrated charge and shift of formal potential) of the surface-bound redox complex ([Ru(NH(3))(6)](3+)). The divalent cations (particularly Mg(2+)) can be detected at very low concentrations (<10 microM), while the on-set value for K(+) is substantially higher (50 mM). The equilibrium binding constants for Mg(2+) and Ca(2+) to DNA-modified surfaces were calculated.     

Viscometric and light scattering studies on azrechtic acid

Results are reported for viscometric and light scattering studies on azrechtic acid (ARA) in pure aqueous medium, in 0–02 N KCl and in a mixture of 0–02 N KCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂. The investigations reveal the polyelectrolyte character of the azrechtic acid molecule. The corrected average value of the molecular weight from light scattering measurements is 1–7 × 10⁶. Assuming the polydisperse random coil as a suitable model for ARA molecules, the root-mean-square end-to-end distances have been calculated as 2570 Å in water, 1410 Å in 0–02 N KCl and 1180 Å in a mixture of 0–02 N KCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂. The contraction of the molecules in the presence of neutral salts has been attributed to partial reduction of electrostatic repulsion due to similarly charged ions.     

Incoherent X-ray scattering by K-shell electrons

Values of the incoherent scattering function S_K for scattering of photons from K-shell electrons are computed for ₂He, ₃Li, ₄Be and ₅B at photon energies 6, 10, 14, and 18 keV by using screened hydrogenic wavefunctions. The screening has been taken into account by the Thomas-Fermi model of the neutral atom. Unlike the previous calculations we have used a distorted Coulomb wavefunction for the ejected electron. The effects of Coulomb distortion and of screening corrections are discussed. It is shown that the screening correction and the Coulomb distortion in the ejected electron wavefunction play significant roles in the study of incoherent X-ray scattering by bound electrons.     

Unraveling the Rationale Behind Organic Solvent Stability of Lipases

Organic solvent-stable lipases have pronounced impact on industrial economy as they are involved in synthesis by esterification, interesterification, and transesterification. However, very few of such natural lipases have been isolated till date. A study of the recent past provided few pillars to rely on for this work. The three-dimensional structure, inclusive of the surface and active site, of 29 organic solvent-stable lipases was analyzed by subfamily classification and protein solvent molecular docking based on fast Fourier transform correlation approach. The observations revealed that organic solvent stability of lipases is their intrinsic property and unique with respect to each lipase. In this paper, factors like surface distribution of charged, hydrophobic, and neutral residues, interaction of solvents with catalytically immutable residues, and residues interacting with essential water molecules required for lipase activity, synergistically and by mutualism contribute to render a stable lipase organic solvent. The propensity of surface charge in relation to stability in organic solvents by establishing repulsive forces to exclude solvent molecules from interacting with the surface and prohibiting the same from gaining entry to the protein core, thus stabilizing the active conformation, is a new finding. It was also interesting to note that lipases having equivalent surface-exposed positive and negative residues were stable in a wide range of organic solvents, irrespective of their LogP values.     

Microwave Assisted Rupture of Furoxans to Nitrile Oxides and Intermolecular Capture by Dipolarophiles

3,4-Diaroylfuroxans 1 react with various dipolarophiles 3 under microwave activation to afford the cycloadduct 4 instead of the expected isoxazole 5 in good yields in the absence of solvent.     

Metallo-organic domino reactions: C-H versus C-C bond breaking

HL and MeL are prepared by condensing benzil dihydrazone with 2-formylpyridine and 2-acetylpyridine, respectively, in 1:2 molar proportions. While in a reaction with [Ru(C(6)H(6))Cl(2)]2, HL yields the cation [Ru(C(6)H(6)){5,6-diphenyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4-triazine}Cl]+, MeL gives the cation [Ru(C(6)H(6))(MeL)Cl]+. Both the cations are isolated as their hexafluorophosphate salts and characterised by X-ray crystallography. In the case of HL, double domino electrocyclic/elimination reactions are found to occur. The electrocyclic reaction occurs in a C=N-N=C-C=N fragment of HL and the elimination reaction involves breaking of a C-H bond of HL. Density functional calculations on model complexes indicate that the identified electrocyclic reaction is thermochemically as well as kinetically feasible for both HL and MeL in the gas phase. For a double domino reaction, similar to that operative in HL, to occur for MeL, breaking of a C-C bond would be required in the elimination step. Our model calculations show the energy barrier for this elimination step to be much higher (329.1 kJ mol(-1)) for MeL than that for HL (96.3 kJ mol(-1)). Thus, the domino reaction takes place for HL and not for MeL. This accounts for the observed stability of [Ru(C(6)H(6))(MeL)Cl]+ under the reaction conditions employed.