Hydrocarbobutoxylation of Phenylacetylene on Palladium Complexes: A Solvent Effect

Data on changes in the activity of the Pd(dba)₂/2TsOH/10Ph₃P (dba is dibenzylideneacetone) and PdCl₂(Ph₃P)₂/8Ph₃P catalytic systems in the reaction of phenylacetylene with CO and n-butanol under the action of a solvent (aromatic hydrocarbons, chloroalkanes, ethers, esters, ketones, and dipolar aprotic media) are presented. The differences found in the response of either of the systems to changes in the properties of the medium are discussed in terms of a scheme of the catalytic cycle of reaction. It is noted that activity does not correlate with the physicochemical characteristics (polarity, basicity, and electron-acceptor ability) of solvents.     

Direct electrochemistry of recombinant tobacco peroxidase on gold

Direct electron transfer (DET) reactions of recombinant tobacco peroxidase (rTOP), namely direct electroreduction of Compound I/Compound II and heme Fe^3+/2+ conversion, were studied on gold electrodes. rTOP of wild type, non-glycosylated, was produced using an Escherichia coli expression system. At pH 5.0, the redox potential for direct electrochemical transformation of the Fe^3+/2+ of the peroxidase heme was −143 mV vs. AgAgCl, and 0.26 ± 0.07 pmol of the adsorbed rTOP were in DET contact with the gold electrode. The total amount of the adsorbed rTOP estimated from QCM data was 53 ± 5 pmol/cm² or 1.67 pmol when referred to the surface area of the electrodes used for electrochemical measurements. Of 1.67 pmol of adsorbed rTOP, only 0.76 pmol were catalytically active. DET between Au and the enzyme was also studied in the reaction of the bioelectrocatalytic reduction of H₂O₂ by cyclic voltammetry and amperometric detection of H₂O₂ at +50 mV with rTOP-modified Au electrodes placed in a wall-jet flow-through electrochemical cell. Maximal bioelectrocatalytic current response of the rTOP-modified gold electrodes to H₂O₂ was observed at pH 5.0 and stemmed from its bioelectrocatalytic reduction based on DET between Au and the active site of rTOP. Kinetic analysis of the DET reactions gave 52% of the adsorbed rTOP molecules active in DET reactions (0.4 pmol of adsorbed catalytically active rTOP, correspondingly), which correlated well with the non-catalytic-voltammetry data. DET was characterised by a heterogeneous ET rate constant of 13.2 s⁻¹, if one takes into account the QCM data, and 19.6 s⁻¹, if the amount of rTOP estimated from the data on DET transformation of Fe^3+/2+ couple of rTOP is considered. The sensitivity for H₂O₂ obtained for the rTOP-modified Au electrodes was 0.7 ± 0.1 A M⁻¹ cm⁻². These are the first ever-reported data on DET reactions of anionic plant peroxidases on bare gold electrodes.     

Polynuclear nonfused tetrazole-, 1,3,4-oxadiazole-, and 1,2,3-triazole-containing systems

Polynuclear nonfused blocks containing 1,2,3-triazole, 1,3,4-oxadiazole, and tetrazole rings were synthesized by reaction of C-substituted tetrazoles with carboxylic acid chlorides, as well as by cycloaddition of 2-azidomethyl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles at the triple bond of acetylenic compounds.     

Anionic bipyridyl complexes of lanthanides. Structure of [Yb(bipy)3][Li(THF)4]

Reactions of Sm^II, Tb^III, Tm^II, Yb^II, and Lu^III iodides with 2,2′-bipyridyllithium in THF afford [Li(THF)₄][Ln(bipy) _n ] complexes (n=3 or 4) containing trivalent lanthanides. X-ray structural analysis demonstrated that in the crystalline state, the Yb derivative has the ionic structure, [Li(THF)₄]⁺[Yb(bipy)₃]^?. In THF solutions, the reversible ligand exchange between metal atoms occurs to yield neutral compounds [Ln(bipy) _n?1(THF) _x ] and [Li(bipy)(THF) _y ]. A decrease in the temperature shifts the equilibrium to ionic pairs.     

Probing the kinetic landscape of transient peptide-protein interactions by use of peptide (15)n NMR relaxation dispersion spectroscopy: binding of an antithrombin peptide to human prothrombin

Protein-ligand interactions may lead to the formation of multiple molecular complexes in dynamic exchange, affecting the kinetic and thermodynamic characteristics of the binding equilibrium. We followed the dissociation kinetics of the transient and specific complex of an antithrombotic peptide N-acetyl-Asp(55)-Phe-Glu-Glu-Ile-Pro(60)-Glu-Glu-Tyr-Leu-Gln(65) with human prothrombin by use of (15)N NMR relaxation dispersion spectroscopy of the peptide. Every one of the five (15)N-labeled adjacent residues of the peptide exhibited apparently different kinetic exchange and relaxation behaviors, which were especially evident at different concentrations of prothrombin. Binding-induced (15)N relaxation dispersion of residues Phe(56), Glu(57), Glu(58), and Ile(59) can be fitted phenomenologically to a two-site on-and-off exchange mechanism with physically feasible relaxation and kinetic parameters obtained for residues Phe(56), Glu(58), and Ile(59), independent of the prothrombin concentration. The apparent kinetic parameters of Glu(57) show some dependence on the concentration of prothrombin and the extracted transverse relaxation rate for Glu(57) in the bound state was severalfold higher than that expected for a protein-peptide complex with a size of approximately 72 kDa. In addition, the equilibrium population of the bound peptide obtained for Glu(57) was inconsistent with those for Phe(56), Glu(58), and Ile(59) and with the prothrombin/peptide ratios used in the experiments. These discrepancies can be explained by the presence of two conformations for the peptide-protein complex exchanging at a rate of approximately 100 s(-)(1). In all, our study shows that fast dissociation of protein-peptide complexes can be studied quantitatively using peptide (15)N NMR relaxation dispersion measurements without a precise knowledge of the peptide and protein concentrations. In addition, protein titration was found to improve the accuracy of quantitative analysis and may make it possible to determine the rate of conformational changes within the protein-peptide complex.     

Negative dipole potentials of uncharged langmuir monolayers due to fluorination of the hydrophilic heads

The dipole potential, affecting the structure, functions, and interactions of biomembranes, lipid bilayers, and Langmuir monolayers, is positive toward the hydrocarbon moieties. We show that uncharged Langmuir monolayers of docosyl trifluoroethyl ether (DFEE) exhibit large negative dipole potentials, while the nonfluorinated docosyl ethyl ether (DEE) forms films with positive dipole potentials. Comparison of the Delta V values for these ethers with those of the previously studied(37-39) monolayers of trifluoroethyl ester (TFEB) and ethyl ester of behenic acid (EB) shows that the reversal of the sign of Delta V causes the same change Delta(Delta V) = -706 +/- 16 mV due to fluorination of heads. The Delta V values of both TFEB and EB films differ by -122 +/- 16 mV from those of DFEE and DEE monolayers, respectively, with the same density. Such quantitative coincidence points to a common mechanism of reversal of the sign of the dipole potential for the ether and ester films despite the different structure of their heads. The mechanical properties and phase behaviors of these monolayers show that both fluorinated heads are less hydrated, suggesting that the change of the sign of Delta V could, at least partially, be related to different hydration water structure. The same negative contribution of the carbonyl bond in both TFEB and EB films contrasts with the generally accepted positive contribution of the C(delta+)=O(delta-) bond in condensed Langmuir monolayers of fatty acids, their alcohol esters, glycerides, and phospholipids but concurs with the theoretical analysis of Delta V of stearic acid monolayers. Both results question the literature values of the molecular dipole moments of these substances calculated via summation of bonds and atomic group contributions. Mixed monolayers of DFEE and DEE show smooth monotonic variation of Delta V from +450 to -235 mV, indicating a way for adjustment of the sign and magnitude of the dipole potential at the membrane-water boundary and regulation of such membrane behaviors as binding and translocation rate of hydrophobic ions and ion-carriers, adsorption and penetration of amphiphilic peptides, polarization of hydration water, and short-range repulsion. The interaction of the hydrophobic ions tetraphenylboron TPhB- and tetraphenylphosphonium TPhP+ with DFEE and DEE monolayers qualitatively follows the theory of binding of such ions to lipid bilayers, but the shifts Delta(Delta V) from the values obtained on water are much smaller than those for DPPC monolayers. This difference seems to be due to the solid (polycrystalline) character of the DFEE and DEE films that hampers the penetration of TPhB- and TPhP+ in the monolayers and reduces the attractive interaction with the hydrophobic moiety. This conclusion orients the future synthesis of amphiphiles with fluorinated heads to those which could form liquid-expanded Langmuir monolayers.     

Catalytic and physico-chemical properties of La1?xSrxCoO3 perovskites

Catalytic properties of strontium-substituted lanthanum cobaltites La_1–xSr_xCoO₃ in the reaction of CO oxidation were compared with the data about chemical composition of the surface and bulk defect structure. It was found that (1) the initial catalytic activity correlates with the cobalt concentration on the surface; (2) surface composition differs from the bulk one; (3) the steady-state activity is proportional to the density of bulk extended defects. Under our experimental conditions no role of point defects was noted.     

High energy negative feedback controlled passively mode-locked Nd: YAG laser

High energy picosecond pulse trains from a passively mode-locked Nd: YAG laser are obtained. The negative feedback controlled oscillator delivers 10–30 s trains with energies of up to 30 mJ and single pulse duration of less than 25 ps. The laser is operated with a repetition rate of 10 Hz. An active Q-control of the cavity generates a short pulse train with duration of 30–40 ns. The long pulse train energy reproducibility is better than ± 1.5%.     

X-ray photoelectron spectra and structure of cobalt compounds with N-heterocyclic ligands

The electronic structure of cobalt complexes with bi-, tri-, and tetradentate ligands and the mutual influence of ligands in them have been studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The Co2p, N1s, and O1s photoelectron spectra have been studied. Unlike low-spin Co(III) complexes, the high-spin Co(II) compound exhibits a strong satellite line in the Co2p spectrum. For the high-spin Co(II) compound having unpaired 3d electrons, the Co2p _1/2-Co2p _3/2 spin-orbit splitting is larger than that in the low-spin Co(III) complexes. All cobalt complexes under consideration contain strongly bound dioxygen, which can be considered an inherent structural unit.     

The electrophilic condensation of conjugated perfluorodienes with tetrafluoroethylene

Perfluoropentadienes and perfluoro-2,4-hexadienes react with tetrafluoroethylene with SbF₅ as the catalyst at 20–50°C to give higher perfluorinated dienes.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 920–923, April, 1990.