A Novel Approach to Monitoring of the Diffusion Junction Potential in Speciation Studies by Polarography under very Acidic Conditions. Part II: The Quasi‐Reversible Cu(II)‐Picolinic Acid System

The use of polarography to accurately determine stability constants of complexes formed under very acidic conditions (below pH 2) is demonstrated. The diffusion junction potentials, which must be accounted for below pH 2, were evaluated by applying protocols developed where Tl(I) is used as an internal reference. The Cu(II)‐picolinic acid (2‐pyridinecarboxylic acid) system studied was chosen since the CuL⁺ species only exists in solution below pH 2 under the conditions used and literature data exists to confirm the accuracy of procedure. Additionally, the reduction of Cu(II) was quasi‐reversible and procedures to determine the reversible half‐wave potentials were investigated. Average log β values of 7.75±0.09 for CuL⁺ and 14.8±0.1 for CuL₂ were obtained, which compared well to literature data.     

QTAIM and ETS-NOCV analyses of intramolecular CH···HC interactions in metal complexes

The topological analysis, based on the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) of Bader and the ETS-NOCV charge and energy decomposition method have been used to characterize coordination bonds, chelating rings, and additional intramolecular interactions in the ZnNTA and ZnNTPA complexes in solvent. The QTAIM and ETS-NOCV studies have conclusively demonstrated that the H-clashes (they are observed only in the ZnNTPA complex and classically are interpreted as steric hindrance destabilizing a complex) are characterized by (i) the electron flow channel between the H-atoms involved, as discovered by the ETS-NOCV analysis (on average, ΔE(orb) = -1.35 kcal mol(-1)) and (ii) QTAIM-defined a bond path that indicates the presence of a preferred quantum-mechanical exchange channel, hence, they should be seen as H-H intramolecular bonding interactions. The main reason for the formation of a weaker ZnNTPA complex was attributed to the strain energy (from both QTAIM and ETS-NOCV techniques) and the larger Pauli repulsion contribution found from the ETS-NOCV analysis. An excellent agreement between physical properties controlling the stability of the two complexes was found from the two techniques, QTAIM and ETS-NOCV.     

Fluorescence Anisotropy Controlled by Light Quenching*

We demonstrated that fluorescence anisotropy can be effectively decreased or increased in the presence of light quenching, depending on relative polarizations of excitation and quenching pulses. For parallel light quenching, anisotropy decreases to 0.103 and z-axis symmetry is preserved. In the presence of perpendicular light quenching, the steady-state anisotropy of a pyridine-2-glycerol solution increases from 0.368 for an unquenched sample to 0.484 for a quenched one. We show that the angular distribution of transition moments loses z-axis symmetry in the presence of perpendicular light quenching. In these cases we used more general definitions of anisotropy. Induced by light quenching, anisotropy can be applied in both steady-state and time-resolved measurements. In particular, the systems with low or no anisotropy can be investigated with the proposed technique.     

Fluorescence intensity and anisotropy decays of the intrinsic tryptophan emission of hemoglobin measured with a 10-GHz fluorometer using front-face geometry on a free liquid surface

We measured the intensity and anisotropy decays of the intrinsic tryptophan emission from hemoglobin solutions obtained using a 10-GHz frequency-domain fluorometer and a specially designed cuvette which allows front-face excitation on a free liquid surface. The cuvette eliminates reflections and stray emissions, which become significant for low-intensity fluorescence such as in hemoglobin. Three lifetimes are detectable in the subnanosecond range. The average lifetime of hemoglobin emission is ligand dependent. The measured values of average lifetimes are 91, 174, and 184 ps for deoxy-, oxy-, and carboxyhemoglobin, respectively. Fluorescence anisotropy decays of oxy-, deoxy-, and carbonmonoxyhemoglobin can be fitted with up to three correlation times. When three components are used, the floating initial anisotropyr _o is, in each case, higher than the steady-state anisotropy of tryptophan in vitrified solution. For deoxy hemoglobin it is close to 0.4. The data are consistent with an initial loss of anisotropy from 0.4 to about 0.3 occurring in the first 2 ps.     

Surface-plasmon-coupled emission of quantum dots

We studied surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE) of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). These QDs are water-soluble ZnS-capped CdSe nanoparticles stabilized using lysine cross-linked mercaptoundecanoic acid. The QDs were spin-coated from 0.75% PVA solution on a glass slide covered with 50 nm of silver and a 5-nm protective SiO(2) layer. Excited QDs induced surface plasmons in a thin silver layer. Surface plasmons emitted a hollow cone of radiation into an attached hemispherical glass prism at a narrow angle of 48.5 degrees. This directional radiation (SPCE) preserves the spectral properties of QD emission and is highly p-polarized irrespective of the excitation polarization. The SPCE spectrum depends on the observation angle because of the intrinsic dispersive properties of SPCE phenomenon. The remarkable photostability can make QDs superior to organic fluorophores when long exposure to the intense excitation is needed. The nanosize QDs also introduce a roughness near the metal layer, which results in a many-fold increase of the coupling of the incident light to the surface plasmons. This scattered incident illumination transformed into directional, polarized radiation can be used simultaneously with SPCE to develop devices based on both quantum dot emission and light scattered from surface plasmons on a rough surface.     

Voltammetry as a Virtual Potentiometric Sensor in Modelling of a Metal/Ligand System and Refinement of Stability Constants. Part 2

A mathematical conversion of data from nonequilibrium and dynamic voltammetric techniques (direct‐current‐sampled (DC) and differential‐pulse (DP) polarography) into potentiometric, free‐metal‐ion sensor‐type data is described and employed in the study of Bi^III complexes with the ligand picolinic acid (=pyridine‐2‐carboxylic acid) (labile and dynamic metal/ligand system). A novel procedure that allows evaluation of experimental data collected at very low pH values (acid‐base titration) is proposed. Software ESTA dedicated to potentiometry was successfully employed in the refinement operations performed with virtual potentiometric (VP) data obtained from DC and DP polarography, the latter being performed at fixed pH (ligand titration) as well as at fixed [L_T]/[M_T] ratio (acid‐base titration). It was possible to refine stability constants either separately from VP‐DC or VP‐DP, or simultaneously from any combination of VP‐DC and VP‐DP obtained from ligand and/or acid‐base titrations. The concept of VP‐DC or VP‐DP is employed for the first time in the study of an unknown Bi^III/picolinic acid/OH system, and numerous documented and possible advantages are discussed. Five complexes of bismuth, ML, ML₂, ML₃, ML₄, and ML₃(OH) and their stability constants (as log β) 7.48±0.01, 13.94±0.01, 18.10±0.04, 20.47±0.25, and 26.65±0.03, respectively, are reported at 0.5M (Na,H)NO₃ ionic strength and T 298 K. The proposed procedure can be easily utilized also by non‐electrochemists who are interested in, e.g., ligand‐design strategies.     

SITE-TO-SITE DIFFUSION IN PROTEINS AS OBSERVED BY ENERGY TRANSFER AND FREQUENCY-DOMAIN FLUOROMETRY *

Abstract We report measurements of the site-to-site diffusion coefficients in proteins and model compounds, which were measured using time-dependent energy transfer and frequency-domain fluorometry. The possibility of measuring these diffusion coefficients were shown from simulations, which demonstrate that donor (D)-to-acceptor (A) diffusion alters the donor frequency response, and that this effect is observable in the presence of a distribution of donor-to-acceptor distances. For decay times typical of tryptophan fluorescence, the simulations indicate that D-A diffusion coefficients can be measured ranging from ^?7 to ^?5 cm²/s. This possibility was verified by studies of a methylenechain linked D-A pair in solutions of varying viscosity. The D-A diffusion was also measured for two labeled peptides and two proteins, melittin and troponin I. In most cases we used global analysis of data sets obtained with varying amounts of collisional quenchers to vary the donor decay time. Unfolding of troponin I results in more rapid D-A diffusion, whereas for melittin more rapid diffusion was observed in the α-helical state but over a limited range of distances.     

Interference of surface plasmon resonances causes enhanced depolarized light scattering from metal nanoparticles

We show that the strongly depolarized light scattering from noble metal particles is a result of interference of two surface plasmon resonances on the same particle. The maximum depolarization occurs between two resonances. Under favorable conditions the anisotropy of the scattering light can be much lower than what is possible for dielectric particles. This explanation is discussed in relation to earlier published experimental measurements. Comparison of experimental results with theoretical calculations provides information on the shape distribution of metallic particles in the suspension.     

The problem of amino acid complementarity and antisense peptides

The review presents three hypotheses concerning the amino acid complementarity: 1) the Mekler-Blalock antisense hypothesis; 2) the Root-Bernstein approach based on stereochemical complementarity of amino acids and anti-amino acids coded by anticodons read in parallel with the coding DNA strand; 3) Siemion hypothesis resulting from the periodicity of the genetic code. The current state of knowledge as well as the results of the implementations of these hypotheses are compared. A special attention is given to Root-Bernstein and Siemion hypotheses, which differ in only few points of the complementarity prediction. We describe methods of investigation of peptide-antipeptide pairing, including circular dichroism, mass spectrometry, affinity chromatography and other techniques. The biological applications of complementarity principle are considered, such as search for bioeffector-bioreceptor interaction systems, the influence of peptide-antipeptide pairing on the activity of peptide hormones, and the application of antipeptides in immunochemistry. The possible role of amino acid-anti-amino acid interactions in the formation of the spatial structures of peptides, proteins and protein complexes is discussed. Such problems as the pairing preferences of protein-protein interfaces, the role of the pairing in the creation of disulfide bonds and the possible appearance of such interactions in beta-structure are also examined. The main intention of the paper is to bring the complementarity problem to the attention of the scientific community, as a possible tool in proteomics, molecular design and molecular recognition.     

First Observation of Surface Plasmon-Coupled Emission Due to LED Excitation

Detection limitations for fluorescence methods are normally determined by the phenomenon itself rather than the sensitivity of the instrumentation. These limitations make it necessary to have high sensitivity, high cost equipment causing fluorescence methods to remain lab-oriented. Alleviation of the limitations can be achieved through the phenomenon of surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE), which displays enhanced, directional, polarized fluorescence. Here we present the excitation of SPCE from Rhodamine B with a light-emitting diode (LED). Incorporating the gains in sensitivity due to SPCE with LED excitation, it could be possible to design low-cost, high-sensitivity sensors that would allow measurements to be performed in the field.