Ulf Lagerkvist and his Nobel histories

Upon retirement from his professorship in medical biochemistry at Gothenburg University, Ulf Lagerkvist (1926?C2010) wrote several books about great discoveries in chemistry and biology and examined both their awarded and missing Nobel Prizes. He combined a deep interest in historical development, intimate knowledge in his subject matters, and a natural gift of an engaging writing style. His latest, posthumous book was about the missing Nobel Prize for Dmitrii Mendeleev??s Periodic Table of the Elements.     

A new approach for studying fast biological reactions involving nitric oxide: generation of NO using photolabile ruthenium and manganese NO donors

Nitric oxide (NO) is recognized as one of the major players in various biochemical processes, including blood pressure, neurotransmission and immune responses. However, experimental studies involving NO are often limited by difficulties associated with the use of NO gas, including its toxicity and precise control over NO concentration. Moreover, the reactions of NO with biological molecules, which frequently occur on time scales of microseconds or faster, are limited by the millisecond time scale of conventional stopped-flow techniques. Here we present a new approach for studying rapid biological reactions involving NO. The method is based on designed ruthenium and manganese nitrosyls, [Ru(PaPy3)(NO)](BF4)2 and [Mn(PaPy3)(NO)](ClO4) (PaPy3H = N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amine-N-ethyl-2-pyridine-2-carboxamide), which upon photolysis produce NO on a fast time scale. The kinetics of the binding of the photogenerated NO to reduced cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) and myoglobin (Mb) was investigated using time-resolved optical absorption spectroscopy. The NO was found to bind to reduced CcO with an apparent lifetime of 77 micros using the [Mn(PaPy3)(NO)]+ complex; the corresponding rate is 10-20 times faster than can be detected by conventional stopped-flow methods. Second-order rate constants of approximately 1 x 10(8) M(-1) s(-1) and approximately 3 x 10(7) M(-1) s(-1) were determined for NO binding to reduced CcO and Mb, respectively. The generation of NO by photolysis of these complexes circumvents the rate limitation of stopped-flow techniques and offers a novel alternative to study other fast biological reactions involving NO.     

Mixed adsorption of fluorinated and hydrogenated surfactants

The adsorption isotherms of sodium perfluorooctanoate and sodium decyl sulfate and their 1:1 mixture on gamma-alumina are recorded by depletion-type experiments with (1)H and (19)F NMR spectroscopy as the detection tool. The isotherms of the different surfactant species, obtained with and without added salt, closely resemble each other. Salt addition changes the isotherms from stepwise to the familiar S-shaped. After having reached saturation, a further increase of surfactant concentration in the mixed system leads to decyl sulfate desorption and increased perfluorooctanoate adsorption. The (19)F chemical shift of adsorbed perfluorooctanoate suggests that, for saturated surfaces, the two sorts of adsorbed surfactants form molecularly mixed surface aggregates.     

New experimental data and mechanistic studies on the bromate-dual substrate-dual catalyst batch oscillator

The bromate-hypophosphite-acetone-Mn(II)-Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) batch oscillator was recently suggested for studying two-dimensional pattern formation. The system meets all major requirements that are needed for generation of good quality traveling waves in a thin solution layer. The serious drawback of using the system for studying temporal and spatial dynamical phenomena is its unknown chemical mechanism. In order to develop a mechanism that explains the observed long-lasting batch oscillations the bromate-hypophosphite-acetone-Mn(II)-Ru(bpy)(3)(2+) oscillator was revisited. We studied the dynamics both in the total system and in some composite reactions, and kinetic measurements were carried out in three subsystems. From the new experimental results we concluded that the two oscillatory sequences observed in the full system are originated from two oscillatory subsystems, the Mn(II)-catalyzed bromate-hypophosphite-acetone and the Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)-catalyzed bromate-bromoacetone reactions. Here we propose a mechanism which is capable of simulating the dynamical features that appeared in the complex system.