Tetrakis-acridinyl peptide: a novel fluorometric reagent for nucleic acid analysis based on the fluorescence dequenching upon DNA binding

Tetrakis-acridinyl peptide 1 assuming a right-handed helical stacked conformation of the acridinyl units can bind to DNA duplex with a very high affinity of 10(8) (M-bp)(-1) even at a high salt concentration of 0.2 M NaCl, irrespective of the base composition. Peptide 1 gave rise to 1600-times enhancement of its fluorescence upon binding to an AT polymer due to the collapse of this stacked structure, but the fluorescence is not enhanced with a GC polymer, though the binding constants of 1 for both polymers were the same.     

HPLC determination of (+)-pseudoephedrine and (-)-ephedrine in Japanese herbal medicines containing Ephedra herb using solid-phase extraction

We developed a rapid and simple HPLC method combined with solid-phase extraction (SPE) for quantitative analysis of (+)-pseudoephedrine (PEP) and (-)-ephedrine (EP) in Japanese herbal (Kampo) medicines such as Kakkon-to, Sho-seiryu-to, Goshaku-san and Bofu-tsusho-san. SPE was performed on TOYOPAK IC-SP M containing propylsulfonic groups. Determination of PEP and EP was carried out using ion-pair reversed-phase HPLC with sodium dodecyl sulfate. N-Benzyldiethylamine was used as an internal standard. The analytical procedure was validated with regard to specificity, linearity, accuracy, and precision. These data suggest that the analytical method developed in this study is useful for quantitative analysis of PEP and EP in various formulations of Kampo medicine containing Ephedra herb.     

Structural features of aliphatic N-nitrosamines of 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes that facilitate N-NO bond cleavage

N-Nitrosamines can be considered as potential nitric oxide (NO)/nitrosonium ion (NO(+)) donors. However, the relation of the structures of N-nitrosamines, in particular of aliphatic N-nitrosamines, to the characteristics of release of NO or NO(+) remains unclear. Here we show that aliphatic N-nitrosoamines of 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes can undergo heterolytic N-NO bond cleavage. On the basis of the observation of reduced rotational barriers of the N-NO bonds in solution and nitrogen-pyramidal structures of the N-nitroso group in the solid state, we postulate that N-NO bond cleavage of N-nitrosamines is enhanced by a reduction of the resonance in the N-NO group. Computational studies suggest that these structural features of the N-nitrosamines of 7-azabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane are derived from angle strain imposed on the CNC angles.     

Time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic and scanning near-field optical microscopic studies of rhodamine dye adsorbed in cationic Langmuir-Blodgett films

The fluorescence lifetimes decays and picosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectra were measured to investigate the dynamics of the excited state of sulforhodamine B (SRB) molecules adsorbed in the mono- and multilayered Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of octadecylamine. Steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy reveals that the fluorescence lifetimes and contents of the monomer and dimers in the molecular organizates depend upon the concentration of the dye in the solution and the adsorption process. SRB dye molecules adsorbed in LB films have been imaged with scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM). This information is exploited to map the distribution with molecular spatial resolution. SNOM provide the visual evidence of the monomers and dimers of SRB in cationic LB films.     

Thermodynamic Insight into the Origin of a Calix[n]arene-[60]fullerene Interaction and its Application to a Porphyrin-[60]fullerene Energy Transfer System

The calixarene-fullerene interaction,which causes only a slight change in the absorptionspectra, has been substantiated by calorimetricmeasurements: the H° values arecomparable with those obtained from the associationconstants estimated by a spectroscopic method. Furthermore, we determined the association constantbetween homooxacalix[3]arene and [60]fullerenederivatives with a porphyrin moiety by fluorescencespectra.     

Reactions of hydropolysilanes with alcohols catalysed by tris(triphenylphosphine)chlororhodium

[RhCl(PPh₃)₃] is a very effective catalyst for the cleavage of Si-Si bonds by alcohols.