Intramolecular dealkylation of chelating diamines with Ru(II) complexes

N,N, N',N'-Tetraethylethylenediamine undergoes simple or double intramolecular dealkylation reactions in the presence of the complexes [RuCl2(diene)]n (diene = cod, nbd) or trans-[RuCl2(diene)(morfoline)2 at 80 degrees C to afford chelating amine ligands which contains one or two N-H functionalities.     

Rapid parallel synthesis of combinatorial libraries of substituted 3-thio-1,2,4-triazoles and 2-thioimidazoles

Combinatorial libraries of substituted 3-thio-1,2,4-triazoles and 2-thioimidazoles were synthesized in good yield by alkylation of the products via the reaction of isothiocyanates and carboxylic acid hydrazides or beta-aminoketones, respectively. A total of 275 3-thio-1,2,4-triazoles and 283 2-thioimidazoles were synthesized out of the attempted 288 in each case. Most the yields were between 45% and 98%, and all the compounds synthesized were purified to >85% purity. Variations in yields revealed no definitive trends and were mainly attributed to bulky alkylating agents used and the plate well location of the reaction mixtures.     

A method for bioconjugation of carbohydrates using Diels-Alder cycloaddition

Diels-Alder-type cycloaddition of an electronically matched pair of saccharide-linked conjugated dienes and a dienophile-equipped protein gives neoglycoproteins at ambient temperature in pure water with a reaction half-life of approximately 2 h. Uncoupled saccharides can be recovered by diafiltration with complete conservation of the diene moiety, thus allowing their repeated use. The procedure described is the first for creating a carbon-carbon covalent bond in the bioconjugation step between a saccharide and a protein.     

Kinetics of disassembly of a DNA-bound porphyrin supramolecular array

trans-Bis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)diphenylporphine forms extended, organized assemblies on DNA templates under appropriate conditions of concentration, ionic strength, and temperature. Addition of beta-cyclodextrin to these arrays leads to their disassembly as evidenced by changes in extinction, circular dichroism, and resonance light scattering spectra. The structure or flexibility of the polymer template has an effect on the rate of disassembly; the reaction is faster on a poly(dG-dC)(2) surface than on ct DNA. The kinetic profiles for the disassembly process can be fit with great precision with a two-kinetic parameter equation in which the rate constant is itself a function of time. The reaction rate, studied in the presence of excess beta-CD, shows a dependence on the mode of detection. A model is presented to account for these observations in which the arrays become increasingly reactive with time due to beta-CD attack at the interior of the porphyrin assemblies as well as the ends.     

Conformational selection of glycomimetics at enzyme catalytic sites: experimental demonstration of the binding of distinct high-energy distorted conformations of C-, S-, and O-glycosides by E. Coli beta-galactosidases

We show that the conformational features of the molecular complexes of E. coli beta-galactosidase and O-glycosides may differ from those formed with closely related compounds in their chemical nature, such as C- and S-glycosyl analogues. In the particular case presented here, NMR and ab initio quantum mechanical results show that the 3D-shapes of the ligand/inhibitor within the enzyme binding site depend on the chemical nature of the compounds. In fact, they depend on the relative size of the stereoelectronic barriers for chair deformation or for rotation around Phi glycosidic linkage.     

Nonparametric tests for bounds on the derivative of a regression function

We consider two tests of the null hypothesis that the k-th derivative of a regression function is uniformly bounded by a specified constant. These tests can be used to study the shape of the regression function. For instance, we can test for convexity of the regression function by setting k=2 and the constant equal to zero. Our tests are based on k-th order divided difference of the observations. The asymptotic distribution and efficacies of these tests are computed and simulation results presented.Research supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant OGP0007969.Research supported by National Science Foundation Grant DMS-9306738.     

THE INTERACTION OF 8-AZIDOETHIDIUM AND tRNA

Abstract Optical spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy have been used to investigate the non-covalent and covalent binding of 8-azidoethidium (8-azido-3-amino-5-ethyl-6-phe-nyl-phenanthridium) with transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules. The nuclear magnetic resonance measurements demonstrate that ethidium and ethidium monoazide bind to the same unique binding site on tRNA molecules. However, the optical studies demonstrate that the photochemical reaction between ethidium monoazide and tRNA generates at least three different photoproducts. One of the covalent photoproducts has fluorescence properties which mimic those of intercalated, non-covalently bound ethidium, but it is produced only in about 10% yield. The major photoproduct(s) is(are) virtually non-fluorescent. The ethidium monoazide photochemistry with tRNA molecules is obviously complex and this may complicate its use as a photolabel of polynucleotides.     

The swelling interface number as a criterion for prediction of diffusional solute release mechanisms in swellable polymers

When a glassy polymer containing a uniformly dispersed solute is brought in contact with a penetrant, solute diffusion will be associated with the transport mechanism and penetration velocity of the penetrant in the polymer. Analysis and prediction of mechanisms of diffusional solute release may be obtained through a new dimensionless number, the swelling interface number, Sw, which compares the relative mobilities of the penetrant and the solute in the presence of macromolecular relaxations in the polymer. It is shown that a sufficient and necessary criterion for time-independent diffusional solute release rates from these swellable systems is that the Sw be smaller than 10^?2. The swelling interface number Sw may be related to easily determined structural and thermodynamic parameters of the solute/polymer/penetrant system. Preliminary experimental results of dynamic water swelling of poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate) and diffusional release of theophylline from initially glassy copolymers show that decreasing values of Sw are related to increased pseudo-case-II transport kinetics of the solute.