Impact of Single Basepair Mismatches on Electron‐Transfer Processes at Fc‐PNA⋅DNA Modified Gold Surfaces

Gold‐surface grafted peptide nucleic acid (PNA) strands, which carry a redox‐active ferrocene tag, present unique tools to electrochemically investigate their mechanical bending elasticity based on the kinetics of electron‐transfer (ET) processes. A comparative study of the mechanical bending properties and the thermodynamic stability of a series of 12‐mer Fc‐PNA?DNA duplexes was carried out. A single basepair mismatch was integrated at all possible strand positions to provide nanoscopic insights into the physicochemical changes provoked by the presence of a single basepair mismatch with regard to its position within the strand. The ET processes at single mismatch Fc‐PNA?DNA modified surfaces were found to proceed with increasing diffusion limitation and decreasing standard ET rate constants k⁰ when the single basepair mismatch was dislocated along the strand towards its free‐dangling Fc‐modified end. The observed ET characteristics are considered to be due to a punctual increase in the strand elasticity at the mismatch position. The kinetic mismatch discrimination with respect to the fully‐complementary duplex presents a basis for an electrochemical DNA sensing strategy based on the Fc‐PNA?DNA bending dynamics for loosely packed monolayers. In a general sense, the strand elasticity presents a further physicochemical property which is affected by a single basepair mismatch which may possibly be used as a basis for future DNA sensing concepts for the specific detection of single basepair mismatches.     

Uranium speciation in biofilms studied by laser fluorescence techniques

Biofilms may immobilize toxic heavy metals in the environment and thereby influence their migration behaviour. The mechanisms of these processes are currently not understood, because the complexity of such biofilms creates many discrete geochemical microenvironments which may differ from the surrounding bulk solution in their bacterial diversity, their prevailing geochemical properties, e.g. pH and dissolved oxygen concentration, the presence of organic molecules, e.g. metabolites, and many more, all of which may affect metal speciation. To obtain such information, which is necessary for performance assessment studies or the development of new cost-effective strategies for cleaning waste waters, it is very important to develop new non-invasive methods applicable to study the interactions of metals within biofilm systems. Laser fluorescence techniques have some superior features, above all very high sensitivity for fluorescent heavy metals. An approach combining confocal laser scanning microscopy and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy for study of the interactions of biofilms with uranium is presented. It was found that coupling these techniques furnishes a promising tool for in-situ non-invasive study of fluorescent heavy metals within biofilm systems. Information on uranium speciation and uranium redox states can be obtained.     

Sequence-defined positioning of amine and amide residues to control catechol driven wet adhesion

Catechol and amine residues, both abundantly present in mussel adhesion proteins, are known to act cooperatively by displacing hydration barriers before binding to mineral surfaces. In spite of synthetic efforts toward mussel-inspired adhesives, the effect of positioning of the involved functional groups along a polymer chain is not well understood. By using sequence-defined oligomers grafted to soft hydrogel particles as adhesion probes, we study the effect of catechol–amine spacing, as well as positioning relative to the oligomer terminus. We demonstrate that the catechol–amine spacing has a significant effect on adhesion, while shifting their position has a small effect. Notably, combinations of non-charged amides and catechols can achieve similar cooperative effects on adhesion when compared to amine and catechol residues. Thus, these findings provide a blueprint for the design of next generation mussel-inspired adhesives.

The catechol driven adhesion of precision macromolecules on glass surfaces is quantified by soft colloidal probe readout. Catechol moieties are shown to synergize with amine and amide residues depending on residue spacing and residue order.     

Infrared Detection of Criegee Intermediates Formed during the Ozonolysis of β‐Pinene and Their Reactivity towards Sulfur Dioxide

Recently, direct kinetic experiments have shown that the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide by reaction with stabilized Criegee intermediates (CIs) is an important source of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere. So far, only small CIs, generated in photolysis experiments, have been directly detected. Herein, it is shown that large, stabilized CIs can be detected in the gas phase by FTIR spectroscopy during the ozonolysis of β‐pinene. Their transient absorption bands between 930 and 830 cm^?1 appear only in the initial phase of the ozonolysis reaction when the scavenging of stabilized CIs by the reaction products is slow. The large CIs react with sulfur dioxide to give sulfur trioxide and nopinone with a yield exceeding 80 %. Reactant consumption and product formation in time‐resolved β‐pinene ozonolysis experiments in the presence of sulfur dioxide have been kinetically modeled. The results suggest a fast reaction of sulfur dioxide with CIs arising from β‐pinene ozonolysis.     

Enzymes immobilized in mesoporous silica: A physical–chemical perspective

Mesoporous materials as support for immobilized enzymes have been explored extensively during the last two decades, primarily not only for biocatalysis applications, but also for biosensing, biofuels and enzyme-controlled drug delivery. The activity of the immobilized enzymes inside the pores is often different compared to that of the free enzymes, and an important challenge is to understand how the immobilization affects the enzymes in order to design immobilization conditions that lead to optimal enzyme activity. This review summarizes methods that can be used to understand how material properties can be linked to changes in enzyme activity. Real-time monitoring of the immobilization process and techniques that demonstrate that the enzymes are located inside the pores is discussed by contrasting them to the common practice of indirectly measuring the depletion of the protein concentration or enzyme activity in the surrounding bulk phase. We propose that pore filling (pore volume fraction occupied by proteins) is the best standard for comparing the amount of immobilized enzymes at the molecular level, and present equations to calculate pore filling from the more commonly reported immobilized mass. Methods to detect changes in enzyme structure upon immobilization and to study the microenvironment inside the pores are discussed in detail. Combining the knowledge generated from these methodologies should aid in rationally designing biocatalyst based on enzymes immobilized in mesoporous materials.     

Fluxional processes in diamagnetic and paramagnetic allyl dicarbonyl and 2-methylallyl dicarbonyl molybdenum histidinato complexes as revealed by spectroscopic data and density functional calculations

This work describes a detailed study on the structure and dynamics of pseudooctahedral low-valent complexes of the type [Mo(His-N(epsilon)-R)(eta-2-R'-allyl)(CO)(2)] (His=N(delta),N,O-L-histidinate; R=H, R'=H (1); R=C(2)H(4)CO(2)Me, R'=H (2); R=H, R'=Me (3); R=C(2)H(4)CO(2)Me, R'=Me (4)). These diamagnetic 18-electron complexes were comprehensively characterized spectroscopically and by X-ray crystallography. In the solid state, the (substituted) allyl ligand is in an endo position in all compounds, but it is trans to the His-N(delta) atom in 1 and 2, whereas it is trans to the carboxylate O atom for the 2-Me-allyl compounds 3 and 4. In solution, both isomers are present in a solvent-dependent equilibrium. The third isomer (allyl trans to His-NH(2)) is not spectroscopically observed in solution. This is in agreement with the results from density functional (DFT) computations (BPW 91 functional) for 1 and 3, which predict a considerably higher energy (+6.3 and +5.9 kJ mol(-1), respectively) for this isomer. A likely path for isomerization is calculated, which is consistent with the activation energy determined by variable temperature NMR measurements. At least for 3, the preferred path involves several intermediates and a rotation of the 2-Me-allyl ligand. For the paramagnetic 17-electron congeners, DFT predicts the exo isomer of 3(+) with the 2-Me-allyl ligand trans to the carboxylate O atom to be by far the most stable isomer. For 1(+), an endo-exo equilibrium between the isomers with the allyl ligand trans to the carboxylate O atom is suggested. These suggestions are confirmed by EPR spectroscopy on the electrochemically generated species, which show signals for one- (4) and two- (2) metal-containing compounds. The appearance of the EPR spectra may be rationalized by inspection of the SOMOs from DFT calculations of the species in question. The notion of a metal-centered oxidation is also substantiated by IR spectroelectrochemistry and by UV/Vis spectra of the 17-electron complexes. Upon depleting the metal of electron density, the stretching vibrations of the carbonyl ligands shift more than 100 cm(-1) to higher wavenumbers, and the carbonyl vibration of the metal-coordinated carboxylate shifts by about 50 cm(-1). A color change from yellow to green upon oxidation is observed visually and quantified by the appearance of a new band at 622 nm (2(+)) and 546 nm (4(+)), respectively.     

Highly Selective Dimerization and Trimerization of Isobutene to Linearly Linked Products by Using Nickel Catalysts

The unique linear linkage of isobutene to generate highly valuable C₈ precursors for plasticizers is feasible by using special nickel catalysts. (4‐Cyclooctene‐1‐yl)(1,1,1,5,5,5‐hexafluoro‐2,4‐acetylacetonato)nickel and aluminum‐alkyl‐activated nickel acetylacetonates produce isobutene dimers with high selectivities of up to 95 %. Moreover, selectivity for the head‐to‐head products (2,5‐dimethylhexenes) is remarkably high at up to 99 %. Additionally, novel C₁₂ isobutene trimers are also formed with a very high selectivity of up to 99 % for the linear linkage. The trimer structure (2,5,8‐trimethylnonenes) reflects the stepwise characteristic of the reaction mechanism. Pathways of insertion and activation and the deactivation processes of the catalyst are discussed in detail.