Prediction of the separation in gas chromatography : Application to the Analysis of Mixtures with Mixed Stationary Phases and Temperature Programming

A mathematical method is developed which predicts the characteristics of a gas chromatographic separation and optimizes some operational parameters. It can be used for isothermal and programmed-temperature conditions and can be applied to both packed and open tubular columns. The optimum composition of a mixed stationary phase for the separation of a complex mixture can be predicted. The method can be implemented in most microcomputers. The method proved satisfactory in obtaining good separations of moderately volatile components of wine flavours.     

On the fractional integral of Weyl inL p

This work has been partially supported by D.G.C.Y.T., grant PS88-0115, Spain     

Computational Study of Proton Transfer in Tautomers of 3‐ and 5‐Hydroxypyrazole Assisted by Water

The tautomerism of 3‐ and 5‐hydroxypyrazole is studied at the B3LYP, CCSD and G3B3 computational levels, including the gas phase, PCM–water effects, and proton transfer assisted by water molecules. To understand the propensity of tautomerization, hydrogen‐bond acidity and basicity of neutral species is approached by means of correlations between donor/acceptor ability and H‐bond interaction energies. Tautomerism processes are highly dependent on the solvent environment, and a significant reduction of the transition barriers upon solvation is seen. In addition, the inclusion of a single water molecule to assist proton transfer decreases the barriers between tautomers. Although the second water molecule further reduces those barriers, its effect is less appreciable than the first one. Neutral species present more stable minima than anionic and cationic species, but relatively similar transition barriers to anionic tautomers.     

Inverse colloidal crystal membranes for hydrophobic interaction membrane chromatography

A collaborative study on the robustness and portability of a capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry method for peptide mapping was performed by an international team, consisting of 13 independent laboratories from academia and industry. All participants used the same batch of samples, reagents and coated capillaries to run their assays, whereas they utilized the capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry equipment available in their laboratories. The equipment used varied in model, type and instrument manufacturer. Furthermore, different types of sheath‐flow capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry interfaces were used. Migration time, peak height and peak area of ten representative target peptides of trypsin‐digested bovine serum albumin were determined by every laboratory on two consecutive days. The data were critically evaluated to identify outliers and final values for means, repeatability (precision within a laboratory) and reproducibility (precision between laboratories) were established. For relative migration time the repeatability was between 0.05 and 0.18% RSD and the reproducibility between 0.14 and 1.3% RSD. For relative peak area repeatability and reproducibility values obtained were 3–12 and 9–29% RSD, respectively. These results demonstrate that capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry is robust enough to allow a method transfer across multiple laboratories and should promote a more widespread use of peptide mapping and other capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry applications in biopharmaceutical analysis and related fields.     

Micelle‐Triggered β‐Hairpin to α‐Helix Transition in a 14‐Residue Peptide from a Choline‐Binding Repeat of the Pneumococcal Autolysin LytA

Choline‐binding modules (CBMs) have a ββ‐solenoid structure composed of choline‐binding repeats (CBR), which consist of a β‐hairpin followed by a short linker. To find minimal peptides that are able to maintain the CBR native structure and to evaluate their remaining choline‐binding ability, we have analysed the third β‐hairpin of the CBM from the pneumococcal LytA autolysin. Circular dichroism and NMR data reveal that this peptide forms a highly stable native‐like β‐hairpin both in aqueous solution and in the presence of trifluoroethanol, but, strikingly, the peptide structure is a stable amphipathic α‐helix in both zwitterionic (dodecylphosphocholine) and anionic (sodium dodecylsulfate) detergent micelles, as well as in small unilamellar vesicles. This β‐hairpin to α‐helix conversion is reversible. Given that the β‐hairpin and α‐helix differ greatly in the distribution of hydrophobic and hydrophilic side chains, we propose that the amphipathicity is a requirement for a peptide structure to interact and to be stable in micelles or lipid vesicles. To our knowledge, this “chameleonic” behaviour is the only described case of a micelle‐induced structural transition between two ordered peptide structures.     

Combination of HAADF‐STEM and ADF‐STEM Tomography for Core–Shell Hybrid Materials

Characterization of core–shell type nanoparticles in 3D by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can be very challenging. Especially when both heavy and light elements coexist within the same nanostructure, artifacts in the 3D reconstruction are often present. A representative example would be a particle comprising an anisotropic metallic (Au) nanoparticle coated with a (mesoporous) silica shell. To obtain a reliable 3D characterization of such an object, a dose‐efficient strategy is proposed to simultaneously acquire high‐angle annular dark‐field scanning TEM and annular dark‐field tilt series for tomography. The 3D reconstruction is further improved by applying an advanced masking and interpolation approach to the acquired data. This new methodology enables us to obtain high‐quality reconstructions from which also quantitative information can be extracted. This approach is broadly applicable to investigate hybrid core–shell materials.     

Metallatriangles and metallasquares: the diversity behind structurally characterized examples and the crucial role of ligand symmetry

Reports on spontaneous self-assembly processes between metal fragments and organic ligands frequently tend to ignore the fact that the product isolated and structurally characterized in most cases is only one out of a more or less large series of feasible ones. This is true even for rings containing as few as three or four metal ions. Here we shall review metallatriangles and metallasquares containing predominantly cis-square-planar metal entities and a range of bidentate bridging ligands. The most significant features contributing to the number of possible stereoisomers appear to be ligand symmetry and flexibility, viz. rotation of two halves of a ligand about a single bond, or rotation of the whole ligand about the metal-donor atom bonds. With low-symmetry bidentate ligands the number of isomers increases dramatically with ring size as a consequence of an increase in possible connectivity patterns, hence linkage isomers, and an increase in possible rotamer states of the bridging ligands. In this tutorial review it is demonstrated how complexity increases as the symmetry of the bridging ligands is lowered from D(∞h) and D(2h) to C(∞v), C(2v), C(2h) and C(s). Special attention will be paid to cyclic tri- and tetranuclear complexes of substituted pyrimidine ligands (C(2v) and C(s) symmetries) as well as the flexible 2,2'-bipyrazine, which can adopt states of either C(2v) or C(2h) symmetry. Uses of these complexes and ways to reduce the number of isomers will be pointed out.     

PtII Coordination to N1 of 9‐Methylguanine: Why it Facilitates Binding of Additional Metal Ions to the Purine Ring

The preparation and X‐ray crystal structure analysis of {trans‐[Pt(MeNH₂)₂(9‐MeG‐N1)₂]} ? {3 K₂[Pt(CN)₄]} ? 6 H₂O ( 3 a ) (with 9‐MeG being the anion of 9‐methylguanine, 9‐MeGH) are reported. The title compound was obtained by treating [Pt(dien)(9‐MeGH‐N7)]²⁺ ( 1 ; dien=diethylenetriamine) with trans‐[Pt(MeNH₂)₂(H₂O)₂]²⁺ at pH 9.6, 60 °C, and subsequent removal of the [(dien)Pt^II] entities by treatment with an excess amount of KCN, which converts the latter to [Pt(CN)₄]^2?. Cocrystallization of K₂[Pt(CN)₄] with trans‐[Pt(MeNH₂)₂(9‐MeG‐N1)₂] is a consequence of the increase in basicity of the guanine ligand following its deprotonation and Pt coordination at N1. This increase in basicity is reflected in the pK_a values of trans‐[Pt(MeNH₂)₂(9‐MeGH‐N1)₂]²⁺ (4.4±0.1 and 3.3±0.4). The crystal structure of 3 a reveals rare (N7,O6 chelate) and unconventional (N2,C2,N3) binding patterns of K⁺ to the guaninato ligands. DFT calculations confirm that K⁺ binding to the sugar edge of guanine for a N1‐platinated guanine anion is a realistic option, thus ruling against a simple packing effect in the solid‐state structure of 3 a . The linkage isomer of 3 a , trans‐[Pt(MeNH₂)₂(9‐MeG‐N7)₂] ( 6 a ) has likewise been isolated, and its acid–base properties determined. Compound 6 a is more basic than 3 a by more than 4 log units. Binding of metal entities to the N7 positions of 9‐MeG in 3 a has been studied in detail for [(NH₃)₃Pt^II], trans‐[(NH₃)₂Pt^II], and [(en)Pd^II] (en=ethylenediamine) by using ¹H NMR spectroscopy. Without exception, binding of the second metal takes place at N7, but formation of a molecular guanine square with trans‐[(Me₂NH₂)Pt^II] cross‐linking N1 positions and trans‐[(NH₃)₂Pt^II] cross‐linking N7 positions could not be confirmed unambiguously, despite the fact that calculations are fully consistent with its existence.     

Sulfonamide carbazole receptors for anion recognition

Carbazole-based receptors functionalized with two sulfonamide groups have been synthesized and their properties as anion receptors have been evaluated. The receptor with bis(trifluoromethyl)aniline groups has shown a very high affinity for halide ions, especially remarkable as only two hydrogen bonds are formed in the complexes. (1)H NMR and fluorescence titrations have been carried out and binding constants up to 7.9 × 10(6) M(-1) have been reached. X-ray structures have been obtained and a modelling study has shown the possible reasons for the large affinity of these compounds for halide anions.     

The preparation and characterization of trans-platinum(IV) complexes with unusually high cytotoxicity

The physical and biological properties have been determined for three Pt(IV) complexes with trans amine ligands: trans,trans,trans-[PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(dimethylamine)(isopropylamine)] (1(IV)), trans,trans,trans-[PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(dimethylamine)(methylamine)] (2(IV)) and trans,trans,trans-[PtCl(2)(OH)(2)(isopropylamine)(methylamine)] (3(IV)). The crystal structures of 2(IV) and 3(IV) reveal substantial strain resulting from repulsion between the amine ligands and the chlorido and hydroxido ligands. All three complexes have reduction potentials in the range -666 to -770 mV, values usually associated with high resistance to reduction and low cytotoxicity. However, the complexes all demonstrate surprisingly high cytotoxicity with values and trends that closely follow those seen for the Pt(II) congeners of these complexes. These results are consistent with more rapid reduction of the Pt(IV) complexes than would be expected based on the reduction potentials, perhaps associated with the trans arrangement of the chlorido ligands.