New sesquiterpene lactones from water extract of the root of Lindera strychnifolia with cytotoxicity against the human small cell lung cancer cell, SBC-3

In the present study, new sesquiterpene lactones (1) and (2) were isolated from the EtOAc soluble fraction of the water extract of Linderae Radix through bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation methods. The structure of these compounds was elucidated by spectroscopic analysis of their 2D NMR spectra, including COSY, HMBC, and HMQC techniques. Two isolates showed significant cytotoxicity against the human small cell lung cancer cell SBC-3, and lesser cytotoxicity against mouse fibroblast cell 3T3-L1.     

Pulsed-field ionization electron spectroscopy and conformation of copper-diammonia

Copper-diammonia, Cu(NH3)2, and its deuterated species, Cu(ND3)2, are produced in supersonic molecular beams and studied by pulsed-field ionization zero electron kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. Structural isomers with a copper atom binding to an ammonia dimer or two ammonia molecules are obtained by the calculations. By comparing the experimental measurements to the theoretical calculations, the neutral and ionic forms of copper-diammonia are determined to be in a doubly bound linear conformation in their ground electronic states. The adiabatic ionization potentials of Cu(NH3)2 and Cu(ND3)2 are measured as 29,532 (5) and 29,313 (5) cm(-1), respectively. The metal-ligand symmetric stretching frequencies are measured to be 436 cm(-1) for Cu+-(NH3)2 and 398 cm(-1) for Cu+-(ND3)2, and the metal-ligand bending frequencies 75,139 cm(-1) for CuCu+-(NH3)2 and 70125 cm(-1) for CuCu+-(ND3)2. Moreover, the dissociation energy of Cu(NH3)2-->CuNH3+NH3 is determined to be 11(3) kcal mol(-1) through a thermodynamic relationship.     

The birch reduction of heterocyclic compounds. 11. Birch reduction and reductive alkylation of furamides

The Birch reduction-alkylation of some N,N-dialkylfuramides and its application to the useful intermediates for the natural product synthesis are described.     

Estimation of the orientation of heme in cytochrome C immobilized on a carboxylate-terminated alkanethiol monolayer on a au electrode by the use of electroreflectance spectroscopy with polarized light incidence

Electroreflectance (ER) spectroscopy was used for the estimation of the orientation of heme in a horse heart cytochrome c molecule immobilized on a self-assembled monolayer of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid on both polycrystalline gold (Au) and single crystalline Au(111) electrodes. The intensity ratio of the ER signal of p-polarized incident light against s-polarized incident light as a function of the incident angle of the light was analyzed in two ways: a doubly degenerate transition for the Soret absorption band of the heme was assumed in one, and the anisotropy of the two orthogonal transitions was taken into account in the other. The doubly degenerate model failed in the expression of the experimental data, pointing to the existence of the anisotropy. Two orthogonal in-plane linear electric dipoles with different magnitudes were assumed to be responsible for the Soret band absorption in a new analysis procedure. This enabled us to fit the experimental data closely to the simulated data. The result revealed that the heme plane is near-vertical to the electrode surface. The need of clarification of the anisotropic heme transition was invoked.     

Urea coordinated titanium trichloride Ti(III)[OC(NH)2]6Cl3: a single molecular precursor yielding highly visible light responsive TiO2 nanocrystallites

A coordination complex, Ti(III)[OC(NH2)2]6Cl3, was first synthesized via reacting hot alcoholic solutions of TiCl3 and urea, which was subsequently employed as a molecular precursor for nanocrystalline TiO2 via thermal decomposition. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy confirmed C=O-->Ti coordination bond formation, while Rietveld refinement revealed a hexagonal crystal structure (space group: Pc1) for the complex with a = b = 16.438(4) A, c = 15.423(3) A, alpha = beta = 90 degrees , gamma = 120 degrees , and V = 3608.9(13) A3. Thermal decomposition and phase evolution processes of the complex were investigated in air by combined means of elemental analysis, Fourier transform IR, differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetry, X-ray diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Characterizations of the resultant TiO2 powders were achieved by scanning electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, thermal desorption spectroscopy, and UV-vis spectroscopy. Simultaneous doping of C, N, and Cl was realized upon pyrolyzing the molecular precursor in air, leading to significantly lowered direct and indirect interband transition energies of the resultant TiO2. As a consequence, the anatase nanopowders obtained at 450 and 500 degrees C, with specific surface areas of 97.8 and 64.1 m2/g, respectively, exhibit significantly higher efficiency than Degussa P25 in the bleaching of methyl orange solution under visible light (mainly consisting two wavelengths of 405 and 436 nm at 81:100 intensity ratio) irradiation, either at a fixed weight of TiO2 loading or at a fixed surface area of the loaded TiO2 powder.     

Infrared spectra and intensities of the H2O and N2 complexes in the range of the nu1- and nu3-bands of water

The IR spectra of complexes of water with nitrogen molecules in the range of the symmetric (nu(1)) and antisymmetric (nu(3)) bands of H(2)O have been studied in helium droplets. The infrared intensities of the nu(3) and nu(1) modes of H(2)O were found to be larger by factors of 1.3 and 2, respectively, in the N(2)-H(2)O complexes. These factors are smaller than those obtained in recent theoretical calculations. The conformation of the N(2)-H(2)O complex was estimated. Spectra and IR intensities of the (N(2))(2)-H(2)O and N(2)-(H(2)O)(2) complexes were also obtained and their structures are discussed.