Development of Molecular Mechanics Torsion Parameters for alpha,beta-Cyclopropyl Ketones and Conformational Analysis of Bicyclo[m.1.0]alkan-2-ones

Conformations of cyclopropyl methyl ketone have been studied using ab initio methods in an effort to quantify the effects of conjugative overlap between the cyclopropane ring and an adjacent ketone carbonyl. Results were comparable with previous experimental and theoretical studies. Cyclopropyl methyl ketone exhibits a global energy minimum in the s-cis conformer and a local energy minimum near the s-trans conformer. The potential energy curve obtained was used to derive torsion parameters which were employed in molecular mechanics studies of the conformations of the set of bicyclo[m.1.0]alkan-2-ones having larger ring sizes from five- to 16-membered. Similar conformations for the cyclopropyl ketone substructure are observed for all the medium and large ring systems examined. Possible synthetic ramifications of local conformational anchoring by this functional group array are discussed.     

Simultaneous assignment of all diastereotopic protons in strychnine using RDCs: PELG as alignment medium for organic molecules

The concept of using residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) for the structure determination of organic molecules is applied to the simultaneous assignment of all diastereotopic protons in strychnine. To use this important NMR parameter the molecule has to be aligned in the magnetic field. Here we present a new alignment medium for organic substrates. The optimization of the alignment properties of mixtures of poly-gamma-ethyl-L-glutamate (PELG) and CDCl(3) are described and the alignment properties of PELG at different concentrations are evaluated. A comparison of PELG with poly-gamma-benzyl-L-glutamate (PBLG) shows considerable differences in the magnitude of alignment for strychnine in the two alignment media. PELG induces a lower degree of order and makes the measurement of residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) in strychnine possible. All one-bond C-H RDCs of strychnine in PELG were determined by using 2D heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectroscopy. The strategy for the extraction of RDCs for methylene groups is described in detail. The RDCs and order parameters are used to assign pairs of diastereotopic protons. This methodology can distinguish not only one pair of diastereotopic protons but it can be used to assign all pairs of diastereotopic protons simultaneously. Two different calculation approaches to achieve this task are described in detail.     

Influence of steric symmetry and electronic dissymmetry on the enantioselectivity in palladium-catalyzed allylic substitutions

Chiral P,N-ligands with pseudo-C2 and pseudo-Cs symmetry based on chiral pyrrolidine and phospholane rings or on dinaphthatodihydroazepino and dinaphthatodihydrophosphepino moieties were prepared and assessed in the palladium-catalyzed allylic substitutions of allylic acetates. Higher selectivity was achieved with pseudo-C2-symmetric ligands based on the binaphthyl skeleton than with the analogous C2-symmetric P,P- and N,N-analogues. Pseudo-C2-type ligands had properties superior to those of pseudo-meso-type ligands when 1,3-diphenyl-2-propenyl acetate was used as a substrate, whereas the reverse situation was found for 3-cyclohexenyl acetate. Chirally flexible ligands, prepared by substitution of one of the rigid binaphthyl skeletons for a flexible biphenyl system, were found to induce chirality to the same extent as a 1:1 mixture of the rigid ligands.     

Evaluation of recombinant green fluorescent protein, under various culture conditions and purification with HiTrap hydrophobic interaction chromatography resins

To determine the influence of various culture conditions, transformed cells of Escherichia coli expressing recombinant green fluorescent protein (GFPuv) were grown in nine cultures with four variable conditions (storage of inoculated broth at 4°C prior to incubation, agitation speed, isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactopyranoside [IPTG] concentration, and induction time). The pelleted cells were resuspended in extraction buffer and subjected to the three-phase partitioning (TPP) extraction method. To determine the most appropriate purification resin, protein extracts were eluted through one of four types of HiTrap hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC) columns prepacked with methyl, butyl, octyl, or phenyl resins and analyzed further on a 12% sodium dodecylsulfatepolyacrylamidegel. With Coomassie staining, a single band between 27 (standard GFPuv) and 29 kDa (molecular weight standard) was visualized for every HIC column sample. TPP extraction with HIC elution provided about 90% of the GFPuv recovered and eight-fold GFPuv enrichment related to the specific mass. Rotary speed and IPTG concentration showed, respectively, greater negative and positive influences on GFPuv expression at the beginning of the logarithmic phase for the set culture conditions (37°C, 24-h incubation).     

Improved method for the determination of the major neutral steroids and unconjugated bile acids in human faeces using capillary gas chromatography

An improved method has been developed for the determination of the major neutral steroids (cholesterol and 5 beta-cholestan-3 beta-ol) and unconjugated bile acids (deoxycholic acid and lithocholic acid) in human faeces, using capillary gas chromatography with flame ionization detection. The freeze-dried faecal sample was subjected to a two-stage Soxhlet extraction followed by an aqueous alkali-organic solvent partition step to separate neutral steroids from bile acids. The neutral steroids were analysed as their trimethylsilyl ether derivatives on an OV-1 capillary column. The bile acids were further purified on a Sep-Pak C18 cartridge and then fractionated on a Sep-Pak SIL cartridge. Unconjugated bile acids were analysed as their methyl ester-trimethylsilyl ether derivatives also on an OV-1 capillary column. Quantitation of neutral steroids and unconjugated bile acids was achieved by reference to appropriate internal standards, added to the faecal extract immediately after the Soxhlet extraction stage. The method is being used in a study of the effect of diet on the metabolic activity of human gut flora.     

Growth dynamics and intracluster reactions in Ni+(CO2)n complexes via infrared spectroscopy

Ni(+)(CO(2))(n), Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ar, Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ne, and Ni(+)(O(2))(CO(2))(n) complexes are generated by laser vaporization in a pulsed supersonic expansion. The complexes are mass-selected in a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer and studied by infrared resonance-enhanced photodissociation (IR-REPD) spectroscopy. Photofragmentation proceeds exclusively through the loss of intact CO(2) molecules from Ni(+)(CO(2))(n) and Ni(+)(O(2))(CO(2))(n) complexes, and by elimination of the noble gas atom from Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ar and Ni(+)(CO(2))(n)Ne. Vibrational resonances are identified and assigned in the region of the asymmetric stretch of CO(2). Small complexes have resonances that are blueshifted from the asymmetric stretch of free CO(2), consistent with structures having linear Ni(+)-O=C=O configurations. Fragmentation of larger Ni(+)(CO(2))(n) clusters terminates at the size of n=4, and new vibrational bands assigned to external ligands are observed for n> or =5. These combined observations indicate that the coordination number for CO(2) molecules around Ni(+) is exactly four. Trends in the loss channels and spectra of Ni(+)(O(2))(CO(2))(n) clusters suggest that each oxygen atom occupies a different coordination site around a four-coordinate metal ion in these complexes. The spectra of larger Ni(+)(CO(2))(n) clusters provide evidence for an intracluster insertion reaction assisted by solvation, producing a metal oxide-carbonyl species as the reaction product.     

The first example of a liquid crystalline side-chain polymer with bent-core mesogenic units: ferroelectric switching and spontaneous achiral symmetry breaking in an achiral polymer

A dimethylsiloxane diluted polysiloxane side chain co-polymer with non-chiral banana-shaped mesogenic units shows an optically isotropic ferroelectric switching polar smectic C phase (SmCPF) consisting of a conglomerate of homogeneously chiral domains with opposite handedness.     

Metabolic profiling of normal and hypertensive rat kidney tissues by hrMAS-NMR spectroscopy

Intact kidney tissue samples of normal and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were analyzed by hrMAS-NMR spectroscopy and principal component analysis (PCA). Radial components (cortex, outer stripe of the outer medulla, inner stripe of the outer medulla, and papilla) were sampled from various regions across the kidney from multiple animals in order to establish inter- and intra-animal variability. The effects of temperature were also measured. Papilla was differentiated from the other tissue types, and this variation by tissue type was greater than the effect of temperature on the samples (spectra were compared from samples at 2 and 30 °C). This study also revealed long term stability issues of tissue storage at -80 °C. The PCA showed that the greatest differentiation between normal rats and SHRs was found in the cortex and the regions in the NMR spectra that were correlated with this variation were identified.Abbreviations hrMAS High-resolution magic angle spinning - NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance - PCA Principal component analysis - CSA Chemical shift anisotropy - DD Dipolar coupling - SHR Spontaneously hypertensive rat     

A hydrogen atom sandwiched by cyclopropanes

2′,3′,4′,5′,6′,7′-Hexahydrodispiro[cyclopropane-1,1′-anthracene-8′,1″-cyclopropane] (1) was prepared by double olefination (Wittig) and double methylenation (Furukawa) of 1,8-dioxo-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydroanthracene (4) that was in turn prepared in two steps from 1,3-dibromobenzene. The X-ray structure of 1 shows that the C-9-H of its anthracene core is located 2.6 Å from the centroids of each of the flanking cyclopropane rings. The ¹H NMR spectrum of 1 shows that the C-9-H resonance (δ 5.95) falls 0.84 ppm upfield from the C-10-H resonance (δ 6.79).