Facilitated sulfate transfer across the nitrobenzene-water interface as mediated by hydrogen-bonding ionophores.

Facilitated SO4(2-) transfers by hydrogen bond-forming ionophores are investigated across the nitrobenzene (NB)-water interface by using polarography with a dropping electrolyte electrode. Bis-thiourea 1, alpha,alpha'-bis(N'-p-nitrophenylthioureylene)-m-xylene, is found to significantly facilitate the transfer of the highly hydrophilic SO4(2-) whereas its counterpart, N-(p-nitrophenyl)-N'-propylthiourea (ionophore 2), cannot. In contrast to the predominant formation of a 1:1 complex with SO4(2-) in the bulk NB phase, the SO4(2-) transfer assisted by 1 is indeed based on the formation of a 1:2 complex between SO4(2-) and ionophore, even under the condition of [SO4(2-)]aq > [1]org. Such an exclusive formation of the 1:2 (SO4(2-) to ionophore) complex at the NB-water interface is not observed with structurally similar bis-thiourea 3, alpha,alpha'-bis(N'-phenylthioureylene)-m-xylene, where p-nitrophenyl moietes of bis-thiourea 1 are simply replaced by phenyl groups. The facilitated transfer of SO4(2-) with bis-thiourea 1 is further compared to that of HPO4(2-) and H2PO4- across the NB-water interface, which was previously shown to be assisted by 1 through the formation of the 1:1 and 2:1 (anion to ionophore) complexes, respectively. On the basis of these examinations, unique binding behaviors of hydrogen bond-forming ionophores at the NB-water interface are discussed, with a view towards development of ionophore-based anion-selective chemical sensors.     

Developing a hybrid emulsion polymerization system to synthesize Fe3O4/polystyrene latexes with narrow size distribution and high magnetite content

A hybrid emulsion polymerization was formulated for synthesizing Fe₃O₄/polystyrene composite latex. This system, containing binary droplets that are magnetic (Mag)‐droplets with a diameter of 100–200 nm and styrene (St)‐droplets with a diameter of 3–4 μm, was obtained by mixing Mag‐miniemulsion and St‐macroemulsion. With extremely low surfactants concentration (?critical micelle concentration, CMC), the nucleated loci are selectively controlled in the Mag‐droplets, as the result of smaller droplet size and larger surface ratio. Both water‐soluble potassium persulfate (KPS) and oil‐soluble 2,2′‐azobis(2‐isobutyronitrile) was adopted to initiate the polymerization. In the presence of KPS, magnetic polystyrene latices with particles size of 60–200 nm, narrow size distribution, and high magnetite content (86 wt % measured by TGA) were attained successfully. The synthesized magnetic Fe₃O_4/polystyrene latices assembled into well‐ordered hexagonal structure in the surface of a carbon supported copper grid. The influence of various parameters on various aspects of the as‐synthesized Fe₃O₄/polystyrene was investigated in detail: type of initiator on composite morphology, feed ratio of Mag‐miniemulsion and St‐macroemulsion on magnetite content, and hydrophobic agent or amount of surfactant on size and size distribution. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5285–5295, 2007     

Preparation of nanometer MgO by sol-gel auto-combustion

Nanometer MgO was prepared via a sol-gel auto-combustion technique using magnesium nitrate as raw material and citric acid as chelating agent. IR spectra of the dried gel were used to investigate the structure of the precursors. By studying the different TG curves of magnesium citrate gel prepared by different methods, we found that a combustion process occurred and the nitrate ions acted as an oxidant in the combustion process. TEM photographs of synthesized powders from the sol-gel auto-combustion showed that the crystallites were uniform in size. In addition, the XRD pattern of this sample showed that the particle size was 8.9 nm. The BET curves, in turn, showed that the specific surface of the sample was 26.34 m²/g. The mechanism of the frothing process in restraining agglomeration is discussed. __________ Translated from Journal of East China Normal University (Natural Science), 2007, (2): 52–57 [译自: 华东师范大学学报(自然科学版)]     

富烯碳原子簇的石墨层间闭合形成机理

本文提出了富烯碳原子簇的石墨层间闭合形成机理，由该机理推出的许多结果与实验事实符合很好。我们认为碳原子簇自由基的快速淬灭及其淬灭速度是富烯碳原子簇形成及其丰度的决定因素。由此得出富烯碳原子簇在给定实验条件下产生的必然性，并预言不同大小的富烯碳原子簇可以通过优化实验条件选择性地合成。     

Electronic effects steer the mechanism of asymmetric hydrogenations of unfunctionalized aryl-substituted alkenes

Density functional theory (PBE and B3LYP) was used to study asymmetric hydrogenations of alkenes catalyzed by an iridium imidazolylidine oxazoline complex. The calculation predicts that the alkene preferentially coordinates to the site trans to the carbene. The coordinated alkene then reacts first with the H2 ligand, then with the hydride to form alkane. Finally, the alkane is released by equilibrating with extrinsic H2 and alkene. Enantioface selectivities for hydrogenations of trisubstituted alkenes seem to be driven primarily by steric interactions with the adamantyl part of the ligand; only the smallest substituents can adopt a site close to it. Application of this theoretical model leads to correct predictions regarding the experimentally observed sense and magnitude of the enantioselectivities.     

Diels-Alder reactions of quinol lactones: a change of regioselectivity with stannic chloride catalysis

Lewis acid-mediated Diels-Alder reactions of quinol lactone 2 gave regioselectivity opposite to that of the uncatalyzed reaction. Compound 12 is proposed as the reactive intermediate generated by the reaction of 2 with stannic chloride.     

Synthesis of 2‐Dihydrooxadiazolinyl Chromones

Reactions of the substituted 2‐formyl chromones with aroylhydrazines gave corresponding 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones. Then 2‐(3′‐acetyl‐5′‐aryl‐2′,3′‐dihydro‐1′,3′,4′‐oxadiazol‐2′‐yl) chromones were prepared by these 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones under refluxing with Ac₂O. All target compounds were characterized through elemental analysis and IR, ¹H NMR, MS.     

pKa calculations in solution and proteins with QM/MM free energy perturbation simulations: a quantitative test of QM/MM protocols

The accuracy of biological simulations depends, in large part, on the treatment of electrostatics. Due to the availability of accurate experimental values, calculation of pKa provides stringent evaluation of computational methods. The generalized solvent boundary potential (GSBP) and Ewald summation electrostatic treatments were recently implemented for combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations by our group. These approaches were tested by calculating pKa shifts due to differences in electronic structure and electrostatic environment; the shifts were determined for a series of small molecules in solution, using various electrostatic treatments, and two residues (His 31, Lys 102) in the M102K T4-lysozyme mutant with large pKa shifts, using the GSBP approach. The calculations utilized a free energy perturbation scheme with the QM/MM potential function involving the self-consistent charge density functional tight binding (SCC-DFTB) and CHARMM as the QM and MM methods, respectively. The study of small molecules demonstrated that inconsistent electrostatic models produced results that were difficult to correct in a robust manner; by contrast, extended electrostatics, GSBP, and Ewald simulations produced consistent results once a bulk solvation contribution was carefully chosen. In addition to the electrostatic treatment, the pKa shifts were also sensitive to the level of the QM method and the scheme of treating QM/MM Coulombic interactions; however, simple perturbative corrections based on SCC-DFTB/CHARMM trajectories and higher level single point energy calculations were found to give satisfactory results. Combining all factors gave a root-mean-square difference of 0.7 pKa units for the relative pKa values of the small molecules compared to experiment. For the residues in the lysozyme, an accurate pKa shift was obtained for His 31 with multiple nanosecond simulations. For Lys 102, however, the pKa shift was estimated to be too large, even after more than 10 nanosecond simulations for each lambda window; the difficulty was due to the significant, but slow, reorganization of the protein and water structure when Lys 102 was protonated. The simulations support that Lys 102 is deprotonated in the X-ray structure and the protein is highly destabilized when this residue is protonated.     

LC-ESI-MS Determination of Bilobalide and Ginkgolides in Canine Plasma

A sensitive and selective method using liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detection was developed for the quantification of bilobalide and ginkgolides in canine plasma. The analytes were extracted with diethyl ether-dichloromethane-isopropanol (6:3:1, v/v) after spiking the samples with daidzein (internal standard). The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) of the method was 2.5 μg L⁻¹ for ginkgolide B and 10.0 μg L⁻¹ for bilabolide, ginkgolide A and ginkgolide C. The accuracy of the method was within 15% of the actual values over a wide range of plasma concentrations. The intra-day and inter-day precision was better than 15% (R.S.D.). Finally, the LC-ESI-MS method was successfully applied to study the pharmacokinetics of ginkgolides and bilabolide after administration of Ginkgo biloba extracts to dogs.     

Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics studies of triosephosphate isomerase-catalyzed reactions: effect of geometry and tunneling on proton-transfer rate constants

The role of tunneling for two proton-transfer steps in the reactions catalyzed by triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) has been studied. One step is the rate-limiting proton transfer from Calpha in the substrate to Glu 165, and the other is an intrasubstrate proton transfer proposed for the isomerization of the enediolate intermediate. The latter, which is not important in the wild-type enzyme but is a useful model system because of its simplicity, has also been examined in the gas phase and in solution. Variational transition-state theory with semiclassical ground-state tunneling was used for the calculation with potential energy surface determined by an AM1 method specifically parametrized for the TIM system. The effect of tunneling on the reaction rate was found to be less than a factor of 10 at room temperature; the tunneling becomes more important at lower temperature, as expected. The imaginary frequency (barrier) mode and modes that have large contributions to the reaction path curvature are localized on the atoms in the active site, within 4 A of the substrate. This suggests that only a small number of atoms that are close to the substrate and their motions (e.g., donor-acceptor vibration) directly determine the magnitude of tunneling. Atoms that are farther away influence the effect of tunneling indirectly by modulating the energetics of the proton transfer. For the intramolecular proton transfer, tunneling was found to be most important in the gas phase, to be similar in the enzyme, and to be the smallest in water. The major reason for this trend is that the barrier frequency is substantially lower in solution than in the gas phase and enzyme; the broader solution barrier is caused by the strong electrostatic interaction between the highly charged solute and the polar solvent molecules. Analysis of isotope effects showed that the conventional Arrenhius parameters are more useful as experimental criteria for determining the magnitude of tunneling than the widely used Swain-Schaad exponent (SSE). For the primary SSE, although values larger than the transition-state theory limit (3.3) occur when tunneling is included, there is no clear relationship between the calculated magnitudes of tunneling and the SSE. Also, the temperature dependence of the primary SSE is rather complex; the value of SSE tends to decrease as the temperature is lowered (i.e., when tunneling becomes more significant). For the secondary SSE, the results suggest that it is more relevant for evaluating the "coupled motion" between the secondary hydrogen and the reaction coordinate than the magnitude of tunneling. Although tunneling makes a significant contribution to the rate of proton transfer, it appears not to be a major aspect of the catalysis by TIM at room temperature; i.e., the tunneling factor of 10 is "small" relative to the overall rate acceleration by 10(9). For the intramolecular proton transfer, the tunneling in the enzyme is larger by a factor of 5 than in solution.