Influence of ring substitution on the conformation and β-turn mimicry of 4-amino-1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-2-benzazepin-3-one peptide mimetics

Analogs of 4-amino-1,2,4,5-tetrahydro-2-benzazepin-3-ones, containing a methyl substituent at the 4- or 5-position, or a phenyl substituent at C-1, were prepared. Conformational analysis of tetrapeptide models containing these analogs indicated different conformations of the benzazepinone ring, and extended backbone conformations, except for the 4-methyl-substituted analog. The latter was shown to have a strong preference for a turn conformation. Incorporation into the N-terminal tetrapeptide sequence of dermorphin resulted in potent opioid analogs and an indication that the receptor-bound conformation might not adopt a turn structure.     

Ellipsometry of silica nanoparticulate Langmuir-Blodgett films for the verification of the validity of effective medium approximations

The validity of various effective medium approximations (EMAs) (Bruggeman, Maxwell-Garnett) was studied for nanostructured systems, where the scale of inhomogeneities is comparable to the wavelength. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) layers of St?ber silica nanospheres of diameters between 40 and 129 nm are excellent model structures for the experimental verification of the validity of the EMA methods in spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) evaluation. Nanostructured mono- and multilayered silica films were investigated by SE and reflectance spectroscopy. The effective refractive index and film thickness were determined from the results of multiparameter fitting of SE spectra in the 300-759 nm wavelength region. The distribution of the effective refractive index in the particulate films was calculated assuming an ideal close-packed arrangement of particles. The average deviation from such a structure was deduced from the corrected model by introducing a "fill factor". In the EMA approximation, the spherical shape of the silica particle determines the optical behavior, rather than the "depth distribution" of silica or porosity. Therefore, the shape of particles has a dominant effect on the optical properties of nanoparticulate LB films.     

Mass spectrometric separation and quantitation of overlapping isotopologues. H2O/HOD/D2O and H2Se/HDSe/D2Se mixtures

Three conceptually different mathematical methods are presented for accurate mass spectrometric determination of H2O/HOD/D2O and H2Se/HDSe/D2Se concentrations from mixtures. These are alternating least-squares, weighted two-band target entropy minimization, and a statistical mass balance model. The otherwise nonmeasurable mass spectra of partially deuterated isotopologues (HOD and HDSe) are mathematically constructed. Any recorded isotopologue mixture mass spectra are then deconvoluted by least-squares into their components. This approach is used to study the H2O/D2O exchange reaction, and is externally validated gravimetrically. The H2O/D2O exchange equilibrium constant is also measured from the deconvoluted 70 eV electron impact GC/MS data (K = 3.85 +/- 0.03).     

Single diastereomers of polyhydroxylated 9-oxa-1-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nonanes from intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of omega-unsaturated nitrones

8-Benzyloxymethyl-3,4,5-tribenzoyloxy-9-oxa-1-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nonane has been prepared as the single diastereoisomer 8 from an intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition involving 2-(benzyloxy)acetaldehyde and omega-unsaturated hydroxylamine 7 derived from methyl alpha-D-glucopyranoside. The analogous 8-methoxycarbonyl 9-oxa-1-azabicyclo[4.2.1]nonane was afforded in a similar manner, from methyl D-galactopyranoside and methyl glyoxylate, as a 3:1 mixture of diastereoisomers 15 and 16. When conducted in achiral ionic liquid 17 this ratio increased to 8:1, and in chiral ionic liquid 18, compound 15 was formed exclusively.     

Chiral enrichment of serine via formation,dissociation, and soft-landing of octameric cluster ions

Chiral enrichment of serine is achieved in experiments that involve formation of serine octamers starting from non-racemic serine solutions. Serine octamers were generated by means of electrospray and sonic spray ionization of aqueous solutions of d(3)-L-serine (108 Da) and D-serine (105 Da) having different molar ratios of enantiomers. A cyclic process involving the formation of chirally-enriched octameric cluster ions and their dissociation, viz. Ser(1) --> Ser(8) --> Ser(1), allows serine monomers to be regenerated with increased enantiomeric excess as shown in two types of experiments: (1) Chiral enrichment in serine was observed in MS/MS/MS experiments in a quadrupole ion trap in which the entire distribution of serine octamers formed from non-racemic solutions was isolated, collisionally activated, and fragmented. Monomeric serine was regenerated with increased enantiomeric excess upon dissociation of octamers when compared with the enantiomeric composition of the original solution. (2) Chiral enrichment was observed in the products of soft-landing of mass-selected protonated serine octamers. These ions were generated by means of electrospray or sonic spray ionization, mass selected, and collected on a gold surface using ion soft-landing. Chiral enrichment of the soft-landed serine was established by redissolving the recovered material and comparing the intensities of protonated molecular ions of d(3)-L-serine and D-serine after APCI-MS analysis. Both of these experiments showed comparable results, suggesting that formation of serine octamers depends only on the enantiomeric composition of the serine solution and that the magnitude of the chiral preference is intrinsic to octamers formed from solutions of given chiral composition.     

An Isoreticular Family of Microporous Metal-Organic Frameworks Based on Zinc and 2-Substituted Imidazolate-4-amide-5-imidate: Syntheses, Structures and Properties

We report on a new series of isoreticular frameworks based on zinc and 2-substituted imidazolate-4-amide-5-imidate (IFP-1-4, IFP=imidazolate framework Potsdam) that form one-dimensional, microporous hexagonal channels. Varying R in the 2-substitued linker (R=Me (IFP-1), Cl (IFP-2), Br (IFP-3), Et (IFP-4)) allowed the channel diameter (4.0-1.7??), the polarisability and functionality of the channel walls to be tuned. Frameworks IFP-2, IFP-3 and IFP-4 are isostructural to previously reported IFP-1. The structures of IFP-2 and IFP-3 were solved by X-ray crystallographic analyses. The structure of IFP-4 was determined by a combination of PXRD and structure modelling and was confirmed by IR spectroscopy and (1) H?MAS and (13) C?CP-MAS?NMR spectroscopy. All IFPs showed high thermal stability (345-400?°C); IFP-1 and IFP-4 were stable in boiling water for 7?d. A detailed porosity analysis was performed on the basis of adsorption measurements by using various gases. The potential of the materials to undergo specific interactions with CO(2) was investigated by measuring the isosteric heats of adsorption. The capacity to adsorb CH(4) (at 298?K), CO(2) (at 298?K) and H(2) (at 77?K) at high pressure were also investigated. In situ IR spectroscopy showed that CO(2) is physisorbed on IFP-1-4 under dry conditions and that both CO(2) and H(2) O are physisorbed on IFP-1 under moist conditions.     

M?ssbauer study of peroxynitrito complex formation with FeIII-chelates

The reaction of the μ-oxo-diiron(III)-L complex (L = EDTA, ethylene diamine tetraacetate, HEDTA, hydroxyethyl ethylene diamine triacetate, and CyDTA, cyclohexane diamine tetraacetate) with peroxynitrite in alkaline solution was studied by M?ssbauer spectroscopy using rapid-freezing technique. These complexes yield an (L)Fe^III(η ²-O $_{2})^{3-}$ complex ion when they react with hydrogen peroxide and the formation of the peroxide adduct results in a deep purple coloration of the solution. The same color appears when the reaction occurs with peroxinitrite. Although spectrophotometry indicated some difference between the molar extinction coefficients of the peroxo and the peroxinitrito adducts, the M?ssbauer parameters proved to be the same within experimental error. It is concluded that the peroxynitrite ion decomposes when reacting with Fe^III(L) and the peroxo adduct forms.     

Conotoxin engineering: dual pharmacophoric noradrenaline transport inhibitor/integrin binding peptide with improved stability

A dual-pharmacophoric peptide was engineered by grafting the integrin binding RGD motif between the C- and N-termini of a disulfide-rich noradrenaline transporter inhibiting χ-conotoxin resulting in a stable backbone cyclized peptide. The construct maintained two independent biological activities and showed increased plasma stability with no adverse effects observed following administration to rats, highlighting the potential value of pharmacophore grafting into constrained peptide scaffolds.     

Quantum Ergodic Restriction Theorems. I: Interior Hypersurfaces in Domains with Ergodic Billiards

Quantum ergodic restriction (QER) is the problem of finding conditions on a hypersurface H so that restrictions \({\phi_j |_H}\) to H of Δ-eigenfunctions of Riemannian manifolds (M, g) with ergodic geodesic flow are quantum ergodic on H. We prove two kinds of results: First (i) for any smooth hypersurface H in a piecewise-analytic Euclidean domain, the Cauchy data \({(\phi_j|H,\partial_{\nu}^H \phi_j|H)}\) is quantum ergodic if the Dirichlet and Neumann data are weighted appropriately. Secondly, (ii) we give conditions on H so that the Dirichlet (or Neumann) data is individually quantum ergodic. The condition involves the almost nowhere equality of left and right Poincaré maps for H. The proof involves two further novel results: (iii) a local Weyl law for boundary traces of eigenfunctions, and (iv) an ‘almost-orthogonality’ result for Fourier integral operators whose canonical relations almost nowhere commute with the geodesic flow.