A molecular modelling study of the interaction of noradrenaline with theβ 2-adrenergic receptor

Summary A model of the ₂-adrenergic receptor binding site is built from the primary structure of the receptor, experimental evidence for key binding residues and analogy with a homologous protein of partially determined structure. It is suggested that residues Trp-109, Thr-110 and Asp-113 are involved in ligand binding. Noradrenaline is successfully docked into this model, and the results of an INDO molecular orbital calculation on the complex indicate that a charge transfer interaction between Trp-109 and noradrenaline is possible.     

Electrochemical synthesis of π-indenyl-π-(3)-1,2-dicarbollyliron(III)

Co-electrolysis of potassium 1,2-dicarbadodecahydroundecaborate and indene in 0.1N sodium bromide solution in dimethylsulfoxide using iron electrodes afforded -indenyl--(3)-1,2-dicarbollyliron(III).Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 764–765, April, 1993.     

Phase separation of poly(γ-benzyl L-glutamate) to liquid crystal and isotropic solution in various helicogenic solvents

Solvent effects on the phase separation of poly(-benzyl L-glutamate) to liquid crystal and isotropic solution have been observed in various helicogenic solvents. The temperature-composition phase diagrams have been determined for each solution. The critical concentrations, ₂ ^* , at which the phase separation occours have been compared in various solvents. In dimethylformamide in which the polymer is molecularly dispersed, the observed ₂ ^* value has agreed with that calculated by Flory's theory. In some solvents in which the polymer aggregates in a head-to-tail mode such as chloroform, the observed ₂ ^* values have been considerably small. It is assumed that the polymer aggregates behave as longer particles than the original particles. In dioxane in which the polymer aggregates highly both in a head-to-tail and a side-by-side modes, the ₂ ^* value has been a little larger than that in chloroform. In this case the relationship between the aggregation and the liquid crystal formation is so complicated that further investigation is necessary. In aromatic solvents such asm-cresol that dissolves the polymer almost molecularly, the ₂ ^* is smaller than that in dimethylformamide. Therefore, the intermolecular interactions between the phenyl groups in the side groups of the polymer and those in solvent molecules must be considered.The author is grateful to Mr. K. Sano and Mr. M. Watanabe for their observation of the liquid crystal formation.     

Reactions of regioisomeric fluoroalkyl-containing β-aminovinyl ketones with hydrazines

Fluoroalkyl -alkyl--aminovinyl ketones react with hydrazine hydrate to give the respective razoles and with phenylhydrazine they form a mixture of pyrazoles and 5 hydroxy-²-pyrazolines. Alkyl(aryl) -fluoroalkyl--aminovinylketones do not react with the hydrazines mentioned above. With 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine, both types of fluoroalkyl-containing -aminovinyl ketones give only hydrazones of the corresponding methyl alkyl(aryl) ketones.     

Effect of Oxygen Redistribution on the Normal and Superconducting Properties of Yttrium High‐Temperature Superconductors

An anomaly is found in the vicinity of T_max 560$ K on electric resistance versus temperature curves for yttrium hightemperature superconductors of the 123 phase. Xray phase analysis suggests a structural phase transition in the vicinity of T_max due to oxygen redistribution in the mobile sublattice of this compound. Investigation of samples with Y partially replaced by Ca has shown that the structural phase transition does not depend on carrier concentration in the conduction band.     

Comparison of the Hartree-Fock,Møller-Plesset,and Hartree-Fock-Slater method with respect to electrostatic properties of small molecules

Summary The results of various quantum chemical calculations, the Hartree-Fock (HF) method, the Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), and the Hartree-Fock-Slater (HFS) method are compared. Atomic charges, dipole moments, topological properties of the electron density distribution and polarizabilities, and first hyperpolarizabilities are calculated. Atomic charges obtained with the HFS method are found to be very close to those calculated with the MP2 method, from which we conclude that the HFS method describes to some extent electron correlation effects. Performing an MP2 calculation after an HF calculation improves the molecular dipole moments considerably, yielding values close to the experimental ones. HFS calculations are computationally less demanding than MP2 and yield comparable results for the electron density distributions, dipole moments and polarizabilities.     

Effects of medium and chemical modification on thermal characteristics of Β-lactoglobulin

The thermal properties of -lactoglobulin (-LG) were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) under different medium conditions.pH, neutral salts, protein perturbants, and polyols all affected the DSC characteristics of -LG. Acylation with fatty acids also changed the thermal properties, particularly peak width at half-height. The results suggest that the structural stability of -LG is controlled by non-covalent forces, particularly electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions. Disulfide bonds did not contribute to the thermal response of -LG. Fatty N-acyl-amino acids caused marked increases in thermal stability and decreases in denaturation enthalpy, and additional peaks were observed in the presence of some palmitoyl derivatives.Contribution No. 2310, Centre for Food and Animal Research.We thank D. Raymond for her excellent technical assistance.     

Ab initio SCF investigation of the intramolecular hydrogen bonding in δ-aminopentanoic acid

The potential energy surface of the neutral form of-aminopentanoic acid was investigated by means of ab initio 4-31G SCF calculations. Four symmetry unique local minima are stabilized by an intramolecular O-H NH₂ hydrogen bond. The geometries, energies, and wave numbers of these conformers are reported. The hydrogen bond is discussed with respect to all reactions of these conformers and in comparison with the homologues glycine,-alanine, and-aminobutyric acid and also with the bimolecular adducts between formic acid, acetic acid, and propionic acid, on the one hand, and ammonia, methylamine, and ethylamine, on the other hand.     

Optimisation of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Systems for Complexation of Naproxen : Beta-Cyclodextrin

Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂)offers several attractive scenarios for thepharmaceutical processing as an alternativeto aqueous and organic solvents. In thiswork naproxen, a widely used non steroidalanti-inflammatory drug with analgesic andanti-inflammatory properties, was chosenas a model drug. Its complexation with cyclodextrinsimproves the rate and extent of dissolutionof the drug, increase its rate of absorption and mayreduce the unpleasant side-effects of the drug.The interest in using this supercritical technologyled us to develop an experimental unit for the useof supercritical CO₂ as a processing medium forthe complexation of naproxen with beta cyclodextrin (CD).