Racemization of chiral amino alcohols III: Effect of Mg or Ca addition on the activity and stability of the Co/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

The racemization of R-(-)-2-amino-1-butanol in a reaction using Co/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts and catalysts modified by Mg or Ca was investigated in this paper. Complete racemization was achieved with a yield of over 83% at using the Mg modified Co/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst under optimized reaction conditions of 170°C and 2.5 MPa of H₂. The catalysts were thoroughly characterized by XRD, XPS, TPR, SEM and TEM. The addition of Mg and Ca may be advantageous for dispersing and stabilizing the active species of the Co/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst, protecting from sintering, significantly improving its catalytic activity and stability.     

Computational examination of the electrophilic reaction on oxidative polymerization of phenyltrimethylsilane with sulfur chloride

Phenyltrimethylsilane possesses a higher HOMO energy (–9.34 eV) than nonsubstituted benzene (>0.41 eV). The π electron of the phenyltrimethylsilane localizes on the benzene ring at the ipso position rather than at the para position. Two center energies calculated by the MNDO-PM3 method indicate that the C? Si bond is facilitated to cleave in comparison with the C? H (para position) one of the benzene ring. Phenyltrimethylsilane and phenyl bis(trimethylsilane) were polymerized with sulfur chloride through the cationic oxidative polymerization. The product is isolated as oligo(p-phenylene sulfide), with a melting point of 150–190°C. An electrophile attacks the carbon atom linked to the Si atom in phenyltrimethylsilane. The new synthetic route of PPS can be established on the basis of the computational calculation.     

Photochemical degradation of hyaluronic acid by singlet oxygen

Changes of the rheological properties of hyaluronic acid (sodium-magnesium salt) solutions after exposure to UV radiation indicate a vigorous decrease in their viscosity, but its still strong shear rate dependence. Whereas the presence of the singlet oxygen sensitizer (anthracene-1-sulphonic acid) brings about a loss of shear dependence; the studied solutions show newtonian behavior.     

Fractionation and purification of antioxidant peptides from Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) protein hydrolysates prepared using papain and alcalase 2.4L

Protein hydrolysates have the potential to be natural and safer sources of bioactive peptides. In this study, two proteases were used to hydrolyze Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) protein, and the hydrolysates were then purified to yield antioxidant peptides. The degree of hydrolysis of 23.56 % and 18.14 % was obtained using papain and alcalase 2.4L, respectivly, and hydrolysates had 96.80 % and 87.24 % total amino acid content, respectivly. The papain hydrolysate (PH) and alcalase 2.4L hydrolysate (AH) showed good antioxidant activity against DPPH^? (IC₅₀ of 3.64 and 3.15 mg/mL) and ABTS^?+ (IC₅₀ of 1.92 and 1.58 mg/mL), respectively. The low-molecular-weight (<1000 Da) fraction of both hydrolysates demonstrated the highest antiradical activity (IC₅₀ of 2.59 and 2.31 mg/mL, DPPH) and (IC₅₀ of 1.54 and 1.36 mg/mL, ABTS), respectively. Nine peptides were separated from both hydrolysates using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). The IC₅₀ for ABTS^?+ scavenging activity of peptide P5 with valine, glycine and asparagine (MW of 282.13 Da) from PH, and peptide P3 with histidine, glycine and alanine (MW of 302.74 Da) from AH was 0.89 and 0.72 mg/mL, respectively. The fractions and purified peptides obtained from Chinese sturgeon hydrolysates could be utilized as natural antioxidant substitutes in pharmaceuticals and food products.     

Thermal Decomposition of Bi(III), Cd(II), Pb(II) and Cu(II) Thiocyanates

Thermal decomposition of Bi(SCN)₃, Cd(SCN)₂, Pb(SCN)₂ and Cu(SCN)₂ has been studied. The thermal analysis curves and the diffraction patterns of the solid intermediate and final products of the pyrolysis are presented. The gaseous products of the decomposition (SO₂ and CO₂) were detected and quantitatively determined. Thermal, X-ray and chemical analyses have been used to establish the nature of the reactions occurring at each stage in the decomposition.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Molecular structures of β-amino-α-bromovinyl trifluoromethyl ketones

The molecular structures of β-amino-α-bromovinyl trifluoromethyl ketones was studied by UV, IR, ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N NMR spectroscopy and using the density functional (B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) and PBE/QZ3P) and ab initio riMP2/cc-pVTZm quantum-chemical calculations. Factors affecting stabilization of the EZE-conformation of the molecules, which is atypical of analogous unsubstituted amino enones, are considered.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 102–106, January, 2005.     

Thermal decomposition of cobalt nitrato compounds: Preparation of anhydrous cobalt(II)nitrate and its characterisation by Infrared and Raman spectra

The thermal decomposition of Co(NO₃)₂·6H₂O (1) as well as that one of NO[Co(NO₃)₃] (Co(NO₃)₂·N₂O₄) (2) was followed by thermogravimetric (TG) measurements, X-ray recording and Raman and IR spectra. The stepwise decomposition reactions of 1 and 2 leading to anhydrous cobalt(II)nitrate (3) were established. In N₂ atmosphere, cobalt oxides are finally formed whereas in H₂/N₂ (10% H₂) cobalt metal is produced. Rapid heating of cobalt(II)nitrate hexahydrate causes melting (formation of a hydrate melt) and therefore side reactions in the hydrate melt by incoupled reactions and evolution/evaporation of different species as, e.g., HNO₃, NO₂, etc. In case of larger amounts in dense packing in the sample container, the formation of oxo(hydoxo)nitrates is possible at higher temperature. For 2, its thermal decomposition to 3 was followed and its decomposition mechanism is proposed.     

Time-resolved fluorescence analysis of the mobile flavin cofactor in p -hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase

Conformational heterogeneity of the FAD cofactor in p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (PHBH) was investigated with time-resolved polarized flavin fluorescence. For binary enzyme/substrate (analogue) complexes of wild-type PHBH and Tyr222 mutants, crystallographic studies have revealed two distinct flavin conformations; the ‘in’ conformation with the isoalloxazine ring located in the active site, and the ‘out’ conformation with the isoalloxazine ring disposed towards the protein surface. Fluorescence-lifetime analysis of these complexes revealed similar lifetime distributions for the ‘in’ and ‘out’ conformations. The reason for this is twofold. First, the active site of PHBH contains various potential fluorescence-quenching sites close to the flavin. Fluorescence analysis of uncomplexed PHBH Y222V and Y222A showed that Tyr222 is responsible for picosecond fluorescence quenching free enzyme. In addition, other potential quenching sites, including a tryptophan and two tyrosines involved in substrate binding, are located nearby. Since the shortest distance between these quenching sites and the isoalloxazine ring differs only little on average, these aromatic residues are likely to contribute to fluorescence quenching. Second, the effect of flavin conformation on the fluorescence lifetime distribution is blurred by binding of the aromatic substrates: saturation with aromatic substrates induces highly efficient fluorescence quenching. The flavin conformation is therefore only reflected in the small relative contributions of the longer lifetimes.     

β-Ketoaldehydes in the synthesis of 6-alkyl-3-cyano-2(1H)-pyridinethiones

An efficient synthesis of 6-alkyl-3-cyano-2(1H)-pyridinethiones by the reactions of the sodium salts of -ketoaldehydes with cyanothioacetamide was developed. Pyridinethiones undergo selectiveS-alkylation with haloacetonitriles and haloacetophenones followed by cyclization to the corresponding thieno[2,3-b]pyridines.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 4, pp. 727–731, April, 1995.This study was financially supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 94-03-08-823).     

Ab initio studies on several species of the formula X3YO and X3YOH

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations using both minimal and extended basis sets have been applied to two isoelectronic sets of molecules. One set corresponds to the 18 electron species H₃NO, H₃CO^– and H₃COH while the second set contains the 42 electron fluorinated molecules F₃NO, F₃CO^– and F₃COH. The geometries of these molecules have been optimized, using both the minimal STO-3G and the extended 4-31G basis sets. These comparative calculations reveal that the 4-31G basis produced structural parameters in much better agreement with experiment. The effect of includingd-orbitals in the basis set was also investigated. For the fluorinated oxides it has been found that the optimized 4-31G structures were only slightly altered by the addition ofd-orbitals. For H₃NO, on the other hand, the inclusion ofd-orbitals considerably shortens the N-O bond distance. Both H₃NO and CF₃OH, which are unknown experimentally, are theoretically predicted to be capable of existence. The electronic structures of these molecules have also been examined using electronic partitioning according to the Mulliken scheme.