On the electronic states of macrocycles of the extended porphyrin family and their coordination compounds

The electronic absorption spectra of Ni, Zn and Mg hemiporphyrazine derivatives are presented and discussed together with theoretical results obtained by INDO/S computations. The absorption spectra of all the metal derivatives show marked red shifts of the lowest energy absorption bands with respect to those of the metal free hemiporphyrazine. The possible explanation that in metal derivatives low lying excited states with a fully conjugated π electron system are present is supported by theoretical computations.     

AM1 studies of hydrogen bonded adducts between 2,5-dihydroxy-p-quinone and N-bases

Semiempirical AM1 calculations were used to optimize the geometry of the adducts formed by 2,5-dihydroxy-p quinone (DHpQ) with substituted pyridines or imidazole. Hydrogen bond formation was seen to be responsible for the stability of the adducts. From the study of the total energy function, obtained by imposing fixed positions to the proton, two structures were found to be possible for each adduct, one schematically indicated as -OH … N-base and the proton transfer one, indicated as -O⁻ … HN⁺base. The proton transfer energy was found to vary linearly with the base pK_a value. A study was also carried out on the system formed by DHpQ and a cluster of three water molecules acting as proton acceptors. The implications were discussed relating to possible hydrogen bond formation between trihydroxyphenylalanine quinone, the coenzyme of bovine serum amine oxidase, and some basic residue or water molecule, lying close to the protein active site.     

ESCA study of Ni(II) dithiocarbazato complexes

N 1s, S 2p and Ni 2p_3/2 binding energies for the Ni(II) dithiocarbazates and N 1s and S 2p binding energies for the methyl esters of dithiocarbazic acids were measured. It was found that the band width of N 1s narrows on going from the esters to the complexes, thus suggesting a closer similarity between the two nitrogen atoms as a consequence of coordination. S 2p binding energies were found to be similar in the above complexes independent of the chromophore present in them. A possible explanation is suggested for this unusual result.     

Dynamical Aspects of TEM-1 β-Lactamase Probed by Molecular Dynamics

The dynamical aspects of the fully hydrated TEM-1 β-lactamase have been determined by a 5 ns Molecular Dynamics simulation. Starting from the crystallographic coordinates, the protein shows a relaxation in water with an overall root mean square deviation from the crystal structure increasing up to 0.17 nm, within the first nanosecond. Then a plateau is reached and the molecule fluctuates around an equilibrium conformation. The results obtained in the first nanosecond are in agreement with those of a previous simulation (Diaz et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., (2003) 125, 672–684). The successive equilibrium conformation in solution shows an increased mobility characterized by the following aspects. A flap-like translational motion anchores the Ω-loop to the body of the enzyme. A relevant part of the backbone dynamics implies a rotational motion of one domain relative to the other. The water molecules in the active site can exchange with different residence times. The H-bonding networks formed by the catalytic residues are frequently interrupted by water molecules that could favour proton transfer reactions. An additional simulation, where the aspartyl dyad D214–D233 was considered fully deprotonated, shows that the active site is destabilized.     

On the configuration of 2,2′-bipyridyl and 5,5′-Bis-Isoxazole by means of the CNDO/2 method

The conformation of 2,2-bipyridyl and 5,5-bis-isoxazole is studied by the CNDO/2 method. Calculations suggest that the trans configuration is more stable than the cis for both systems. For 2,2-bipyridyl a minimum for a non planar form is inferred.     

Relaxation correction to molecular K-shell levels

The highly localized, atom-like nature of inner molecular electrons is discussed in some simple molecules to obtain computed estimates of the energy corrections accounting for the polarization rearrangements following K-shell ionizations. The “equivalent core” (EC) model already discussed in the literature is invoked to perform true variational computations for the hole-state wavefunctions of the outer electrons and for their potentials at the ionized nucleus. The “chemical shifts” associated with carbon K-shells in fluoromethanes and within all the possible ions for the adenine molecule are also computed and discussed.     

Kinetic comparison of isomeric oligo(ethylene oxide) (meth)acrylates: Aqueous polymerization of oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate and methyl 2-(oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether)acrylate macromonomers

The photoinduced energy/electron transfer-reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerizations of oligo(ethylene oxide) monomethyl ether methacrylate (OEOMA, also known as poly[ethylene glycol] methyl ether methacrylate, PEGMA) and isomeric methyl 2-(oligo(ethylene oxide) methyl ether)acrylate (2OEOAM) macromonomers with OEO average degree of polymerization of 22 or 45 were conducted in aqueous media to provide insight into the effect of monomer structure on grafting-through RAFT of 1,1-disubstituted acrylic macromonomers. The polymerizations of all four monomers reached nearly quantitative conversion. The longer macromonomers polymerized faster than the shorter ones within the same monomer class. The OEO side chain at the α (i.e., 2-) position of isomeric acrylates significantly slowed RAFT polymerization in comparison with OEO ester side chain of methacrylates.