Structural characterization of plasmenylcholine photooxidation products

Oxidative damage to plasmenyl-type lipids contributes to decreased membrane barrier function, loss of membrane structure and formation of nonlamellar defects in membrane bilayers. Previous results from this laboratory have shown that membrane-soluble sensitizers (e.g. zinc phthalocyanine and bacteriochlorophyll a) mediate the photooxidation of palmitoyl plasmenylcholine (1-O-alk-1'-Z-enyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine; PPlsC) vesicles with the subsequent creation of lamellar defect structures, vesicle contents leakage and membrane-membrane fusion. Because plasmalogen lipids are significant components of sarcoplasma and myelin membranes, we sought to characterize the products of their photooxidation. This study focuses on the photooxidation of PPlsC vesicles in the presence of the water-soluble sensitizer, aluminum phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (AlPcS4(4-)). Attack of photogenerated singlet oxygen on the 1-O-alkenyl ether linkage of PPlsC lipids was expected to generate dioxetane- and ene-type photoproducts. The products formed during continuous aerobic irradiation (28 mW/cm2, (610 nm) of PPlsC vesicles in the presence of AlPcS4(4-) were separated via reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection (ECD) or evaporative light-scattering detection (ELSD). Photooxidized dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine-cholesterol vesicles (control) were used to optimize the HPLC-ECD conditions, using 7 alpha-hydroperoxy-cholesterol as standard. HPLC-ECD was found to be most sensitive for PPlsC hydroperoxides, whereas HPLC-ELSD was more sensitive for nonhydroperoxide photoproducts. The three major photoproducts formed during vesicle irradiation were isolated via preparative HPLC and then characterized by 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry. 1-Formyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-hydroxy-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine were identified as dioxetane cleavage products that coeluted at approximately 3 min. The second fraction (retention time [RT] = 48 min) was identified as a PPlsC allylic hydroperoxide. The third photoproduct, eluting at RT = 64 min, is tentatively identified as an oxidation product arising from allylic hydroperoxide degradation via Hock rearrangement or free radical decomposition.     

Thermal properties of barium complexes used for depositing thin films of YBa2Cu3O7 superconductors

The thermal properties of several barium containing complexes are compared by using thermogravimetric analysis and solids probe mass spectrometry. The properties of complexes containing flourinated and non-fluorinated β-diketonates with and without the presence of a polyether to occupy additional barium coordination sites are compared. Barium complex thermal properties are heavily dependent on the structure of the β-diketones and polyether comprising the complex. Barium complexes containing fluorinated ligands are better suited for chemical vapour deposition of barium than complexes containing non-fluorinated ligands because they efficiently evolve vapours containing barium at lower temperatures.     

Lithium Selective Chromogenic Azocrown Ethers

Novel chromogenic crown ethers having an intraannular azo and phenolic hydroxy subunits have been used as complexing reagents for alkali metal cations. The complex formation was studied by visible spectroscopy and formation constants were calculated. The most pronounced spectral changes were observed for lithium ion.     

Spinning-disk self-referencing interferometry of antigen-antibody recognition

A gold ridge microstructure fabricated to a height of lambda/8 on a high-reflectivity substrate behaves as a wave-front-splitting self-referencing interferometer in phase quadrature when illuminated by a Gaussian laser beam and observed in the far field along the optic axis. When immuno-gammaglobulin (IgG) antibodies are selectively immobilized on the gold microstructure, they recognize and bind to a specific antigen, which shifts the relative optical phase of the interferometer and modifies the far-field diffracted intensity. We detect bound antigen interferometrically on spinning disks at a sampling rate of 100 kHz and verify the interferometric nature of the signal by using two quadratures of opposite sign to rule out effects of dynamic light scattering. Strong molecular recognition is demonstrated by the absence of binding to nontarget molecules but strong signal change in response to a specific antigen. This BioCD has the potential to be applied as a spinning-disk interferometric immunoassay and biosensor.     

Complexes of divalent inons in mixed solvent media. II. Outer-sphere interactions in pyridine + diluent solutions

The enthalpies and (in part) free energies and entropies of transfer from pyridine to pyridine + diluent mixtures have been determined for MnCl₂py₄, Mn(NCS)₂py₄, Co(NCS)₂py₄, Ni(NCS)₂py₄, and NiBr₂py₄ complexes at 25°C using chloroform or 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (TCE) as diluents. The H _tr ^o data indicate specific outer-sphere interactions of the complexes with the diluents. The influence of the kind of anionic ligands and central metal ion of the complexes on their interaction with the diluents are discussed.Deceased.     

Solute-solvent interaction involving MX2Ln type complexes in mixed solvent media. I. Outer-sphere interactions of the NiCl2py4 complex in pyridine + diluent solutions

The standard enthalpies and entropies of transfer from pyridine to pyridine+diluent mixtures of varying composition have been determined for the NiCl₂py₄ complex at 25°C using chloroform, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, aniline, benzene, and chlorobenzene as the diluents. Large negative enthalpies of transfer to solvent mixtures involving the protic diluents contrast with the small effects observed for the aprotic diluents. For the latter, the negative entropies of transfer agree with the assumption that pyridine molecules remain attached to the complex when the diluent is added to pyridine, indicating outer-sphere interaction of the amine with the complex. Solvent effects observed in the near infrared ligand-field spectrum of NiCl₂py₄ support the assumption of specific outer-sphere interactions with protic diluents. Additional information about these interactions is provided by the CTCT(t _2g^*) metal-to-ligand band in the UV.Deceased.     

Formation Constants of Complexes of Monovalent Cations with Benzocrown Ethers in Nitromethane

The complexation reactions between the macrocyclic polyethers dibenzo-18-crown-6, benzo-18-crown-6, benzo-15-crown-5 and polyethers bearing a stilbene unit with alkali metal and silver cations have been studied conductometrically in nitromethane. The formation constants of 1 : 1 and 1 : 2 (metal : ligand) complexes were determined and found to decrease with increasing cation diameter. The stability of the stilbene crown – metal cation complexes is lower than for complexes of other investigated crown ethers with analogous cations. There seem to be some effects of double bond-silver ion interactions.