High magnification microscopic system focusing on transparent liquid/liquid interface formed in thin-layer two-phase microcell.

A thin-layer two-phase microcell was fabricated without an adhesive, which showed no fluorescence and resisted acids. The lower hollow of the microcell was thin (0.18 mm), which was in the range of the working distance of the used objective of high magnification (60x) and high numerical aperture (1.2). A reflection method using probe light was newly employed for focusing the objective on a transparent dodecane/water interface strictly with an inverted microscope. The system was applied to in situ fluorescence microscopic measurements of the dynamics of single DNA molecules (165600 base pairs) at the dodecane/water interface.     

Reactions of hydropolysilanes with alcohols catalysed by tris(triphenylphosphine)chlororhodium

[RhCl(PPh₃)₃] is a very effective catalyst for the cleavage of Si-Si bonds by alcohols.     

Spacer effect of appended moieties for molecular recognition in doubly-sodium anthranilate modified γ-cyclodextrin

-Cyclodextrin with two sodium anthranilate moieties (1) has been prepared as a sensor for detecting organic compounds including terpenoids and steroids. Compound1 shows a pure monomer fluorescence whose intensity is increased or decreased upon addition of the guest species examined. In this system, the sodium anthranilate moieties act either as a spacer, which enables the cyclodextrin to form a 1:1 host-guest complex by narrowing the -cyclodextrin cavity, or as a hydrophobic cap.1 recognizes steroids with much higher sensitivity than terpenoids, in which the appended moieties act as a hydrophobic cap for terpenoids and a spacer for steroids, respectively.     

Structures of Ganoderic Acid A and B,Two New Lanostane Type Bitter Triterpenes from Ganoderma lucidum (FR.) KARST.

The structures of two new bitter triterpenes, ganoderic acid A and B. isolated from a mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (FR.) Karst. (Polyporaceae) were determined as 1 and 2 on the basis of spectral data. Ganoderic acid A is a novel highly oxidized triterpene bearing a boat-shaped A-ring of lanostane.     

Medicinal flowers. VI. Absolute stereostructures of two new flavanone glycosides and a phenylbutanoid glycoside from the flowers of Chrysanthemum indicum L.: their inhibitory activities for rat lens aldose reductase

Two new flavanone glycosides, (2S)- and (2R)-eriodictyol 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosiduronic acids, and a new phenylbutanoid glycoside, (2S, 3S)-1-phenyl-2,3-butanediol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, were isolated from the flowers of Chrysanthemum indicum L. cultivated in China together with eight flavonoids. The absolute stereostructures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. Both of the new flavanone glycosides were found to show inhibitory activity for rat lens aldose reductase.     

3-H-YDROXYRETINAL AS A CHROMOPHORE OF Drosophila melanogaster VISUAL PIGMENT ANALYZED BY HIGH-PRESSURE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Abstract— The chromophore of the visual pigment of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster was studied by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). Oxime derivatives of the chromophore were successfully analyzed with a more polar solvent than has been used for retinaloximes. A preceding monochromatic irradiation resulted in reversible interchanges in the amount among geometric isomers of the oximes that reflected the photointerconversion of rhodopsin and metarhodopsin of the peripheral photoreceptors (Rl-R6). Authentic all- trans -3-h-ydroxyretinal was used to identify the chromophore from metarhodopsin. Results demonstrated that the chromophore of the visual pigment in Drosophila is 3-h-ydroxyretinal as was proposed in larger flies.     

Autocorrelated 13c-13c double quantum coherence two-dimensional nmr spectroscopy: Utilization of a modified version of the technique as an adjunct in the total assignment of the 1h- and 13c-nmr spectra of the mutagen phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene

Development of successively higher field nmr spectrometers has facilitated the study of increasingly more complex molecules, although smaller molecules such as phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene still offer very substantial assignment problems because of the highly congested nature of their ¹H- and ¹³C-nmr spectra. Assignments of such spectra, if they are to be unequivocal, frequently require the utilization of two-dimensional nmr spectroscopic techniques. Total assignments of the ¹H- and ¹³C-nmr spectra of phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene are reported. Assignments were based on a conventional high resolution 500 MHz ¹H-nmr spectrum, autocorrelated two-dimensional ¹H-nmr spectra (COSY), two-dimensional ¹H-¹³C chemical shift correlation spectra and a modified version of autocorrelated ¹³C-¹³C double quantum coherence two-dimensional nmr spectroscopy. From NOE measurements, a separation of 1.99 Å between H1 and H11 was computed, suggesting that phenanthro[3,4-b]thiophene has a pronounced helical conformation in solution.     

Dansyl-Modified γ-Cyclodextrin as a fluorescent sensor for molecular recognition

The crystal structure of thiamine iodide sesquihydrate has been determined by X-ray diffraction methods as a host-guest model for coenzyme-substrate interactions. The asymmetric unit contains two chemical units. Both the thiamine molecules A and B, which are crystallographically independent, assume the usualF conformation and have a disordered hydroxyethyl side chain. An iodide anion (or a water molecule) bridges the pyrimidine and thiazolium rings of molecule A (or B) by forming a hydrogen bond with the amino group and an electrostatic contact with the thiazolium ring to stabilize the molecular conformation. In the crystal the thiamine molecules self-associate to form a pipe-like polymeric structure, in which four thiamine hosts surround an iodide guest and hold it through C(2)-H...I hydrogen bonds and thiazolium...I electrostatic interactions. Crystal data: C₁₂H₁₇N₄OS⁺·I^– · 1.5 H₂O, monoclinic,P2₁/c, a=12.585(2), b=25.303(5), c=12.030(2) Å, =115.15(1)°,V=3468(1) ų,Z=8,D _c=1.606 g cm^–3,R=0.045 for 3328 observed reflections. Supplementary Data relating to this article are deposited with the British Library as Supplementary Publication No. SUP. 82156 (13 pages).     

POLARIZED TIME-RESOLVED FLUORESCENCE SPECTRA OF PHYCOBILISOMES ISOLATED FROM Tolypothrix tenuis EMBEDDED IN POLY(VINYL ALCOHOL) FILM

–Time-resolved fluorescence spectra in the ps time range were measured on phycobilisome (PBS) embedded in poly(vinyl alcohol) films. The cyanobacterium Tolypothrix tenuis was used as a source of PBS because the pigment composition and the structure of the PBS are well defined. Isotropic PBS in the unstretched film and PBS uniaxially oriented in the stretched film were investigated. Diameters of PBS hemidiscs were oriented parallel to the film-stretching direction. The time-resolved fluorescence spectra of the unstretched sample and of the two polarized components in the stretched samples showed several differences in the rise and decay. The delay time, estimated from the time span between the maximum laser pulse and maximal intensity of the phycocyanin and allophycocyanin fluorescence, was much longer than that reported in the aqueous media. This suggests occurrence of a higher thermal deactivation of PBS in polymer film than in aqueous media. The excitation energy transfer from excited phycocrythrin to allophycocyanin was more efficient in the unstretched than in the stretched samples, and it was greater in the parallel polarized component of the stretched sample than in the perpendicular component. The present results are in agreement with a previous suggestion which states that there are two independent pathways of excitation energy transfer in PBS and that there is more than one final emitter of fluorescence. The molecules taking part in various pathways of energy transfer differ in their orientation within PBS.