Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pathophysiology of the rat kidney in streptozotocin-induced diabetes.

Proton magnetic resonance imaging was performed on rats before induction of diabetes with streptozotocin (STZ) and at 2 and 12 days postinduction. Images revealed an increase in maximal longitudinal and axial dimensions of the kidneys at 2 days and a further increase at 12 days. Similarly, an increase in the size of the remaining kidney was seen in a rat which underwent uninephrectomy as a positive control. Two major differences were observed between the kidney undergoing compensatory hypertrophy and those developing diabetic nephropathy: (i) Expansion of the renal vasculature was seen only in images of the diabetic rat; (ii) A loss in conspicuity of the normal corticomedullary junction was seen in the T2-weighted images of the diabetic rat but not in the uninephrectomized rat. Histologic examination revealed that the medulla increased to a size greater than the cortex during diabetic nephropathy whereas the medullary volume was less than that of the cortex during compensatory hypertrophy. In vitro T1 relaxation times in cortex, outer medulla and inner medulla of kidneys from control rats were measured and compared with the same respective regions in diabetic rats. When these values were correlated with tissue water content, a linear increase in relaxation rate versus percent water content from cortex to inner medulla was found in the control kidneys, but this correlation was absent in diabetic nephropathy. These studies demonstrate that MRI is an effective noninvasive tool for studying the course of renal hypertrophy and hydration changes in the development of renal disease in STZ-induced diabetes in the rat.     

Synthesis of an isomer of the germacranolide isoaristolactone

Photocycloadditlon of (+)-isoplperltenone and cyclobutene-1-carboxylic acid gives an adduct which upon reduction with NaCNBH₃ followed by thermolysis yields an isomer of isoaristolactone in an overall yield of 26%.     

Ab initio characterization of several states of nitroxylium (NO). Comparison of fragmentation energies of nitroxylium,nitroxyl (NO3), and nitrate

Ab initio calculations have been performed at the self-consistent field (HF) level, and its perturbative extensions up to fourth-order (MPn), for several electronic states of nitroxylium (NO) as well as for a large number of reference species. Geometries are optimized at the HF/DZ and HF/DZP levels (double zeta and double zeta plus polarization bases). The ground state is found to be the D_3h ¹A₁′ state, with the C_2v ¹A₁ (closed Y) state higher by 0.94 eV. The relationship between adding electrons or oxygen atoms to NO⁺ and NO is explored, especially in relation to fragmentation energies of NO (q = 0 or 1). A comparison is drawn between NO and two isoelectronic species, CO₃ and C(CH₂)₃, where no surprises are found.     

On-Surface Synthesis of Cumulene-Containing Polymers via Two-Step Dehalogenative Homocoupling of Dibromomethylene-Functionalized Tribenzoazulene

Cumulene compounds are notoriously difficult to prepare and study because their reactivity increases dramatically with the increasing number of consecutive double bonds. In this respect, the emerging field of on-surface synthesis provides exceptional opportunities because it relies on reactions on clean metal substrates under well-controlled ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. Here we report the on-surface synthesis of a polymer linked by cumulene-like bonds on a Au(111) surface via sequential thermally activated dehalogenative C−C coupling of a tribenzoazulene precursor equipped with two dibromomethylene groups. The structure and electronic properties of the resulting polymer with cumulene-like pentagon–pentagon and heptagon–heptagon connections have been investigated by means of scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy methods and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, complemented by density functional theory calculations. Our results provide perspectives for the on-surface synthesis of cumulene-containing compounds, as well as protocols relevant to the stepwise fabrication of carbon–carbon bonds on surfaces.     

On‐Surface Synthesis of Cumulene‐Containing Polymers via Two‐Step Dehalogenative Homocoupling of Dibromomethylene‐Functionalized Tribenzoazulene

Cumulene compounds are notoriously difficult to prepare and study because their reactivity increases dramatically with the increasing number of consecutive double bonds. In this respect, the emerging field of on‐surface synthesis provides exceptional opportunities because it relies on reactions on clean metal substrates under well‐controlled ultrahigh‐vacuum conditions. Here we report the on‐surface synthesis of a polymer linked by cumulene‐like bonds on a Au(111) surface via sequential thermally activated dehalogenative C?C coupling of a tribenzoazulene precursor equipped with two dibromomethylene groups. The structure and electronic properties of the resulting polymer with cumulene‐like pentagon–pentagon and heptagon–heptagon connections have been investigated by means of scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopy methods and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, complemented by density functional theory calculations. Our results provide perspectives for the on‐surface synthesis of cumulene‐containing compounds, as well as protocols relevant to the stepwise fabrication of carbon–carbon bonds on surfaces.     

Asymmetric bioreduction of alkenes using ene-reductases YersER and KYE1 and effects of organic solvents

Asymmetric trans-bioreduction of activated alkenes by KYE1 from Kluyveromyces lactis and Yers-ER from Yersinia bercovieri, two ene-reductases from the Old Yellow Enzyme family, showed a broad substrate spectrum with a moderate to excellent degree of stereoselectivity. Both substrate- and enzyme-based stereocontrols were observed to furnish opposite stereoisomeric products. The effects of organic solvents on enzyme activity and stereoselectivity were outlined in this study, where two-phase systems hexane and toluene are shown to sustain bioreduction efficiency even at high organic solvent content.