Chemo-enzymatic synthesis of 4-methylumbelliferyl beta-(1-->4)-D-xylooligosides: new substrates for beta-D-xylanase assays

Transglycosylation catalyzed by a beta-D-xylosidase from Aspergillus sp. was used to synthesize a set of 4-methylumbelliferyl (MU) beta-1-->4-D-xylooligosides having the common structure [beta-D-Xyl-(1-->4)]2-5-beta-D-Xyl-MU. MU xylobioside synthesized chemically by the condensation of protected MU beta-D-xylopyranoside with ethyl 2,3,4-tri-O-acetyl-1-thio-beta-D-xylopyranoside was used as a substrate for transglycosylation with the beta-D-xylosidase from Aspergillus sp. to produce higher MU xylooligosides. The structures of oligosaccharides obtained were established by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and electrospray tandem mass spectrometry. MU beta-D-xylooligosides synthesized were tested as fluorogenic substrates for the GH-10 family beta-D-xylanase from Aspergillus orizae and the GH-11 family beta-D-xylanase I from Trichoderma reesei. Both xylanases released the aglycone from MU xylobioside and the corresponding trioside. With substrates having d.p. 4 and 5, the enzymes manifested endolytic activities, splitting off MU, MUX, and MUX2 primarily.     

Assessing alkyl-, silyl-, and halo-substituent effects on the electron affinities of silyl radicals

Neutral anion energy differences for a large class of alpha-substituted silyl radicals have been computed to determine the effect of alkyl, silyl, and halo substituents on their electron affinities. In particular, we report theoretical predictions of the adiabatic electron affinities (AEAs), vertical electron affinities (VEAs), and vertical detachment energies (VDEs) for a series of methyl-, silyl-, and halo-substituted silyl radical compounds. This work utilizes the carefully calibrated DZP++ basis set, in conjunction with the pure BLYP and OLYP functionals, as well as with the hybrid B3LYP, BHLYP, PBE1PBE, MPW1K, and O3LYP functionals. Bromine has the largest effect in stabilizing the anions, and the BLYP/DZP++ AEA for SiBr(3) is 3.29 eV. The other predicted electron affinities are for SiH(3) (1.37 eV), SiH(2)CH(3) (1.09 eV), SiH(2)F (1.54 eV), SiH(2)Cl (1.94 eV), SiH(2)Br (2.05 eV), SiH(2)(SiH(3)) (1.77 eV), SiH(CH(3))(2) (0.92 eV), SiHF(2) (1.86 eV), SiHCl(2) (2.53 eV), SiHBr(2) (2.67 eV), Si(CH(3))(3) (0.86 eV), SiF(3) (2.66 eV), SiCl(3) (3.21 eV), Si(SiH(3))(3) (2.25 eV), and SiFClBr (3.13 eV). For the five silyl radicals where experimental data are available, the BLYP functional gives the most accurate determination of AEAs; the average absolute error is 0.04(1) eV, whereas the corresponding errors for the O3LYP, MPW1K, PBE1PBE, B3LYP, OLYP, and BHLYP functionals are 0.05(8), 0.06(0), 0.06(3), 0.08(5), 0.11(5), and 0.15(3) eV, respectively.     

Structures and properties of self-assembled monolayers of bistable [2]rotaxanes on Au (111) surfaces from molecular dynamics simulations validated with experiment

Bistable [2]rotaxanes display controllable switching properties in solution, on surfaces, and in devices. These phenomena are based on the electrochemically and electrically driven mechanical shuttling motion of the ring-shaped component, cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) (CBPQT(4+)) (denoted as the ring), between a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) unit and a 1,5-dioxynaphthalene (DNP) ring system located along a dumbbell component. When the ring is encircling the TTF unit, this co-conformation of the rotaxane is the most stable and thus designated the ground-state co-conformer (GSCC), whereas the other co-conformation with the ring surrounding the DNP ring system is less favored and so designated the metastable-state co-conformer (MSCC). We report here the structure and properties of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of a bistable [2]rotaxane on Au (111) surfaces as a function of surface coverage based on atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) studies with a force field optimized from DFT calculations and we report several experiments that validate the predictions. On the basis of both the total energy per rotaxane and the calculated stress that is parallel to the surface, we find that the optimal packing density of the SAM corresponds to a surface coverage of 115 A(2)/molecule (one molecule per 4 x 4 grid of surface Au atoms) for both the GSCC and MSCC, and that the former is more stable than the latter by 14 kcal/mol at the optimum packing density. We find that the SAM retains hexagonal packing, except for the case at twice the optimum packing density (65 A(2)/molecule, the 3 x 3 grid). For the GSCC and MSCC, investigated at the optimum coverage, the tilt of the ring with respect to the normal is theta = 39 degrees and 61 degrees, respectively, while the tilt angle of the entire rotaxane is psi = 41 degrees and 46 degrees , respectively. Although the tilt angle of the ring decreases with decreasing surface coverage, the tilt angle of the rotaxane has a maximum at 144 A(2)/molecule (the 4 x 5 grid/molecule) of 50 degrees and 51 degrees for the GSCC and MSCC, respectively. The hexafluorophosphate counterions (PF(6)(-)) stay localized around the ring during the 2 ns MD simulation. On the basis of the calculated density profile, we find that the thickness of the SAM is 40.5 A at the optimum coverage for the GSCC and 40.0 A for MSCC, and that the thicknesses become less with decreasing surface coverage. The calculated surface tension at the optimal packing density is 45 and 65 dyn/cm for the GSCC and MSCC, respectively. This difference suggests that the water contact angle for the GSCC is larger than for the MSCC, a prediction that is verified by experiments on Langmuir-Blodgett monolayers of amphiphilic [2]rotaxanes.     

Long, narrow all-light atom guide

A 1-mm-diameter all-light atom guide capable of transporting ultracold atoms tens of centimeters with high efficiency is described. We made the atom tunnel, a dark hollow beam that is blue detuned from resonance, by passing a few tens of milliwatts of energy from a TEM(00) diode laser beam through an optical sequence composed of three axicons and a simple lens. We demonstrate transport of 10(8)Cs atoms approximately 20 cm with minimal heating. We show that it is possible for one to control the direction and speed of the atoms in the tunnel by varying the detuning of the tunnel beam.     

Dispersion management in a harmonically mode-locked fiber soliton laser

Harmonically mode-locked Er-fiber soliton lasers have become a reliable source of high-repetition-rate picosecond pulses in high-speed communications and photonic analog-to-digital conversion systems because of their low-noise, dropout-free operation. We have fabricated such a laser with a strongly dispersion-managed cavity and modeled its operation, and we have found that dispersion management significantly extends the power range over which uninterrupted single-pulse production is attained and dramatically decreases the effects of amplified spontaneous emission on the phase noise of the laser.     

A comprehensive approach for accurate measurement of proton-proton coupling constants in the sugar ring of DNA

Stereo-selectivedeuteration has been explored as an approach for improving the accuracy of NMR-derived, three-bond vicinal proton-proton coupling constants in the 12-base-pair DNA Dickerson sequence [d(CGCGAATTCGCG)(2)]. The coupling constants are useful for DNA structure determination in restrained molecular dynamics calculations. Specifically, the A5 and A6 residues were prepared with the H2" proton stereo-selectively replaced with a deuteron. Deuteration of the H2" leads to a 42-fold reduction in the transverse cross-relaxation rate of the H2' spin, effectively negating the contribution of transverse cross relaxation to the cross peak frequencies and phases. Calculated linewidth and polarization transfer functions indicated that the reduced dipolar interaction is also expected to result in a significant increase in intensity for all cross peaks involving the H1', H2', or H3' spin. The spectral complexity is also reduced by selective deuteration. Time-shared homonuclear decoupling of passive spins during acquisition was implemented, reducing the spin system, in some cases, to an effectively isolated two-spin system. This enables the use of a 90 degrees mixing pulse instead of the 35 degrees pulse commonly used in standard P.E.COSY experiments, leading to an additional 75% increase in signal intensity. Selective excitation pulses were used to reduce the number of increments required in the indirect dimension by as much as a factor of 4. The cumulative improvement in sensitivity is striking, approaching three orders of magnitude per unit time. Separate experiments, referred to as Stripe-COSY and Superstripe-COSY, were optimized for each coupling constant measured. Finally, J-doubling was used to obtain the most accurate peak separations. This comprehensive approach shows promise as an effective method for extracting highly accurate homonuclear vicinal coupling constants in DNA.     

CC or co bond cleavage in a phenolic lignin model compound: selectivity depends on vanadium catalyst

The aerobic oxidation of a phenolic lignin model compound with a vanadium catalyst results in the oxidative cleavage of the C?C bond between the aryl ring and the adjacent hydroxy-substituted carbon atom. Labeling experiments indicate key mechanistic differences to a previously reported related C?O bond cleavage reaction. The selectivity in C?C versus C?O bond cleavage depends on the choice of the vanadium catalyst.     

Acene-doped polymer films: singlet oxygen dosimetry and protein sensing

This paper describes thin films comprising acenes dispersed in a conjugated polymeric host that have a ratiometric photoluminescence response to singlet oxygen. These films also respond to irradiation of protein-bound sensitizers, which represents a solution to the problem of protein-conjugated polymer non-specific interactions.     

Aerobic oxidation reactions catalyzed by vanadium complexes of bis(phenolate) ligands

Vanadium(V) complexes of the tridentate bis(phenolate)pyridine ligand H(2)BPP (H(2)BPP = 2,6-(HOC(6)H(2)-2,4-(t)Bu(2))(2)NC(5)H(3)) and the bis(phenolate)amine ligand H(2)BPA (H(2)BPA = N,N-bis(2-hydroxy-4,5-dimethylbenzyl)propylamine) have been synthesized and characterized. The ability of the complexes to mediate the oxidative C-C bond cleavage of pinacol was tested. Reaction of the complex (BPP)V(V)(O)(O(i)Pr) (4) with pinacol afforded the monomeric vanadium(IV) product (BPP)V(IV)(O)(HO(i)Pr) (6) and acetone. Vanadium(IV) complex 6 was oxidized rapidly by air at room temperature in the presence of NEt(3), yielding the vanadium(V) cis-dioxo complex [(BPP)V(V)(O)(2)]HNEt(3). Complex (BPA)V(V)(O)(O(i)Pr) (5) reacted with pinacol at room temperature, to afford acetone and the vanadium(IV) dimer [(BPA)V(IV)(O)(HO(i)Pr)](2). Complexes 4 and 5 were evaluated as catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol and arylglycerol β-aryl ether lignin model compounds. Although both 4 and 5 catalyzed the aerobic oxidation of 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol, complex 4 was found to be a more active and robust catalyst for oxidation of the lignin model compounds. The catalytic activities and selectivities of the bis(phenolate) complexes are compared to previously reported catalysts.     

Grating sensor array demodulation by use of a passively mode-locked fiber laser

A fiber Bragg grating sensor array is interrogated by use of a passively mode-locked fiber laser source. A novel demodulation scheme that uses highly dispersive fiber to convert the grating wavelength shift to a temporal shift in the arrival time of the reflected pulses is demonstrated. The source bandwidth of >85 nm permits interrogation of many-grating arrays, and the demodulation technique permits fast sensing of large strains.