Comparisom of electron impact and field desorption mass spectra I : Substituted sultams

The low and the high resolution electron impact (EI) and field desorption (FD) mass spectra (MS) of substituted 5- or 6-membered ring sultams are given and the main fragmentation pathways are interpreted. Sultams carrying polar substituents, such as dicarboxylic acids and their mono- and di-amides show either small or no molecular ions with EI-MS. Their existence, however, can be indirectly inferred by metastable defocusing. In contrast to these findings FD-MS display in all our examples the quasimolecular ions (M + 1)⁺ as the base peaks of the spectra. While the pattern for the EI fragmentations follows the generally known rules very closely, five general aspects for the fragmentation pathway of FD mass spectra have been established which demonstrate the characteristics of this modern analytical method. The use of high temperature activated emitters enables a choice to be made between obtaining only molecular peaks and producing significant fragments via a controlled thermal degradation. This is the first time that the complementary and different characters of the information obtained with the two ionization modes EI and FD have been demonstrated on a homologous series of compounds.     

Wasserstoffumlagerungen bei der elektronenstoßinduzierten Fragmentierung von Aminoäthern

Due to neighbouring group effects the behaviour under electron impact of amino ethers of the type RO(CH₂)_nNR₁R₂ is distinctly different from that of both simple ethers and amines. In addition to α-cleavages two further primary fragmentations can often be observed, one leading to [M–aldehyde]^+. or [M–ketone]^+. ions, the other (with n≥3) giving [M–R]⁺ ions. Both processes involve hydrogen rearrangements which were investigated by means of deuterium labelling. Their importance is strongly dependent upon the nature of the substituents R, R₁, R₂ and upon the length (n) of the carbon chain between the heteroatoms. This dependence can easily be explained by the fragmentation mechanisms put forward.     

Turbulence transition and the edge of chaos in pipe flow

The linear stability of pipe flow implies that only perturbations of sufficient strength will trigger the transition to turbulence. In order to determine this threshold in perturbation amplitude we study the edge of chaos which separates perturbations that decay towards the laminar profile and perturbations that trigger turbulence. Using the lifetime as an indicator and methods developed in Skufca et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 174101 (2006), we show that superimposed on an overall 1/Re scaling predicted and studied previously there are small, nonmonotonic variations reflecting folds in the edge of chaos. By tracing the motion in the edge we find that it is formed by the stable manifold of a unique flow field that is dominated by a pair of downstream vortices, asymmetrically placed towards the wall. The flow field that generates the edge of chaos shows intrinsic chaotic dynamics.     

Mixtures of nonionic and anionic surfactants: interactions with low-molecular-mass homopeptides

The interaction between low molecular-mass homopeptides and mixtures of nonionic and anionic surfactants has been assessed by using reversed-phase thin-layer chromatography. The relative strength of interaction for mixtures of sodium dodecylsulfate and tridecylalcohol diglycolate (GNX) at the molar ratios of 8:2, 6:4, 4:6 and 2:8 has been calculated and its relationship with the physicochemical parameters (number of amino acid units, hydrophobicity, side chain bulkiness, electronic characteristics) of peptides has been computed by stepwise regression analysis. Each peptide interacted with each surfactant mixture the strength of interaction markedly depending on both the character of the peptide and the composition of the surfactant mixture. The hydrophobicity and electronic properties of the amino acid units exerted the highest influence on the strength of interaction at the highest concentration of the nonionic surfactant (GNX) whereas the number of amino acid units in the peptide molecule and the bulkiness of the amino acid side chain governed the strength of interaction at the lowest concentration of GNX.     

pH‐Dependent Coordination of AgI Ions by Histidine: Experiment,Theory, and a Model for SilE

Artificial implants and biomaterials lack the natural defense system of our body and, thus, have to be protected from bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation. In addition to the increasing number of implanted objects, the resistance of bacteria is also an important problem. Silver ions are well‐known for their antimicrobial properties, yet not a lot is known about their mode of action. Silver is expected to interact on many levels, thus the development of silver resistance is very difficult. Nevertheless, some bacteria are able to resist silver, even at higher concentrations. One such defense mechanism of bacteria against heavy‐metal intoxication includes an efflux system. SilE, a periplasmic silver‐binding protein that is involved in this defense mechanism, has been shown to possess numerous histidine functions, which strongly bind to silver atoms, as demonstrated by ourselves previously. Herein, we address the question of how histidine binds to silver ions as a function of pH value. This property is important because the local proton concentration in cells varies. Thus, we solved the crystal structures of histidine–silver complexes at different pH values and also investigated the influence of the amino‐acid configuration. These results were completed by DFT calculations on the binding strength and packing effects and led to the development of a model for the mode of action of SilE.