Molecular and crystal structure of deoxyguanosine 5'-phosphate

RECENT crystallographic studies of the dinucleosides ApU (ref. 1) and GpC (ref. 2) have given experimental proof for the base pairing arrangement proposed by Watson and Crick for the DNA double helix3. Another striking feature of this structure relates to the torsional angle about the C5'-C4' bond in the phosphate−sugar backbone chain. In the Crick and Watson model4, this conformation is gauche−trans (GT). Crystal structures of 5'-nucleotides, dinucleosides and dinucleotides so far studied, however, have shown only the gauche−gauche (GG) conformation about this bond. The GG conformer is also the only one found in the refined models of the proposed structure of the double helical nucleic acids and polynucleotides5−7. The only nucleotide with a GT conformation is 6-azauridine-5'-phosphate8 which is not a normal monomer unit of nucleic acids. It is also reported that 5'-dGMP assumes preferentially GT conformation in solution9.

Photochemical Reactions in Oriented Systems

Modification of chemical reactions through the use of constrained and/or organized media has attracted a great deal of attention recently. Results from our laboratory in this direction which include a study of photochemical reactions in solid state and in cyclodextrins are presented here. A study of solid state photochemical behavior of coumarins has provided information regarding subtler aspects of topochemical postulates of photodimerization. Results pertaining to geometrical criteria for photodimerization and "chloro" as a crystal engineering group are discussed. As a part of an attempt to correlate chemical reactivity with molecular packing in the solid state, photooxidation of diarylthioketones in the solid state has been investigated. The observed differences in the reactivity of these crystals are rationalized in terms of crystal packing. Though cyclodextrins have been extensively studied, very few photochemical reactions involving molecules complexed to cyclodextrins have been examined. In this connection, the utility of cyclodextrins in bringing about selectivity in photochemical reactions through the study of excited state behavior of olefins and aryl alkyl ketones has been demonstrated in our laboratory.

Infrared studies on the conformation of synthetic alamethicin fragments and model peptides containing .alpha.-aminoisobutyric acid

ABSTRACT: Infrared studies of synthetic alamethicin fragments and model peptides containing a-aminoisobutyric acid (Aib) have been carried out in solution. Tripeptides and larger fragments exhibit a strong tendency to form /3 turns, stabilized by 4 - 1 10-atom hydrogen bonds. Dipeptides show less well-defined structures, though C5 and C7 conformations are detectable. Conformational restrictions imposed by Aib residues result in these peptides populating a limited range of states. Integrated intensities of the hydrogen-bonded N-H stretching band can be used to quantitate the number of intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Predictions made from infrared data are in excellent agreement with nuclear magnetic resonance and X-ray diffraction studies. Assignments of the urethane and tertiary amide carbonyl groups in the free state have been made in model peptides. Shifts to lower frequency on hydrogen bonding are observed for the carbonyl groups. The 1-6 segment of alamethicin is shown to adopt a 310 helical structure stabilized by four intramolecular hydrogen bonds. The fragments Boc-Leu-Aib-Pro-Val-Aib-OMe (1 2-1 6) and Boc-Gly-Leu-Aib-Pro-Val-Aib-OMe (1 1-1 6) possess structures involving 4 - 1 and 5 - 1 hydrogen bonds. Supporting evidence for these structures is obtained from proton nuclear magnetic resonance studies.

Shape-Dependent Confinement in Ultrasmall Zero-, One-, and Two-Dimensional PbS Nanostructures

Spatial dimensionality affects the degree of confinement when an electron-hole pair is squeezed from one or more dimensions approaching the bulk exciton Bohr radius (alpha(B)) limit. The etectron-hole interaction in zero-dimensional (0D) dots, one-dimensional (1D) rods/wires, and two-dimensional (2D) wells/sheets should be enhanced by the increase in confinement dimensions in the order 0D > 1D > 2D. We report the controlled synthesis of PbS nanomateriats with 0D, 1D, and 2D forms retaining at least one dimension in the strongly confined regime far below alpha(B) (similar to 10 nm for PbS) and provide evidence through varying the exciton-phonon coupling strength that the degree of confinement is systematically weakened by the loss of confinement dimension. Geometry variations show distinguishable far-field optical polarizations, which could find useful applications in polarization-sensitive devices.

The systematics of Endoraecium in Australia

Endoraecium (Raveneliaceae, Pucciniales) is a genus of rust that infects several species of Acacia (Fabaceae) in Australia, south-east Asia and Hawaii. Thirteen species of Endoraecium have been described, including seven species that are endemic to Australia, one species to south-east Asia and five to Hawaii. This study investigated the systematics of Endoraecium from 50 specimens in Australia and south-east Asia with a combined morphological and molecular approach. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted on combined datasets of the SSU, ITS and LSU regions of rDNA. The recovered phylogeny (i) supported a recent division of Endoraecium digitatum into five separate species based on morphology and host specificity and (ii) found lineages that did not correspond with known species.

Aussie retailers should get their Christmas wish this year

Consumer Sentiment fell by 4.8% in December, but despite the drop other indicators still point toward a robust Christmas period for retailers. Retail trade recorded its strongest result for three consecutive months to October, with Queensland and Western Australia leading the way. A closer inspection of ABS Retail figures indicate six consecutive months of positive results and this suggests consumer confidence has finally returned to the market. But it may not be a rosy outlook for all retail sectors. Overall we are spending more, but not where we once traditionally did.

Molecular and crystal structure of deoxyguanosine 5'-phosphate

RECENT crystallographic studies of the dinucleosides ApU (ref. 1) and GpC (ref. 2) have given experimental proof for the base pairing arrangement proposed by Watson and Crick for the DNA double helix3. Another striking feature of this structure relates to the torsional angle about the C5'-C4' bond in the phosphate−sugar backbone chain. In the Crick and Watson model4, this conformation is gauche−trans (GT). Crystal structures of 5'-nucleotides, dinucleosides and dinucleotides so far studied, however, have shown only the gauche−gauche (GG) conformation about this bond. The GG conformer is also the only one found in the refined models of the proposed structure of the double helical nucleic acids and polynucleotides5−7. The only nucleotide with a GT conformation is 6-azauridine-5'-phosphate8 which is not a normal monomer unit of nucleic acids. It is also reported that 5'-dGMP assumes preferentially GT conformation in solution9.

ALWIN-Algorithmic Wiswesser Notation System for Organic Compounds

ALWIN, a new chemical notation system for organic compounds, based on the Wiswesser Line Notation, is described. Procedures and rules are given for constructing ALWIN for acyclic structures and cyclic structures, vi.?., benzene and Its derivatives, monocyclic, bicyclic, polycyclic, perifused, splro, bridged ring, and ring of rlngs systems. A new method called "tessellation" is introduced for the topological descrlptlon of fused and spiro ring systems. Also new concepts are introduced for describing bridged ring and ring of rlngs systems.

Representation of Stereoisomers in ALWIN

Tlhe well-known Cahn-lngold-Prelog method of specifying the stereoisomers is introduced within the framework of ALWIN-Algorithmic Wiswesser Notation. Given the structural diagram, the structural ALWIN is first formed; the speclflcation symbols are then introduced at the appropriate places to describe the stereoisomers.

Huffman Binary Coding of WLN Symbols for File-Compression

Construction of Huffman binary codes for WLN symbols is described for the compression of a WLN file. Here, a parenthesized representation of the tree structure is used for computer encoding.

Gas-Solid Reactions: Photochemical Oxidation of Thioketones in the Crystalline State

Photochemical oxidation of 11 diaryl thioketones (1-11) was conducted in the solid state. Quite interestingly, of these only six were oxidized to the corresponding carbonyl compound whereas the rest were photostable. However, in solution all were readily oxidized. The difference in behavior between the thioketones in the solid state has been rationalized on the basis of molecular arrangement in the crystal. X-ray crystal structure analyses of four thioketones were carried out in this connection.

The 310 Helical Conformation of the Amino Terminal Decapeptide of Suzukacillin. 270 MHz 'H NMR Evidence for Eight Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonds

The amino terminal suzukacillin decapeptide fragment, Boc-Aib-Pro-Val-Aib-Val-Ala-Aib-Ala-Aib-Aitbh-eO Me, two pentapeptides Boc-AibPrc-Val-AibVal-OMe and Boc-Ala-AibAla-AibAibOMe, and the tripeptide Boc-Ala-AibAibOMe have been studied by 270-MHz 'H NMR spectroscopy. By use of solvent dependence of chemical shifts in a CDC13-(CD3),S0 system and temperature dependence of amide NH chemical shifts in (CD3),S0, the intramolecularly hydrogen bonded NH groups in these peptides have been identified. The tripeptide possesses one hydrogen bond, both pentapeptides show evidence for three intramolecular hydrogen bonds, and the decapeptide has eight NH groups participating in hydrogen bonding. An Ala( 1)-Aib(2) @ turn is proposed for the tripeptide. Both pentapeptides favor 310 helical conformations composed of three consecutive B turns. The decapeptide adopts a 310 helical conformation with some flexibility at the Va1(5)-Ala(6) segment. The proposed conformations are consistent with the known stereochemical preferences of Aib residues.

f Gravity and gravitational singularities

TRAUTMAN has postulated1 that the usual space−time singularity occurring in classical cosmological models and in the gravitational collapse of massive objects could be averted if intrinsic spin effects are incorporated into general relativity by adding torsion terms to the usual Einstein field equations, that is through the Einstein−Cartan theory. Invoking a primordial magnetic field for aligning all the individual nuclear spins he shows that his universe consisting of 1080 aligned neutrons collapses to a minimum radius of the order of 1 cm with a corresponding matter density of 1055 g cm-3.

Layer-by-layer self-assembly of modified hyaluronic acid/chitosan based on hydrogen bonding

The fabrication of hydrogen bonded polymer self-assembly for drug delivery has been accomplished via layer-by-layer sequential assembly from aqueous solution. In this study, the self-assembly was constructed based on hydrogen bonding between DNA base (adenine and thymine) pairs substituted on the backbone of chitosan and hyaluronic acid. Chitosan was modified with adenine, whereas hyaluronic acid was modified with thymine. Subsequently, these two polymers were sequentially absorbed on flat substrate by taking advantage of interactions of DNA base pairs via hydrogen bonding. Interlayer hydrogen bonding of these two polymers produces stable multilayer film without using any cross-linking agent. Thin film formation on quartz substrate has been monitored with UV-vis spectra and an AFM study. Formation of multilayer hydrogen-bonded thin film has been further confirmed with SEM. Encapsulation and release behavior of the therapeutic drug from the multilayer thin film at different conditions has been illustrated using UV-vis spectra. Cell viability of modified polymers using MTT assay confirmed no cytotoxic effect.