Peptide mediated formation of hierarchically organized solution and solid state polymer nanostructures

Biologically-inspired peptide sequences have been explored as auxiliaries to mediate self-assembly of synthetic macromolecules into hierarchically organized solution and solid state nanostructures. Peptide sequences inspired by the coiled coil motif and "switch" peptides, which can adopt both amphiphilic alpha-helical and beta-strand conformations, were conjugated to poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG). The solution and solid state self-assembly of these materials was investigated using a variety of spectroscopic, scattering and microscopic techniques. These experiments revealed that the folding and organization properties of the peptide sequences are retained upon conjugation of PEG and that they provide the driving force for the formation of the different nanoscale structures which were observed. The possibility of using defined peptide sequences to direct structure formation of synthetic polymers together with the potential of peptide sequences to induce a specific biological response offers interesting prospects for the development of novel self-assembled and biologically active materials.

Self-assembly of beta-turn forming synthetic tripeptides into supramolecular beta-sheets and amyloid-like fibrils in the solid state

We have described here the self-assembling properties of the synthetic tripeptides Boc-Ala(1)-Aib(2) -Val (3)-OMe 1, BocAla(l)-Aib(2)-Ile(3)-OMe 2 and Boc-Ala(l)-Gly(2)-Val(3)-OMe 3 (Aib=alpha-arnino isobutyric acid, beta-Ala=beta-alanine) which have distorted beta-turn conformations in their respective crystals. These turn-forming tripeptides self-assemble to form supramolecular beta-sheet structures through intermolecular hydrogen bonding and other noncovalent interactions. The scanning electron micrographs of these peptides revealed that these compounds form amyloid-like fibrils, the causative factor for many neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease and Prion-related encephalopathies. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis, structure and properties of cobalt(II/III) seleno-bisphenolate complexes containing NN bidentate co-ligands: kinetic studies on the reduction of a cobalt(III) complex by ascorbic acid in 80% MeCN-20% water

Two cobalt complexes, [Co(L-Se)(phen)]center dot CH2Cl2 (1) and [Co(L-Se)(N,N-Me(2)en)(CH3COO-)] (2) have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, magnetic measurements, i.r. studies etc. Single crystal X- ray studies reveal that in complex (1) cobalt atom is in +2 oxidation state with trigonal bipyramidal geometry, while in complex (2) it is in +3 oxidation state and surrounded octahedrally. The asymmetric unit of complex (2) contains two crystallographically independent discrete molecules. Complex (1) was found to be paramagnetic with mu(eff) = 2.19 BM indicating a low spin cobalt(II) d(7) system, whereas complex (2) is found to be diamagnetic with cobalt(III) in low spin d(6) state. The kinetic studies on the reduction of (2) by ascorbic acid in 80% MeCN-20% H2O (v/v) at 25 degrees C reveal that the reaction proceeds through the rapid formation of inner-sphere adduct, probably by replacing the loosely coordinated AcO- group, followed by electron transfer in a slow step and is supported by a large Q (formation constant) value.

Tuning of redox potential and visible absorption band of ruthenium(II) complexes of (benzimidazolyl) derivatives: synthesis, characterization, spectroscopic and redox properties, X-ray structures and DFT calculations

Six ruthenium(II) complexes have been prepared using the tridentate ligands 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl) pyridine and bis(2-benzimidazolyl methyl) amine and having 2,2'-bipyridine, 2,2':6',2 ''-terpyridine, PPh3, MeCN and chloride as coligands. The crystal structures of three of the complexes trans-[Ru(bbpH(2))(PPh3)(2)(CH3CN)I(ClO4)(2) center dot 2H(2)O (2), [Ru(bbpH(2))(bpy)Cl]ClO4 (3) and [Ru(bbpH(2))(terpy)](ClO4)(2) (4) are also reported. The complexes show visible region absorption at 402-517 nm, indicating that it is possible to tune the visible region absorption by varying the ancillary ligand. Luminescence behavior of the complexes has been studied both at RT and at liquid nitrogen temperature (LNT). Luminescence of the complexes is found to be insensitive to the presence of dioxygen. Two of the complexes [Ru(bbpH(2))(bpy)Cl]ClO4 (3) and [Ru(bbpH(2))(terpy]ClO4)(2) (4) show RT emission in the NIR region, having lifetime, quantum yield and radiative constant values suitable for their application as NIR emitter in the solid state devices. The DFT calculations on these two complexes indicate that the metal t(2g) electrons are appreciably delocalized over the ligand backbone. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis, spectroscopic and redox properties of some ruthenium(II) thiosemicarbazone complexes: structural description of four of these complexes

Sixteen neutral mixed ligand thiosemicarbazone complexes of ruthenium having general formula [Ru(PPh3)(2)L-2], where LH = 1-(arylidine)4-aryl thiosemicarbazones, have been synthesized and characterized. All complexes are diamagnetic and hence ruthenium is in the +2 oxidation state (low-spin d(6), S = 0). The complexes show several intense peaks in the visible region due to allowed metal to ligand charge transfer transitions. The structures of four of the complexes have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and they show that thiosemicarbazone ligands coordinate to the ruthenium center through the hydrazinic nitrogen and sulfur forming four-membered chelate rings with ruthenium in N2S2P2 coordination environment. In dichloromethane solution, the complexes show two quasi-reversible oxidative responses corresponding to loss of electron from HOMO and HOMO - 1. The E-0 values of the above two oxidations shows good linear relationship with Hammett substituents constant (sigma) as well as with the HOMO energy of the molecules calculated by the EHMO method. A DFT calculation on one representative complex suggests that there is appreciable contribution of the sulfur p-orbitals to the HOMO and HOMO - 1. Thus, assignment of the oxidation state of the metal in such complexes must be made with caution. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Structure determination, magnetic and optical properties of a new chromium(II) thioantimonate, [Cr((NH2CH2CH2)(3)N)]Sb4S7

The chromium(II) antimony(III) sulphicle, [Cr((NH2CH2CH2)(3)N)]Sb4S7, was synthesised under solvothermal conditions from the reaction of Sb2S3. Cr and S dissolved in tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (tren) at 438 K. The products were characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. elemental analysis, SQUID magnetometry and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The compound crystallises in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n with a = 7.9756(7), b = 10.5191(9), c = 25.880(2) angstrom and beta = 90.864(5)degrees. Alternating SbS33- trigonal pyramids and Sb36 semi-cubes generate Sb4S72- chains which are directly bonded to Cr(tren pendant units. The effective magnetic moment of 4.94(6)mu(B) shows a negligible orbital contribution, in agreement with expectations for Cr(II):d(4) in a (5)A ground state. The measured band gap of 2.14(3) eV is consistent with a correlation between optical band gap and framework density that is established from analysis of a wide range of antimony sulphides. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solvothermal syntheses, crystal structures and properties of five new thloantimonates(III) containing the [Sb4S7](2-) anion

Five new thioantimonates have been synthesized in the presence of organic amines under solvothermal conditions and their structures determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All of the compounds are layered and contain antimony-sulphide anions of stoichiometry [Sb4S7](2-), but the structure of the anion formed is dependent on the amine used in synthesis. (H3N(CH2)(4)NH3)[Sb4S7] (1) contains [Sb4S7](2-) double chains directed along [010]. Weak interchain Sb-S interactions between neighbouring chains cause the double chains to pack into layers in the ab plane. In the [001] direction, the layers of double chains alternate with doubly protonated diaminobutane molecules to which the chains are hydrogen bonded. Compounds of general formula (TH)(2)[Sb4S7] (T= CH3(CH2)(2)NH2 (2), (CH3)(2)CHNH2 (3), CH3(CH2)(3)NH2 (4) and CH3(CH2)(4)NH2 (5)) adopt a more complex structure in which [Sb3S8](7-) units are linked by Sb-3(3-) pyramids to form chains, which in turn are bridged by sulphur atoms to create sheets containing large heterorings. Pairs of such sheets form double layers of four atoms thickness that are stacked along [001]. Protonated amine molecules are located between anionic antimony-sulphide layers to which they are hydrogen bonded. Thermal analysis reveals that the decomposition temperature of materials containing [Sb4S7](2-) anions is dependent both on the structure of the anion, the lowest decomposition temperature being that of the low-dimensional phase (1) and on the identity of the amine, the decomposition temperature decreasing with an increasing number of carbon atoms and decreasing density. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and properties of polyaromatic dendrimers possessing a repetitive amide-ester coupling sequence

A series of novel polyaromatic dendrimers that feature tris-(2-ethylamino)amine as the central core unit has been synthesized up to the third generation by employing a convergent growth strategy. The building blocks 1,3-diamino-2-hydroxypropane and 4-carboxybenzaldehyde were used for dendron construction, a process that involved the cyclic repetition of esterification, oxidation and selective amidation steps. Molecular modelling of this class of dendrimers has been used to predict potential solution state conformations employing molecular mechanics and molecular dynamic simulations. In addition, the results of preliminary metal binding studies using the first generation dendritic system are also outlined. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Full-dimensional quantum calculations of ground-state tunneling splitting of malonaldehyde using an accurate ab initio potential energy surface

Quantum calculations of the ground vibrational state tunneling splitting of H-atom and D-atom transfer in malonaldehyde are performed on a full-dimensional ab initio potential energy surface (PES). The PES is a fit to 11 147 near basis-set-limit frozen-core CCSD(T) electronic energies. This surface properly describes the invariance of the potential with respect to all permutations of identical atoms. The saddle-point barrier for the H-atom transfer on the PES is 4.1 kcal/mol, in excellent agreement with the reported ab initio value. Model one-dimensional and "exact" full-dimensional calculations of the splitting for H- and D-atom transfer are done using this PES. The tunneling splittings in full dimensionality are calculated using the unbiased "fixed-node" diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) method in Cartesian and saddle-point normal coordinates. The ground-state tunneling splitting is found to be 21.6 cm(-1) in Cartesian coordinates and 22.6 cm(-1) in normal coordinates, with an uncertainty of 2-3 cm(-1). This splitting is also calculated based on a model which makes use of the exact single-well zero-point energy (ZPE) obtained with the MULTIMODE code and DMC ZPE and this calculation gives a tunneling splitting of 21-22 cm(-1). The corresponding computed splittings for the D-atom transfer are 3.0, 3.1, and 2-3 cm(-1). These calculated tunneling splittings agree with each other to within less than the standard uncertainties obtained with the DMC method used, which are between 2 and 3 cm(-1), and agree well with the experimental values of 21.6 and 2.9 cm(-1) for the H and D transfer, respectively. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Comparison of mechanical properties of tension and opposite wood in Populus

In this paper we focused on the differences of mechanical properties of tension and normal wood of 1-year-old poplar trees, artificially tilted. Elastic and fracture properties have been measured and linked to the anatomy. Tension wood is well known because it prevents good surface finishing and leads to difficulties with sawing. We studied three main mechanical properties: young modulus, energy of cutting and longitudinal residual strain of maturation (with strain gauges) because of their importance in wood technology. Moreover, this work takes place in a larger project of study, the phenomena of axes re-orientation in trees (allowing by the production of reaction wood), where these data are required for biomechanical modelling. The results show that tension wood has a higher young modulus, needs a higher energy to be cut and exhibited a higher level of longitudinal residual strain of maturation than those of normal wood. The results suggest that these differences require deeper analysis of the wood than anatomy: measurement of microfibril orientation in the S2 layer and also the lignin composition in monomeric units.

Comparison of small and large deformation rheological properties of wheat dough and gluten

The rheological properties of dough and gluten are important for end-use quality of flour but there is a lack of knowledge of the relationships between fundamental and empirical tests and how they relate to flour composition and gluten quality. Dough and gluten from six breadmaking wheat qualities were subjected to a range of rheological tests. Fundamental (small-deformation) rheological characterizations (dynamic oscillatory shear and creep recovery) were performed on gluten to avoid the nonlinear influence of the starch component, whereas large deformation tests were conducted on both dough and gluten. A number of variables from the various curves were considered and subjected to a principal component analysis (PCA) to get an overview of relationships between the various variables. The first component represented variability in protein quality, associated with elasticity and tenacity in large deformation (large positive loadings for resistance to extension and initial slope of dough and gluten extension curves recorded by the SMS/Kieffer dough and gluten extensibility rig, and the tenacity and strain hardening index of dough measured by the Dobraszczyk/Roberts dough inflation system), the elastic character of the hydrated gluten proteins (large positive loading for elastic modulus [G'], large negative loadings for tan delta and steady state compliance [J(e)(0)]), the presence of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) 5+10 vs. 2+12, and a size distribution of glutenin polymers shifted toward the high-end range. The second principal component was associated with flour protein content. Certain rheological data were influenced by protein content in addition to protein quality (area under dough extension curves and dough inflation curves [W]). The approach made it possible to bridge the gap between fundamental rheological properties, empirical measurements of physical properties, protein composition, and size distribution. The interpretation of this study gave indications of the molecular basis for differences in breadmaking performance.

Synthesis, x-ray structure and anion binding properties of a cryptand-like hybrid calixpyrrole

The novel cryptand in/out-3, containing two tripyrrolemethane units briged by three 1,3- diisopropylidenbenzene arms was readily synthesized by a convergent three-step synthesis. It binds fluoride by inclusion with excellent selectivity with respect to a number of other tested anions. The structure of the free receptor and that of its fluoride complex were investigated in solution by NMR spectroscopy. The solid state X-ray structure of the free cryptand 3 was also determined.

Meson properties in an extended nonlocal NJL model

A nonlocal version of the NJL model is investigated. It is based on a separable quark-quark interaction, as suggested by the instanton liquid picture of the QCD vacuum. The interaction is extended to include terms that bind vector and axial-vector mesons. The nonlocality means that no further regulator is required. Moreover the model is able to confine the quarks by generating a quark propagator without poles at real energies. Features of the continuation of amplitudes from Euclidean space to Minkowski energies are discussed. These features lead to restrictions on the model parameters as well as on the range of applicability of the model. Conserved currents are constructed, and their consistency with various Ward identities is demonstrated. In particular, the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner relation is derived both in the ladder approximation and at meson loop level. The importance of maintaining chiral symmetry in the calculations is stressed throughout. Calculations with the model are performed to all orders in momentum. Meson masses are determined, along with their strong and electromagnetic decay amplitudes. Also calculated are the electromagnetic form factor of the pion and form factors associated with the processes gamma gamma* --> pi0 and omega --> pi0 gamma*. The results are found to lead to a satisfactory phenomenology and demonstrate a possible dynamical origin for vector-meson dominance. In addition, the results produced at meson loop level validate the use of 1/Nc as an expansion parameter and indicate that a light and broad scalar state is inherent in models of the NJL type.

Electronic transitions and bonding properties in a series of five-coordinate “16-electron” complexes [Mn(CO)3(L2)]− (L2=chelating redox-active π-donor ligand)

In this article we present for the first time accurate density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent (TD) DFT data for a series of electronically unsaturated five-coordinate complexes [Mn(CO)(3)(L-2)](-), where L-2 stands for a chelating strong pi-donor ligand represented by catecholate, dithiolate, amidothiolate, reduced alpha-diimine (1,4-dialkyl-1,4-diazabutadiene (R-DAB), 2,2'-bipyridine) and reduced 2,2'-biphosphinine types. The single-crystal X-ray structure of the unusual compound [Na(BPY)][Mn(CO)(3)(BPY)]center dot Et2O and the electronic absorption spectrum of the anion [Mn(CO)(3)(BPY)](-) are new in the literature. The nature of the bidentate ligand determines the bonding in the complexes, which varies between two limiting forms: from completely pi-delocalized diamagnetic {(CO)(3)Mn-L-2}(-) for L-2 = alpha-diimine or biphosphinine, to largely valence-trapped {(CO)(3)Mn-1-L-2(2-)}(-) for L-2(2-) = catecholate, where the formal oxidation states of Mn and L-2 can be assigned. The variable degree of the pi-delocalization in the Mn(L-2) chelate ring is indicated by experimental resonance Raman spectra of [Mn(CO)(3)(L-2)](-) (L-2=3,5-di-tBu-catecholate and iPr-DAB), where accurate assignments of the diagnostically important Raman bands have been aided by vibrational analysis. The L-2 = catecholate type of complexes is known to react with Lewis bases (CO substitution, formation of six-coordinate adducts) while the strongly pi-delocalized complexes are inert. The five-coordinate complexes adopt usually a distorted square pyramidal geometry in the solid state, even though transitions to a trigonal bipyramid are also not rare. The experimental structural data and the corresponding DFT-computed values of bond lengths and angles are in a very good agreement. TD-DFT calculations of electronic absorption spectra of the studied Mn complexes and the strongly pi-delocalized reference compound [Fe(CO)(3)(Me-DAB)] have reproduced qualitatively well the experimental spectra. Analyses of the computed electronic transitions in the visible spectroscopic region show that the lowest-energy absorption band always contains a dominant (in some cases almost exclusive) contribution from a pi(HOMO) -> pi*(LUMO) transition within the MnL2 metallacycle. The character of this optical excitation depends strongly on the composition of the frontier orbitals, varying from a partial L-2 -> Mn charge transfer (LMCT) through a fully delocalized pi(MnL2) -> pi*(MnL2) situation to a mixed (CO)Mn -> L-2 charge transfer (LLCT/MLCT). The latter character is most apparent in the case of the reference complex [Fe(CO)(3)(Me-DAB)]. The higher-lying, usually strongly mixed electronic transitions in the visible absorption region originate in the three lower-lying occupied orbitals, HOMO - 1 to HOMO - 3, with significant metal-d contributions. Assignment of these optical excitations to electronic transitions of a specific type is difficult. A partial LLCT/MLCT character is encountered most frequently. The electronic absorption spectra become more complex when the chelating ligand L-2, such as 2,2'-bipyridine, features two or more closely spaced low-lying empty pi* orbitals.

The synthesis, structure, reactivity and electrochemical properties of ruthenium complexes featuring cyanoacetylide ligands

The complex [Ru(C&3bond; CC&3bond; N)(dppe)Cp*] (1) is readily obtained (ca. 70%) from the sequential reaction of [Ru(C=CH2)(dppe)Cp*]PF6 with (BuLi)-Bu-n and phenyl cyanate. The complex behaves as a typical transition metal acetylide upon reaction with tetracyanoethene, affording a metallated pentacyanobutadiene. Complex I is a useful metalloligand, and its reactions with [W(thf)(CO)5], [RuCl(PPh3)(2)Cp], [RuCl(dppe)Cp*] or cis-[RuCl2(dppe)(2)] all afforded products featuring the M-C&3bond; CC&3bond; N-M' motif, for which ground state structures indicate a degree of polarisation. Electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical studies reveal moderate interactions between the metal centres in the 35-electron dications [{Cp*(dppe)Ru}(mu-C&3bond; CC&3bond; N){RuL2Cp'}](2+) Ru(PPh3)(2)CP, Ru(dppe)Cp*).