Phase and interfacial behavior of partially miscible symmetric Lennard-Jones binary mixtures

We have carried out extensive equilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations to study quantitatively the topology of the temperature versus density phase diagrams and related interfacial phenomena in a partially miscible symmetric Lennard-Jones binary mixture. The topological features are studied as a function of miscibility parameter, alpha = epsilonAB/epsilonAA. Here epsilonAA = epsilonBB and epsilonAB stand for the parameters related to the attractive part of the intermolecular interactions for similar and dissimilar particles, respectively. When the miscibility varies in the range 0 < alpha < 1, a continuous critical line of consolute points Tcons(rho)--critical demixing transition line--appears. This line intersects the liquid-vapor coexistence curve at different positions depending on the values of alpha, yielding mainly three different topologies for the phase diagrams. These results are in qualitative agreement to those found previously for square-well and hard-core Yukawa binary mixtures. The main contributions of the present paper are (i) a quantitative analysis of the phase behavior and (ii) a detailed study of the liquid-liquid interfacial and liquid-vapor surface tensions, as function of temperature and miscibility as well as its relationship to the topological features of the phase diagrams.     

The exo-selectivity of the new non-natural chiral auxiliary (+)-(1R,endo)-2-benzonorbornenol in an asymmetric aza-Diels-Alder reaction

The recently reported compound (+)-(1R,endo)-2-benzonorbornenol (2) proved to be an efficient chiral auxiliary in the asymmetric aza-Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene and the N-benzyl imine of its glyoxylate, which afforded a virtually all-exo mixture of cycloaducts with a 1S:1R diastereomeric ratio of 63:37.     

Protein secondary structure and stability determined by combining exoproteolysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry

In the post-genomic era, several projects focused on the massive experimental resolution of the three-dimensional structures of all the proteins of different organisms have been initiated. Simultaneously, significant progress has been made in the ab initio prediction of protein three-dimensional structure. One of the keys to the success of such a prediction is the use of local information (i.e. secondary structure). Here we describe a new limited proteolysis methodology, based on the use of unspecific exoproteases coupled with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), to map quickly secondary structure elements of a protein from both ends, the N- and C-termini. We show that the proteolytic patterns (mass spectra series) obtained can be interpreted in the light of the conformation and local stability of the analyzed proteins, a direct correlation being observed between the predicted and the experimentally derived protein secondary structure. Further, this methodology can be easily applied to check rapidly the folding state of a protein and characterize mutational effects on protein conformation and stability. Moreover, given global stability information, this methodology allows one to locate the protein regions of increased or decreased conformational stability. All of this can be done with a small fraction of the amount of protein required by most of the other methods for conformational analysis. Thus limited exoproteolysis, together with MALDI-TOF MS, can be a useful tool to achieve quickly the elucidation of protein structure and stability.     

High stability amperometric biosensor based on enzyme entrapment in microgels

The preparation and characterization of an amperometric glucose biosensor based on the entrapment of glucose oxidase (GOx) in a polyacrylamide microgel is described. This study proves that polyacrylamide microgels provide an excellent matrix for GOx immobilization that can be used as a biological material in amperometric biosensors. The interference produced by ascorbic and uric acid has been eliminated by including acrylic acid in the polymeric matrix. With this modification, we obtain an adequate device for glucose determination in complex samples such as blood and serum. The study of the temperature effect in the response of biosensors indicates that swelling of the microgels directly influences the enzymatic activity. Thus, the behaviour of the enzyme in the swollen microgels is similar to the enzyme in solution, but the enzyme's activation energy increases when the water content in the microgels decreases. One important property of these biosensors is their remarkable stability. After 4 months of its manufacture, there is no loss in the initial response. Furthermore, the enzymatic activity of freeze-dried microgels containing enzyme remains unaltered for at least 18 months.     

Conformational behaviour of 2,2′-bipyrrole

The rotational potential around the interannular bond in 2,2-bipyrrole has been calculated making use of standard minimal STO-3G and split valence 4-31G basis sets. Geometrical optimization concerning the most significant interannular internal parameters has been performed with both basis sets. The trans conformer is predicted to be more stable than the cis. The minimal basis set predicts the existence of a cisoid-gauche minimum which after limited optimization becomes very shallow and it seems to be an artifact of the rigid rotor approximation. At 4-31G level, both the trans and cis conformers represent maxima in the potential curve and two gauche minima appear at =46.0° and =147.6°, the latter being the absolute minimum. The absolute maximum of the potential curve corresponds to the cis conformer.     

Potential of zero total charge of platinum single crystals: A local approach to stepped surfaces vicinal to Pt(111)

The electrochemical behavior of platinum single-crystal electrodes is revisited, with special emphasis on the determination of the potential of zero charge. We show that the measure of the charge displaced during CO adsorption allows the determination of the potential of zero total charge (PZTC). The estimation of the potential of zero free charge (PZFC) is discussed, with different degrees of approximation. The application of this methodology to the study of the PZTC of platinum stepped surfaces vicinal to Pt(111) reveals a marked decrease of the PZTC due to the introduction of surface steps. This effect is interpreted as the result of the existence of markedly smaller surface potentials localized on step sites. The importance of considering local aspects of the interface is emphasized with the use of N₂O reduction as a sensitive probe to the local structure of the surface. It is proposed that the different local maxima observed in the absolute value of the reduction current correspond to the local values of PZTC. It is shown that there is, in general, good agreement between the overall PZTC, obtained from the CO displacement, and that calculated from the local values inferred from the N₂O reduction. Further insight is obtained with the application of the laser-induced temperature jump method. This technique is useful to calculate the potential of maximum entropy of the double-layer formation. The resulting value of this potential for Pt(111) is discussed in the light of the PZFC value obtained from different approaches. For stepped surfaces vicinal to Pt(111), two local maxima in the entropy of the double layer are observed that are close to the local PZTC values estimated from the N₂O reduction. This result suggests the existence of cooperative effects in the organization of the water dipoles close to the electrode surface. Published in Russian in Elektrokhimiya, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 11, pp. 1275–1292. Based on the report delivered at the 8th International Frumkin Symposium “Kinetics of the Electrode Processes,” October 18–22, 2005, Moscow. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Experimental and DFT study of the aza-Diels-Alder reaction between cyclopentadiene and protonated benzylimine derivated from glyoxylates

The Diels-Alder reaction of protonated N-benzyl imine of methyl glyoxylate with cyclopentadiene in different solvents gave mixtures of exo/endo adducts. The exo/endo selectivity of the reaction was elucidated by NMR experiments. Theoretical calculations by means of density functional theory (DFT) at the B3LYP/6-31G(d) level have also been performed to elucidate the molecular mechanism of this reaction. The DFT results suggest a highly asynchronous concerted mechanism, which in turn can explain the preferred exo stereoselectivity of the reaction. Inclusion of solvent effects enhances the exo selectivity, and this effect increases with the polarity of the solvent, in good agreement with the experimental findings.     

Coordination de la phosphine organo-fer [CpFeIIC6Me5CH2PPh2]+ au RhI et proprietes spectroscopiques,electrochimiques et catalytiques des complexes heterobinucleaires FeII-RhI

The reactions between the phosphine-organoiron [CpFe^II-η⁶-C₆Me₅CH₂PPh₂]⁺ PF₆^? (1) and [RhCl(η⁴-diolefin)(μ-Cl)]₂ in CH₂Cl₂ at reflux give the new heterobinuclear air-stable crystalline complexes [CpFe^II-η⁶-C₆Me₅CH₂)P(Ph)₂Rh(η⁴-diene)Cl]PF₆,(D'*-diene=cyclooctadiene (COD): 65%, 2; trimethylfluorobenzobicyclo[2.2.2]octadiene (Me₃TFB): 48%, 3). Complexes 2 and 3 have been studied by ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy and they are carbonylated (CO, 1 atm). Cyclic voltammetry experiments with addition of MeOH show electron transfer Fe^IRh^I → Fe^IIRh⁰, the presence of a catalytic wave Fe^I/Fe^II and the possible formation of Rh hydrides. Under normal conditions 2 is a catalyst for hydrogenation of cyclohexene, but it is less efficient than the known mononuclear Rh¹ analogues.