Aspects of the physical chemistry of polymers, biomaterials and mineralised tissues investigated with atomic force microscopy (AFM)

Beyond being merely a tool for measuring surface topography, atomic force microscopy (AFM) has made significant contributions to various scientific areas dealing with physical chemistry processes. This paper presents aspects of the physical chemistry at surfaces and interfaces of polymers, biomaterials and tissues investigated with AFM. Selected examples presented include surface induced self-assembly of polymer blends, copolymer interfacial reinforcement of immiscible homopolymers, protein adsorption on biomaterials and erosion of mineralised human tissues. In these areas, AFM is a useful and versatile tool to study structural or dynamic sample properties including thermodynamically driven surface evolution of polymer surfaces, lateral surface composition of interfaces, adsorption processes, and the metrology of demineralisation phenomena.     

Matrix optimization for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry of oligosaccharides from human milk

Neutral and acidic oligosaccharides from human milk were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI/MS). These experiments require suitable matrices; their selection and particularly their preparation protocols must be optimized. Important criteria are sensitivity, reproducibility, tolerance against impurities and resolution over a wide mass range. For analytical investigations of these oligosaccharides, containing labile fucosylated and sialylated components, another property of a matrix becomes a significant factor, namely the influence on ion stability and the extent of (metastable) fragmentation. The experience gained with the MALDI/MS of neutral and acidic oligosaccharides is summarized taking into account different intentions of measurement and typical problems, such as impurities after enzymatic treatment. For a rapid screening of an oligosaccharide sample, superior results were obtained with a new preparation technique using 5-chloro-2-mercaptobenzothiazole (CMBT) as the first layer for 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid. For structural analysis by post-source decay, CMBT as the first layer for 3-aminoquinoline is a favoured preparation protocol, because extensive fragmentation is achieved. For acidic oligosaccharides, a special preparation protocol makes it possible to determine the number of sialic acids by inducing highly effective cationization. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry; matrices; oligosaccharides; post-source decay.     

The Early Stages of Native Enamel Dissolution Studied with Atomic Force Microscopy

Food-induced demineralization (erosion) is one of the key factors in surface structural changes of tooth enamel, with soft drinks being a significant etiological agent. The objective of this study was to measure early stages of enamel loss with high accuracy on native enamel surfaces combined with qualitative observations of changes in the surface morphology using the atomic force microscope (AFM). Native unerupted third molar surfaces were partly covered with a gold reference layer. Samples were imaged with the AFM before dissolution (at baseline) and after exposure to three different drinks (mineral water, a "toothkind" blackcurrant drink, and a lemon and lime juice drink) at five different exposure times (15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, and 3 h). The changes in the surface morphology were investigated qualitatively as well as quantitatively. This study showed that the maximum material loss occurred at the aprismatic parts of the enamel close to the perikymata. The maximum enamel loss was greatest for the lemon and lime juice drink and lowest for water. A two-way ANOVA of the transformed data, employing the natural logarithm, showed a statistically significant difference between both the drinks and the exposure time at a 95% confidence level (P=0.000). This demonstrates that the AFM is a suitable tool for measuring early stages of enamel demineralization. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Anisole hydrogenation with well-characterized polyoxoanion- and tetrabutylammonium-stabilized Rh(0) nanoclusters: effects of added water and acid, plus enhanced catalytic rate, lifetime, and partial hydrogenation selectivity

Following a comprehensive look at the arene hydrogenation literature by soluble nanocluster catalysts, six key, unfulfilled goals in nanocluster arene hydrogenation catalysis are identified. To begin to address those six goals, well-characterized polyoxoanion- and tetrabutylammonium-stabilized Rh(0) nanoclusters have been synthesized by the reduction of the precisely defined precatalyst [Bu(4)N](5)Na(3)[(1,5-COD)Rh small middle dotP(2)W(15)Nb(3)O(62)] with H(2) in propylene carbonate solvent. These Rh(0) nanoclusters are characterized by their stoichiometry of formation, transmission electron microscopy, and the two rate constants which characterize their mechanism of formation; previous studies in our laboratories have provided additional characterization of polyoxoanion-stabilized Rh(0) nanoclusters. Propylene carbonate solutions of the Rh(0) nanoclusters catalyze the hydrogenation of anisole (methoxybenzene) under mild conditions (22-78 degrees C, 30-40 psig H(2)). Proton donors such as water or HBF(4) small middle dotEt(2)O are discovered to affect both nanocluster formation and nanocluster arene hydrogenation catalysis. Under identical conditions, the Rh(0) nanoclusters are 10-fold more active than a commercially available, oxide-supported 5% Rh/Al(2)O(3) catalyst of the same average metal-particle size. A series of lifetime experiments shows that the Rh(0) nanoclusters are capable of at least 2600 total turnovers (TTO), a lifetime significantly longer than the approximately 100 TTO often seen for nanocluster arene hydrogenation catalysts, and a lifetime slightly better than the prior record of 2000 TTO for a literature nanocluster system. The present polyoxoanion-stabilized Rh(0) nanoclusters also display a record, albeit modest, 30% selectivity for the partial hydrogenation of anisole to 1-methoxycyclohexene with an overall yield of up to 8% at higher temperatures. In comparison to the 5% Rh/Al(2)O(3) catalyst, the polyoxoanion-stabilized nanoclusters yield a 4.7-fold higher maximum yield of 1-methoxycyclohexene. Finally, the seven main findings of the present work are summarized, including how they address five of the aforementioned six main goals in nanocluster arene hydrogenation.     

Advances in Organophosphorus Chemistry Based on Dichloro(methyl)phosphane

Besides phosphorus trichloride and phosphane, dichloro(methyl)phosphane is gaining importance as a starting material for the synthesis of organophosphorus compounds. It provides ready access to phosphonic, phosphinic and phosphonous acid derivatives, as well as their secondary products. The synthetic and application potential of organophosphorus compounds—based on industrially produced dichloro(methyl)phosphane—is illustrated by means of numerous examples.     

Bildung siliciumorganischer Verbindungen. 89. Selektive Photobromierung von Si-methylierten Carbosilanen

Formation of Organosilicon Compounds. 89. Selective Photobromination of Si-methylated Carbosilanes A selective photobromination of the C atoms in the skeleton of Si-methylated carbosilanes is reported. (me₃Si? CH₂)₂Sime₂ reacts to me₃Si? CBr₂? Sime₂? CH₂? Sime₃ in good yields (me = CH₃); the second CH₂ group is considerably slower brominated. Photobromination of (me₂Si? CH₂)₃ consecutively yields a and b . Also from (me₂Si? CH₂)₄ the derivative with one CBr₂ group is accessible. Bromination of tertiary CH groups is highly preferred; this is shown by the selective formation of c . The C-bromination of SiBr-substituted carbosilanes is significantly more difficult; nevertheless (Brme₂Si)₂CH₂ selectively forms (Brme₂Si)₂CBr₂. Brme₂Si? CH₂? Sime₂? CH₂? Sime₃ forms Brme₂Si? CH₂? Sime₂? CBr₂? Sime₃, i. e., only the CH₂ group non-adjacent to SiBr is attacked. The formation of CHBr groups could not be detected. Higher temperatures and longer reaction times increase the formation of polymers.     

CCR5 antagonists: 3-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)propionic acid analogues with potent anti-HIV activity

[reaction: see text] A novel approach to alpha,alpha-disubstituted-beta-amino acids (beta(2,2)-amino acids) was employed in the synthesis of a series of 3-(pyrrolidin-1-yl)propionic acids possessing high affinity for the CCR5 receptor and potent anti-HIV activity. The rat pharmacokinetics for these new analogues featured higher bioavailabilities and lower rates of clearance as compared to cyclopentane 1.     

Estimating reaction parameters in mechanism-enabled population balance models of nanoparticle size distributions: A Bayesian inverse problem approach

In order to quantitatively predict nano- as well as other particle-size distributions, one needs to have both a mathematical model and estimates of the parameters that appear in these models. Here, we show how one can use Bayesian inversion to obtain statistical estimates for the parameters that appear in recently derived mechanism-enabled population balance models (ME-PBM) of nanoparticle growth. The Bayesian approach addresses the question of “how well do we know our parameters, along with their uncertainties?.” The results reveal that Bayesian inversion statistical analysis on an example, prototype nanoparticle formation system allows one to estimate not just the most likely rate constants and other parameter values, but also their SDs, confidence intervals, and other statistical information. Moreover, knowing the reliability of the mechanistic model's parameters in turn helps inform one about the reliability of the proposed mechanism, as well as the reliability of its predictions. The paper can also be seen as a tutorial with the additional goal of achieving a “Gold Standard” Bayesian inversion ME-PBM benchmark that others can use as a control to check their own use of this methodology for other systems of interest throughout nature. Overall, the results provide strong support for the hypothesis that there is substantial value in using a Bayesian inversion methodology for parameter estimation in particle formation systems.     

Ligand binding and unfolding of tryptophan synthase revealed by ion mobility-tandem mass spectrometry employing collision and surface induced dissociation

Understanding protein tertiary and quaternary structures is crucial to a better understanding of their biological functions. Here we illustrate for tryptophan synthase that tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) reveals not only protein subunit architectures, but also protein unfolding behavior when coupled with ion mobility (IM). In the present study, we verified the subunit arrangement with surface induced dissociation (SID). We are able to correlate experimental results by IM with those obtained in unfolding simulations for the hetero-tetramer Tryptophan Synthase (TS) protein complex by identifying the presence of at least three stable intermediates (I₁, I₂, and I₃) during the unfolding process in collision induced dissociation (CID). We illustrate that the unfolding of the TS complex is likely due to the initial unfolding of an α-monomer subunit, followed by the unfolding of the second α-monomers. We also illustrate the ability of this combination of techniques to not only identify conformational changes of TS upon addition of D,L-α-glycerol phosphate (GP), but also to determine the location of the ligand, which is buried within the α-monomer of the TS.     

Adenosylcobinamide plus exogenous, sterically hindered, putative axial bases: a reinvestigation into the cause of record levels of Co-C heterolysis

A reinvestigation of an earlier Ph.D. thesis (Sirovatka, J. M. Ph.D. Thesis, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 1999) is reported herein. That thesis examined the thermolysis reaction of AdoCbi(+)BF(4)(-) in ethylene glycol solution with exogenous bases, N-methylimidazole (N-Me-Im) and the sterically hindered 1,2-dimethylimidazole, (1,2-Me(2)-Im), 2-methylpyridine (2-Me-py), and 2,6-dimethylpyridine (2,6-Me(2)-py). In the present work, multiple purities of each base have been utilized as a check to see if impurities in the nitrogenous bases are causing the observed homolysis and heterolysis product distributions as others have implied (Trommel, J. S.; Warncke, K.; Marzilli, L. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 3358). The "impurity hypothesis" is disproven by a series of results, including the following: N-Me-Im displays an invariant 52 +/- 10% heterolysis and the 1,2-Me(2)-Im system displays an invariant 83 +/- 7% heterolysis as a function of different base purification methods. Moreover, 2-Me-py and 2,6-Me(2)-py also display an invariant approximately 16 +/- 5% heterolysis as a function of different purification methods. What is responsible for the high levels of Co-C heterolysis in the AdoCbi(+) plus sterically bulky base thermolyses was uncovered via a revisitation of our four, earlier alternative hypotheses for the enhanced Co-C heterolysis (Sirovatka, J. M.; Finke, R. G. Inorg. Chem. 1999, 38, 1697). Our prior number one alternative hypothesis is shown to be correct: the added bases simply deprotonate the ethylene glycol solvent, forming ethylene glycolate anion and base-H(+)() as the key agents behind the previously ill-understood Co-C heterolyses. Also reported are Co(II)Cbi(+) titrations with five bases (1,2-Me(2)-Im, N-Me-Im, pyridine, 2-MePy, and 2,6-Me(2)-py). These experiments confirm Marzilli and co-workers' (op. cit.) results by showing that sterically hindered bases do not bind to Co(II)Cbi(+); therefore, Co(II)Cbi(+) EPR literature showing binding of bulky pyridines is erroneous as is the previously reported binding of bulky pyridine bases to Co(II)Cbi(+) by UV-vis spectroscopy (Sirovatka, J. Ph.D. Thesis, op. cit.). Also reported is our current best synthesis and purification of AdoCbi(+)BF(4)(-), work that builds off our 1987 synthesis of AdoCbi(+)BF(4)(-) (Hay, B. P.; Finke, R. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1987, 109, 8012). Finally, the multiple, compounding errors which have caused problems in this project are listed, notably errors in the protein X-ray crystallography literature, the EXAFS literature, the Co(II)Cbi(+) plus bulky-bases EPR literature, the misleading B(12)-model literature, the erroneous experimental work (Sirovatka, op. cit.) and thus incorrect conclusions in one of our prior papers, as well as the erroneous implications in parts of the Marzilli and co-workers paper (op. cit.). It is hoped that a forthright reporting of these errors will help others avoid similar mistakes in the future when studying complex, bioinorganic systems.