A Simple Bioluminescent Method for Measuring D-Amino Acid Oxidase Activity

D-Amino acid oxidase (DAO) plays important roles in regulating D-amino acid neurotransmitters and was recently identified as a key enzyme integral to hydrogen sulfide production from D-Cys. We report here the development of a simple biocompatible, bioluminescent method for measuring DAO activity based on the highly selective condensation of D-Cys with 6-hydroxy-2-cyanobenzothiazole (CBT-OH) to form D-luciferin

Bis(aryl) Tetrasulfides as Cathode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

An organotetrasulfide consists of a linear chain of four sulfur atoms that could accept up to 6 e− in reduction reactions, thus providing a promising high-capacity electrode material. Herein, we study three bis(aryl) tetrasulfides as cathode materials in lithium batteries. Each tetrasulfide exhibits two major voltage regions in the discharge. The high voltage slope region is governed by the formation of persulfides and thiolates, and the low voltage plateau region is due to the formation of Li2S2/Li2S. Based on theoretical calculations and spectroscopic analysis, three reduction reaction processes are revealed, and the discharge products are identified. Lithium half cells with tetrasulfide catholytes deliver high specific capacities over 200 cycles. The effects of the functional groups on the electrochemical characteristics of tetrasulfides are investigated, which provides guidance for developing optimum aryl polysulfides as cathode materials for high energy lithium batteries

Biochemistry of mobile zinc and nitric oxide revealed by fluorescent sensors

Biological mobile zinc and nitric oxide (NO) are two prominent examples of inorganic compounds involved in numerous signaling pathways in living systems. In the past decade, a synergy of regulation, signaling, and translocation of these two species has emerged in several areas of human physiology, providing additional incentive for developing adequate detection systems for Zn(II) ions and NO in biological specimens. Fluorescent probes for both of these bioinorganic analytes provide excellent tools for their detection, with high spatial and temporal resolution. We review the most widely used fluorescent sensors for biological zinc and nitric oxide, together with promising new developments and unmet needs of contemporary Zn(II) and NO biological imaging. The interplay between zinc and nitric oxide in the nervous, cardiovascular, and immune systems is highlighted to illustrate the contributions of selective fluorescent probes to the study of these two important bioinorganic analytes.National Science Foundation (Grant Number CHE-0907905)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant Number GM065519)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant Number K99GM092970

Reversible Guest Exchange Mechanisms in Supramolecular Host-Guest Assemblies

Synthetic chemists have provided a wide array of supramolecular assemblies able to encapsulate guest molecules. The scope of this tutorial review focuses on supramolecular host molecules capable of reversibly encapsulating polyatomic guests. Much work has been done to determine the mechanism of guest encapsulation and guest release. This review covers common methods of monitoring and characterizing guest exchange such as NMR, UV-VIS, mass spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and calorimetry and also presents representative examples of guest exchange mechanisms. The guest exchange mechanisms of hemicarcerands, cucurbiturils, hydrogen-bonded assemblies, and metal-ligand assemblies are discussed. Special attention is given to systems which exhibit constrictive binding, a motif common in supramolecular guest exchange systems

Acceleration of Amide Bond Rotation by Encapsulation in the Hydrophobic Interior of a Water-Soluble Supramolecular Assembly

The hydrophobic interior cavity of a self-assembled supramolecular assembly exploits the hydrophobic effect for the encapsulation of tertiary amides. Variable temperature 1H NMR experiments reveal that the free energy barrier for rotation around the C-N amide bond is lowered by up to 3.6 kcal/mol upon encapsulation. The hydrophobic cavity of the assembly is able to stabilize the less polar transition state of the amide rotation process. Carbon-13 labeling studies showed that the {sup 13}C NMR carbonyl resonance increases with temperature for the encapsulated amides which suggests that the assembly is able to favor a twisted for of the amide

Photoelasticity of crystalline and amorphous silica from first principles

Based on density-functional perturbation theory we have computed from first principles the photoelastic tensor of few crystalline phases of silica at normal conditions and high pressure (quartz, $\alpha$-cristobalite, $\beta$-cristobalite) and of models of amorphous silica (containig up to 162 atoms), obtained by quenching from the melt in combined classical and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations. The computational framework has also been checked on the photoelastic tensor of crystalline silicon and MgO as prototypes of covalent and ionic systems. The agreement with available experimental data is good. A phenomenological model suitable to describe the photoelastic properties of different silica polymorphs is devised by fitting on the ab-initio data.Comment: ten figure