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Although the chemistry of transition metal polyphosphide anions has attracted significant attention, there are few reports of studies in which such species have been synthesized directly from white phosphorus. [K(OEt2)2{Co(BIAN)(cod)}] ( 1, BIAN=1,2-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenylimino)acenaphthene, cod=1,5-cyclooctadiene), which is readily prepared by ligand exchange from [K(thf) x{Co(cod)2}], reacts with P4 to afford [{K(thf)}2{(BIAN)Co}2(μ-η4:η4-P4)] ( 2 a) in 61 % yield (isolated product). [{K(OEt2)}2{(BIAN)Co}2(μ-η4:η4-P4)] ( 2 b) and [K([18]crown-6)(MeCN)]2[{(BIAN)Co}2(μ-η4:η4-P4)] ( 2 c) were obtained by recrystallizing 2 a from diethyl ether and acetonitrile (and using [18]crown-6 in case of 2 c). Oxidation of 2 a with [Cp2Fe]BArF4 (one equivalent) and subsequent recrystallization of the product from different solvents gave [K(OEt2){(BIAN)Co}2(μ-η4:η4-P4)] ( 3 a) and [K(dme)4][{(BIAN)Co}2(μ-η4:η4-P4)] ( 3 b; dme=1,2-dimethoxyethane). Neutral [{(BIAN)Co}2(μ-η4:η4-P4)] ( 4) was obtained in moderate yield by oxidizing 2 a with two equivalents of [Cp2Fe]BArF4. The new complexes were characterized by NMR, EPR (in the case of 3 a), and UV/Vis spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. The molecular structures revealed by X-ray crystallography display planar cyclic or open-chain P44− units sandwiched between {(BIAN)Co} fragments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a combination of liquid and solid-state NMR spectroscopy, 15N-labeled 4-methylimidazole (4-MI) as a local probe of the environment has been studied: 1) in the polar, wet Freon CDF3/CDF2Cl down to 130 K, 2) in water at pH 12, and 3) in solid samples of the mutant H64A of human carbonic anhydrase II (HCA II). In the latter, the active-site His64 residue is replaced by alanine; the catalytic activity is, however, rescued by the presence of 4-MI. For the Freon solution, it is demonstrated that addition of water molecules not only catalyzes proton tautomerism but also lifts its quasidegeneracy. The possible hydrogen-bond clusters formed and the mechanism of the tautomerism are discussed. Information about the imidazole hydrogen-bond geometries is obtained by establishing a correlation between published 1H and 15N chemical shifts of the imidazole rings of histidines in proteins. This correlation is useful to distinguish histidines embedded in the interior of proteins and those at the surface, embedded in water. Moreover, evidence is obtained that the hydrogen-bond geometries of His64 in the active site of HCA II and of 4-MI in H64A HCA II are similar. Finally, the degeneracy of the rapid tautomerism of the neutral imidazole ring His64 reported by Shimahara et al. ( J. Biol. Chem.­ 2007, 282, 9646) can be explained with a wet, polar, nonaqueous active-site conformation in the inward conformation, similar to the properties of 4-MI in the Freon solution. The biological implications for the enzyme mechanism are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of the intramolecular H-bonding of the primary amide group on the spectral properties and reactivity of this group towards electrophiles has been studied in systematic rows of 1,2,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-7,7-dimethyl-2,5-dioxo-1-R-quinoline-3-carboxamides and 2-aryliminocoumarin-3-carboxamides using 1H and 15N NMR spectroscopy and the kinetics of model reactions. The upfield signal of the amide proton that is not intramolecularly H-bonded (Ha) depends on external factors such as solvent nature and concentration. At the same time, the downfield chemical shift of the Hb proton (bonded by the intramolecular hydrogen bond) depends mostly on the strength of the intramolecular H-bond, which is affected by such internal factor as electron nature of substituent R. The substituent's influence on the Hb proton's chemical shift is more effective in deuterochloroform medium than in DMSO- d6 where the intramolecular hydrogen bond is less stable. The value Δδ(H) = δ(Hb) − δ(Ha) is suggested as a simple comparative spectral index of the intramolecular hydrogen bond strength in these and similar compounds. By contrast, the effect of R on the 15N NMR chemical shift of the amide nitrogen has turned out to be too small to estimate changes of the electron density at the nitrogen. The effect of the intramolecular H-bond on the reactivity of the amide group is twofold. When the cleavage of the H-bond occurs on the rate limiting step it dramatically reduces the reaction rate. In the other case, the strengthening of the H-bond favors the reaction rate because of the increase of the electron density at the amide nitrogen. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noncovalent interactions are among the main tools of molecular engineering. Rational molecular design requires knowledge about a result of interplay between given structural moieties within a given phase state. We herein report a study of intra- and intermolecular interactions of 3-nitrophthalic and 4-nitrophthalic acids in the gas, liquid, and solid phases. A combination of the Infrared, Raman, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, and Incoherent Inelastic Neutron Scattering spectroscopies and the Car–Parrinello Molecular Dynamics and Density Functional Theory calculations was used. This integrated approach made it possible to assess the balance of repulsive and attractive intramolecular interactions between adjacent carboxyl groups as well as to study the dependence of this balance on steric confinement and the effect of this balance on intermolecular interactions of the carboxyl groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-assembly of organic molecules in aqueous solutions is governed by a delicate entropy/enthalpy balance. Even small changes in their intermolecular interactions can cause critical changes in the structure of the aggregates and their spectral properties. The experimental results reported here demonstrate that protonated cations of acridine orange, acridine, and acridin-9-amine form stable J-heteroaggregates when in water. The structures of these aggregates are justified by the homonuclear 1H cross-relaxation nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The absorption and fluorescence of these aggregates deviate characteristically from the known H-homoaggregates of the protonated cations of acridine orange. The latter makes acridine orange a handy optical sensor for soft matter studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this contribution we review recent NMR studies of protonation and hydrogen bond states of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) and PLP model Schiff bases in different environments, starting from aqueous solution, the organic solid state to polar organic solution and finally to enzyme environments. We have established hydrogen bond correlations that allow one to estimate hydrogen bond geometries from 15N chemical shifts. It is shown that protonation of the pyridine ring of PLP in aspartate aminotransferase (AspAT) is achieved by (i) an intermolecular OHN hydrogen bond with an aspartate residue, assisted by the imidazole group of a histidine side chain and (ii) a local polarity as found for related model systems in a polar organic solvent exhibiting a dielectric constant of about 30. Model studies indicate that protonation of the pyridine ring of PLP leads to a dominance of the ketoenamine form, where the intramolecular OHN hydrogen bond of PLP exhibits a zwitterionic state. Thus, the PLP moiety in AspAT carries a net positive charge considered as a pre-requisite to initiate the enzyme reaction. However, it is shown that the ketoenamine form dominates in the absence of ring protonation when PLP is solvated by polar groups such as water. Finally, the differences between acid–base interactions in aqueous solution and in the interior of proteins are discussed. This article is part of a special issue entitled: Pyridoxal Phosphate Enzymology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article demonstrates that a mechanistically critical proton in a large enzyme can be localized by combining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of enzyme and model systems. The authors note that knowledge of proton positions in mechanistically critical H-bonds in enzyme active sites is essential for understanding their great catalytic powers. Results of the study and its implications are presented and discussed.