Nucleophilic addition and various species formed in the Cu(II)NCO−3(5)-methylpyrazole system

From the Cu(II)NCO⁻3(5)-methylpyrazole (mpz) system two compounds Cu(NCO)₂(mpz)₂ and four compounds Cu(mpz·NCO)₂ were isolated. The latter compounds contain carbamoylmethylpyrazolate anions as chelate ligands and are coligand isomers of the cyanate compounds. According to the results of indirect structural methods, the Cu(NCO)₂(mpz)₂ complexes have pseudooctahedral structures and differ in their polyhedron distortions. The Cu(mpz·NCO)₂ complexes show tetragonally distorted six or five coordinate structures, possibly differing also by the methyl group position on the pyrazole ring.     

MonodentateN coordination of 1aza4oxo1,3butadienes [R1NC(R2)C(R3)O] to platinum(II). X-ray structure of trans-[PtCl2(PEt3){σ-N-(t-BuNCHC(Me)O)}]

Reaction of dimeric trans-[PtCl₂(PR₃)]₂ with 1-aza-4-oxo-1,3-butadienes [R¹NC(R²)C(R³)O, R³ = Me, Ph, OMe, NEt₂] in a 1:2 molar ratio results in almost quantitative formation of mononuclear complexes trans·[PtCl₂(PR₃){σ-N-(R¹NC(R²)C(R³)O)}]. The ligands are bonded in the monodentate σ-N bonding mode to the platinum(II) centre. This has been established by an X-ray structure determination of trans-[PtCl₂(PEt₃){σ-N-(t-BuNCHC(Me)O)}]. Crystals of the latter compound are orthorhombic with space group Pc2₁n; cell constants are a = 14.712(3), b = 15.053(2), c = 9.025(5) Å, Z= 4 and R_w = 0.056 for 3281 reflections. The 1aza4oxol,3butadiene (α-iminoketone for R³ is alkyl or aryl) has the E-configuration about the imine bond (CN 1.34(4) Å), with a C(5)C(6) distance of 1.44(5) Å and a NC(5)/ C(6)O torsion angle of 89(4)°. As a result of this ligand conformation, the acetyl hydrogen atoms are positioned (on average) into the neighbourhood of the Pt-atom above the Pt-coordination plane. Infrared and NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ³¹p) data show that these structural features are also predominant in solution.     

STM of freeze-dried and PtIrC-coated bacteriophage T4 polyheads

STM imaging was carried out on the outer surface of bacteriophage T4 type III polyheads, after freeze-drying and coating with a thin conducting film. By taking advantage of the high resolution power of the STM especially in the z-direction (i.e., perpendicular to the support), an apparent surface topography of only about 1 nm height was resolved. The average capsomere morphology was determined by correlation averaging. Because of the high signal-to-noise ratio of the tunneling data, only a few unit cells were needed to reveal a stable average. Both the topology as well as the absolute height of the polyheads have been reproduced in several experiments. The influence of the tip geometry on the STM topographs is discussed.     

Fabrication and biocompatibility of a porous bioglass ceramic in a Na2OCaOSiO2P2O5 system

A porous bioglass ceramic was prepared from a finely pulverized bioglass powder mixed with particles of two sizes (5 and 500 μm) of 30% by weight with the foaming agent polyethylene glycol 4000 (HO (C₂H₄O) nH). The batch composition of the bioglass was Na₂O 12%, CaO 28%, SiO₂ 50% and P₂O₅ 10% by weight. The specimens, formed by pressing, were sintered in a high temperature furnace. In this study we are concerned with the preparation and microstructure of the material and its performance in biological tests. The microstructure and crystalline phases of the material were investigated by differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. In a biomedical examination, it was shown that the porous material was compatible with animal tissues. The microstructure of the implant indicated that newly grown bone interlocked well with the glass ceramic and that macropores and micropores were distributed uniformly in the material, which provided channels for bone ingrowth and improved the microscopic bioresorption.     

Planar cell polarity: A bridge too far?

The mechanisms of planar cell polarity are being revealed by genetic analysis. Recent studies have provided new insights into interactions between three proteins involved in planar cell polarity: Flamingo, Frizzled and Van Gogh.     

Heterodinuclear Cu(II)Zn(II) complexes: F NMR as a versatile tool to control the synthesis

The dinucleating ligands 2,6-bis[(bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino)methyl]-4-methylphenol (H-BPMP) and 2,6-bis[(bis(2-pyridylmethyl)amino)methyl]-4-fluorophenol (H-BPFP) were used to synthesize heterodinuclear (μ-phenoxo)(μ-hydroxo) Cu(II)Zn(II) complexes. The labeled ligand with a fluorine atom allows the use of ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy, which turned to be a rapid and powerful tool to tune the synthesis of the heterodinuclear paramagnetic complex [CuZnBPFP(μOH)](ClO₄)₂ and avoid mixing of complexes with statistical distribution. When applied to the non-fluorinated ligand, this experimental procedure leads to prepare and isolate easily the complex [CuZnBPMP(μOH)](ClO₄)₂. The X-ray structure is described.     

Reactions of Nb2Cl6(SMe2)3 and Ta2Cl6(SMe2)3 with compounds containing NN single bonds

Ta₂Cl₆(SMe₂)₃ reacts with PhHNNHPh to afford Ta₂Cl₄(μ-Cl)₂(μ-PhN)(PhNH₂)₃ (1) a compound with a Ta^IVTa^IV single bond, with a length of 2.644(1) Å. The compound crystallizes in space group Pnma with unit cell dimensions a = 22.960(8), b = 16.875(4), c = 6.367(3) Å, V = 2467(1) ų, and Z = 4. The reaction of Nb₂Cl₆(SMe₂)₃ with PhHCNNCHPh, merely on mixing at room temperature produced Nb₂Cl₆(SMe₂) [PhHC(N)PhHCNHNCHPh]·C₇H₈ (2) as large red crystals in ca. 50% yield. The molecule consists of two Nb^IV atoms, one six-coordinate and the other seven-coordinate, united by three bridging atoms (Cl, Cl, N) and a NbNb bond of length 2.681(1) Å. The way in which the tridentate triazo ligand is generated is completely obscure. Crystallographic data for 2: space group P2₁/n with a = 11.393(3), b = 11.988(3), c = 27.233(7) Å, β = 100.75(2)°, V = 3654(3) Å, and Z = 4.     

Theoretical study of the hydroxylation of phenolates by the Cu2O2(N,N′-dimethylethylenediamine)2 2+ complex

Tyrosinase catalyzes the ortho hydroxylation of monophenols and the subsequent oxidation of the diphenolic products to the resulting quinones. In efforts to create biomimetic copper complexes that can oxidize C–H bonds, Stack and coworkers recently reported a synthetic μ-η²:η²-peroxodicopper(II)(DBED)₂ complex (DBED is N,N′-di-tert-butylethylenediamine), which rapidly hydroxylates phenolates. A reactive intermediate consistent with a bis-μ-oxo-dicopper(III)-phenolate complex, with the O–O bond fully cleaved, is observed experimentally. Overall, the evidence for sequential O–O bond cleavage and C–O bond formation in this synthetic complex suggests an alternative mechanism to the concerted or late-stage O–O bond scission generally accepted for the phenol hydroxylation reaction performed by tyrosinase. In this work, the reaction mechanism of this peroxodicopper(II) complex was studied with hybrid density functional methods by replacing DBED in the μ-η²:η²-peroxodicopper(II)(DBED)₂ complex by N,N′-dimethylethylenediamine ligands to reduce the computational costs. The reaction mechanism obtained is compared with the existing proposals for the catalytic ortho hydroxylation of monophenol and the subsequent oxidation of the diphenolic product to the resulting quinone with the aim of gaining some understanding about the copper-promoted oxidation processes mediated by 2:1 Cu(I)O₂-derived species. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.