The development of an analytical procedure for the determination of microplastics in freshwater ecosystems.

Microplastics raise growing concerns regarding their ubiquity and possible negative impact on human health; therefore, the need for comparable, standardized methods is urgent. Modern instrumental analytical techniques, such as IR and Raman spectroscopy, pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electron microscopy, are fundamental for the analysis of microplastics in environmental and biological objects. The quality of the samples prepared is a determining factor in the validity of the results obtained. Based on our research, currently approaches to preparing environmental samples are time-consuming and need some improvements. To overcome this problem, a new method for the preparation of freshwater samples was developed. In our research, peracetic acid and its combination with Fenton's reagent were employed for the first time to prepare natural water samples. Furthermore, we proposed the use of a heavy liquid based on sodium heteropolyoxotungstate with a density of 1.70 g cm-3, which allows the extraction of polymers with high density and is non-toxic. The new approach was compared with the most commonly used sample preparation method (peroxide oxidation (30% H2O2 + 0.05 M Fe(II) solution)) and showed higher recovery efficiency for microplastic particles in both test and freshwater samples collected from the rivers Ob (Novosibirsk, Russia) and Berd (Berdsk, Russia). The obtained results are promising; the time spent on this procedure is no more than 3 hours, which is 6 to 12 times faster than the most widely used methods. In addition, this approach makes it possible to obtain samples suitable for subsequent analysis by any analytical instrumental method.

Redox Transformations of the OX063 Radical in Biological Media: Oxidative Decay of Initial Trityl with Further Formation of Structurally-Modified TAM.

Being a low-toxic and hydrophilic representative of TAM, OX063 has shown its suitability for in-vivo and in-cell EPR experiments and design of spin labels. Using 13C labeling, we investigated the course of oxidative degradation of OX063 into quinone-methide (QM) under the influence of superoxide as well as further thiol-promoted reduction of QM into TAM radical, which formally corresponds to substitution of a carboxyl function by a hydroxyl group. We found these transformations being quantitative in model reactions mimicking specific features of biological media and confirmed the presence of these reactions in the blood and liver homogenate of mice in vitro. The emergence of the trityl with the hydroxyl group can be masked by an initial TAM in EPR spectra and may introduce distortions into EPR-derived oximetry data if they have been obtained for objects under hypoxia. 13C labeling allows one to detect its presence, considering its different hyperfine splitting constant on 13C1 (2.04 mT) as compared to OX063 (2.30 mT). The potential involvement of these reactions should be considered when using TAM in spin-labeling of biopolymers intended for subsequent EPR experiments, as well as in the successful application of TAM in experiments in vivo and in cell.

Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Using Electron Spin Cluster.

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) utilizing narrow-line electron spin clusters (ESCs) to achieve nuclear spin resonance matching (ESC-DNP) by microwave irradiation is a promising way to achieve NMR signal enhancements with a wide design scope requiring low microwave power at high magnetic field. Here we present the design for a trityl-based tetra-radical (TetraTrityl) to achieve DNP for 1H NMR at 7 T, supported by experimental data and quantum mechanical simulations. A slow-relaxing (T1e ≈ 1 ms) 4-ESC is found to require at least two electron spin pairs at <8 Å e-e spin distance to yield 1H ESC-DNP enhancement, while squeezing the rest of the e-e spin distances to <12 Å results in optimal 1H ESC-DNP enhancements. Fast-relaxing ESCs (T1e ≈ 10 µs) are found to require a weakly coupled narrow-line radical (sensitizer) to extract polarization from the ESC. These results provide design principles for achieving a power-efficient DNP at high field via ESC-DNP.

A novel method of alkoxyamine homolysis activation via photochemical rearrangement.

We proposed the nitrone-oxaziridine rearrangement as a novel method for photochemical activation for the homolysis of alkoxyamine in nitroxide-mediated polymerization. The photoisomerization of the aldo-/ketonitrone-group into the oxaziridine one in 2,5-dihydroimidazole 3-oxide-based alkoxyamines was studied; the products of photolysis have been identified, and quantum yields were measured. Conversion of the nitrone group into the oxaziridine one was found to decrease the activation energy of alkoxyamine homolysis by ca. 10 kJ mol-1.

Hydrophilic Reduction-Resistant Spin Labels of Pyrrolidine and Pyrroline Series from 3,4-Bis-hydroxymethyl-2,2,5,5-tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl.

Highly resistant to reduction nitroxides open new opportunities for structural studies of biological macromolecules in their native environment inside living cells and for functional imaging of pH and thiols, enzymatic activity and redox status in living animals. 3,4-Disubstituted nitroxides of 2,2,5,5-tetraethylpyrrolidine and pyrroline series with a functional group for binding to biomolecules and a polar moiety for higher solubility in water and for more rigid attachment via additional coordination to polar sites were designed and synthesized. The EPR spectra, lipophilicities, kinetics of the reduction in ascorbate-containing systems and the decay rates in liver homogenates were measured. The EPR spectra of all 3,4-disubstituted pyrrolidine nitroxides showed additional large splitting on methylene hydrogens of the ethyl groups, while the spectra of similar pyrroline nitroxides were represented with a simple triplet with narrow lines and hyperfine structure of the nitrogen manifolds resolved in oxygen-free conditions. Both pyrrolidine and pyrroline nitroxides demonstrated low rates of reduction with ascorbate, pyrrolidines being a bit more stable than similar pyrrolines. The decay of positively charged nitroxides in the rat liver homogenate was faster than that of neutral and negatively charged radicals, with lipophilicity, rate of reduction with ascorbate and the ring type playing minor role. The EPR spectra of N,N-dimethyl-3,4-bis-(aminomethyl)-2,2,5,5-tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl showed dependence on pH with pKa = 3, ΔaN = 0.055 mT and ΔaH = 0.075 mT.

Origin of Long-Range Hyperfine Couplings in the EPR Spectra of 2,2,5,5-Tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyls.

Cyclic nitroxides with several bulky alkyl substituents adjacent to the nitroxide group are known to demonstrate a much higher stability to bioreduction than their tetramethyl analogues. Among these so-called "sterically shielded" nitroxides, the pyrrolidine derivatives are the most stable. The EPR spectra of some sterically shielded pyrrolidine-1-oxyls were reported to show one or two large additional doublet splittings with a hyperfine coupling (hfc) constant (ca. 0.2-0.4 mT). To determine the origin of these hfc, a series of 2-R-2,5,5-triethyl-3,4-bis(hydroxymethyl)-pyrrolidine-1-oxyls with methylene groups stereospecifically enriched with deuterium were prepared, and their CW EPR spectra were studied. In addition, these nitroxides were investigated using quantum chemical calculations on the UB3LYP/def2-TZVP level and NBO analysis. The apparent constants were assigned to hfc with γ-hydrogen in the side chain, with the contribution of the NBO orbital ßπ*(N-O) to the natural localized molecular orbital ßσ(C-H) playing the major role. This interaction is efficient if the ethyl substituent is in the pseudoaxial position of the ring and the CH2-CH3 bond is codirected with (parallel to) N-O. The apparent constant aH increases with the Boltzmann population of this conformation.

13C Hyperpolarization of Viscous Liquids by Transfer of Solid-Effect 1H Dynamic Nuclear Polarization at High Magnetic Field.

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is routinely used as a method for increasing the sensitivity to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Recently, high-field solid-effect DNP in viscous liquids on 1H nuclei was demonstrated using narrow-line polarizing agents. Here we expand the applicability of DNP in viscous media to 13C nuclei. To hyperpolarize 13C nuclei, we combined solid-effect 1H DNP with a subsequent transfer of the 1H polarization to 13C via insensitive nuclei enhanced by polarization transfer (INEPT). We demonstrate this approach using a triarylmethyl radical as a polarizing agent and glycerol-13C3 as an analyte. We achieved 13C enhancement factors of up to 45 at a magnetic field of 9.4 T and room temperature.

Synthesis and Properties of (1R(S),5R(S),7R(S),8R(S))-1,8-Bis(hydroxymethyl)-6-azadispiro[4.1.4.2]tridecane-6-oxyl: Reduction-Resistant Spin Labels with High Spin Relaxation Times.

Site-directed spin labeling followed by investigation using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy is a rapidly expanding powerful biophysical technique to study structure, local dynamics and functions of biomolecules using pulsed EPR techniques and nitroxides are the most widely used spin labels. Modern trends of this method include measurements directly inside a living cell, as well as measurements without deep freezing (below 70 K), which provide information that is more consistent with the behavior of the molecules under study in natural conditions. Such studies require nitroxides, which are resistant to the action of biogenic reductants and have high spin relaxation (dephasing) times, Tm. (1R(S),5R(S),7R(S),8R(S))-1,8-bis(hydroxymethyl)-6-azadispiro[4.1.4.2]tridecane-6-oxyl is a unique nitroxide that combines these features. We have developed a convenient method for the synthesis of this radical and studied the ways of its functionalization. Promising spin labels have been obtained, the parameters of their spin relaxation T1 and Tm have been measured, and the kinetics of reduction with ascorbate have been studied.

Solid-Effect Dynamic Nuclear Polarization in Viscous Liquids at 9.4 T Using Narrow-Line Polarizing Agents.

Dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) is a hyperpolarization method that is widely used for increasing the sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. DNP is efficient in solid-state and liquid-state NMR, but its implementation in the intermediate state, namely, viscous media, is still less explored. Here, we show that a 1H DNP enhancement of over 50 can be obtained in viscous liquids at a magnetic field of 9.4 T and a temperature of 315 K. This was accomplished by using narrow-line polarizing agents in glycerol, both the water-soluble α,γ-bisdiphenylen-ß-phenylallyl (BDPA) and triarylmethyl radicals, and a microwave/RF double-resonance probehead. We observed DNP enhancements with a field profile indicative of the solid effect and investigated the influence of microwave power, temperature, and concentration on the 1H NMR results. To demonstrate potential applications of this new DNP approach for chemistry and biology, we show hyperpolarized 1H NMR spectra of tripeptides, triglycine, and glypromate, in glycerol-d8.

Dynamics of 8-Oxoguanine in DNA: Decisive Effects of Base Pairing and Nucleotide Context.

8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (oxoG), an abundant DNA lesion, can mispair with adenine and induce mutations. To prevent this, cells possess DNA repair glycosylases that excise either oxoG from oxoG:C pairs (bacterial Fpg, human OGG1) or A from oxoG:A mispairs (bacterial MutY, human MUTYH). Early lesion recognition steps remain murky and may include enforced base pair opening or capture of a spontaneously opened pair. We adapted the CLEANEX-PM NMR protocol to detect DNA imino proton exchange and analyzed the dynamics of oxoG:C, oxoG:A, and their undamaged counterparts in nucleotide contexts with different stacking energy. Even in a poorly stacking context, the oxoG:C pair did not open easier than G:C, arguing against extrahelical base capture by Fpg/OGG1. On the contrary, oxoG opposite A significantly populated the extrahelical state, which may assist recognition by MutY/MUTYH.

An EPR Study on Highly Stable Nitroxyl-Nitroxyl Biradicals for Dynamic Nuclear Polarization Applications at High Magnetic Fields.

Nitroxide biradicals are efficient polarizing agents in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. Many recently reported radicals possess substantial DNP efficiency in organic solvents but have poor solubility in water media which is unfavorable for biological applications. In this paper, we report DNP efficiency at a high magnetic field for two water-soluble biradicals resistant to reducing media. Water solubility was achieved by obtaining the radicals in the form of quaternary ammonium salts. Parameters of hyperfine interaction and exchange interaction were quantified by EPR spectroscopy, and their influence on the DNP effect was determined. The resistance of the biradicals to strongly reducing media was characterized. High stability was achieved using tetraethyl substituents and pyrrolidine moieties.

Effects of Spiro-Cyclohexane Substitution of Nitroxyl Biradicals on Dynamic Nuclear Polarization.

Spiro-substituted nitroxyl biradicals are widely used as reagents for dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), which is especially important for biopolymer research. The main criterion for their applicability as polarizing agents is the value of the spin-spin exchange interaction parameter (J), which can vary considerably when different couplers are employed that link the radical moieties. This paper describes a study on biradicals, with a ferrocene-1,1'-diyl-substituted 1,3-diazetidine-2,4-diimine coupler, that have never been used before as DNP agents. We observed a substantial difference in the temperature dependence between Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectra of biradicals carrying either methyl or spirocyclohexane substituents and explain the difference using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculation results. It was shown that the replacement of methyl groups by spirocycles near the N-O group leads to an increase in the contribution of conformers having J ≈ 0. The DNP gain observed for the biradicals with methyl substituents is three times higher than that for the spiro-substituted nitroxyl biradicals and is inversely proportional to the contribution of biradicals manifesting the negligible exchange interaction. The effects of nucleophiles and substituents in the nitroxide biradicals on the ring-opening reaction of 1,3-diazetidine and the influence of the ring opening on the exchange interaction were also investigated. It was found that in contrast to the methyl-substituted nitroxide biradical (where we observed the ring-opening reaction upon the addition of amines), the ring opening does not occur in the spiro-substituted biradical owing to a steric barrier created by the bulky cyclohexyl substituents.

Hybrid iron(II) phthalocyaninatoclathrochelates with a terminal reactive vinyl group and their organo-inorganic polymeric derivatives: synthetic approaches, X-ray structures and copolymerization with styrene.

Hybrid metallo(IV)phthalocyaninate-capped tris-dioximate iron(II) complexes (termed as "phthalocyaninatoclathrochelates") with non-equivalent apical fragments and functionalized with one terminal reactive vinyl group were prepared for the first time using three different synthetic approaches: (i) transmetallation (capping group exchange) of the appropriate labile boron,antimony-capped cage precursors, (ii) capping of the initially isolated reactive semiclathrochelate intermediate, and (iii) direct one-pot template condensation of their ligand synthons on the iron(II) ion as a matrix. The obtained polytopic cage complexes were characterized using elemental analysis, 1H NMR, MALDI-TOF MS and UV-vis spectra, and the single-crystal X-ray diffraction experiments. One of the obtained vinyl-terminated iron(II) phthalocyaninatoclathrochelates and its semiclathrochelate precursor were tested as monomers in a copolymerization reaction with styrene as the main component. These vinyl-terminated (semi)clathrochelate iron(II) complexes were found to be successfully copolymerized with this industrially important monomer, affording the intensely colored copolymer products. Because of a low solubility of the tested zirconium(IV) phthalocyaninate-capped tris-nioximate monomer in styrene as a solvent, a molar ratio of 1 : 500 was used. The obtained copolymer products and the kinetics of their formation were studied using GPC, FTIR, UV-vis, TGA and DSC methods. Even at such a low concentration of the Fe,Zr-binuclear metallocomplex component, an increase in the rate of the UV-light degradation of the organo-inorganic products, as well as in their thermal stability, was observed.

Fullerene-based triplet spin labels: methodology aspects for pulsed dipolar EPR spectroscopy.

Triplet states of photoexcited organic molecules are promising spin labels with advanced spectroscopic properties for pulsed dipolar electron paramagnetic resonance (PD EPR) spectroscopy. Recently proposed triplet fullerene labels have shown great potential for double electron-electron resonance (DEER) distance measurements as "observer spins" due to a high quantum yield of the triplet state, hyperpolarization and relatively narrow EPR spectra. Here, we demonstrate the applicability of fullerene labels to other PD EPR techniques, such as relaxation induced dipolar modulation enhancement (RIDME) and laser induced magnetic dipolar spectroscopy (LaserIMD). In particular, a specific contaminating signal in LaserIMD experiments was observed, explained and mitigated. Comparative analyses of the signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios were performed for all employed methods. DEER on the fullerene-triarylmethyl pair shows the best performance, which allows state-of-the-art DEER acquisition at 100 nM with a SNR of ∼35 within reasonable 42 hours.

A Simple Method of Synthesis of 3-Carboxy-2,2,5,5-Tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl and Preparation of Reduction-Resistant Spin Labels and Probes of Pyrrolidine Series.

Stable free radicals are widely used as molecular probes and labels in various biophysical and biomedical research applications of magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging. Among these radicals, sterically shielded nitroxides of pyrrolidine series demonstrate the highest stability in biological systems. Here, we suggest new convenient procedure for preparation of 3-carboxy-2,2,5,5-tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl, a reduction-resistant analog of widely used carboxy-Proxyl, from cheap commercially available reagents with the yield exceeding the most optimistic literature data. Several new spin labels and probes of 2,2,5,5-tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl series were prepared and reduction of these radicals in ascorbate solutions, mice blood and tissue homogenates was studied.

Benchmark Test and Guidelines for DEER/PELDOR Experiments on Nitroxide-Labeled Biomolecules.

Distance distribution information obtained by pulsed dipolar EPR spectroscopy provides an important contribution to many studies in structural biology. Increasingly, such information is used in integrative structural modeling, where it delivers unique restraints on the width of conformational ensembles. In order to ensure reliability of the structural models and of biological conclusions, we herein define quality standards for sample preparation and characterization, for measurements of distributed dipole-dipole couplings between paramagnetic labels, for conversion of the primary time-domain data into distance distributions, for interpreting these distributions, and for reporting results. These guidelines are substantiated by a multi-laboratory benchmark study and by analysis of data sets with known distance distribution ground truth. The study and the guidelines focus on proteins labeled with nitroxides and on double electron-electron resonance (DEER aka PELDOR) measurements and provide suggestions on how to proceed analogously in other cases.

Uptake of Cell-Penetrating Peptide RL2 by Human Lung Cancer Cells: Monitoring by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance and Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy.

RL2 is a recombinant analogue of a human κ-casein fragment, capable of penetrating cells and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells with no toxicity to normal cells. The exact mechanism of RL2 penetration into cells remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of RL2 penetration into human lung cancer A549 cells by a combination of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. EPR spectra of A549 cells incubated with RL2 (sRL2) spin-labeled by a highly stable 3-carboxy-2,2,5,5-tetraethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl radical were found to contain three components, with their contributions changing with time. The combined EPR and confocal-microscopy data allowed us to assign these three forms of sRL2 to the spin-labeled protein sticking to the membrane of the cell and endosomes, to the spin-labeled protein in the cell interior, and to spin labeled short peptides formed in the cell because of protein digestion. EPR spectroscopy enabled us to follow the kinetics of transformations between different forms of the spin-labeled protein at a minimal spin concentration (3-16 µM) in the cell. The prospects of applications of spin-labeled cell-penetrating peptides to EPR imaging, DNP, and magnetic resonance imaging are discussed, as is possible research on an intrinsically disordered protein in the cell by pulsed dipolar EPR spectroscopy.

Two alternative conformations of mRNA in the human ribosome during elongation and termination of translation as revealed by EPR spectroscopy.

The conformation of mRNA in the region of the human 80S ribosome decoding site was monitored using 11-mer mRNA analogues that bore nitroxide spin labels attached to the terminal nucleotide bases. Intramolecular spin-spin distances were measured by DEER/PELDOR spectroscopy in model complexes mimicking different states of the 80S ribosome during elongation and termination of translation. The measurements revealed that in all studied complexes, mRNA exists in two alternative conformations, whose ratios are different in post-translocation, pre-translocation and termination complexes. We found that the presence of a tRNA molecule at the ribosomal A site decreases the relative share of the more extended mRNA conformation, whereas the binding of eRF1 (alone or in a complex with eRF3) results in the opposite effect. In the termination complexes, the ratios of mRNA conformations are practically the same, indicating that a part of mRNA bound in the ribosome channel does not undergo significant structural alterations in the course of completion of the translation. Our results contribute to the understanding of mRNA molecular dynamics in the mammalian ribosome channel during translation.

The Kinetics of 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition of Vinyl Monomers to 2,2,5,5-Tetramethyl-3-imidazoline-3-oxides.

In our previous work [Edeleva et al. Chem. Commun. 2019, 55, 190-193], we proposed a versatile approach to the activation of the homolysis of an aldonitrone group-containing alkoxyamine by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition to a vinyl monomer. Both nitroxide- and alkoxyamine-containing aldonitrones were found to be capable of reacting with the activated alkenes. In the present study, the kinetics of these reactions with 11 different vinyl monomers were investigated using EPR and NMR spectroscopy, and apparent activation energies as well as pre-exponential factors were determined. The influence of monomer structure on the rate of the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition is discussed. For the vinyl monomers typically used in nitroxide mediated polymerization (styrene, methyl methacrylate) the rate coefficient of cycloaddition to the nitroxide is around k(353 K) ∼4 ⋅ 10-4  L mol-1 s-1 , whereas for n-butyl acrylate and methyl vinyl ketone we observed the fastest cycloaddition reaction with k(353 K)=8 ⋅ 10-3 and 4 ⋅ 10-2  L mol-1 s-1 respectively.

In Situ Labeling and Distance Measurements of Membrane Proteins in E. coli Using Finland and OX063 Trityl Labels.

In situ investigation of membrane proteins is a challenging task. Previously we demonstrated that nitroxide labels combined with pulsed ESR spectroscopy is a promising tool for this purpose. However, the nitroxide labels suffer from poor stability, high background labeling, and low sensitivity. Here we show that Finland (FTAM) and OX063 based labels enable labeling of the cobalamin transporter BtuB and BamA, the central component of the ß-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) complex, in E coli. Compared to the methanethiosulfonate spin label (MTSL), trityl labels eliminated the background signals and enabled specific in situ labeling of the proteins with high efficiency. The OX063 labels show a long phase memory time (TM ) of ≈5 µs. All the trityls enabled distance measurements between BtuB and an orthogonally labeled substrate with high selectivity and sensitivity down to a few µm concentration. Our data corroborate the BtuB and BamA conformations in the cellular environment of E. coli.