Rational Design of High Affinity Interaction Between CC Chemokine Binding Protein vCCI and CCL17/TARC.

The poxvirus-derived protein vCCI (viral CC chemokine inhibitor) binds almost all members of the CC chemokine family with nanomolar affinity, inhibiting their pro-inflammatory actions. Understanding the affinity and specificity of vCCI could lead to new anti-inflammatory therapeutics. CCL17, also known as TARC, is unusual among CC chemokines by having only micromolar binding to vCCI. We have used sequence analysis and molecular simulations to determine the cause of this weak binding, which identified several locations in CCL17 where mutations seemed likely to improve binding to vCCI. Based on the aforementioned analysis, we expressed and tested multiple mutants of CCL17. We found two single point mutants V44K and Q45R that increased binding affinity to vCCI by 2-3-fold and, in combination, further improved affinity by 7-fold. The CCL17 triple mutant G17R/V44K/Q45R yielded a Kd of 0.25 ± 0.13 µM, a 68-fold improvement in affinity compared to the complex with wild-type CCL17. A quadruple mutant G17R/V44K/Q45R/R57W showed high affinity (0.59 ± 0.09 µM) compared to the wild type but lower affinity than the triple mutant. This work demonstrates that sequence comparisons and molecular simulations can predict chemokine mutations that increase the level of binding to vCCI, an important first step in developing engineered chemokine inhibitors useful for anti-inflammatory therapy.

Interhelical E@g-N@a interactions modulate coiled coil stability within a de novo set of orthogonal peptide heterodimers.

The designability of orthogonal coiled coil (CC) dimers, which draw on well-established design rules, plays a pivotal role in fueling the development of CCs as synthetically versatile assembly-directing motifs for the fabrication of bionanomaterials. Here, we aim to expand the synthetic CC toolkit through establishing a "minimalistic" set of orthogonal, de novo CC peptides that comprise 3.5 heptads in length and a single buried Asn to prescribe dimer formation. The designed sequences display excellent partner fidelity, confirmed via circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and Ni-NTA binding assays, and are corroborated in silico using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Detailed analysis of the MD conformational data highlights the importance of interhelical E@g-N@a interactions in coordinating an extensive 6-residue hydrogen bonding network that "locks" the interchain Asn-Asn' contact in place. The enhanced stability imparted to the Asn-Asn' bond elicits an increase in thermal stability of CCs up to ~15°C and accounts for significant differences in stability within the collection of similarly designed orthogonal CC pairs. The presented work underlines the utility of MD simulation as a tool for constructing de novo, orthogonal CCs, and presents an alternative handle for modulating the stability of orthogonal CCs via tuning the number of interhelical E@g-N@a contacts. Expansion of CC design rules is a key ingredient for guiding the design and assembly of more complex, intricate CC-based architectures for tackling a variety of challenges within the fields of nanomedicine and bionanotechnology.

Supplemental habitat is reservoir dependent: Identifying optimal planting decision using Bayesian Decision Networks.

Environmental management often requires making decisions despite system uncertainty. One such example is mudflat mediation in flood control reservoirs. Reservoir mudflats limit development of diverse fish assemblages due to the lack of structural habitat provided by plants. Seeding mudflats with agricultural plants may mimic floodplain wetlands once inundated and provide fish habitat and achieve habitat management objectives. However, planting success is uncertain because of unpredictable water level fluctuations that affect plant survival and growth. Decision support tools can account for uncertainty that influences decision outcomes and reduce the risk in reservoir mudflat planting decisions. We used Bayesian decision networks and sensitivity analyses to quantify uncertainty surrounding mudflat plantings as supplemental fish habitat in four northwest Mississippi reservoirs. When averaged across all uncertainty, planting was the optimal decision only in Enid Lake. Response profiles indicated planting decisions depended on elevation contours within Enid, Sardis, and Grenada reservoirs. No planting was optimal at all elevations for Arkabutla Lake. These results provide a quantified basis for establishing best management practices and identify key system states that influence decision outcomes. The process used in this study to evaluate planting decisions can be applied to any reservoir by modifying reservoir dependent inputs to evaluate planting decisions to provide supplemental fish habitat.

A generalized approach for sperm cryopreservation in the genus Pomoxis: Sperm cryopreservation and fertilization efficiency of black-stripe black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus.

Approaches for white crappie, Pomoxis annularis sperm cryopreservation have led to interest in applying similar methods to black-stripe black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus. Their rarity in wild populations makes them a preferred phenotype for hatchery use. Sperm cryopreservation procedures were compared between black-stripe black crappie and white crappie for sperm motility and egg fertilization rate. There was no difference in black-stripe black crappie sperm motility after thawing between 5% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, 45% motility) and 10% methanol (50% motility). However, fertilization rates were higher (p < .001) for sperm cryoprotected with 5% DMSO (38 ± 8%) than 10% methanol (22 ± 7%). Hatchery use requires sperm-to-egg ratios and fertilizing potential of single doses (i.e., 0.5 ml straw). Using black-stripe black crappie sperm (2.5 × 108 sperm/ml; 5% DMSO), the highest fertilization (27%) was found using single straws with 785 eggs (0.25 ml); total sperm:egg ratio: 159,000:1; motile sperm:egg ratio: 71,700:1. Therefore, sperm of two Pomoxis species could be cryopreserved using 350 mOsmol/kg Hanks' balanced salt solution as an extender, 5% DMSO as a cryoprotectant, cooling at 40°C/min, and thawing for 8 s at 40°C to maintain sperm motility and fertility. Basic protocols can be generalized within a genus if variables such as sperm concentration, process timing, and sample volumes are controlled.

Discerning the dietary habits of the smooth butterfly ray Gymnura lessae using two distinct methods, otolith identification and metagenetics.

Two different methods, metagenetics and free-otolith identification, were used to identify prey in the stomach contents of 531 Gymnura lessae captured by trawling in Mobile Bay, Alabama 2016-2018. Both methods were found to produce analogous results and were therefore combined into a single complete dataset. All prey were teleosts; the families Sciaenidae and Engraulidae were the most important prey (prey specie index of relative importance 89.3% IPSRI ). Multivariate analyses indicated that the diet of G. lessae varied with sex and seasonality. Specifically, variability was probably due to morphologically larger females consuming larger teleost prey species compared with males, whereas seasonal variability was probably due to changes in the available prey community composition. The findings indicate that both metagenetics and free otolith identification, used independently or complementarily, offer robust means of characterising dietary habits for teleost-specialised species such as G. lessae, which may play an important role in the structure and maintenance of coastal food webs such as those in Mobile Bay.

Aggregation and Fibril Structure of AßM01-42 and Aß1-42.

A mechanistic understanding of Aß aggregation and high-resolution structures of Aß fibrils and oligomers are vital to elucidating relevant details of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease, which will facilitate the rational design of diagnostic and therapeutic protocols. The most detailed and reproducible insights into structure and kinetics have been achieved using Aß peptides produced by recombinant expression, which results in an additional methionine at the N-terminus. While the length of the C-terminus is well established to have a profound impact on the peptide's aggregation propensity, structure, and neurotoxicity, the impact of the N-terminal methionine on the aggregation pathways and structure is unclear. For this reason, we have developed a protocol to produce recombinant Aß1-42, sans the N-terminal methionine, using an N-terminal small ubiquitin-like modifier-Aß1-42 fusion protein in reasonable yield, with which we compared aggregation kinetics with AßM01-42 containing the additional methionine residue. The data revealed that Aß1-42 and AßM01-42 aggregate with similar rates and by the same mechanism, in which the generation of new aggregates is dominated by secondary nucleation of monomers on the surface of fibrils. We also recorded magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectra that demonstrated that excellent spectral resolution is maintained with both AßM01-42 and Aß1-42 and that the chemical shifts are virtually identical in dipolar recoupling experiments that provide information about rigid residues. Collectively, these results indicate that the structure of the fibril core is unaffected by N-terminal methionine. This is consistent with the recent structures of AßM01-42 in which M0 is located at the terminus of a disordered 14-amino acid N-terminal tail.

17O MAS NMR Correlation Spectroscopy at High Magnetic Fields.

The structure of two protected amino acids, FMOC-l-leucine and FMOC-l-valine, and a dipeptide, N-acetyl-l-valyl-l-leucine (N-Ac-VL), were studied via one- and two-dimensional solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Utilizing 17O magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR at multiple magnetic fields (17.6-35.2 T/750-1500 MHz for 1H) the 17O quadrupolar and chemical shift parameters were determined for the two oxygen sites of each FMOC-protected amino acids and the three distinct oxygen environments of the dipeptide. The one- and two-dimensional, 17O, 15N-17O, 13C-17O, and 1H-17O double-resonance correlation experiments performed on the uniformly 13C,15N and 70% 17O-labeled dipeptide prove the attainability of 17O as a probe for structure studies of biological systems. 15N-17O and 13C-17O distances were measured via one-dimensional REAPDOR and ZF-TEDOR experimental buildup curves and determined to be within 15% of previously reported distances, thus demonstrating the use of 17O NMR to quantitate interatomic distances in a fully labeled dipeptide. Through-space hydrogen bonding of N-Ac-VL was investigated by a two-dimensional 1H-detected 17O R3-R-INEPT experiment, furthering the importance of 17O for studies of structure in biomolecular solids.

Biophysical and Computational Studies of the vCCI:vMIP-II Complex.

Certain viruses have the ability to subvert the mammalian immune response, including interference in the chemokine system. Poxviruses produce the chemokine binding protein vCCI (viral CC chemokine inhibitor; also called 35K), which tightly binds to CC chemokines. To facilitate the study of vCCI, we first provide a protocol to produce folded vCCI from Escherichia coli (E. coli.) It is shown here that vCCI binds with unusually high affinity to viral Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-II (vMIP-II), a chemokine analog produced by the virus, human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). Fluorescence anisotropy was used to investigate the vCCI:vMIP-II complex and shows that vCCI binds to vMIP-II with a higher affinity than most other chemokines, having a Kd of 0.06 ± 0.006 nM. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shift perturbation experiments indicate that key amino acids used for binding in the complex are similar to those found in previous work. Molecular dynamics were then used to compare the vCCI:vMIP-II complex with the known vCCI:Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1ß/CC-Chemokine Ligand 4 (MIP-1ß/CCL4) complex. The simulations show key interactions, such as those between E143 and D75 in vCCI/35K and R18 in vMIP-II. Further, in a comparison of 1 µs molecular dynamics (MD) trajectories, vMIP-II shows more overall surface binding to vCCI than does the chemokine MIP-1ß. vMIP-II maintains unique contacts at its N-terminus to vCCI that are not made by MIP-1ß, and vMIP-II also makes more contacts with the vCCI flexible acidic loop (located between the second and third beta strands) than does MIP-1ß. These studies provide evidence for the basis of the tight vCCI:vMIP-II interaction while elucidating the vCCI:MIP-1ß interaction, and allow insight into the structure of proteins that are capable of broadly subverting the mammalian immune system.

Atomic Resolution Structure of Monomorphic Aß42 Amyloid Fibrils.

Amyloid-ß (Aß) is a 39-42 residue protein produced by the cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), which subsequently aggregates to form cross-ß amyloid fibrils that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The most prominent forms of Aß are Aß1-40 and Aß1-42, which differ by two amino acids (I and A) at the C-terminus. However, Aß42 is more neurotoxic and essential to the etiology of AD. Here, we present an atomic resolution structure of a monomorphic form of AßM01-42 amyloid fibrils derived from over 500 (13)C-(13)C, (13)C-(15)N distance and backbone angle structural constraints obtained from high field magic angle spinning NMR spectra. The structure (PDB ID: 5KK3 ) shows that the fibril core consists of a dimer of Aß42 molecules, each containing four ß-strands in a S-shaped amyloid fold, and arranged in a manner that generates two hydrophobic cores that are capped at the end of the chain by a salt bridge. The outer surface of the monomers presents hydrophilic side chains to the solvent. The interface between the monomers of the dimer shows clear contacts between M35 of one molecule and L17 and Q15 of the second. Intermolecular (13)C-(15)N constraints demonstrate that the amyloid fibrils are parallel in register. The RMSD of the backbone structure (Q15-A42) is 0.71 ± 0.12 Å and of all heavy atoms is 1.07 ± 0.08 Å. The structure provides a point of departure for the design of drugs that bind to the fibril surface and therefore interfere with secondary nucleation and for other therapeutic approaches to mitigate Aß42 aggregation.

Innate and adaptive immune responses in migrating spring-run adult chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha.

Adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) migrate from salt water to freshwater streams to spawn. Immune responses in migrating adult salmon are thought to diminish in the run up to spawning, though the exact mechanisms for diminished immune responses remain unknown. Here we examine both adaptive and innate immune responses as well as pathogen burdens in migrating adult Chinook salmon in the Upper Willamette River basin. Messenger RNA transcripts encoding antibody heavy chain molecules slightly diminish as a function of time, but are still present even after fish have successfully spawned. In contrast, the innate anti-bacterial effector proteins present in fish plasma rapidly decrease as spawning approaches. Fish also were examined for the presence and severity of eight different pathogens in different organs. While pathogen burden tended to increase during the migration, no specific pathogen signature was associated with diminished immune responses. Transcript levels of the immunosuppressive cytokines IL-10 and TGF beta were measured and did not change during the migration. These results suggest that loss of immune functions in adult migrating salmon are not due to pathogen infection or cytokine-mediated immune suppression, but is rather part of the life history of Chinook salmon likely induced by diminished energy reserves or hormonal changes which accompany spawning.

Adjusting Local Molecular Environment for Giant Ambient Thermal Contraction.

A low-energy triggered switch that can generate mechanoresponse has great technological potential. A submolecular moiety, S-dibenzocyclooctadiene (DBCOD) that is composed of a flexible eight-membered ring connecting to a phenyl ring at each end, undergoes a conformational change from twist-boat to chair under a low-energy stimulus such as near infrared irradiation, resulting in thermal contraction of DBCOD-based polymer. Experimental evidence corroborated by theoretical calculations indicates that introducing molecular asymmetry can reduce crystallinity significantly and consequently facilitate the kinetics of the conformational change. It has been demonstrated that the negative thermal expansion (NTE) coefficient of a DBCOD-based polymer system can be adjusted in a range from -1140 to -2350 ppm K-1 . -2350 ppm K-1 is ≈10 times better than the value reported by the second best NTE system.

High resolution structural characterization of Aß42 amyloid fibrils by magic angle spinning NMR.

The presence of amyloid plaques composed of amyloid beta (Aß) fibrils is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Aß peptide is present as several length variants with two common alloforms consisting of 40 and 42 amino acids, denoted Aß1-40 and Aß1-42, respectively. While there have been numerous reports that structurally characterize fibrils of Aß1-40, very little is known about the structure of amyloid fibrils of Aß1-42, which are considered the more toxic alloform involved in AD. We have prepared isotopically (13)C/(15)N labeled AßM01-42 fibrils in vitro from recombinant protein and examined their (13)C-(13)C and (13)C-(15)N magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra. In contrast to several other studies of Aß fibrils, we observe spectra with excellent resolution and a single set of chemical shifts, suggesting the presence of a single fibril morphology. We report the initial structural characterization of AßM01-42 fibrils utilizing (13)C and (15)N shift assignments of 38 of the 43 residues, including the backbone and side chains, obtained through a series of cross-polarization based 2D and 3D (13)C-(13)C, (13)C-(15)N MAS NMR experiments for rigid residues along with J-based 2D TOBSY experiments for dynamic residues. We find that the first ∼5 residues are dynamic and most efficiently detected in a J-based TOBSY spectrum. In contrast, residues 16-42 are easily observed in cross-polarization experiments and most likely form the amyloid core. Calculation of ψ and φ dihedral angles from the chemical shift assignments indicate that 4 ß-strands are present in the fibril's secondary structure.

N-Terminal Extensions Retard Aß42 Fibril Formation but Allow Cross-Seeding and Coaggregation with Aß42.

Amyloid ß-protein (Aß) sequence length variants with varying aggregation propensity coexist in vivo, where coaggregation and cross-catalysis phenomena may affect the aggregation process. Until recently, naturally occurring amyloid ß-protein (Aß) variants were believed to begin at or after the canonical ß-secretase cleavage site within the amyloid ß-protein precursor. However, N-terminally extended forms of Aß (NTE-Aß) were recently discovered and may contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Here, we have used thioflavin T fluorescence to study the aggregation kinetics of Aß42 variants with N-terminal extensions of 5-40 residues, and transmission electron microscopy to analyze the end states. We find that all variants form amyloid fibrils of similar morphology as Aß42, but the half-time of aggregation (t1/2) increases exponentially with extension length. Monte Carlo simulations of model peptides suggest that the retardation is due to an underlying general physicochemical effect involving reduced frequency of productive molecular encounters. Indeed, global kinetic analyses reveal that NTE-Aß42s form fibrils via the same mechanism as Aß42, but all microscopic rate constants (primary and secondary nucleation, elongation) are reduced for the N-terminally extended variants. Still, Aß42 and NTE-Aß42 coaggregate to form mixed fibrils and fibrils of either Aß42 or NTE-Aß42 catalyze aggregation of all monomers. NTE-Aß42 monomers display reduced aggregation rate with all kinds of seeds implying that extended termini interfere with the ability of monomers to nucleate or elongate. Cross-seeding or coaggregation may therefore represent an important contribution in the in vivo formation of assemblies believed to be important in disease.

Nuclear pore complex protein sequences determine overall copolymer brush structure and function.

The transport of cargo across the nuclear membrane is highly selective and accomplished by a poorly understood mechanism involving hundreds of nucleoporins lining the inside of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). Currently, there is no clear picture of the overall structure formed by this collection of proteins within the pore, primarily due to their disordered nature. We perform coarse-grained simulations of both individual nucleoporins and grafted rings of nups mimicking the in vivo geometry of the NPC and supplement this with polymer brush modeling. Our results indicate that different regions or blocks of an individual NPC protein can have distinctly different forms of disorder and that this property appears to be a conserved functional feature. Furthermore, this block structure at the individual protein level is critical to the formation of a unique higher-order polymer brush architecture that can exist in distinct morphologies depending on the effective interaction energy between the phenylalanine glycine (FG) domains of different nups. Because the interactions between FG domains may be modulated by certain forms of transport factors, our results indicate that transitions between brush morphologies could play an important role in regulating transport across the NPC, suggesting novel forms of gated transport across membrane pores with wide biomimetic applicability.

Proton association constants of His 37 in the Influenza-A M218-60 dimer-of-dimers.

The membrane protein M2 from influenza-A forms a single-pass transmembrane helix that assembles in lipid membrane as homotetramers whose primary function is to act as a proton transporter for viral acidification. A single residue, histidine 37 (His 37), is known to be responsible for selectivity and plays an integral role in the protein's function. We report pH-dependent (15)N MAS NMR spectra of His 37 within the influenza-A proton conduction domain of M2, M218-60, which has been previously shown to be a fully functional construct and was recently determined to adopt a dimer-of-dimers structure in lipids. By extracting the ratio of [His]/[HisH(+)] as a function of pH, we obtained two doubly degenerate proton disassociation constants, 7.63 ± 0.15 and 4.52 ± 0.15, despite a possible maximum of four. We also report the (1)HNε chemical shifts at pH 6.5 recorded at 60 kHz MAS in a CP-based (1)H-(15)N spectrum. We were unable to detect resonances indicative of direct proton sharing among His 37 side chains when the tetramer is in the +2 state. In the neutral state, His 37 is exclusively in the τ tautomer, indicating that the δ nitrogen is protonated solely as a function of pH. We also found that the plot of [HisH(+)]/[His] as a function of pH is qualitatively similar to previously reported proton conduction rates, indicating that proton conduction rate is proportional to the level of histidine protonation within the channel. Two-dimensional (13)C-(13)C and (13)C-(15)N correlations suggest that at low pH multiple conformations are populated as the spectra broaden and eventually disappear as the acidity is increased. A second highly resolved state at low pH was not observed.

Structure and Reactivity of [(L•Pd)n•(1,5-cyclooctadiene)] (n=1-2) Complexes Bearing Biaryl Phosphine Ligands.

The structure of the stable Pd(0) precatalyst [(1,5-cyclooctadiene)(L•Pd)2] (L = AdBrettPhos) for the Pd-catalyzed fluorination of aryl triflates has been further studied by solid state NMR and X-ray cystrallography of the analogous N-phenylmaleimide complex. The reactivity of this complex with CDCl3 to form a dearomatized complex is also presented. In addition, studies suggest that related bulky biaryl phosphine ligands form similar complexes, although the smaller ligand BrettPhos forms a monomeric [(1,5-cyclooctadiene)(L•Pd)] species instead.

Synthesis, insertion, and characterization of SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein within lipid bilayers.

Throughout history, coronaviruses have posed challenges to both public health and the global economy; nevertheless, methods to combat them remain rudimentary, primarily due to the absence of experiments to understand the function of various viral components. Among these, membrane (M) proteins are one of the most elusive because of their small size and challenges with expression. Here, we report the development of an expression system to produce tens to hundreds of milligrams of M protein per liter of Escherichia coli culture. These large yields render many previously inaccessible structural and biophysical experiments feasible. Using cryo-electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, we image and characterize individual membrane-incorporated M protein dimers and discover membrane thinning in the vicinity, which we validated with molecular dynamics simulations. Our results suggest that the resulting line tension, along with predicted induction of local membrane curvature, could ultimately drive viral assembly and budding.

Higher order amyloid fibril structure by MAS NMR and DNP spectroscopy.

Protein magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy has generated structural models of several amyloid fibril systems, thus providing valuable information regarding the forces and interactions that confer the extraordinary stability of the amyloid architecture. Despite these advances, however, obtaining atomic resolution information describing the higher levels of structural organization within the fibrils remains a significant challenge. Here, we detail MAS NMR experiments and sample labeling schemes designed specifically to probe such higher order amyloid structure, and we have applied them to the fibrils formed by an eleven-residue segment of the amyloidogenic protein transthyretin (TTR(105-115)). These experiments have allowed us to define unambiguously not only the arrangement of the peptide ß-strands into ß-sheets but also the ß-sheet interfaces within each protofilament, and in addition to identify the nature of the protofilament-to-protofilament contacts that lead to the formation of the complete fibril. Our efforts have resulted in 111 quantitative distance and torsion angle restraints (10 per residue) that describe the various levels of structure organization. The experiments benefited extensively from the use of dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), which in some cases allowed us to shorten the data acquisition time from days to hours and to improve significantly the signal-to-noise ratios of the spectra. The ß-sheet interface and protofilament interactions identified here revealed local variations in the structure that result in multiple peaks for the exposed N- and C-termini of the peptide and in inhomogeneous line-broadening for the residues buried within the interior of the fibrils.

Electron spin polarization transfer from photogenerated spin-correlated radical pairs to a stable radical observer spin.

A series of donor-chromophore-acceptor-stable radical (D-C-A-R(•)) molecules having well-defined molecular structures were synthesized to study the factors affecting electron spin polarization transfer from the photogenerated D(+•)-C-A(-•) spin-correlated radical pair (RP) to the stable radical R(•). Theory suggests that the magnitude of this transfer depends on the spin-spin exchange interaction (2JDA) of D(+•)-C-A(-•). Yet, the generality of this prediction has never been demonstrated. In the D-C-A-R(•) molecules described herein, D is 4-methoxyaniline (MeOAn), 2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-6-amine (DioxAn), or benzobisdioxole aniline (BDXAn), C is 4-aminonaphthalene-1,8-dicarboximide, and A is naphthalene-1,8:4,5-bis(dicarboximide) (1A,B-3A,B) or pyromellitimide (4A,B-6A,B). The terminal imide of the acceptors is functionalized with either a hydrocarbon (1A-6A) or a 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxyl radical (R(•)) (1B-6B). Photoexcitation of C with 416-nm laser pulses results in two-step charge separation to yield D(+•)-C-A(-•)-(R(•)). Time-resolved electron paramagnetic resonance (TREPR) spectroscopy using continuous-wave (CW) microwaves at both 295 and 85 K and pulsed microwaves at 85 K (electron spin-echo detection) was used to probe the initial formation of the spin-polarized RP and the subsequent polarization of the attached R(•) radical. The TREPR spectra show that |2JDA| for D(+•)-C-A(-•) decreases in the order MeOAn(+•) > DioxAn(+•) > BDXAn(+•) as a result of their spin density distributions, whereas the spin-spin dipolar interaction (dDA) remains nearly constant. Given this systematic variation in |2JDA|, electron spin-echo-detected EPR spectra of 1B-6B at 85 K show that the magnitude of the spin polarization transferred from the RP to R(•) depends on |2JDA|.

Tetrathiafulvalene hetero radical cation dimerization in a redox-active [2]catenane.

The electronic properties of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) can be tuned by attaching electron-donating or electron-withdrawing substituents. An electron-rich macrocyclic polyether containing two TTF units of different constitutions, namely 4,4'-bis(hydroxymethyl)tetrathiafulvalene (OTTFO) and 4,4'-bisthiotetrathiafulvalene (STTFS), has been synthesized. On two-electron oxidation, a hetero radical dimer is formed between OTTFO(•+) and STTFS(•+). The redox behavior of the macrocyclic polyether has been investigated by electrochemical techniques and UV-vis and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies. The [2]catenane in which the macrocyclic polyether is mechanically interlocked with the cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) (CBPQT(4+)) ring has also been prepared using template-directed protocols. In the case of the [2]catenane, the formation of the TTF hetero radical dimer is prevented sterically by the CBPQT(4+) ring. After a one-electron oxidation, a 70:30 ratio of OTTFO(•+) to STTFS(•+) is present at equilibrium, and, as a result, two translational isomers of the [2]catenane associated with these electronically different isomeric states transpire. EPR titration spectroscopy and simulations reveal that the radical states of the two constitutionally different TTF units in the [2]catenane still experience long-range electronic intramolecular coupling interactions, despite the presence of the CBPQT(4+) ring, when one or both of them are oxidized to the radical cationic state. These findings in the case of both the free macrocyclic polyether and the [2]catenane have led to a deeper fundamental understanding of the mechanism of radical cation dimer formation between constitutionally different TTF units.