Synthesis and Fluorescence Properties of Pyrimidine-Based Diboron Complexes with Donor-π-Acceptor Structures.

Pyrimidine-based diboron complexes bearing ß-iminoenolate ligands and phenyl groups as bulky substituents on the boron atoms were synthesized as novel fluorescent dyes, and their fluorescence properties were investigated in solution and in the solid state. The diboron complexes with donor-π-acceptor structures showed positive solvatochromism in the fluorescence spectra. The cyano derivative exhibited the most dramatic redshift of the fluorescence maximum Fmax with increasing solvent polarity (from 551 nm in n-hexane to 710 nm in acetonitrile). The diboron complexes showed solid-state fluorescence in the range of 578-706 nm with fluorescence quantum yields of 0.06-0.28. Additionally, the trifluoromethyl derivative exhibited solvent-inclusion solid-state fluorescence. The trifluoromethyl derivative formed toluene-inclusion and ethyl acetate-inclusion crystals. The toluene-inclusion crystal (Fmax = 668 nm, Φf = 0.16) showed a blueshifted Fmax and higher Φf value compared to the original trifluoromethyl derivative (Fmax = 694 nm, Φf = 0.08) in the solid state. On the other hand, the Fmax (709 nm) and Φf (0.04) values of the ethyl acetate-inclusion crystal were redshifted and lower, respectively.

Structural change of ovalbumin-related protein X by alkali treatment.

Chicken egg white protein ovalbumin (OVA) undergoes a conversion to a more thermostable form by alkali treatment, which is assumed to be involved in the physiological functions of OVA. Ovalbumin-related protein X (OVAX), a chicken egg white protein, has 77% sequence similarity to OVA and binds to heparin. In this study, structure characteristics and heparin-binding affinity of alkali-treated OVAX were investigated. Cation-exchange chromatography using SP Sepharose resin showed that alkali treatment (pH 10, 55°C) of OVAX induces the occurrence of a distinct OVAX form with a less positive-charge (acidic OVAX). Circular dichroism and tryptophan-fluorescence analyses showed that the newly-formed acidic OVAX form has an 8% lower α-helical content than its native counterpart, while there is no significant difference in steric environments around tryptophan residues between the 2 forms. The OVAX structure built by homology-modeling showed that OVAX possess a basic cluster domain with α-helix equivalent to 7% of total secondary structures, which does not contain any tryptophan residues. These results suggest that, during alkali treatment, OVAX undergoes mainly a conformational change of the α-helical basic cluster domain and thereby forms acidic OVAX. Acidic OVAX induced by alkali treatment exhibited weaker interactions with Heparin Sepharose resin than native OVAX did. Our results suggest that OVAX basic cluster domain is likely a specific binding site of heparin. Consequently, it is suggested that alkali treatment causes the collapse of the OVAX heparin binding site, which might participate in regulating the functions of heparin.

Synthesis, Absorption, and Electrochemical Properties of Quinoid-Type Bisboron Complexes with Highly Symmetrical Structures.

Novel bisboron complexes of bidentate ligands consisting of 1,4-benzoquinone and two pyrrole rings were synthesized by using a simple two-step reaction. In solution, the bisboron complexes showed absorption maxima at ∼620 and 800 nm, which were attributed to the allowed S0 → S2 and forbidden S0 → S1 transitions, respectively. The bisboron complexes did not show any fluorescence, probably because of their highly symmetrical structure which forbids the S0 → S1 transition. Bisboron complexes underwent a two-electron reduction to yield the corresponding aromatic dianion, which showed absorption maxima at ∼410 nm.