The synthesis of a fluorous olefin metathesis catalyst derived from the Grubbs second-generation ruthenium carbene complex is described. The air stable fluorous polymer-bound ruthenium carbene complex 1 shows high reactivity in effecting the ring-closing metathesis of a broad spectrum of diene and enyne substrates leading to the formation of di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted cyclic olefins in minimally fluorous solvent systems (PhCF3/CH2Cl2, 1:9-1:49 v/v). The catalyst can be readily separated from the reaction mixture by fluorous extraction with FC-72 and repeatedly reused. The practical advantage offered by the fluorous catalyst is demonstrated by its sequential use in up to five different metathesis reactions.

Elastin is the main structural protein that provides elasticity to various tissues and organs in vertebrates. Molecular motions are believed to play a significant role in its elasticity. We have used solid-state NMR spectroscopy to characterize the dynamics of an elastin-mimetic protein as a function of hydration to better understand the origin of elastin elasticity. Poly(Lys-25), [(VPGVG)(4)(VPGKG)](39), has a repeat sequence common to natural elastin. (13)C cross-polarization and direct polarization spectra at various hydration levels indicate that water enhances the protein motion in a non-uniform manner. Below 20% hydration, the backbone motion increases only slightly whereas above 30% hydration, both the backbone and the side-chains undergo large-amplitude motions. The motional amplitudes are extracted from (13)C-(1)H and (1)H-(1)H dipolar couplings using 2D isotropic-anisotropic correlation experiments. The root mean square fluctuation angles are found to be 11-18 degrees in the dry protein and 16-21 degrees in the 20% hydrated protein. Dramatically, the amplitudes increase to near isotropic at 30% hydration. Field-dependent (1)H rotating-frame spin-lattice relaxation times (T(1rho)) indicate that significant motions occur on the microsecond time-scale (1.2-2.3 micros). The large-amplitude and low-frequency motion of poly(Lys-25) at relatively mild hydration indicates that the conformational entropy of the protein in the relaxed state contributes significantly to the elasticity.

Resonance assignment is necessary for the comprehensive structure determination of insoluble proteins by solid-state NMR spectroscopy. While various 2D and 3D correlation techniques involving 13C and 15N spins have been developed for this purpose, H chemical shift has not been exploited sufficiently. We demonstrate the combination of the regular 1H-13C heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) experiment and a dipolar filtered HETCOR technique to obtain better resolved 1H chemical shift spectra. The dipolar filtered experiment, MELODI-HETCOR. simplifies the 1H spectra by suppressing the directly bonded C-H correlation peaks and retaining only the medium- and long-range cross peaks. We apply this MELODI-HETCOR technique to several amino acids and proteins with various isotopic labeling patterns. The enhanced 1H chemical shift resolution allows the assignment of overlapping H alpha and H beta resonances in Ser, identifies the 1H chemical shift differences between neutral and cationic imidazole rings of His, and permits the assignment of residues with side chain nitrogen atoms in ubiquitin. The potential utility of this dipolar filtered HETCOR technique to resonance assignment of extensively labeled proteins is discussed.

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The bis-sulfur-bridged copper() dimer [{CuL(HL)Cl} 2 ] (HL = N-ferrocenecarbonyl-N Ј,N Ј-dimethylthiourea) has been synthesized and structurally characterized. The central copper() ion has a distorted tetrahedral environment with one chloride and three sulfur atoms derived from one terminal and two bridging acylthiourea ligands. The two sulfur atoms of both bridging ligands with two copper() ions form a strictly planar Cu 2 S 2 bridging core including two short [2.3649 Å] and two longer Cu᎐S distances [2.4496 Å]. Dimers with this type of bridging are very scarce. Magnetic measurements showed antiferromagnetic coupling between the copper() centers through the sulfur bridges. The best fitting to the experimental magnetic susceptibilities gave g = 2.06, J = Ϫ196.3 cm Ϫ1 .