A highly activated ester containing a fixed positive charge, S-pentafluorophenyl [tris(2,4,6-trimethoxyphenyl)phosphonium]acetate bromide (TMPP-AcSC6F5 bromide), has been synthesized as a reagent for N-terminal modification of peptides. Stable in aqueous acetonitrile solution during extended storage, TMPP-AcSC6F5 bromide reacts with unprotected peptides through p-(dimethylamino)pyridine (DMAP)-promoted amidation in aqueous acetonitrile (15 min, ambient temperature) to form N-TMPP-Ac derivatives of peptides. These peptide derivatives are readily amenable to analysis by fast atom bombardment (FAB) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry. Greater than 90% conversion has been observed in transforming low-nanomole quantities of analyte using molar ratios of 1:5:10 (peptide/reagent/ DMAP). For reactions at the picomole level a slightly modified stoichiometry, with molar ratios of 1:10:500, is employed. Owing to the high reaction efficiency and the tolerance to moderate excess reagent and base during analysis by FAB- and MALDI-MS, the reaction mixture containing the modified peptides can be analyzed directly in most cases, without sample cleanup. Examples of the preparation and analysis of a variety of N-TMPP-acetyl-peptides (TMPP-Ac-peptides) ranging from hexamers to 15-mers are given. Collisionally activated dissociation tandem mass spectrometry of TMPP-Ac-derivatives showed dominant a-type ions, accompanied by d- and c-type ions in some cases, allowing sequence determination to be made in a straightforward manner.

Organic soluble 56-membered copper(I) siloxane cage compound Cu(24)O(24)Si(8)R(8) (1, R = (2,6-iPr(2)C(6)H(3))N(SiMe(3))) has been synthesized and structurally characterized. It consists of a copper silica-supported structure, in which the metal ions are two-coordinate and covalently anchored onto the cage surface and the weak metal...metal d(10)-d(10) interactions are widely full within the cage, that is active in catalyzing the Ullmann-Goldberg-type C-N coupling reaction involving aryl or 2-thienyl bromides with heterocyclic nitrogen nucleophiles. This work provides insight into homogeneous catalysis utilizing the heterogeneous structure.

Human epidermal growth factor (hEGF) contains 53 amino acids and three disulfide bonds. The unfolded, reduced hEGF is allowed to refold under mildly alkaline conditions. The folding is quenched at different time points by adjusting the pH to 3.0 with an acetic acid solution of I-cyano-4-dimethylamino-pyridinium (CDAP) which traps folding intermediates via cyanylation of free sulfhydryl groups. The mixture of cyanylated intermediates is separated by reversed-phase HPLC; the fractions collected are identified by mass spectrometry. The disulfide structures of the intermediates are then determined by specific chemical cleavage and mass-mapping by MALDI-MS, a novel approach developed in our laboratory. The procedure of quenching and trapping of disulfide intermediates in acidic solution minimizes sulfhydryl-disulfide exchange, and therefore provides a good measure of folding kinetics and preservation of intermediate species. Our cyanylation methodology for disulfide mapping is simpler, faster, and more sensitive than the more conventional approach.Among 18 folding intermediates isolated and identified at different time points, disulfide structures of seven wellpopulated intermediates, including two non-native isomers with scrambled disulfide structures, one 2-disulfide intermediate, and four 1-disulfide intermediates, have been characterized; most of them possess non-native disulfide structures.

Reactions of LH (L = HC[C(Me)N(2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3))](2)) with Me(n)AlCl(3-n) in diethyl ether afforded the adducts LH·AlMe(n)(Cl)(3-n) (n = 2, 3; 1, 4; 0, 5) in good yields. Treatment of 3 at elevated temperatures in toluene resulted in LAlMeCl (2) by intramolecular elimination of methane. The controlled hydrolysis of LAlMeCl (2) with equimolar amounts of water in the presence of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) gave a mixture of [LAl(Me)](2)(μ-O) (7) and dimeric [LAlMe(μ-OH)](2) (8). A convenient route for the preparation of [LAlMe(μ-OH)](2) (8) was the NHC-assisted controlled hydrolysis of LAlMeI (9). Stepwise hydrolysis of LAlH(2) (11) gave dialuminoxane hydride [LAl(H)](2)(μ-O) (12) and dialuminoxane hydroxide [LAl(OH)](2)(μ-O) (13), respectively. Anhydrous treatment of LAlCl(2) (1) or LAlMeCl (2) with Ag(2)O afforded chlorinated dialuminoxane [LAl(Cl)](2)(μ-O) (14) and [LAl(Me)](2)(μ-O) (7), respectively.