Vol 50, No 6 (2016)

At present, the secondary structure of oligonucleotide ions in a gas phase is almost not understood. One of the main points is the retention of a hairpin secondary structure during ionization. In this work, we used a deuterium–hydrogen exchange reaction in a gas phase at atmospheric pressure for studying the conformational dynamics of oligonucleotide ions formed as a result of electrospray ionization. The exchange reactions of two oligonucleotides, which consisted of the identical sets of nucleotides but differed in their sequence, have been studied. One of these oligonucleotides formed a hairpin secondary structure, but the other did not. It has been found that both of the oligonucleotides demonstrate similar reaction dynamics of deuterium/hydrogen exchange in the gas phase; thereby indicating that the secondary structure has been completely destroyed during ionization.

The formation of negative ions of some diterpene alkaloid molecules having conjugated π_С=С and π_С=О bonds in their structure by resonance electron capture has been studied. The mass spectra of these compounds are due to electron capture onto the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), which is π*-_С=С or π*-_С=О in nature. It has been found that the partial conversion of the test compound molecules into the enol form is possible on transferring into a gas phase; for this purpose, the appearance potentials of the ions (M–H)^– and (M–OCH₃)^– have been compared with the calculated thermodynamic thresholds of their appearance in the keto and enol forms.

It has been found that solid-phase interaction of anhydrous terbium(III) sulfate powder with xenon difluoride at room temperature is accompanied by chemiluminescence (CL). The formation of terbium( IV) and ozone in the course of the reaction has been observed spectrophotometrically. Two CL emitters, xenon in the Xe(I)* oxidation state (540, 580 nm) and Tb(III)* (490, 545, 590 nm), have been revealed. Emission by the former is observed at the beginning of the reaction. After the consumption of xenon difluoride, the emission is due to excited Tb(III) generated as a result of reduction of the Tb(IV) intermediate.

The influence of gold nanoparticles on the efficiency of nonradiative resonance energy transfer between InP@ZnS quantum dots composed of nanoclusters, a new type of organized structures consisting of hydrophobic quantum dots and gold nanoparticles, has been experimentally studied.

Features of the molecular structure and crystal packing of the mesogenic compounds 3-hydroxy-4-propionylphenyl esters of 4-n-amyloxy (1), 4-n-hexyloxy (2), 4-n-heptyloxy (3), and 4-n-octyloxybenzoic acid (4) have been analyzed on the basis of X-ray diffraction (XRD) data. Comparison of the results of XRD and DSC studies of these compounds has shown that the crystalline modification studied for each of the compounds is not a precursor to the mesophase. The possibility of mesophase formation from the melt is discussed.

The chemical structure and the contact and morphological properties of composite membranes prepared by electron-beam sputter deposition of a polytetrafluoroethylene layer on the surface of track-etched polypropylene membrane have been studied. It has been found that the application of such layers results in bilayer composite membranes with both the layers having hydrophobic properties. It has been shown that an increase in the thickness of the deposited polytetrafluoroethylene layer leads to development of its roughness, resulting in the formation of a polymer with superhydrophobic properties on the surface of the initial membrane.