Showing papers in "Acta Crystallographica in 2006"

Sodium trichloromethanesulfonate monohydrate

Abstract: Synchrotron-based spectroscopic techniques enable investigations of the many important biological and environmental functions of the ubiquitous element sulfur. In this thesis the methods for interpreting sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra are developed and applied for analyses of functional sulfur groups. The influence of coordination, pH, hydrogen bonding, etc., on the sulfur 1s electronic excitations is evaluated by transition potential density functional theory. Analyses have been performed of reduced sulfur compounds in marine-archaeological wood from historical shipwrecks, including the Vasa, Stockholm, Sweden and the Mary Rose, Portsmouth, U.K.. The accumulation of sulfur as thiols in lignin-rich parts of the wood on the seabed is also a probable pathway in the natural sulfur cycle for how reduced sulfur enters fossil fuels via humic matter in anaerobic marine sediments. Sulfur K-edge XANES spectra for several biochemical model compounds and for coexisting isomeric sulfur species in cysteine and sulfite(IV) aqueous solutions have been analyzed with the aid of theoretical calculations. Cysteine derivatives are important for biochemical detoxification, and mercury(II) cysteine complexes in solution have been structurally characterized by means of Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS), Raman and 199Hg NMR spectroscopy. Lanthanoid(III) ions were found to coordinate eight dimethyl sulfoxide oxygen atoms in a distorted square antiprism in the solid state and in solution, by combining crystallography, EXAFS, XANES and vibrational spectroscopy. The mean M-O bond distances for the disordered crystal structures are in good agreement with those from the lattice-independent EXAFS studies. The different sulfur K-edge XANES spectra for the dimethyl sulfoxide ligands in the hexasolvated complexes of the trivalent group 13 metal ions, Tl(III), In(III), Ga(III) and Al(III), were interpreted by theoretical calculations.

Membrane's Eleven: heavy-atom derivatives of membrane-protein crystals

Abstract: A database has been assembled of heavy-atom derivatives used in the structure determination of membrane proteins. The database can serve as a guide to the design of experiments in the search for heavy-atom derivatives of new membrane-protein crystals. The database pinpoints organomercurials, platinum(II) and trimethyllead compounds as being particularly useful. On the other hand, lanthanide and uranyl compounds are poorly represented, which may be a consequence of these compounds having aggressive effects in crystal-soaking procedures. Furthermore, the database highlights the variety of methods applied in the preparation of heavy-atom-derivatized crystals and in phasing. Cocrystallization can be further exploited. Phases have predominantly been obtained by SIRAS/MIRAS methods rather than SAD/MAD in recent structure determinations.