(R)-2-{2-[(S)-(2'-Benzo-yloxy-1,1'-binaphthyl-2-yl)oxycarbonyl-amino]-3-phenylpropanamido-meth-yl}pyridinium picrate acetone solvate.

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C(43)H(34)N(3)O(5) (+)·C(6)H(2)N(3)O(7) (-)·C(3)H(6)O, the large dimension and shape of the cation are responsible for the elongation of the ortho-rhom-bic unit cell. The ions and acetone mol-ecules are linked together by a system of hydrogen bonds involving an inter-molecular hydrogen bond between one N atom of the cation and the O atom of acetone and two inter-molecular hydrogen bonds between the cation N atoms and the O atoms of the picrate anion. No intra-molecular hydrogen bonds exist in the structure. The dihedral angle between the two naphthalene ring systems is 76.16 (13)°. The chiral C atom has a known R configuration, but this cannot be confirmed from this X-ray analysis.

An ensemble of crystallographic models enables the description of novel bromate-oxoanion species trapped within a protein crystal.

Only a few protein-oxoanion crystal complexes have been described to date. Here, the structure of a protein soaked in a bromate solution has been determined to a resolution of 1.25 A and refined to final overall R/R(free) values of 18.04/21.3 (isotropic) and 11.25/14.67 (anisotropic). In contrast to the single-model approach, refinement of an ensemble of ten models enabled us to determine variances and statistically evaluate bond-length distances and angles in the oxoanions. In total, nine bromate positions, including two BrO(3)(-) x HBrO(3) dimer species, have been identified on the basis of the anomalous signal of the Br atoms. For all bromate ions, the main-chain amide atoms of the protein were identified as the dominant binding positions, a useful property in any experimental phase-determination experiment.

Regular arrangement of periodates bound to lysozyme.

The structure of tetragonal hen egg-white lysozyme soaked in a periodate solution has been determined to a resolution of 1.8 A. Four high-occupancy periodate positions have been identified on the basis of the anomalous signal of the I atoms. The four periodates exhibit a regular rectangular arrangement on the surface of the lysozyme molecule. No similar regular arrangement was found either in lysozyme crystals soaked in other heavy-atom anions or in other structures from the Protein Data Bank. Depending on their position on the surface of the protein, the periodate ions deviate to a varying extent from ideal octahedral geometry.

Synthesis of (R)- and (S)-3,3,3-trifluoro-2-phenylpropanoyl isocyanates and their use as reactive analogues of Mosher's acid.

The title compounds have been prepared from the respective 3,3,3-trifluoro-2-methoxy-2-phenylpropanoic acids (MTPA) by a three-step synthesis with MTPA chloride and MTPA amide as reaction intermediates. The requested compounds were obtained in high chemical yields without any change in optical purity during the preparation. To ascertain the usefulness of this auxiliary agent in the chiral analysis, isomeric 3,3,3-trifluoro-2-phenylpropanoyl isocyanates were subjected in NMR tubes to noncatalyzed reactions with 16 different commercially available chiral alcohols. The steric arrangement of all diastereomers prepared correlated well with their NMR spectral nonequivalence data (Deltadelta), thus demonstrating the regular sign distribution of Deltadelta of particular groups according to the devised molecular model. The usefulness of the novel derivatization is discussed.

Chiral derivatives of 2-(1-naphthyl)-2-phenylacetic acid.

The spectral properties of diastereomeric esters and amides (1b-20b), derived from optically pure 2-(1-naphthyl)-2-phenylacetic acids (1-NPA), were systematically investigated. It was found that all compounds prepared exhibit the NMR spectral nonequivalence (Deltadelta) with regular sign distribution of particular groups according to the predicted model. Further, the analysis of data revealed that the phenyl ring is responsible for a shielding effect (upfield shift) instead of a naphthyl one. This conclusion is supported by the crystallographic analysis showing the almost ap-arrangement of the acid methine hydrogen atom and carbonyl group. In this arrangement, the phenyl ring faces toward the ester part of the molecule while the naphthyl one is orthogonal to the phenyl plane. Therefore, the mutual position of phenyl and alkyl groups with respect to the central molecule co-planarity thus determines the chemical shifts of the alcohol/amine substituents. The relative magnitude of the Deltadelta corresponds to those of Mosher's derivatives.

(S)-2-chloro-2-fluoroethanoyl isocyanate, a chiral derivative of trichloroacetyl isocyanate.

Carbamate diastereomers 3b-18b were prepared from easily accessible (S)-2-chloro-2-fluoroethanoyl isocyanate (1) and various secondary chiral alcohols. Compound 1 as a chiral analog of trichloroacetyl isocyanate undergoes the reaction with alcohols very fast, thus blocking the hydroxyl group for the purposes of NMR investigation. Moreover, the correlation of stereochemistry of 3b-18b with their (1)H NMR spectra revealed that the constitution as well as configuration influences regularly the values of chemical shift difference (deltadelta = delta(R) - delta(S)) except for those diastereomers bearing simple alkyl groups in the molecule. Spectral as well as crystallographic data manifest the predominant planar conformation of the central part of the molecule. Due to the good accessibility and high reactivity in particular, the acylisocyanate 1 might be considered, to some extent, an alternative for TAI giving additional information on a compound's spatial structure.