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The anthryl-substituted rhodium(III) and iridium(III) heteroleptic beta-ketoenolato derivatives of general formula [M(acac)(2)(anCOacac)] [acac = pentane-2,4-dionate; anCOacac = 3-(9-anthroyl)pentane-2,4-dionate], 3 (M = Rh) and 4 (M = Ir), and [M(acac)(2)(anCH(2)acac)] [anCH(2)acac = 3-(9-anthrylmethyl)pentane-2,4-dionate], 5 (M = Rh) and 6 (M = Ir), were prepared by reacting the corresponding tris(pentane-2,4-dionate)metal complexes, [M(acac)(3)], with 9-anthroyl chloride and 9-chloromethylanthracene, respectively, under Friedel-Crafts conditions. 3-6 were characterized by elemental analysis, ion spray mass spectrometry (IS-MS), (1)H NMR, and UV-vis spectroscopy. The structure of 3 was also elucidated by single-crystal X-ray analysis. When excited at 365 nm, 3-6 result to be poorly luminescent compounds; while the free diketone, i.e., 3-(9-anthrylmethyl)pentane-2,4-dione 1, whose structure was established also by single-crystal X-ray analysis, results to be a strongly light emitting molecule. The study of the electrochemical behavior of 3-6 as well as of the corresponding tris-acetylacetonates of rhodium(III) and iridium(III) allows a satisfactory interpretation of their electrode process mechanism, and gives information about the location of the redox sites along with the thermodynamic and kinetic characterization of the corresponding redox processes. All data are in agreement with the hypothesis that the quenching of the anthracene fluorescence, observed for compounds 3-6, can be due to an intramolecular electron transfer process between the anthryl moiety and the metal-beta-ketoenolato component. Moreover, a study was carried out of the redox behavior of the dyads 3-6 under chemical activation. The one-electron oxidation of compounds 3-6 by thallium(III) trifluoroacetate leads to the formation of the corresponding cation radicals, 3(+)-6(+), whose highly resolved X-band EPR spectra were fully interpreted by computer simulation as well as by semiempirical and DFT calculations of spin density distribution.

The absorption, CD, and fluorescence emission spectra, and the fluorescence emission and depolarization lifetimes of the human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (hGM-CSF) and related peptides previously tested for their immunological activity, were measured in water at various pHs and temperatures to obtain information on their conformation in solution. The aim was to correlate the amino acid sequences, and the chain conformations and dynamics of the peptides, with their immunological properties. The CD spectrum of hGM-CSF revealed, as expected, a structure in solution similar to that in the crystalline state, but the fluorescence data suggest that the Trp 122 residue is more accessible to the solvent than the x-ray data would lead one to expect. They also suggest that some flexibility exists between the protein's two domains, one made up of the alpha-helices A and C and the other of the alpha-helices B and D plus the two beta-strands. In aqueous solution, none of the tested peptide CD spectra could be linked to a recognizable ordered conformation, i.e., an alpha-helix or a beta-sheet. The fluorescence of the peptide 11-24 suggests that the Trp 13 residue may appear in two types of situations: (a) in aqueous solution and (b) within a globular structure. Its CD spectra show that the tryptophan residue exists in both cases in a highly asymmetric environment independent of the pH.

Analysis by HPLC of the protein-free supernatant obtained after denaturation of aldose reductase shows that the native form of the enzyme (ARb) contains a tightly bound NADP+, which is absent in the oxidatively modified form (ARa). The absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectra of ARb and ARa are consistent with the presence of the cofactor only in the native form of aldose reductase. On the other hand, the modified enzyme, in appropriate thiol reducing conditions, can tightly bind NADP+. This indicates a potential reversibility of the modification of aldose reductase, at least in terms of retention of the cofactor.