Binding sites Lewis acidic

White blood oells oontinually patrol the circulatory system and interstitial spaces, ready for mobilization at a site of trauma. The frontline scouts for leukocytes are carbohydrate groups on their surface called sialyl Lewis acids. When injury occurs, cells at the site of trauma display proteins, called selectins, that signal the site of injury and bind sialyl Lewis acids. Binding between selectins and the sialyl Lewis acids on the leukocytes causes adhesion of leukocytes at the affected area. Recruitment of leukocytes in this way is an important step in the inflammatory cascade. It is a necessary part of the healing process as well as part of our natural defense against infection. A molecular model of a sialyl Lewis acid is shown below, and its structural formula is given in Section 22.16. 

Figure 5.10. Defects consisting of oxygen vacancies constitute adsorption sites on a Ti02 (110) surface. Note how CO binds with its lone-pair electrons on a Ti ion (a Lewis acid site). O2 dissociating on a defect furnishes an O atom that locally repairs the defect. CO2 may adsorb by coordinating to an O atom, thus forming a carbonate group. [Figure adapted from W. Gopel, C. Rocher and R. Feierabend, Phys. Rev. B 28 (1983) 3427.]...

Adsorption enthalpies and vibrational frequencies of small molecules adsorbed on cation sites in zeolites are often related to acidity (either Bronsted or Lewis acidity of H+ and alkali metal cations, respectively) of particular sites. It is now well accepted that the local environment of the cation (the way it is coordinated with the framework oxygen atoms) affects both, vibrational dynamics and adsorption enthalpies of adsorbed molecules. Only recently it has been demonstrated that in addition to the interaction of one end of the molecule with the cation (effect from the bottom) also the interaction of the other end of the molecule with a second cation or with the zeolite framework (effect from the top) has a substantial effect on vibrational frequencies of the adsorbed molecule [1,2]. The effect from bottom mainly reflects the coordination of the metal cation with the framework - the tighter is the cation-framework coordination the lower is the ability of that cation to bind molecules and the smaller is the effect on the vibrational frequencies of adsorbed molecules. This effect is most prominent for Li+ cations [3-6], In this contribution we focus on the discussion of the effect from top. The interaction of acetonitrile (AN) and carbon monoxide with sodium exchanged zeolites Na-A (Si/AM) andNa-FER (Si/Al= 8.5 and 27) is investigated. 

Significant progress has been achieved in the preceding few years in the study of titanosilicate molecular sieves, especially TS-1, TS-2, Ti-beta, and Ti-MCM-41. In the dehydrated, pristine state most of the Ti4+ ions on the surfaces of these materials are tetrahedrally coordinated, being present in either one of two structures a tetrapodal (Ti(OSi)4) or a tripodal (Ti(OSi)3OH) structure. The former predominates in TS-1, TS-2, and Ti-beta, and the latter is prominent in Ti-MCM-41. The Ti ions are coordinatively unsaturated and act as Lewis acid sites that coordinatively bind molecules such as H20, NH3, CH3CN, and H202. Upon interaction with H202 or H2 + 02, the Ti ions form titanium oxo species. Spectroscopic techniques have been used to identify side-bound hydroperoxo species such as Ti(02H) and superoxo structures such as Ti(02 ) on these catalysts. 

In subsequent studies it has been found that a combination of Lewis-acid and micellar catalysis can lead to huge (in fact, enzyme like) rate acceleration in water. In the absence of Lewis-acid catalysts, micelles tend to inhibit Diels-Alder reactions, largely because of the particular nature of the substrate binding sites at the micelle. This problem can be solved by adding Lewis-acid catalysts that bind effectively at the micellar surface. 

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