Carboxylic acids, molecular association

Benzene. Pure benzene (free in particular from toluene) must be used, otherwise the freezing-point is too low, and crystallisation may not occur with ice-water cooling alone. On the other hand, this benzene should not be specially dried immediately before use, as it then becomes slightly hygroscopic and does not give a steady freezing-point until it has been exposed to the air for 2-3 hours. Many compounds (particularly the carboxylic acids) associate in benzene, and molecular weights determined in this solvent should therefore be otherwise confirmed. 

Aluminum salts of carboxylic acids, aluminum carboxylates, may occur as aluminum tricarboxylates (normal aluminum carboxylates), Al(OOCR)2 monohydroxy (monobasic) aluminum dicarboxylates, (RCOO)2Al(OH) and dihydroxy (dibasic) aluminum monocarboxylates, RCOOAl(OH)2. Aluminum carboxylates are used in three general areas textiles, gelling, and pharmaceuticals. Derivatives of low molecular weight carboxyUc acids have been mainly associated with textile appHcations those of fatty carboxyUc acids are associated with gelling salts and more complex carboxylates find appHcations in pharmaceuticals. 

Typical examples are the conversion of the neutral form of an amino acid into its zwitterionic form, the helix-coil transitions in polypeptides and polynucleotides, and other conformational changes in biopolymers. Reactions of higher molecularity in which reactants and products have different dipole moments are subject to the same effect (association of the carboxylic acids to form hydrogen-bonded dimers). Equilibrium involving ions are often more sensitive to the application of an electric field ... 

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a class of zinc- and calcium-dependent enzymes that are responsible for the metabolism of extracellular matrix proteins [27]. Increased activity of MMPs has been associated with pathological diseases such as arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer s disease [28-31]. Therefore, they constitute an important group of drug targets. Their inhibition is accomplished by blocking the active site of the catalytic domain with ligands that contain hydroxamic or carboxylic acids to chelate the Zn metal. The identification of low molecular weight compounds that contain different scaffolds may lead to the development of a new class of specific inhibitors. 

This rule works best for apolar, quasi-spherical molecules. Large deviations occur when chemical association is involved (e.g., carboxylic acids), from molecular dipolarity (e.g., dimethyl sulfoxide), and from molecular asphericity (e.g., neopentane/ -pentane). Strongly associating solvents (e.g., HF, H2, NH3, alcohols, carboxylic acids) have Trouton constants which are higher than the average value of 88 J mol K" found for nonassociating solvents such as diethyl ether and benzene. 

As discussed in Sect. 2.5, the ability of the host and guest to self-associate must be established prior to any complexation studies. Carboxylic acids 33, 34, 47, and 49 showed no tendency to aggregate in chloroform [59]. In contrast, the lH NMR of carboxylic acid 31 contained several broad resonances that were consistent with a zwitterionic structure and/or an aggregate [56]. For this reason, complexation studies have not been carried out with the highly twisted molecular tweezers 31 or 32. For the guests used in these studies, dimerization constants were known and indicated that self-association would be negligible under the concentrations used. 

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