Common structural features

The sensation of sweetness obviously involves interaction between the sweetener and some sort of biological receptor. It might be expected, therefore, that sweeteners share common structural features. Is this the case ... 

Some common structural features of the dispersed phases that can be observed in HIPS are shown in Fig. 3 [144]. 

The only crystalline phase which has been isolated has the formula Pu2(OH)2(SO )3(HaO). The appearance of this phase is quite remarkable because under similar conditions the other actinides which have been examined form phases of different composition (M(OH)2SOit, M=Th,U,Np). Thus, plutonium apparently lies at that point in the actinide series where the actinide contraction influences the chemistry such that elements in identical oxidation states will behave differently. The chemistry of plutonium in this system resembles that of zirconium and hafnium more than that of the lighter tetravalent actinides. Structural studies do reveal a common feature among the various hydroxysulfate compounds, however, i.e., the existence of double hydroxide bridges between metal atoms. This structural feature persists from zirconium through plutonium for compounds of stoichiometry M(OH)2SOit to M2 (OH) 2 (S0O 3 (H20) i,. Spectroscopic studies show similarities between Pu2 (OH) 2 (SOO 3 (H20) i, and the Pu(IV) polymer and suggest that common structural features may be present. 

The bright colors of flowers and the varied hues of autumn leaves have always been a cause for delight, but it was nor until the twentieth century that chemists understood how these colors arise from the presence of organic compounds with common structural features. They discovered how small differences in the structures of the molecules of these compounds can enhance photosynthesis, produce important vitamins, and attract pollinating bees. They now know how the shapes of molecules and the orbitals occupied by their electrons explain the properties of these compounds and even the processes taking place in our eyes that allow us to see them. 

These nuclear receptors have several common structural features (Figure 43-12). All have a centrally located DNA-binding domain (DBD) that allows the receptor to bind with high affinity to a response element. The DBD contains two zinc finger binding motifs (see Figure 39-14) that direct binding either as homodimers, as heterodimers (usually with a retinoid X... 

Chemicals that possess a common structural feature are called congeners. Some common examples are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), poly-brominated diphenylethers (PBDE) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFC). The common features... 

Many enzymes have absolute specificity for a substrate and will not attack the molecules with common structural features. The enzyme aspartase, found in many plants and bacteria, is such an enzyme [57], It catalyzes the formation of L-aspartate by reversible addition of ammonia to the double bond of fumaric acid. Aspartase, however, does not take part in the addition of ammonia to any other unsaturated acid requiring specific optical and geometrical characteristics. At the other end of the spectrum are enzymes which do not have specificity for a given substrate and act on many molecules with similar structural characteristics. A good example is the enzyme chymotrypsin, which catalyzes hydrolysis of many different peptides or polypeptides as well as amides and esters. 

Within each of these adhesion molecule families, membership has been defined largely by amino-acid sequence similarity, which is reflected in common structural features. Consequently, distinct binding requirements also characterize each family. For example, cadherins interact in a Ca2+-dependent, usually homophilic manner. Binding of the members of the Ig family is Ca2+-independent and, although frequently homophilic, can be heterophilic. Integrin binding is also divalent cation-dependent (Ca2+, Mg2+) but always heterophilic. 

Several ring-closure reactions for [l,2,4]triazolo[3,4- ][l,3,4]thiadizines have been described, and all these procedures started from 3-mercapto-4-amino[l,2,4]triazole 135 (Scheme 26). A common structural feature of the reagents is the presence of the CH2X (X = halogen atom) moiety which allows the alkylation at the sulfur atom followed by a ring-closure reaction via an elimination step. Some typical ring closures are shown in Scheme 26. 

The common structural feature underlying these pigments is the isoindoline ring (X1, X3 = H2) ... 

The general procedure is to use reconstructed ion chromatograms at appropriate m/z values in an attempt to locate compounds of interest and then look at the mass spectrum of the unknown to determine its molecular weight. MS-MS can then be employed to obtain spectra from this and related compounds to find ions that are common to both and which may therefore contain common structural features. Having the same m/z value does not necessarily mean the ions are identical and further MS-MS data or the elemental composition may be required. If these data do not allow unequivocal structure identification, then further MS" information may be required. 

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