The alkali metal cations Na(+) and K(+) have several important physiological roles, including modulating enzyme activity. Recent work has suggested that alkali metal cations may be coordinated by pi systems, such as the aromatic amino acid side chains. The ability of K(+) to interact with an aromatic ring has been assessed by preparing a family of synthetic receptors that incorporate the aromat...

Magnesium ion (Mg(2+)) is the fourth most common cation in the human body, and has a crucial role in many physiological functions. Mg(2+) homeostasis is an important contributor to bone development, however, its roles in the development of dental mineralized tissues have not yet been well known. We identified that transient receptor potential cation channel, subfamily M, member 7 (TRPM7), was s...

This overview on one of the subjects treated in our group deals with the synthesis and study of low-dimensional polymer and molecular solid state structures formed with alkaline earth metal ions in non-aqueous solvents. We have chosen several synthetic approaches in order to obtain such compounds. The first concept deals with the "cutting out" of structural fragments from a solid state structur...

A metal ion that attaches to a peptide backbone has the choice of binding to an amide carbonyl oxygen atom or to an amide nitrogen atom by replacement of the amide proton. Coordination to the nitrogen atom is normally accompanied by elimination of the proton, thereby resulting in deprotonation of the ligand. An alternative possibility, not involving deprotonation, is the unusual amide/iminol ta...

The extraction-separation of alkali, alkaline earth, and rare earth metal ions could be improved by using macrocyclic ligands as ion size selective masking reagents. By adding a macrocyclic ligand to the aqueous phase of a conventional chelate extraction system, the extraction of metal ions with larger ionic radii was shifted to a higher pH region. Consequently, the separation among the metal i...

Aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic esters, carboxylic amides, imines and N,N-disubstituted hydrazones react as electrophiles at their sp2-hybridized carbon atoms. These compounds also become nucleophiles, if they contain an H atom in the a-position relative to their C O or C N bonds. This is because they can undergo tautomerization to the corresponding enol as seen in Chapter 12. They are also C,H-...