Bibliothek

Notizen: Abstract  Pontine omnipause neurons (OPNs) have so far been considered as forming a homogeneous group of neurons whose tonic firing stops during the duration of saccades, when the head is immobilized. In cats, they pause for the total duration of gaze shifts, when the head is free to move. In the present study, carried out on alert cats with fixed heads, we present observations made during self-initiated saccades and during tracking of a moving target which show that the OPN population is not homogeneous. Of the 76 OPNs we identified, 39 were found to have characteristics similar to those of previously described neurons, ”saccade” (S-) OPNs: (1) the durations of their pauses were significantly correlated with the durations of saccades; (2) the discharge ceased shortly before saccade onset and resumed before saccade end; (3) visual responses to target motion were excitatory; and (4) during tracking, S-OPNs interrupted the discharge for the duration of saccades and resumed firing during perisaccadic ”drifts”. However, the characteristics of 37 neurons (”complex” (C-) OPNs) were different: (1) the pause duration was not correlated with the duration of self-initiated saccades; (2) time lead of pause onsets relative to saccades was, on average, longer than in the group of S-OPNs, and firing resumed after the saccade end; (3) visual target motion suppressed tonic discharges; and (4) during tracking, firing was interrupted for the total duration of gaze shifts, including not only saccades but also perisaccadic ”drifts”. We conclude that cat OPNs can be subdivided into two main groups. The first comprises neurons whose firing patterns are compatible with gating individual saccades (”saccade” OPNs). The second group consists of ”complex” OPNs whose firing characteristics are appropriate to gate total gaze displacements rather than individual saccades. The function of these neurons may be to disinhibit pontobulbar circuits participating in the generation of saccade sequences and associated perisaccadic drifts.

Notizen: Abstract  Connections from the otolithic organs to sternocleidomastoid (SCM) motoneurons were studied in 20 decerebrate cats. The electrical stimulation was selective for the saccular or the utricular nerves. Postsynaptic potentials were recorded from antidromically identified SCM motoneurons; these muscles participate mainly in neck rotation and flexion. Partial transections of the brainstem at the level of the obex were performed to identify the possible pathway from the otolithic organs to the SCM motoneurons. Saccular or utricular nerve stimulation mainly evoked inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) in the ipsilateral SCM motoneurons. Some of the sacculus-induced IPSPs were preceded by small-amplitude excitatory PSPs (EPSPs). The latencies of the PSPs ranged from 1.8 to 3.1 ms after saccular nerve stimulation and from 1.7 to 2.8 ms after utricular nerve stimulation, indicating that most of the ipsilateral connections were disynaptic. In the contralateral SCM motoneurons, saccular nerve stimulation had no or faint effects, whereas utricular nerve stimulation evoked EPSPs in about two-thirds of neurons, and no visible PSPs in about one-third of neurons. The latencies of the EPSPs ranged from 1.5 to 2.0 ms, indicating the disynaptic connection. Thus, the results suggest a difference between the two otolithic innervating patterns of SCM motoneurons. After transection of the medial vestibulospinal tract (MVST), saccular nerve stimulation did not evoke IPSPs at all in ipsilateral SCM motoneurons, but some (11/40) neurons showed small-amplitude EPSPs. Most (24/33) of the utricular-activated IPSPs disappeared after transection, whereas the other 9 neurons still indicated IPSPs. In the contralateral SCM motoneurons, no utricular-activated EPSPs were recorded after transection. These MVST transection results suggest that most of the otolith-SCM pathways are located in the MVST at the obex level. However, the results also suggest the possibility that other otolith-SCM pathways exist at the obex level.

Notizen: Abstract  Accurate performance by the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) is necessary to stabilize visual fixation during head movements. VOR performance is severely affected by peripheral vestibular damage; after one horizontal semicircular canal is plugged, the horizontal VOR is asymmetric and its amplitude is reduced. The VOR recovers partially. We investigated the limits of recovery by measuring the VOR’s response to ipsilesional and contralesional rotation after unilateral peripheral damage in cats. We found that the VOR’s response to rotation at high frequencies remained asymmetric after recovery was complete. When the stimulus was a pulse of head velocity comprising a dynamic overshoot followed by a plateau, gain was partially restored and symmetry completely restored within 30 days after the plug, but only for the plateau response. The overshoot in eye velocity remained asymmetric. The asymmetry was independent of stimulus velocity throughout the known linear velocity range of primary vestibular afferents. Sinusoidal rotation at 0.05–8 Hz revealed that, within this range, the persistent asymmetry was significant only at frequencies above 2 Hz. Asymmetry was independent of the peak head acceleration over the range of 50–500°/s2. When both horizontal canals were plugged, a small residual VOR was observed, suggesting residual signal transduction by plugged semicircular canals. However, transduction by plugged canals could not explain the enhancement of the VOR gain, at high frequencies, for rotation away from the plugged side compared with rotation toward the plug. Also, the high-frequency asymmetry was present after recovery from a unilateral labyrinthectomy. These results suggest that high-frequency asymmetry after unilateral damage is not due to residual function in the plugged canal. The findings are discussed in the context of a bilateral model of the VOR that includes central filtering.

Notizen: Abstract  Receptive-field properties of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) that had regenerated their axons were studied by recording single-unit activity from strands teased from peripheral nerve (PN) grafts apposed to the cut optic nerve in adult cats. Of the 286 visually responsive units recorded from PN grafts in 20 cats, 49.7% were classified, according to their receptive-field properties, as Y-cells, 39.5% as X-cells, 6.6% as W-cells, and 4.2% were unclassified. The predominant representation of Y-cells is consistent with a corresponding morphological study (Watanabe et al. 1993a), which identified α-cells as the RGC type with the largest proportion of regenerating axons. Among the X-cells, we only found ON-center types, whereas both ON-center and OFF-center Y-cells were found. As in intact retinas, the receptive-field center sizes of Y-cells and W-cells were larger than those of X-cells at corresponding displacements from the area centralis. Within the 10° surrounding the area centralis, the receptive fields of X-cells with regenerated axons were larger than those in intact retinas, suggesting that some rearrangement of retinal circuitry occurred as a consequence of degeneration and regeneration. Receptive-field center responses of Y-, X-, and W-type units with regenerated axons were similar to those found in intact retinas, but the level of spontaneous activity of Y- and X-type units was, in general, less than that of intact RGCs. Receptive-field surrounds were weak or not detected in more than half of the visually responsive RGCs with regenerated axons.

Notizen: Abstract  Functional connections of single reticulospinal neurons (RSNs) in the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis (NRG) with ipsilateral dorsal neck motoneurons were examined with the spike-triggered averaging technique. Extracellular spikes of single NRG-RSNs activated antidromically from the C6, but not from the L1 segment (C-RSNs) were used as the trigger. These neurons were monosynaptically activated from the superior colliculus and the cerebral peduncle. Single-RSN PSPs were recorded in 43 dorsal neck motoneurons [biventer cervicis and complexus (BCC) and splenius (SPL)] for 21 NRG-RSNs and 135 motoneurons tested. All synaptic potentials were EPSPs, and most of their latencies, measured from the triggering spikes, were 0.8–1.5 ms, which is in a monosynaptic range. The amplitudes of single-RSN EPSPs were 10–360 µV. Spike-triggered averaging revealed single-RSN EPSPs in multiple motoneurons of the same species (SPL or BCC), their locations extending up to nearly 1 mm rostrocaudally. Synaptic connections of single RSNs with both SPL and BCC motoneurons were also found with some predominance for one of them. The results provide direct evidence that NRG-RSNs make monosynaptic excitatory connections with SPL and BCC motoneurons. It appears that some NRG-RSNs connect predominantly with SPL motoneurons and others with BCC motoneurons.

Notizen: Abstract  Postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) evoked in motoneurons innervating the back and abdominal muscles in the lumbar part of the body by stimulating hindlimb cutaneous afferents were investigated in unanesthetized decerebate and spinal cats. Various types of PSP: pure excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP), pure inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP), and mixed PSP (i.e., EPSP followed by IPSP, EPSP/IPSP; and IPSP followed by EPSP, IPSP/EPSP) were observed. The weak stimulation at 2 times threshold (2T) produced predominantly the EPSP, while at 5T the incidence of IPSP or EPSP followed by IPSP was increased. In about 20–50% of the various groups of motoneurons, PSPs evoked by ipsi- and contralateral nerves were qualitatively and quantitatively similar. For the other motoneurons, PSPs evoked by ipsi- and contralateral nerves were markedly different with respect to magnitude and/or polarity. These findings suggest that, within each motoneuron pool, some neurons act to increase stiffness of the trunk or to move vertically in response to an increased activity of cutaneous afferents, while the other motoneurons act to produce lateral bending of the trunk.

Notizen: Abstract  The purpose of this review is to assess the role of short-latency pathways in the vestibulocollic reflex (VCR). First the current knowledge about the disynaptic and trisynaptic pathways linking semicircular canal and otolith afferents with cat neck motoneurons is summarized. We then discuss whether these pathways are sufficient or necessary to produce the responses observed in neck muscles by natural vestibular stimulation and conclude that they are neither. Finally, alternate pathways are considered, most likely involving reticulospinal fibers, which are an important part of the neural substrate of the VCR.

Notizen: Abstract  Corticospinal (CS) axon terminations in several species are widespread early in development but are subsequently refined into a spatially more restricted distribution. We studied the role of neural activity in sensorimotor cortex in shaping postnatal development of CS terminations in cats. We continuously infused muscimol unilaterally into sensorimotor cortex to silence neurons during the postnatal CS refinement period (weeks 3–7). Using anterograde transport of WGA-HRP, we examined the laterality of terminations from the muscimol-infused (i.e., silenced) and active sides in the spinal cord, as well as in the cuneate nucleus and red nucleus. We found that CS terminations from the muscimol-infused cortex were very sparse and limited to the contralateral side, while those from the active cortex maintained an immature bilateral topography. Controls (saline infusion, noninfusion) had dense, predominantly contralateral, CS terminations. There was a substantial decrease in the spinal gray matter area occupied by terminations from the side receiving the blockade and a concomitant increase in the area occupied by ipsilateral terminations from the active cortex. Optical density measurements of HRP reaction product from the active cortex in muscimol-infused animals showed substantial increases over controls in the ratio of ipsilateral to contralateral CS terminations for all laminae examined (IV–V, VI, VII). Our findings suggest that ipsilateral dorsal horn terminations reflect new axon growth during the refinement period because they are not present there earlier in development. Those in the ventral horn are present earlier in development and thus could reflect maintenance of transient terminations. Increased ipsilateral terminations from active cortex were due to recrossing of CS axons in lamina X and not to an increase in labeled CS axons in the ipsilateral white matter. Examination of brain stem terminations suggested that, between postnatal weeks 3 and 7, development of corticocuneate terminations also is activity-dependent but that development of corticorubral terminations is not. Activity-dependent CS development is a plausible mechanism by which early motor experiences could shape the anatomical and functional organization of the motor systems during a critical postnatal period.

Notizen: Abstract A 49-year-old man had three episodes of bacterial peritonitis in the 8 months after he started nocturnal intermittent peritoneal dialysis (NIPD) at home, using an automated cycler device. When peritonitis was first diagnosed, Enterobacter agglomerance was cultured in his peritoneal fluid. In the second and third episodes, Pasteurella multocida and alpha-Streptococcus were isolated, respectively. These bacteria are unusual pathogens in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) peritonitis. Detailed questioning revealed that a domestic cat had bitten the dialysis tube before the patient experienced the second episode of peritonitis. Pasteurella multocida is part of the normal oral flora in cats and dogs. We isolated Pasteurella multocida from the teeth of the patient's cat. Enterobacter agglomerance is part of the common bacterial flora in animal's alimentary tract, and alpha-Streptococcus is commonly found in animal's respiratory tracts. Since the patient removed the cat from his bedroom, he has had no peritonitis. NIPD is a very convenient sysytem for patients in the final stage of renal failure; however, patients must be aware of the risks associated with keeping pets in their homes. This case is the first report of cat-associated peritonitis in Japan.

Notizen: Abstract  The retrograde axonal transport method was used to compare the topography and organization of the visual zone of the claustrum in rat, guinea pig, rabbit and cat. First, massive Fluoro-Gold injections were placed into the primary visual cortex and the secondary areas. Experiments showed differences in the location of the visual zone among the animals under study. In rat, the visual zone occupied the posteroventral part of the claustrum and spread to its anterior pole. In guinea pig, neurons projecting to the visual cortex were located dorsally in the posterior half of the claustrum. In rabbit, similarly to the rat, they were localized in the posteroventral part; however, they did not reach the anterior pole. In cat, neurons that project to the visual cortex were concentrated dorsally in the posterior fourth of the claustrum. In double-injection experiments, Fast Blue and Diamidino Yellow were placed into the primary and secondary visual areas in various combinations. The experiments showed that in the rat and the rabbit claustral neurons project to primary visual cortex (area 17) as well as to both secondary visual areas (areas 18a and b). Populations of neurons sending axons to the primary and secondary areas showed full overlap. The presence of double-labeled neurons indicates that some claustral neurons project both to the primary and secondary fields. In cat, neurons that project to the primary visual cortex appear to be clearly separated from those connected with the secondary visual area, as no double-labeled neurons were found. In all studied species, the double injections placed into the visual and primary somatosensory cortex did not result in any double-labeling neurons. Our results indicate that the location of the visual zone in the posterior part of the claustrum is a phylogenetically stable feature, whereas its dorsoventral shift as well as the extent toward the anterior pole is related to the particular species. The overlap of neurons projecting to the primary and secondary visual areas in the rat and rabbit as well as the separation of both projections in cat appear to reflect the higher degree of complexity of the visual system in the latter.

Notizen: Abstract  The dendritic tree constitutes more than 93% of the receptive membrane area of a spinal motoneuron, yet little is known about its synaptic inputs. In this study we examined the distribution of glutamate-, GABA- and glycine-like immunoreactivity in boutons apposing dendrites in the L7 spinal cord motor nucleus, by use of postembedding immunohistochemistry on serial sections. We examined 799 boutons apposing 401 cross-sectioned dendrites of different calibre (range 0.2–15 µm), and 14 first-order (stem) dendrites. Thirty-five percent (35%) of the boutons were immunopositive for glutamate and 59% for GABA and/or glycine. Among the latter, 30% showed glycine immunoreactivity only and 24% were immunoreactive for both GABA and glycine. Very few were immunoreactive only for GABA (5%). As few as 6% of the boutons were judged as not enriched for any amino acid analysed. The fine structural characteristics of the boutons were in accordance with previous descriptions. The sample of dendrites was arranged in calibre bins in order to facilitate distribution analysis. Stem dendrites differed from the other bins, with a high total bouton covering (61%) and a high bouton density. Sixty-nine percent of the membrane covering was by glycine- and/or GABA-immunoreactive boutons, whereas 18% was covered by boutons enriched in glutamate. For non-stem dendrites, bouton covering fell from 33% to 12% with decreasing calibre. However, bouton apposition length decreased in parallel, yielding a fairly uniform bouton density among dendrites of different calibre. The lack of correlation between packing density and dendrite calibre was also evident when the sample of dendrites was broken down into subsamples based on content of amino acid immunoreactivity. The latter analysis also revealed that both the relative covering and density of boutons containing inhibitory amino acids (57%; glycine and/or GABA) and glutamate (38%), respectively, did not vary systematically with dendrite calibre. Combined, the data indicate that in non-stem dendrites the proportion of excitatory and inhibition inputs does not change systematically throughout the dendritic arborizations of spinal α-motoneurons. Thus, spinal motoneurons can, with respect to the general synaptic architecture, be divided into two main compartments, i.e. the proximal soma-juxtasomatic compartment (including stem dendrites) and the distal dendritc compartment. The proximal domain is under a powerful glycine and/or GABA influence. Finally, based on the data presented here and previously published data, it was calculated that spinal α-motoneurons receive in the range of 50–140×103 synaptic boutons.

Notizen: Abstract  The robust behavior, the degree of response linearity, and the aspect of contrast gain control in visual cortical simple cells are (amongst others) the result of the interplay between excitatory and inhibitory afferent and intracortical connections. The goal of this study was to suggest a simple intracortical connection pattern, which could also play a role in other cortical substructures, in order to generically obtain these desired effects within large physiological parameter ranges. To this end we explored the degree of linearity of spatial summation in visual simple cells experimentally and in different models based on half-wave rectifying cells (’’push-pull models’’). Visual cortical push-pull connection schemes originated from antagonistic motor-control models. Thus, this model class is widely applicable but normally requires a rather specific design. On the other hand we showed that a more generic version of a push-pull model, the so-called cascaded inhibitory intracortical connection scheme, which we implemented in a biologically realistic simulation, naturally explains much of the experimental data. We investigated the influence of the afferent and intracortical connection structure on the measured linearity of spatial summation in simple cells. The analysis made use of the relative modulation measure, which is easy to apply but is limited to moving sinusoidal grating stimuli. We introduced two basic push-pull models, where the order of threshold nonlinearity and linear summation is reversed. Very little difference is observed with the relative modulation measure for these models. Alterative models, like half-wave squaring models, were also briefly discussed. Of all model parameters, the ratio of excitation to inhibition in the simple cell exerts the most crucial influence on the relative modulation. Linearity deteriorates as soon as excitatory and inhibitory inputs are imbalanced and the relative modulation drops. This prediction was tested experimentally by extracellular recordings from cat area 17 simple cells and we found that about 62% showed a significant deviation from linear behavior. The problem that individual basic push-pull models are hard to distinguish experimentally led us to suggest a different solution. In order to generically account for the observed behavior (e.g., imbalance of excitation versus inhibition), we suggested a rather generic version of a push-pull model where it no longer mattered about (the hard-to-distinguish) fine differences in connectivity. Thus, we introduced a new class of biophysically realistic models (’’cascaded inhibition’’). This model class requires very little connection specificity and is therefore highly robust against parameter variations. Up to 25 cells are connected to each target cell. Thereby a highly interconnected network is generated, which also leads to disinhibition at some parts of an individual receptive field. We showed that the performance of these models simulates the degree of linearity and its variability in recal simple cells with comparatively high accuracy. This behavior can be explained by the self-regulating properties of a cascaded inhibitory connection scheme by which the balance between excitation and inhibition at a given cell is improved by the joint network effects. The virtues and the generic design of this connection pattern, therefore, allow to speculate that it is used also in other parts of the cortex.

Notizen: Abstract  The generation of locomotor-like spinal rhythms has been proposed to involve two neural centres with mutual reciprocal inhibition (Graham Brown’s ”half-centre” hypothesis). Much later a particular set of segmental flexor reflex pathways were described as being organized in accordance with this half-centre hypothesis. As these pathways became operative following injection of monoaminoxidase inhibitors and l-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-dopa), i.e. under the same conditions under which a spontaneous locomotor activity may develop, it was assumed that these particular pathways and spinal rhythm generators involve the same neuronal networks. In order to give further evidence to this hypothesis, we investigated whether short trains to ”flexor reflex afferents” (FRA) reset the spinal locomotor rhythm, i.e. shorten or lengthen the stimulated cycle after which the regular rhythm is resumed with step cycles of the original duration. The experiments were performed in anaemically decapitated, high-spinal curarized cats. A steady locomotor rhythm was induced by injection of nialamide and l-dopa and the influence of electrical stimulation (trains of 50–1000 ms) of FRA (joint, cutaneous, and group II and III muscle afferents) onto this rhythm was tested. Stimulation of FRA induced a clear resetting of the locomotor rhythm, which was mainly characterized by a flexion reflex pattern: during the extension phase the extensor activity was interrupted and a flexion phase was initiated; during the late flexion phase mainly a prolongation of that phase with a variable change of the following extension phase was induced. In addition to this prevailing pattern, stimulation of some nerves (in particular nerves to more distal extensors and the sural nerve) could often prolong extension, when stimulated during the late extension, or terminate the flexor burst and initiate a new extension phase, when stimulated during the late flexion phase. This pattern is probably due to the concomitant stimulation of group I afferents in the case of the muscle nerves and to separate non-FRA pathways in the case of the sural nerve. The results demonstrate that the interneurones of the FRA pathways, which are operative during l-dopa-induced locomotion in spinal animals, can be considered as neuronal elements of the rhythm-generating network for locomotion.

Notizen: Abstract  Micturition in the decerebrate cat is characterized by a coordinated bladder contraction and a simultaneous decrease in external urethral sphincter (EUS) efferent activity. Without the suppression of EUS activity, voiding is significantly impaired, resulting in a state sometimes referred to as bladder-sphincter dyssynergia. The aim of the present study was to determine whether glycinergic inhibition contributes to the suppression of EUS activity during micturition evoked by bladder distension or electrical stimulation of the pontine micturition center (PMC) in decerebrate cats. Using subconvulsive intravenous doses of strychnine (0.1–0.24 mg/kg), we examined changes in bladder and EUS electroneurographic (ENG) activity during micturition. Following subconvulsive doses of strychnine, tonic EUS ENG activity increased during bladder filling in five of six animals. In the presence of strychnine, it was possible to evoke reflex bladder contractions of similar duration and peak pressure to those observed before strychnine administration. However, there was an absence of suppression of EUS ENG activity during the bladder contractions in all the animals. To determine whether the changes in sphincter activity could be due to strychnine acting at glycine receptors on EUS motoneurons, sacral spinal tissue was processed for a structural protein (gephyrin) associated with the glycine receptor. Motoneurons in Onuf′s nucleus in S1 were identified using choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry and subsequently processed with a gephyrin monoclonal antibody. Abundant gephyrin labeling was evident throughout Onuf′s nucleus. Since Onuf′s nucleus is made up of EUS and other motoneuron populations, a sample of antidromically identified urethral and anal sphincter motoneurons were intracellularly labeled with tetramethylrhodamine dextran (TMR-D) and then processed with the gephyrin antibody. Using dual-beam confocal microscopy, gephyrin immunoreactivity was observed on the soma and proximal processes of individual EUS motoneurons in both male and female animals. It was concluded that a strychnine-sensitive mechanism contributes to the suppression of sphincter activity normally observed during voiding. Although glycinergic inhibition may affect several components of the circuitry responsible for micturition, it appears that the suppression of EUS motoneurons during micturition may be partly due to a direct glycinergic inhibition of the EUS motoneurons.

Notizen: Abstract  This study examined the role of trunk extensor muscles in the thoracic and lumbar regions during postural adjustments in the freely standing cat. The epaxial extensor muscles participate in the rapid postural responses evoked by horizontal translation of the support surface. The muscles segregate into two regional groups separated by a short transition zone, according to the spatial pattern of the electromyographic (EMG) responses. The upper thoracic muscles (T5-9) respond best to posteriorly directed translations, whereas the lumbar muscles (T13 to L7) respond best to anterior translations. The transition group muscles (T10-12) respond to almost all translations. Muscles group according to vertebral level rather than muscle species. The upper thoracic muscles change little in their response with changes in stance distance (fore-hindpaw separation) and may act to stabilize the intervertebral angles of the thoracic curvature. Activity in the lumbar muscles increases along with upward rotation of the pelvis (iliac crest) as stance distance decreases. Lumbar muscles appear to stabilize the pelvis with respect to the lumbar vertebrae (L7-sacral joint). The transition zone muscles display a change in spatial tuning with stance distance, responding to many directions of translation at short distances and focusing to respond best to contralateral translations at the long stance distance.

Notizen: Abstract  This study examined the configuration of the vertebral column of the cat during independent stance and in various flexed positions. The range of motion in the sagittal plane is similar across most thoracic and lumbar joints, with the exception of a lesser range at the transition region from thoracic-type to lumbar-type vertebrae. The upper thoracic column exhibits most of its range in dorsiflexion and the lower thoracic and lumbar in ventroflexion. Lateral flexion is limited to less than 5° at all segments. The range in torsion is almost 180° and occurs primarily in the midthoracic region, T4-T11. Contrary to the depiction in most atlases, the standing cat exhibits several curvatures, including a mild dorsiflexion in the lower lumbar segments, a marked ventroflexion in the lower thoracic and upper lumbar segments, and a profound dorsiflexion in the upper thoracic (above T9) and cervical segments. The curvatures are not significantly changed by altering stance distance but are affected by head posture. During stance, the top of the scapula lies well above the spines of the thoracic vertebrae, and the glenohumeral joint is just below the bodies of vertebrae T3-T5. Using a simple static model of the vertebral column in the sagittal plane, it was estimated that the bending moment due to gravity is bimodal with a dorsiflexion moment in the lower thoracic and lumbar region and a ventroflexion moment in the upper thoracic and cervical region. Given the bending moments and the position of the scapula during stance, it is proposed that two groups of scapular muscles provide the major antigravity support for the head and anterior trunk. Levator scapulae and serratus ventralis form the lateral group, inserting on the lateral processes of cervical vertebrae and on the ribs. The major and minor rhomboids form the medial group, inserting on the spinous tips of vertebrae from C4 to T4. It is also proposed that the hypaxial muscles, psoas major, minor, and quadratus lumborum could support the lumbar trunk during stance.

Notizen: Abstract The aim of this electron-microscopic study was to analyze the distribution of synaptic contacts on the cell bodies and dendrites of permanently axotomized adult cat spinal α-motoneurons. Following transection and ligation of the medial gastrocnemius nerve, the synaptic covering of the cell bodies and three different dendritic compartments of homonymous α-motoneurons was analyzed quantitatively at 3, 6, and 12 weeks postoperatively. The synaptic boutons were classified according to their size and the shape of their synaptic vesicles. On the soma, a transient increase in the number of boutons was noted at 3 weeks and 6 weeks postoperatively, while after 12 weeks the bouton number had decreased to half of its normal value. The transient increase was mainly due to an increase in the number of F-type boutons. At 12 weeks postoperatively, the synaptic covering was reduced by 83% on the soma and by 57% on the proximal dendrites. In the distal dendritic regions, the values for synaptic covering remained largely unchanged. In summary, axotomized motoneurons exhibit a reduction in synaptic covering which is maximal on the cell body and becomes less pronounced centrifugally along the dendrites. However, if also taking into account the loss of distal dendritic branches that occurs in axotomized motoneurons, the total loss of boutons is several times larger in the dendrites than on the soma.

Notizen: Abstract  In our previous report we found that subcutaneous (s.c.) formalin injection into the cutaneous receptive field (RF) of dorsal horn wide-dynamic-range (WDR) units and nociceptive primary afferent units resulted in a tonic, long-lasting increase in firing. However, s.c. formalin injection only resulted in a short-lasting increase in firing of non-nociceptive primary afferent units. In the present study, by using extracellular single-unit recording techniques we further studied effects of s.c. formalin on response properties of identified superficial-layer nociceptive-specific (NS) units and deeper-layer, low-threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM) units of L7 dorsal horn in urethane-chloralose-anesthetized cats. s.c. formalin injection into the RF of NS units resulted in a tonic, long-lasting increase in firing (7.08 ± 0.42 spikes/s, n = 5), for more than 1 h, compared with the spontaneous background (1.42 ± 0.03 spikes/s, n = 5). Formalin injection into the RF of LTM units also resulted in an increase in firing; however, the duration was short-lasting, for 25–520 s (152.92 ± 46.73 s, n = 12). The present study demonstrated that s.c. injection of dilute formalin solution resulted in activation of not only nociceptive but also non-nociceptive dorsal horn units, suggesting that tissue injury caused by s.c. formalin results in vigorous injury discharges of peripheral nerve terminals, which subsequently leads to activation of primary afferent neurons and secondary dorsal horn neurons.

Notizen: Abstract  The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in neck muscle and eye movement responses during the early stages of vestibular compensation (first 3 weeks after unilateral vestibular neurectomy, UVN). Electromyographic (EMG) activity from antagonist neck extensor (splenius capitis) and flexor (longus capitis) muscles and eye movements were recorded during sinusoidal visual and/or otolith vertical linear stimulations in the 0.05–1 Hz frequency range (corresponding acceleration range 0.003–1.16 g) in the head-fixed alert cat. Preoperative EMG activity from the splenius and longus capitis muscles showed a pattern of alternate activation of the antagonist neck muscles in all the cats. After UVN, two motor strategies were observed. For three of the seven cats, the temporal activation of the individual neck muscles was the same as that recorded before UVN. For the other four cats, UVN resulted in a pattern of coactivation of the flexor and extensor neck muscles because of a phase change of the splenius capitis. In both subgroups, the response patterns of the antagonist neck muscles were consistent for each cat independently of the experimental conditions, throughout the 3 weeks of testing. Cats displaying alternate activation of antagonist neck muscles showed an enhanced gain of the visually induced neck responses, particularly in the high range of stimulus frequency, and a gain decrease in the otolith-induced neck responses at the lowest frequency (0.25 Hz) only. By contrast, for cats with neck muscle coactivation, the gain of the visually induced neck responses was basically unaffected relative to preoperative values, whereas otolith-induced neck responses were considerably decreased in the whole range of stimulation. As concerns oculomotor responses, results in the two subgroups of cats were similar. The optokinetic responses were not affected by the vestibular lesion. On the contrary, otolith-induced eye responses showed a gain reduction and a phase lead. Deficits and short-term changes after UVN of otolith- and semicircular canal-evoked collic and ocular responses are compared.

Notizen: Abstract  Feline caudofemoralis (CF) is a promising preparation in which to study the properties of mammalian fast-twitch skeletal muscle, but little is known about its muscle fiber properties, architecture, and motor innervation. We used histochemical techniques to confirm that it contained predominantly type IIB fibers (95±2%, n=8, with six of eight muscles composed exclusively of type IIA and IIB fibers), but physiological experiments showed less fatiguability than for the type IIB component of medial gastrocnemius. This may be related to the surprisingly strong and regular recruitment of CF during repetitive tasks such as walking and trotting, which we demonstrated electromyographically. We measured muscle length over the anatomical range of motion for CF (∼0.6–1.2 L 0) and estimated working length during walking and trotting (∼0.95–1.15 L 0). The specific tension was similar to that of the exclusively slow-twitch soleus muscle (31.2±4.7 N/cm2 compared with 31.8±4.1 N/cm2; P〉0.8). Single fiber dissections of CF revealed a series-fibered architecture with a mean of 2.3 fibers, each 2.5 cm long, required to span the fascicle length. We identified two neuromuscular compartments in CF by cutting one of the two nerve branches innervating CF and depleting the glycogen stores in the intact motor units. These compartments were in parallel and extended the length of the muscle; their electromyographic activity was similar during various natural behaviors. CF and gluteus maximus motoneurons were labeled concurrently with a combination of fluorescent, retrograde tracers including Fluororuby, Fluorogold and Fast Blue. The CF motor nucleus was located in L7-S1, overlapping and intermingling extensively with the nucleus of the adjacent gluteus maximus muscle. Distributions of CF motoneuron diameter revealed one large peak around 50–55 µm, with relatively few small-diameter (less than 35 µm) cells. Using estimates of the total number of fibers in three muscles and the estimated number of α-motoneurons for those same muscles, we calculated a mean innervation ratio of ∼270, which is at the low end of the innervation ratios for type IIB motor units from other feline muscles and more similar to type IIA motor units. In general, CF appears to be a useful preparation in which to study the properties of fast-twitch muscle, but these properties may vary somewhat from type IIB fibers from different muscles.

Notizen: Abstract  The possibility of collateral segmental actions of spinocervical tract (SCT) neurones upon interneurones with input from cutaneous and group II muscle afferents was investigated in deeply anaesthetized cats. To this end, intracellular and/or extracellular recordings were made from 35 dorsal horn and 15 intermediate zone interneurones in midlumbar segments of the spinal cord and effects of stimulation of the ipsilateral dorso-lateral funiculus (DLF) at C3 and C1 levels, i.e. below and above the lateral cervical nucleus where axons of SCT cells terminate, were compared. The stimuli applied at the C3 segment were within the range of stimuli (50–100 μA) required for antidromic activation of SCT neurones in the same experiment. Those applied at the C1 segment (200–500 μA) were at least 3 times stronger than C3 stimuli. Under the same experimental conditions, long ascending and descending tract neurones (dorsal spino-cerebellar and rubro-spinal tract neurones) with axons in the DLF were activated at similar thresholds from the C1 and C3 segments. Intracellular recordings were made from 29 interneurnoes of which 19 (65%) were dorsal horn and 10 (35%) were intermediate zone interneurones. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) evoked by single stimuli applied at the C3 segment, but not the C1 segment, were found in 14 (48%) of those interneurones; their latencies (3.0–5.7 ms) and frequency following with only minimal temporal facilitation were as required for potentials being evoked monosynaptically by the fastest conducting SCT neurones. Extracellular recordings were made from 30 interneurones (24 dorsal horn and 6 intermediate zone interneurones), and in these neurones spike potentials induced from the C3, but not from the C1 segment, were evoked only by short trains of stimuli. However, their latencies from the first effective stimulus (4.3–5.4 ms) were compatible with mono- or oligosynaptically mediated collateral actions of SCT neurones. They were found in 10 (33%) of the 30 investigated interneurones. Similar effects of C3 stimuli were found in similar proportions of dorsal horn interneurones and intermediate zone interneurones. Indications were also found for synaptic actions evoked by C3 stimuli that could not be attributed to direct collateral actions of SCT neurones. In some intracellularly recorded dorsal horn interneurones, short-latency EPSPs were evoked from the C3 segment by the 2nd or 3rd stimulus in the train, but not by single stimuli. In other dorsal horn and intermediate zone interneurones, inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) were evoked from the C3 segment at minimal latencies (2.7–3.2 ms), which might be too short to allow their mediation via SCT neurones. We conclude that SCT neurones might be used to forward information from muscle group II and cutaneous afferents not only to neurones in the lateral cervical nucleus and via them to thalamus and cerebral cortex but also to interneurones in spinal reflex pathways. Thereby reflex actions evoked from group II and cutaneous afferents might be co-ordinated with responses mediated by supraspinal neurones. We conclude also that dorsal horn and intermediate zone mid-lumbar interneurones might contribute to the previously reported di-and poly-synaptic excitation or inhibition of postsynaptic dorsal column (PSDC), spinothalamic tract (STT) and spinomesencephalic tract (SMT) neurones by collateral actions of SCT cells. Thereby these interneurones might contribute to the co-ordination of responses mediated by various populations of supraspinal neurones.

Notizen: Abstract  Cells in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus of the cat have mainly binocular receptive fields. The aim of the present experiment was to investigate the sensitivity of these cells to horizontal spatial disparity. Unit recordings were carried out in the superficial layers of the superior colliculus of paralyzed and anesthetized cats. Centrally located receptive fields were mapped, separated using prisms, and then stimulated simultaneously using two luminous bars optimally adjusted to the size of the excitatory region of the receptive fields. Only binocular cells were tested, and 65% of these units were found to be sensitive to spatial disparities. Some cells (20%) were clearly insensitive to spatial disparity and the remaining 15% showed complex, unclassifiable interactions. The sensitive cells could be divided into four classes based on their disparity-sensitivity profiles: 38% showed excitatory interactions, whereas 9% showed inhibitory interactions. Moreover, 11% and 7% of the cells responded, respectively, to crossed or uncrossed disparities, and were classified as near cells and far cells. Whereas the general shapes of the sensitivity profiles were similar to those of cells in areas 17–18, selectivity in the superior colliculus was significantly coarser. The superficial layers of the superior colliculus project topographically to the deep layers of the superior colliculus, which are known to contain circuits involved in the control of ocular movements. The results thus suggest that disparity-sensitive cells of the superior colliculus could feed information to these oculomotor neurons, allowing for the localization and fixation of objects on the appropriate plane of vision.

Notizen: Abstract  The experiments reported here demonstrate that the mechanical sensitivity of peripheral nerve fibres typically seen after injury can be induced without overtly injuring the nerve, but by simply applying colchicine topically to the nerve. In cats anaesthetised with pentobarbitone sodium, the medial gastrocnemius nerve was exposed and 10 mM colchicine applied topically for 15 min. The animals recovered from the operation normally and showed no subsequent motor deficit. Six days later animals were re-anaesthetised, a laminectomy carried out and responses recorded in single afferents at the level of the dorsal root. It was found that many afferents, particularly those with conduction velocities in the group II–III range, had become sensitive to local mechanical stimulation of the nerve in the region treated with colchicine and showed slowly adapting responses to stretch of the nerve. Many of the smaller fibres exhibited spontaneous activity. Mechanically sensitive afferents exhibited impulse conduction blocks at the colchicine-treated site. Some afferents, which appeared to conduct impulses normally through the treated region, were associated with muscle receptors having normal response properties. However, other muscle receptors were clearly abnormal and were insensitive to muscle stretch or contraction or exhibited only phasic responses. When the nerve was cut proximal to the colchicine-treated site, some, but not all, spontaneous activity was abolished. It was subsequently shown using a collision technique that the activity in some axons had its origin in the cell body in the dorsal root ganglion. In one experiment, it was shown that after nerve section proximal to the colchicine-treated region three of five axons switched their activity from a peripheral to a central origin. It is postulated that colchicine disrupts fast axonal transport of mechanically sensitive or voltage-sensitive ion channels, from the cell body to the peripheral terminals of the axons, leading to an accumulation of these channels at the treated site. This induces mechanical sensitivity and spontaneous activity. It is postulated that interruption of a retrogradely transported signal induces the spontaneous activity in the cell body. These experiments suggest that an important influence is exerted by the cell body on the peripheral terminals of mechanoreceptors to confer on them their normal response properties.

Notizen: Abstract  In cats the global (gCBF) as well as the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and blood pressure were measured before, during, and after noxious inward and outward rotations of normal and inflamed elbow joints. The animals were anesthetized with halothane and immobilized by gallamine triethiodide. The gCBF as well as the rCBF were measured using positron emission tomography (PET) with a camera specifically designed for use in small animals. Slow intravenous bolus injections of 15O-labeled water were followed by 3-min acquisition of regional radioactivity starting at the time of injection. In all experiments the gCBF as well as the blood pressure were increased by noxious inward-outward rotations of the normal and of the inflamed joint, whereas the blood pressure and the rCBF remained unchanged during bolus injections under control conditions (without any joint movement). Movements of the inflamed joint evoked significantly greater increases in blood pressure and gCBF than corresponding ones of the normal joint. These increases in gCBF were paralleled by increases in rCBF along the complete anterior to posterior axis of the brain. Again, the increases in rCBF were larger, more extensive and more uniform following the stimulation of the inflamed joint relative to the results obtained with stimulation of the normal joint. No significant laterality was seen, but when an atlas-based region of interest (ROI) analysis was carried out and when the individual variations in rCBF were removed with two-way ANOVA, significant differences were disclosed in rCBF between the stimulated condition and the resting condition in a large number of brain regions. In particular, noxious rotation of the normal (right) elbow joint induced a significant increase in rCBF over the cerebral cortex and in the right thalamus and hippocampus. The same stimulation of the (left) inflamed joint induced a significant increase in rCBF throughout the brain; the biggest increase being over the right posterior cortex. It is concluded that under the conditions of the present experiments the generally accepted autoregulation of the cerebral blood flow is not fully functioning, and various factors that may be responsible for this failure (which obscures rCBF differences) are discussed. The more pronounced increases in rCBF when moving inflamed joints instead of normal ones is thought to be a direct consequence of the peripheral sensitization of the articular nociceptors and the consequent central hyperexcitability induced in the articular nociceptive pathways.

Notizen: Abstract  This study examined (1) how changes in head position affect postural orientation variables during stance and (2) whether changes in head position affect the rapid postural response to linear translation of the support surface in the horizontal plane. Cats were trained to stand quietly on a moveable platform and to maintain five different head positions: center, left, right, up, and down. For each head position, stance was perturbed by translating the support surface linearly in 16 different directions in the horizontal plane. Postural equilibrium responses were quantified in terms of the ground reaction forces, kinematics, dynamics (net joint torques), body center of mass, and electromyographic (EMG) responses of selected limb and trunk muscles. A change in head position involved rotation of not only the neck but also the scapulae and anterior trunk. Tonic EMG levels were modulated in several forelimb and scapular muscles but not hindlimb muscles. Finally, large changes in head orientation in both horizontal and vertical planes did not hamper the ability of cats to maintain postural equilibrium during linear translation of the support surface. The trajectory of the body’s center of mass was the same, regardless of head position. The main change was observed in joint torques at the forelimbs evoked by the perturbation. Evoked EMG responses of forelimb and scapular muscles were modulated in terms of magnitude but not spatial tuning. Hindlimb responses were unchanged. Thus, the spatial and temporal pattern of the automatic postural response was unchanged and only amplitudes of evoked activity were modulated by head position.

Notizen: Abstract  Visually evoked potentials (VEPs) measured under conditions of retinal image stabilization that minimized the influences of visual masking and smearing were averaged from electroencephalographic records measured from striate cortex of three cats. The amplitudes of the VEPs increased around saccade initiation. The grating-evoked potentials obtained at different times relative to the saccade exhibited changes in waveform shape that could be attributed to a saccade-evoked potential. The changes in the shape of the waveform were reasonably accounted for by the summation of the grating-evoked potential (produced when the cat did not make a saccade) and an appropriately timed saccade-evoked potential. The fundamental amplitudes of the residual potentials were computed and found to vary across the time course of the saccade. These observations suggest that there are other influences besides visual masking that are exerted early in the visual pathway to modulate visual processing during saccadic eye movements. A corollary discharge process is the most likely candidate to exert these influences.

Notizen: Abstract  The neuronal responsiveness to three-dimensional (3D) motion in cat posteromedial lateral suprasylvian (PMLS) cortex was studied using a computer-controlled, stereoscopic 3D graphic display capable of reproducing the major visual cues for natural 3D motion, including motion disparity, size, texture, and shading changes. The animals were anesthetized with nitrous oxide supplemented with alphaxalone, and paralysis prevented eye movement. Systematic investigation of neuronal responsiveness to 3D motions in 26 different directions revealed that more than half of the PMLS cells were selectively responsive to approaching (AP cells, 112 of 271) or recessive motion (RC cells, 64 of 271). The remaining cells were selectively responsive to frontoparallel motion (FP cells, 49 of 271) or nonselectively responsive to motion in multiple directions (NS cells, 46 of 271). The dependency on these visual cues was investigated as a reduction in the response amplitude or the response selectivity for the removal of a single cue from the motion stimuli containing the full visual cues. The AP and RC cells showed a strong dependency on the motion disparity cue, moderate dependency on the size cue, and weak dependency on the texture and shading cues. The FP cells showed no dependency on those visual cues. The cue dependency analysis indicated the existence of nonlinear interactions between those visual cues. Comparison of the responses to a combination of the motion disparity and size cues with the summed responses to each of the individual cues revealed that the responses to the combined cues are roughly predicted as a linear sum between the preferred responses. This comparison also showed nonlinear summation between the nonpreferred responses, i.e., responses to the combined cues were smaller than the summed responses. A similar quasilinear summation of the preferred responses between the two eyes and a nonlinear summation of the nonpreferred responses were found in the AP and RC cells for the motion disparity stimulus. All of these observations indicate that quasilinear and nonlinear interactions of the responses to various stimulus elements underlie the 3D motion responsiveness of the PMLS cells.

Notizen: Abstract  In pentobarbitone-anaesthetised spinal cats, a comparison was made of the effects of intravenous bicuculline hydrochloride, a GABAA-receptor antagonist, and several (-)-baclofen (GABAB-receptor) antagonists (CGP 35348, 46381, 56999A) on the prolonged inhibition of extensor-muscle monosynaptic reflexes, recorded from lumbar ventral roots, by brief or continuous tetanic stimulation of low-threshold afferent fibres of hindlimb flexor muscles. Two components of brief tetanus inhibition were detected. Whilst possibly of similar central latency, the inhibition associated with GABAB receptors had a longer time course than that reduced by bicuculline. Furthermore, whereas bicuculline reduced primary afferent depolarization, generated by the inhibitory volleys, and detected as dorsal-root potentials, such potentials were generally enhanced by intravenous baclofen antagonists. The inhibition of reflexes during and after continuous (333 Hz) tetanic flexor-nerve stimulation appeared to be predominantly associated with the activation of GABAB receptors. In the period following continuous tetanic flexor-nerve stimulation, during which monosynaptic extensor reflexes were reduced in amplitude, the action potentials of the intraspinal terminations of extensor-muscle group-Ia afferent fibres were reduced in duration, as detected by the time course of the recovery of the threshold to extracellular microstimulation following the arrival of an orthodromic impulse. A reduction in termination action-potential duration also accompanied the reduction by microelectrophoretic (-)-baclofen of the release of excitatory transmitter from group-Ia terminations, both presynaptic effects being blocked by microelectrophoretic baclofen antagonists. However, the reduction of the duration of the action potential of individual group-Ia terminations, which followed continuous flexor-nerve stimulation, was not sensitive to the baclofen antagonist CGP 55845A, but was diminished by bicuculline methochloride. Intravenously administered bicuculline hydrochloride, however, had little or no effect on the inhibition of reflexes following continuous flexor-nerve stimulation. These observations are discussed in the context of possible intraspinal pathways and pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms for GABAA and GABAB receptor-mediated inhibition of the monosynaptic excitation of spinal motoneurones and of the functional significance of central GABAB receptor-associated inhibitory processes, given the relatively minimal effects on motor activity and behaviour produced by baclofen antagonists that penetrate the mammalian blood-brain barrier.

Notizen: Abstract Orofacial dyskinesia (OFD) is a disorder characterized by involuntary movements of the oral and facial muscles. OFD attacks can be elicited acutely in cats by local injections of dopaminergic agents into the anterodorsal part (r-CRM) of the caudate nucleus. Because the dopaminergic A8 cell group, being embedded in the retrorubral nucleus (RRN), gives rise to fibres which terminate in the r-CRM, two questions arose: (1) whether the A8 cell group forms part of the circuitry that directs and/or modulates OFD, and (2) whether GABA-ergic compounds in the RRN play a role in OFD, and if so, whether a pharmacological GABA-ergic intervention of the activity in the RRN modulates or mediates OFD. For this purpose, the activity of the RRN was manipulated with local injections of the GABAA agonist muscimol and antagonist bicuculline. These local injections into the RRN were subsequently combined with manipulations of dopamine transmission in the r-CRM with local injections of the selective DAi receptor agonist (3,4-dihydroxyphenylimino)-2-imidazoline. The present study shows that local injections of GABA-ergic compounds into the RRN do not elicit OFD attacks in cats, but can modulate oral behaviour elicited from the r-CRM. The latter effect is dose dependent and GABA-ergic specific.

Notizen: Abstract Studies were carried out on the organization of the internal connections of the striate cortex in cats in the projection zone of the center (0–5°) of the field of vision by microintophoretic application of horseradish peroxidase to electrophysiologically identified orientational columns. The area containing neurons showing retrograde labeling in most cases extended in the mediolateral direction. Labeled cells were located in the upper (II, III) and lower (V, VI) layers of the cortex, and the shapes and orientations of the areas containing labeled neurons in these layers coincided. Spatial asymmetry was detected in the distribution of labeled neurons relative to the orientational column studied. Labeled cells were located predominantly medial to the columns, regardless of the distance from the projection of the area centralis. Considering the visuotopical map of field 17, the asymmetry detected here provides evidence that neurons in orientational columns have more extensive connections with neurons of the peripheral part of the cortex. An asymmetrical distribution of “silent” zones around the receptive fields of neurons in orientational columns is suggested, and that these appear to receive influences from the periphery of the visual field.

Notizen: Abstract  There is evidence that glycans carrying terminal galactose residues are differently expressed in the sarcoplasm of different muscle fiber types. In this study monoclonal antibodies directed against P blood group antigens Pk: Galα1–4Galβ1–4Glcβ- and P1: Galα1–4Galβ1–4GlcNAcβ- were used to detect terminal α-galactosylated glycoconjugates on muscle proteins. Electrotransfer of proteins, extracted from human masseter and biceps muscles, to nitrocellulose after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and incubation with anti-Pk (CD77) consistently showed two bands with apparent molecular weights of 66 kDa and 64 kDa. In fresh frozen muscle sections from some humans there was endothelial reaction with anti-CD77 in capillaries, venules and veins but not in arterioles and arteries. In muscle samples from other humans there was no staining of endothelial cells. Formalin-fixed human muscle displayed a CD77 reaction with highest accumulation of reaction product at the periphery of the fibers. This may be explained by the presence of Pk glycoconjugates on intermediate filaments in muscle fibers. In preparations of cat masseter muscle proteins the antibodies against P1Pk antigens reacted with a 170 kDa and a 55 kDa band while in preparations of cat biceps brachii only a 55 kDa band was reactive. The specificities of the antibodies were investigated by fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS), α- and β-galactosidase digestion and inhibitory sugars. This study indicates that glycans carrying Galα1–4Galβ1- epitopes are expressed on myofibrillar associated proteins.

Notizen: Abstract Minimum onset latency (Lmin) of single- and multiple-unit responses were mapped in the primary auditory cortex (AI) of barbiturate-anesthetized cats. Contralateral Lmin for multiple units was non-homogeneously distributed along the dorso-ventral/isofrequency axis of the AI. Responses with shorter latencies were more often located in the central, more sharply tuned region while longer latencies were more frequently encountered in the dorsal and ventral portions of the AI. For single units, a large scatter of Lmin values was found throughout the extent of the AI including cortical depth. The relationship between Lmin and previously reported spectral, intensity and temporal parameters was analyzed and revealed statistically significant correlations between minimum onset latency and the following response properties in some but not all studied animals: sharpness of tuning of a frequency response area 10 dB above threshold, broadband transient response, strongest response level, monotonicity of rate/level functions, dynamic range, and preferred frequency modulation sweep direction. This analysis suggests that Lmin is determined by several independent factors and that the prediction of Lmin based on relationships with other spectral and temporal response properties is inherently weak. The spatial distribution and the functional relationship between these response parameters may provide an important aspect of the time-based cortical representation of specific features in the animal's natural environment.

Notizen: Abstract The reinnervation pattern of crural pacinian corpuscles was examined by light and electron microscopy in eight adult cats of both sexes 3–18 months after sciatic nerve crush. Normal pacinian corpuscles are each supplied with a single myelinated axon and a single cylindrical axon terminal which may branch in the distal part of the inner core. Reinnervation of these vibroreceptors was very satisfactory after sciatic nerve crush: in a sample of 68 corpuscles examined 3–18 months after the operation, 92.6% were found reinnervated, while only 7.4% remained denervated. At the nerve entry, 84.2% of the reinnervated corpuscles were supplied with a single myelinated axon, while 15.8% received two myelinated axons; some of the axons branched before or after entering the inner core. Near the mid-level of the inner core, 60.3% of 63 reinnervated corpuscles were innervated with a single axon terminal, 22.2% were biterminal, while 17.5% had three or more terminals. Regenerated axon terminals induced the formation of thin lamellar layers in the axial region of the original core and, exceptionally, also at the outer aspect of the original core. In monoterminal corpuscles, the shape and ultrastructure of regenerated endings resembled those of normal controls, whereas in multiterminal corpuscles their shape and profiles were variable. In contrast to previous reports, reinnervated corpuscles did not ultimately become monoterminal. On the contrary, the mean number of 1.3 terminals found in reinnervated crural corpuscles at 3–5 months increased to 1.9 terminals per corpuscle 6–18 months after axotomy.

Notizen: Abstract  This study was primarily aimed at investigating the selectivity of the cortico-spinal actions exerted on the pathways mediating primary afferent depolarization (PAD) of muscle spindle and tendon organ afferents ending within the intermediate nucleus at the L6–L7 segmental level. To this end we analyzed, in the anesthetized cat, the effects produced by electrical stimulation of sensory nerves and of the cerebral cortex on (a) the intraspinal threshold of pairs of single group I afferent fibers belonging to the same or to different hindlimb muscles and (b) the intraspinal threshold of two collaterals of the same muscle afferent fiber. Afferent fibers were classified in three categories, according to the effects produced by stimulation of segmental nerves and of the cerebral cortex. Twenty-five of 40 fibers (62.5%) were depolarized by stimulation of group I posterior biceps and semitendinosus (PBSt) or tibialis (Tib) fibers, but not by stimulation of the cerebral cortex or of cutaneous and joint nerves, which instead inhibited the PBSt- or Tib-induced PAD (type A PAD pattern, usually seen in Ia fibers). The remaining 15 fibers (37.5%) were all depolarized by stimulation of the PBSt or Tib nerves and the cerebral cortex. Stimulation of cutaneous and joint nerves produced PAD in 10 of those 15 fibers (type B PAD pattern) and inhibited the PBSt- or Tib-induced PAD in the 5 remaining fibers (type C PAD pattern). Fibers with a type B or C PAD pattern are likely to be Ib. Not all sites in the cerebral cortex inhibited with the same effectiveness the segmentally induced PAD of group I fibers with a type A PAD pattern. With the weakest stimulation of the cortical surface, the most effective sites that inhibited the PAD of individual fibers were surrounded by less effective sites, scattered all along the motor cortex (area 4γ and 6) and sensory cortex (areas 3, 2 and 1), far beyond the area of projection of group I fibers from the hindlimb. With higher strengths of cortical stimulation, the magnitude of the inhibition was also increased, and previously ineffective or weakly effective sites became more effective. Maps obtained when using the weakest cortical stimuli have indicated that the most effective regions that produced PAD of group I fibers with a type B or type C PAD pattern were also scattered throughout the sensory-motor cortex, in the same general area as those that inhibited the PAD of group I afferents with a type A PAD pattern. In eight fibers with a type A PAD pattern it was possible to examine the intraspinal threshold of two collaterals of the same single afferent fiber ending within the intermediate nucleus at the L7 segmental level. In six fibers, stimulation of the PBSt nerve with trains of pulses between 1.5 and 1.86 times threshold (×T) produced a larger PAD in one collateral than in the other. In seven fibers, stimulation of the sensory-motor cortex and of cutaneous nerves produced a larger inhibition of the PBSt-induced PAD in one collateral than in the other. The ratio of the cortically induced inhibition of the PAD elicited in the two collaterals could be modified by changing the strength of cortical and of PBSt stimulation. In three fibers it was possible to inhibit almost completely the background PAD elicited in one collateral while having little or no effect on the PAD in the other collateral. Changes in the intraspinal threshold of pairs of collaterals following electrical stimulation of segmental nerves and of the somato-sensory cortex were examined in three fibers with a type B and two fibers with a type C PAD pattern. In four fibers the PAD elicited by stimulation of cutaneous (4–20×T) and muscle nerves (1.54–3.7×T), or by stimulation of the sensory-motor cortex, was of different magnitude in the two collaterals. In two experiments it was possible to find cortical sites in which weak surface stimulation produced PAD in one collateral only. The magnitude of the PAD elicited in pairs of collaterals of group I afferents with a type B or C PAD pattern, or the inhibition of the PAD in pairs of collaterals of fibers with a type A PAD pattern, appeared not to be topographically related to the site of spinal projection of the cutaneous and cortico-spinal fibers used for conditioning stimulation. The present demonstration of a differential control of the PAD exerted on two collaterals of the same afferent fiber suggests that the profuse intraspinal branching of muscle spindle and tendon organs is a potentially rich substrate for information transmission. By means of presynaptic control mechanisms, the terminal arborizations of the afferent fibers could function either as a simple unit or in a fractionated manner, allowing funneling of information to selected groups of central neurons.

Notizen: Abstract Results of previous studies have indicated that the rostral superior colliculus (SC) plays an important part in the control of accommodation. The present study was carried out to investigate retinal projections to the accommodation-related area in the rostral SC. We injected WGA-HRP into the accommodation-related area in the rostral SC of the cat, where accommodative responses were elicited by stimulation with weak currents of less than 20 μA. Following injection of WGA-HRP into the accommodation-related area in the rostral SC, retrogradely labeled ganglion cells were observed mainly in the area centralis. Projections from the contralateral eye were denser than those from the ipsilateral eye. Almost all retrogradely labeled cells were classified as γ-cells owing to their small cell-body diameters and thin dendrites, although a few were classified as α-cells. These findings suggest that the accommodation-related area in the rostral SC is located in the portion corresponding to the area of representation of the central visual field and receives mainly γ-cell projections

Notizen: Abstract  In the ventral horn of the lumbar spinal cord of cats anaesthetised with pentobarbitone sodium, microelectrophoretically administered (–)-baclofen, but not (+)-baclofen, reversibly reduced the duration of the orthodromic action potential of muscle group Ia afferent terminations, but not those of muscle group I afferent myelinated fibres. The presumably submicromolar concentrations are already known to reversibly reduce excitatory transmitter release from muscle group Ia afferent terminations. Action potential durations were estimated from threshold recovery curves after an orthodromic impulse using an extracellular microstimulation technique. Both of these presynaptic effects of (–)-baclofen were blocked by baclofen antagonists, and neither appeared to be reduced by the potassium channel blocking agents tetraethylammonium and 4-aminopyridine. Tetraethylammonium and 4-aminopyridine also did not significantly modify the reduction by (–)-baclofen of monosynaptic field potentials in the lumbar cord of rats anaesthetised with pentobarbitone sodium. In the cat the maximum reduction by (–)-baclofen of termination action potentials was considerably less than that produced by cadmium ions, which, unlike (–)-baclofen, also reduced the action potential duration of group I myelinated fibres. These findings are consistent with a reduction by (–)-baclofen of the influx of calcium through voltage-activated channels in the membrane of group Ia terminations, a proposal which also accounts for the reduction by (–)-baclofen of the release of GABA at axo-axonic depolarizing synapses on these terminations. The results are discussed in relation to the mode of action of (–)-baclofen and the different sensitivities of transmitter release at various central synapses.

Notizen: Abstract  Axonal pathways, projection levels, conduction velocities, and locations of the cell bodies of saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons were studied in decerebrated cats and anesthetized cats, using a collision test of orthodromic and antidromic spikes. The saccular nerve was selectively stimulated by bipolar tungsten electrodes. Three monopolar electrodes were inserted into the left and right lateral vestibulospinal tract (LVST) and medial vestibulospinal tract (MVST) of the C1 segment, to determine the pathway of axons. Three pairs of similar electrodes were positioned bilaterally in the C3–4, T1, and L3 segments to examine projection levels. Another monopolar electrode was placed in the oculomotor nucleus to determine whether saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons have branches ascending to the oculomotor nucleus. Of 145 vestibular neurons orthodromically activated by stimulation of the saccular nerve, 46 were activated from the C1 segment antidromically. Forty-three were second-order vestibulospinal neurons and 3 were third-order vestibulospinal neurons. Four saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons were also antidromically activated from the oculomotor nucleus. Sixty-three percent of the saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons descended through the MVST; one-third of these terminated in the upper cervical segments, one-third reached the lower cervical segments and the remaining one-third reached the upper thoracic segments. Thirty percent of the saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons descended through the ipsilateral LVST; most of these reached the upper thoracic segments. Seven percent of the saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons descended through the contralateral vestibulospinal tracts terminating in the upper cervical segments. Most of the saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons originated in the caudal part of the lateral nucleus and rostral part of the descending nucleus.

Notizen: Abstract  In decerebrate cats that had been acutely hemilabyrinthectomized (HL), the extracellular activities of vestibular nuclear neurons on the lesioned and labyrinth-intact sides were studied during constant-velocity off-vertical axis rotations (OVAR) in the clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) directions (at 10° tilt). Over the range of 1.75–15°/s, two types of neuronal responses were identified on both sides. Some neurons showed symmetric and velocity-stable bidirectional response sensitivity (δ defined as the CW gain over the CCW gain) while other neurons exhibited asymmetric and velocity-variable δ. The mathematically derived gain tuning ratios of these two groups of neurons were within the range of one-dimensional and two-dimensional neurons respectively. The best response orientations in one-dimensional neurons and the orientations of the maximum response vector, S max, in two-dimensional neurons were found to point in all directions on the horizontal plane. On the labyrinth-intact side, both the one-dimensional and two-dimensional neurons showed asymmetry in the neuron numbers and/or the response gains between the two roll quadrants as well as between the two pitch quadrants. In addition, both the neuron number and gain were significantly higher for neurons in the head-down/ipsilateral-side-down half-circle than those in the head-up/contralateral-side-down half-circle. None of the aforementioned asymmetries was observed on the lesioned side. That a comparable pattern of distribution was observed in the one-dimensional and two-dimensional neurons suggests that these neurons maintain a common spatial reference frame in encoding head orientational signals arising from the ipsilateral and contralateral otoliths. Furthermore, a predominance of two-dimensional neurons that exhibited a greater gain with CW rotations was observed on both sides of HL cats. Of the response dynamics observed amongst neurons on the two sides of HL cats, no difference was found with regard to the response gain and the pattern of response lead. However, a difference in response lag was observed between neurons on the two sides of HL cats. These suggest that there is a segregation of otolithic signals to reach the ipsilateral and contralateral vestibular nuclei. Taken together, the present study demonstrates that one-dimensional and two-dimensional neuronal responses could be elicited with inputs arising solely from the ipsilateral or contralateral otoliths. The observed orientational tuning and the CW-CCW asymmetry to bidirectional rotation may provide the essential directional coding of head orientations. Further, the imbalance of spatial/dynamic response patterns between the bilateral vestibular nuclei following the restriction of otolith inputs by HL implies that converging otolithic inputs from the bilateral labyrinths are essential for producing the neuronal responses in control animals. The results are also discussed in terms of the possible contribution of the various neural asymmetries between neuronal subpopulations in the bilateral vestibular nuclei to the behavioral symptoms accompanying acute HL.

Notizen: Abstract  Previous studies have reported that stimulation of group I afferents from extensor muscles prolongs stance duration during walking in decerebrate cats. The main objective of this investigation was to determine whether this phenomenon occurs during walking in conscious cats. In conscious cats without lesions of the central nervous system (CNS), stimulation of group I afferents in the lateral gastrocnemius/soleus (LGS) nerve during stance prolonged extensor burst duration and increased the cycle period in five of seven animals. The mean increases in cycle period were modest, ranging from 6 to 22%. In five of six animals that walked both quadrupedally and bipedally at the same rate, the effects on cycle period were stronger during bipedal stepping (18% mean increase in cycle period compared with 9%). The stimulated nerves were transected and the experimental procedure was usually delayed in the conscious animals for 2–3 days following implantation of the stimulating electrodes. To assess whether chronic axotomy of the LGS nerve was a factor in the decreased effectiveness, four of the cats with chronic nerve section were decerebrated and their LGS nerves were stimulated after the animals began to spontaneously walk on a motorized treadmill. In all four of these animals, the effects of stimulating the chronically cut LGS nerve on the step cycle period became stronger following decerebration. However, these effects were not as strong as those produced when an acutely sectioned LGS nerve was stimulated. During both quadrupedal and bipedal walking, stimulation of the LGS nerve increased the amplitude of the medial gastrocnemius (MG) electromyogram. The augmented activity of the MG muscle contributed to an increased extension of the ankle during stimulated steps. The conclusion from these experiments is that stimulation of the group I afferents in extensor nerves can prolong stance in the conscious cat, but this effect is weaker than in decerebrate animals. It is likely that transmission in the polysynaptic group I pathways controlling stance duration is regulated in a complex fashion by descending signals from the brain in the conscious animal.

Notizen: Abstract  In the lumbar ventral horn of pentobarbitone-anaesthetised cats, (-)-baclofen reduces both the synaptic release of excitatory transmitter from muscle group Ia afferent terminations and the duration of the presynaptic action potentials of these terminations, presumably by interfering with the influx of calcium ions through voltage-activated channels. Baclofen, however, has little or no effect on cholinergic excitation at motor axon collateral synapses on spinal Renshaw cells and, in the present study, was found not to reduce the duration of the action potential of axon collateral terminations located in the vicinity of Renshaw cells in pentobarbitone-anaesthetised cats. Furthermore, in contrast to group Ia terminations, a 4-aminopyridine-sensitive potassium conductance could not be detected as contributing to axon collateral termination action potentials. These results suggest that there may be differences in presynaptic ion fluxes associated with transmitter release at the intraspinal terminations of group Ia afferent fibres and motor axon collaterals in the cat spinal cord.

Notizen: Abstract  The purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether the nucleus retroambigualis (NRA) plays an essential role in periaqueductal gray (PAG)-induced vocalization and (2) which NRA neurons are involved in the projection from the PAG to laryngeal motoneurons. Bilateral injections of the neurotoxin kainic acid into the NRA in decerebrate cats abolished PAG-induced vocalization; PAG stimulation after the injections no longer modulated vocal fold adductor or tensor activity, and only tonically, but no longer phasically, activated the abdominal muscles. In contrast, PAG-induced inspiratory excitation remained even after the injections. These results suggest that the NRA is essential for the vocal activation of the laryngeal adductor and abdominal muscles, and that an additional pathway from the PAG to respiratory motoneurons other than through the NRA is important for mediating PAG-induced inspiratory activation. Secondly, axonal projections of NRA neurons to the contralateral nucleus ambiguus (NA) were studied electrophysiologically. Five expiratory neurons, which had decrementing (n=4) or constant (n=1) firing patterns, were identified as both having axonal projections to the NA and receiving inputs from the PAG. Furthermore, following NA stimulation many constant-latency action potentials of silent cells were recorded in the vicinity of the NRA, where many silent cells were also orthodromically activated by PAG stimulation. No NRA augmenting expiratory neurons could be antidromically activated from the NA. It is suggested that the NRA and adjacent reticular formation integrate inputs from the PAG and send outputs to laryngeal motoneurons for vocalization.

Notizen: Abstract  The effect of exposure to repeated angular velocity steps about the earth-vertical axis on the vertical vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) during onside pitch rotation was investigated in normal cats. By contrast with the VOR in the horizontal plane, the amplitude and duration of the vertical VOR did not progressively decrease throughout the repetition of velocity steps alternated in both directions. Instead, the amplitude of VOR decreased by about 40% during the very first trials in naive cats and then stayed unchanged with repeated stimuli. Habituation of the amplitude of the vertical VOR was observed when the velocity steps were always directed in the same direction. However, the duration of the vertical VOR did not show any signs of habituation. The habituation of the amplitude of the vertical VOR during unidirectional training was due to the progressive development of an initial inhibition of the VOR. This initial inhibition appeared much earlier during the bidirectional protocol, and was presumably responsible for the larger reduction in VOR amplitude observed during the very first session. These results support the model of two distinct mechanisms for VOR habituation, one producing an increasing inhibition of nystagmus, and the other depressing the response duration, and suggest that only the first mechanism is generated during repeated stimulation in the vertical plane. The low-frequency information provided by the velocity storage mechanism during onside pitch rotation, when the otoliths are positioned so they do not signal head tilt relative to gravity, could prevent a decrease in the overall response by the second mechanism.

Notizen: Abstract  The aim of this investigation was to understand the functions of long horizontal connections projecting from area 17 to area 18 in cats. The animals were anesthetized and prepared for recording single-cell responses to sine-wave gratings in area 18. Neuronal activity was analyzed under three conditions: prior to, during, and after inactivation of a circumscribed region of area 17. The latter was depressed with micro-injections of GABA. Cells in both areas were in close retinotopic correspondence. Cells were classified as simple and complex types. Globally, simple cells were less affected than complex units, and those which were affected shifted their optimal spatial frequency to higher values. Complex neurons were more often influenced by the interruption of area 17 input. Namely, the peaks of the tuning curves were displaced on the x-axis to a new optimal spatial frequency. This effect was obtained by a dual change: a decline in the discharge strength to the optimal spatial frequency and an enhancement to nonoptimal spatial frequency. Contrast sensitivity function disclosed similar shifts of optimal spatial frequencies. Likewise bandwith, spatial resolution, high cutoff, and low cutoff were modified to a greater extent in complex cells. It appears that there is no relationship between areas 17/18 orientation difference and the modifications observed in tuning curves to spatial frequencies. The results suggest that neurons of area 18 may carry multiple-frequency channels and that area 17 facilitates the emergence of one particular spatial frequency.

Notizen: Abstract  In this study we examined connections between the moment-generating capacity of the neck muscles and their patterns of activation during voluntary head-tracking movements. Three cats lying prone were trained to produce sinusoidal (0.25 Hz) tracking movements of the head in the sagittal plane, and 22.5º and 45º away from the sagittal plane. Radio-opaque markers were placed in the cervical vertebrae, and intramuscular patch electrodes were implanted in five neck muscles, including biventer cervicis, complexus, splenius capitis, occipitoscapularis, and rectus capitis posterior major. Videofluoroscopic images of cervical vertebral motion and muscle electromyographic responses were simultaneously recorded. A three-dimensional biomechanical model was developed to estimate how muscle moment arms and force-generating capacities change during the head-tracking movement. Experimental results demonstrated that the head and vertebrae moved synchronously, but neither the muscle activation patterns nor vertebral movements were constant across trials. Analysis of the biomechanical model revealed that, in some cases, modification of muscle activation patterns was consistent with changes in muscle moment arms or force-generating potential. In other cases, however, changes in muscle activation patterns were observed without changes in muscle moment arms or force-generating potential. This suggests that the moment-generating potential of muscles is just one of the variables that influences which muscles the central nervous system will select to participate in a movement.

Notizen: Abstract  For an understanding of how various degrees of altered use (training, disuse) affect the properties of skeletal muscles, it is important to know how much they are used normally. The main aim of the present project was to produce such background knowledge for hindlimb muscles of the cat. In four adult female cats, each one being studied in several experimental sessions, ankle muscles were chronically implanted with electrodes for electromyographic (EMG) recording. The muscles recorded from were: extensor digitorum longus (EDL), peroneus longus (PL), tibialis anterior (TA), lateral gastrocnemius (LG) and soleus (SOL). For PL, TA and LG, there were anterior as well as posterior recording sites. During 24-h experimental sessions, the studied animal stayed, together with another cat, in a box large enough for playing and walking around. Using telemetric techniques, samples of EMG signals were recorded on tape for 4 min every 30 min. In an off-line analysis, measurements were made of the total accumulated duration of activity from each one of the studied muscle regions. These ”duty times” were expressed as a percentage of total sampling duration. When averaged over the whole 24-h experimental period, the mean duty times per muscle region varied from 1.9% for EDL up to about 13.9% for SOL. Also, among predominantly fast muscles of mixed-fibre composition (i.e. all studied muscles except SOL), marked and statistically significant differences in duty time were found, mean values varying fivefold from 1.9% (EDL) to 9.5% (PL, posterior site). For all three muscles with simultaneous recordings from different sites, consistent and statistically significant differences in daily duty time were found between anterior and posterior regions (anterior less than posterior for TA and PL; anterior more than posterior for LG). We also measured the extent to which each 4-min sampling period was filled with activity (if any). As compared to muscles with a low mean 24-h duty time, those with high duty times were not active during more sampling periods per day, but, whenever being used, their activity lasted relatively longer. Such results were consistent with the view that differences in mean 24-h duty time might largely reflect differences in the extent to which the various muscles and muscle regions were used for long-lasting stabilizing contractions.

Notizen: Abstract  A technique was developed to measure, in the anesthetized and paralyzed cat under artificial ventilation, changes of excitability to intraspinal stimulation simultaneously in two different afferent fibers or in two collaterals of the same afferent fiber. Intraspinal stimulation reduced the threshold of single muscle afferent fibers ending in the intermediate nucleus. This effect was seen with strengths below those required to activate the afferent fiber tested (1.5–12 μA), occurred at a short latency (1.5–2.0 ms), reached a maximum between 15 and 30 ms, and lasted up to 100 ms. The effects produced by graded stimulation applied at the shortest conditioning-testing stimulus time intervals increased by fixed steps, suggesting recruitment of discrete elements, most likely of last-order interneurons mediating primary afferent depolarization (PAD). The short-latency increases in excitability produced by the weakest effective intraspinal stimuli were usually detected only in the collateral closest to the stimulating micropipette, indicating that the stimulated interneurons mediating PAD have spatially restricted actions. The short-latency PAD produced by intraspinal stimuli, as well as the PAD produced by stimulation of the posterior biceps and semitendinosus (PBSt) nerve or by stimulation of the bulbar reticular formation (RF), was depressed 19–30 min after the i.v. injection of 0.5 mg/kg of picrotoxin, suggesting that all these effects were mediated by GABAergic mechanisms. The PAD elicited by stimulation of muscle and/or cutaneous nerves was depressed following the i.v. injection of (–)-baclofen, whereas the PAD elicited in the same collateral by stimulation of the RF was baclofen-resistant. The short-latency PAD produced by intraspinal stimulation was not always depressed by i.v. injections of (–)-baclofen. Baclofen-sensitive and baclofen-resistant monosynaptic PADs could be produced in different collaterals of the same afferent fiber. The results suggest that the intraspinal terminals of single muscle afferents receive synapses from more than one PAD-mediating GABAergic interneuron and that a single last-order interneuron has synaptic connections with a restricted number of intraspinal terminals and/or collaterals of the same afferent fiber. In addition, they support the existence of separate subsets of last-order baclofen-sensitive and baclofen-resistant interneurons that respond predominantly to segmental and to descending inputs. It is suggested that the restricted nature of the PAD plays an important role in the central control of the synaptic effectiveness of group I muscle afferents.

Notizen: Abstract  The central cervical nucleus (CCN) of the cat receives input from upper cervical muscle afferents, particularly primary spindle afferents. Its axons cross in the spinal cord, and while in the contralateral restiform body give off collaterals to the vestibular nuclei. In order to study the connections between CCN axons and vestibular neurons, we stimulated the area of the CCN in decerebrate cats while recording intra- or extracellularly from neurons in the contralateral vestibular nuclei. CCN stimulation evoked excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) or extracellularly recorded firing in the lateral, medial and descending vestibular nuclei. The latency of EPSPs (mean 1.6 ms) was on average 0.4 ms longer than the latency of antidromic spikes evoked in the CCN by stimulation of the contralateral vestibular nuclei (mean 1.2 ms), demonstrating that the excitation was typically monosynaptic. The results provide further evidence that the CCN is an important excitatory relay between upper cervical muscle afferents and neurons in the contralateral vestibular nuclei.

Notizen: Abstract  The ventrolateral (VL) thalamus in mammals is a site well-situated to show vocalization-related neural activity if there is general or classical motor system involvement in vocal production. It receives input from both the basal ganglia and cerebellum, and forms reciprocal connections with motor cortical areas. The current study examined the activity in cat VL thalamus neurons during instrumentally conditioned vocalization. Units in our sample showed irregular spontaneous firing which could be modulated by slowly occurring fluctuations in intensity of vocalization task performance. Two main types of behavioral events were associated with changes in neural firing rate. The first of these was the ingestion of food reward. More than half of all recordings showed phasic bursting patterns during licking; a similar number had increases in firing preparatory to this phasic activity. The second behavioral event modulating unit responses was vocalization. Approximately 60% of recordings showed activity changes time-locked to vocalization. These responses were almost always excitatory, and often involved changes in firing that preceded vocalization onset. No spatial organization of differences in firing pattern between neurons could be distinguished. Our results suggest that VL thalamus may well be involved in mediating vocal behavior, although its functional role remains an object of speculation. Results are compared with previous studies of vocalization-related activity and of VL thalamus activity.

Notizen: Abstract  Neurophysiological studies of the blink reflex to supraorbital nerve stimulation were conducted in eight alert, adult male cats. The cat, like other mammals, shows both short-latency (R1) and long-latency (R2) orbicularis oculi electromyographic (OOemg) components. Measures of OOemg latency, duration, integrated area, and maximum amplitude (MA) were obtained at a stimulus magnitude of 1.5×R2 threshold. The mean (±SE) minimal latencies for R1 and R2 were 8.26±0.85 and 22.97±1.53 ms, respectively. On average, R1 MA was larger than R2 MA. R1 and R2 area measures were similar. Three stimulus paradigms were tested. In a paired-stimulus paradigm, the interstimulus interval (ISI) was randomly varied from 100 to 1200 ms. Ratios were constructed for the OOemg area and MA by dividing the test response by the conditioning response. In this paradigm, although a significant linear relationship was observed only between ISI and R2 MA, conditioning effects were noted on both R1 and R2 area and MA test responses at several ISIs. In a habituation paradigm, both R2 and R1 showed habituation at stimulus frequencies from 0.5 to 2 Hz. In a stimulus-response paradigm, stimulus magnitude was randomly varied between threshold and 2×threshold. In this paradigm, OOemg area and MA of both R1 and R2 were linearly related to stimulus magnitude. Neither the systemically administered centrally acting α2-adrenergic antagonist yohimbine nor agonist clonidine had significant effects on blink reflex parameters, habituation, or the paired-stimulus paradigm. Overall, these results suggest that there are important similarities in the control and modulation of the R1 and R2 components of the blink reflex to supraorbital nerve stimulation in cats.

Notizen: Abstract  Somaesthetic input to rubrospinal cells, bypassing the cerebellum and cerebral cortex, has been demonstrated in the cat. The detailed organization of this somatic afferent system was studied using electrophysiological methods on multiple-lesion, chloralose-anaesthetized preparations. Stimulation of the dorsal column (DC) at upper cervical cord segments induced significant responses in magnocellular red nucleus (RNm) cells in cats without a cerebellum and with ablation of the frontal cortex. As classic descriptions state that primary afferents fibres have ascending and descending branches in the DC, with many collaterals arborizing in the grey matter at the segmental level of the cord, this procedure is equivalent to stimulating the somatic fibres coming from a large portion of the body, leading to the simultaneous activation of most ascending spinal pathways. To show that the pathway responsible for the rubral responses ascends in the ventral spinal cord, and that the synaptic relays are located at the segmental level, the stimulation was applied to the DC, caudally to the sectioned dorsal spinal half. Various tests confirmed that the activation was conducted to rubral cells through antidromically activated primary afferents. Their multiple collaterals relay the messages to cells located caudal to the spinal lesion, with fibres ascending in the ventral cord. Any relay of the somatic rubral responses in the DC’s nuclei was excluded. When the DC was sectioned and its rostral end was dissected free and lifted onto two hook electrodes for stimulation, no response was obtained in the rubral cells. This dissection indeed sectioned all DC fibre collaterals entering the grey matter, thus excluding the possibility of segmental relay. Single shocks applied to the ventral quadrant of the cord or in the medial lemniscus (LM) in the medulla oblongata induced monosynaptic excitatory post-synaptic potentials (EPSPs) in most rubrospinal cells. The spinal EPSPs could be collided by stimulation in the LM, thus demonstrating the existence of direct connections from the cord to the RNm. This somaesthetic pathway to the RNm could be involved in on-line correction of movements and in learning new motor strategies.

Notizen: Abstract  In a proportion of simple cells of the striate cortex, the weighting functions of the receptive fields (RFs) had more periods than could be established by mapping using responses to light bars and dark bars. In these multiperiodical cells, side subfields do not respond to single bars, as they have lower weights than central zones and the excitation is under the threshold of impulse response if a single bar is applied. This fact has been established by different methods: conditioning and testing stimuli, grating patches, and inverse Fourier transform of the amplitude-phase characteristic, combining them in one cell. We assume that this type of nonlinarity can be used in analyzing the image, as it acts as a spatial-frequency filter of the area overlapped by the RF. The responses to complex gratings composed by two sinusoidal gratings of different frequency, contrast, and phase shift were compared with the sum of the responses to the gratings when they were presented separately. The results show that the principle of superposition holds a reasonable approximation even if the response is evoked from the side subzones. Some simple cells have nonlinear properties beyond the classic zone of RF (2nd type of nonlinearity). Linear cells have a tendency to be localized in layer 4 of striate cortex, cells with a nonlinear surround in layers 2, 3, 5, and 6. The significance of both types of nonlinearities in simple cells is discussed.

Notizen: Abstract  A region of the caudal ventrolateral medullary reticular formation (CVLM) participates in baroreceptor, vestibulosympathetic, and somatosympathetic reflexes; the adjacent retroambigual area is involved in generating respiratory-related activity and is essential for control of the upper airway during vocalization. However, little is known about the connections of the CVLM in the cat. In order to determine the locations of terminations of CVLM neurons, the anterograde tracers Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin and tetramethylrhodamine dextran amine were injected into this region. These injections produced a dense concentration of labeled axons throughout the lateral medullary reticular formation (lateral tegmental field), including the retrofacial nucleus and nucleus ambiguus, regions of the rostral ventrolateral medulla, the lateral and ventrolateral aspects of the hypoglossal nucleus, nucleus intercalatus, and the facial nucleus. A smaller number of labeled axons were located in the medial, lateral, and commissural subnuclei of nucleus tractus solitarius, the A5 region of the pontine reticular formation, the ventral and medial portions of the spinal and motor trigeminal nuclei, locus coeruleus, and the parabrachial nucleus. We confirmed the projection from the CVLM to both the rostral ventrolateral medulla and lateral tegmental field using retrograde tracing. Injections of biotinylated dextran amine or Fluorogold into these regions resulted in retrogradely labeled cell bodies in the CVLM. However, the neurons projecting to the lateral tegmental field were located mainly dorsal to those projecting to the rostral ventrolateral medulla, suggesting that these neurons form two groups, possibly with different inputs. Injections of retrograde tracers into the lateral tegmental field and rostral ventrolateral medulla also produced labeled cell bodies in other regions, including the medial and inferior vestibular nuclei and nucleus solitarius. These data are consistent with the view that the CVLM of the cat is a multifunctional area that regulates blood pressure, produces vocalization, affects the shape of the oral cavity, and elicits contraction of particular facial muscles.

Notizen: Abstract. We investigated the binding characteristics of two monoclonal antibodies, 4F3 and 3F8, which in the retina specifically stain Müller cells, both with protein blots and immunohistochemically in sections of various regions of the central nervous system of neonatal and adult cats and rats. Clear differences emerged between the two antibodies. In addition, some species-specific as well as developmental differences within the staining pattern of each individual antibody were evident. The epitopes recognized by 4F3 lay mainly in the 57–63 kDa range. Histologically, 4F3 labelled mainly glia cells: oligodendrocytes and astrocytes in optic nerve, astrocytes in neocortex and cerebellum, Bergmann glia in the cerebellum and radial glia in neonatal animals. This was confirmed by double-immunofluorescence with the astrocyte marker GFAP. By contrast, 3F8 epitopes lay mainly in the 47–49 kDa range. Histologically, 3F8 labelled oligodendrocytes in the optic nerve, but only neurons in cerebellum and neocortex as confirmed by double-labelling with neuronal markers. Neither 4F3 nor 3F8 recognized GFAP or vimentin. These results clearly indicate (1) that the two antibodies identify new epitopes/molecules, (2) that the antigens are not retina-specific, and (3) that Müller cells share epitopes with other glial cells as well as with neurons outside the retina.

Notizen: For the hydrogenation of the C=N bonds in the pyrazine ring of the vitamin folic acid (1) optically active rhodium(I)/diphosphane complexes immobilized on supports such as silica gel or Al2O3 were used. The reduction was carried out at 50 bar hydrogen pressure in an aqueous solution buffered to pH 7. Thus, 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolic acid (2) was obtained which contains a new asymmetric center at C-6 of the pterine system. Therefore, in combination with the (S) configuration of the natural L-glutamic acid part of the molecule two diastereomers with (6S,S) and (6R,S) configuration arise. The relatively unstable tetrahydrofolic acid (2) was converted into its 5-formyl derivative folinic acid (4) by treatment with methyl formate/formic acid in a 5:1 mixture of DMSO/pyridine. The Ca salt of folinic acid (4) is the widely used drug leucovorin. The diastereomers were separated by silica gel HPLC. To the column bovine serum albumine (BSA) is covalently bound. With optically active rhodium(I)/diphosphane catalysts, immobilized on silica gel supports, a diastereoselectivity of up to 90% could be achieved in the hydrogenation of folic acid (1).

Notizen: Alk-2-enylpotassium compounds having the endo conformation are synthetically very valuable precursors of (Z)-olefinic derivatives substituted at the outward allylic position. They may be generated by „stereoconservative‘ metalation of the readily available (Z)-alk-2-enes by using the superbasic mixture of butyllithium and potassium tert-butoxide or by metalation under similar conditions of stereorandom mixtures of alk-2-enes or alk-1-enes followed by torsional isomerization of the concomitantly formed exo conformers to the thermodynamically more stable endo species. The principal factors that dictate the rate and the extent of the endo/exo equilibration are the substrate geometry, the solvent, the temperature, the reagent stoichiometry, and catalysis.

Notizen: When the trialkylaluminium reagents 5 are allowed to react with phosphaalkynes 4 in n-pentane, a highly selective phosphaalkyne cyclotrimerization with incorporation of two organometallic units occurs (→ 6). The tetracyclooctane derivatives 6a-e represent the first examples of phosphorus-aluminium-carbon cage compounds. The polycyclic products 6 are able to function as ligands in transition-metal complexes (→ 7), which is illustrated by the reactions of 6b, c with nonacarbonyldiiron and pentacarbonyl(tetrahydrofuran)tungsten, respectively.

Notizen: Attempts are reported to incorporate sulfonate and perchlorate anions as ligands in zinc complexes of tripodal ligands. Using tris(benzimidazolylmethyl)amine (BIMA) only the aqua complexes [ (BIMA)Zn-OH2](RSO3)(ClO4) and [(BIMA)Zn-OH2](RSO3)2(R=CH3, CF3, p-tolyl) were accessible. Using substituted pyrazolylborates (Tp*), the same three sulfonate anions were found to be ligands in the complexes Tp*Zn-OSO2R. Spectroscopic evidence for perchlorate coordination in Tp*ZnClO4 · 2 DMSO conflicts with crystallograpic evidence against it in Tp*ZnClO4 · pyridine. The crystal structures of [(BIMA)Zn-OH2](CH3SO3)2, TpCum,MeZn-OS02CH3, TPtBu,MeZn-OSO2C6H4-p-CH3, and [TpCum,MeZn · NC5H5]ClO4 were determined.

Notizen: Most alkylrhenium(VII) oxides, e.g. ((cyclo)-C3H5)Re03 (2) are rather sensitive to temperature and moisture with the prominent exception of methyltrioxorhenium (1). The corresponding alkylrhenium(VI) oxides of formula [RR′(O)- Re(μ-O)]2 [R=R′=(cyclo)-C3H5 (3), iPr (4); R=CH3, R′=C2H5 (5), R=CH3, R′=iPr (6)] are much more stable in this regard. They can be handled in air at room temperature. They were synthesized from Re207 and dialkylzinc precursors, fully characterized and are available in much higher yields than their ReVII congeners. Mixed tetraalkyltetraoxodirhenium(VI) complexes (R # R′) synthesized from 1 and dialkylzinc compounds form as a mixture of cis/trans isomers. They are oily liquids at room temperature. The Re=O and Re-Re stretching force constants as a measure of the bond strengths, were determined from IR and Raman data.

Notizen: Sequential reaction of the dimethylamino(trimethylsilylethylnyl)carbene complexes [(CO)5M'=C(NMe2)C≡CSiMe3] [M' = W (1a)] with KF/THFMeOH, nBuLi and transition metal halides, [XMLn], affords heterobimetallic propynyliden complexes of the type [(CO)5M'=C(N-Me2)C≡CMLn] [MLn = Ni(PPh3) Cp (4a, b). Ni(PMe2Ph)2- {Mes) (Mes=2,4,6-C6H2Me3) (5a), Rh(CO)(PPh3)2 (6a), Fe(CO)2Cp (7a,b)]. In contrast, reaction of 1a with MeLi · LiBr and [IFe(CO)2Cp] yields the novel N-metallated complex [(CO)5W=C{N(ME)Fe(CO)2Cp}C≡CSiMe3] (8a). The complexes [(CO)5M'=C(NMe2)C≡CMLn=Fe(CO)2Cp (7a, b), Ru(CO)2Cp (10a,b), Ru(CO)(PPh3)Cp (11a), Mn(CO)5 (12a), Re(CO)5 (13a)] are accessible by Pd-catalyzed coupling of the C-stannylated carbene complexes [(CO)5M'=C-(NMe2)C≡CSnBu3] (9a, b) with [XMLn]. The related monomethylaminocarbene complexes [(CO)5M'=C(NHMe)C≡ CSnBu3] (16a, b), obtained by stannylation of [(C))5M'=C(NHMe)C=CH] (15a, B) with Bu3SnNEt2, react with [IFe(CO)2Cp] to give the bimetallic complexes [(CO)5M'=C(NHMe)C≡CFe(CO)2Cp] (17a, b). The complexes 4a, 5a, 7a and 10a were characterized by X-ray structural analysis. The spectroscopic and structural data suggest that the two metal centers in 4-7, 10-13, and 17 interact only weakly.

Notizen: The single-crystal X-ray structure analysis of the diazosulfonate p-H2N-C6H4-N=N-SO3Na 3 features a Z configuration of the diazo moiety and a nitrogen-sulfur bond. Each sodium atom is coordinated by one diazosulfonate substitutent in a chelating manner. Upon reaction of 3 with excess salicylaldehyde, the highly water-soluble Schiff base ligand 6 is obtained in good yield. Treatment of ZnCl2 with 2 equiv. of 6 gives the zinc complex 7. In all cases, the solubilizing diazosulfonate groups can be cleaved off photolytically, which offers an opportunity to precipitate the molecules from their aqueous solutions.

Notizen: The Mercury(II) amide complex Hg[N(SiMe3)(2,6-iPr2C6H3)]2 (1) was prepared by reaction of HgBr2 with Li[N(SiMe3) 2,6-iPr2C6H3)] in diethyl ether solvent. Redox transmetallation reactions of 1 with elemental samarium, europium or ytterbium in THF solvent (THF = tetrahydrofuran), generated the novel divalent complexes Ln[N(SiMe3)(2,6-iPr2C6H3]2(THF)2 with Ln = Sm (2), Eu (3) and Yb (4). 4 was also synthesized by reaction of elemental ytterbium, HgPh2 and HN(SiMe3)(2,6-Me3)2]2(THF)2 [Ln = Sm (5), Yb (6)] by reaction of the metals with HgPh2 and HN(SiMe3)2. Thermal desolvation of 4 under high vacuum gave Yb(N)(SiMe3)2,6-iPr2C6H3)]2 (THF) (7), whereas under identical conditions 6 yielded the solvent-free complex [Yb[N{SiMe3)2]2]2. (8). The new compounds 1-4 and 7 are hydrocarbon soluble and 171Yb-NMR spectra were recorded for 4, 6, 7 and 8. X-ray crystal structure determinations of 2 and 4 revealed four-coordinate, distorted tetrahedral metal environments augmented by weak Ln…ipso-C(aryl) interactions.

Notizen: The experimental and theoretical chemistry of covalently bound azides is an area that has seen considerable renaissance over the past 10 years. This review is not exhaustive in scope but rather focuses on and highlights certain aspects in this field. In particular, the stability and dissociation of HN3 is discussed at a very high level of theory (CASSCF and MCSCF-CI) and compared and contrasted with experimental data and results from „medium“-level ab initio computations (MP2, B-LYP). From these results credence is given to those values calculated for larger systems and heavy elements for which very high level computations are not possible. The experimentally well-characterized covalent halogen azides (XN3, where X = F, Cl, Br, I) as well as the heavy-element group-15 compound Sb(N3)3 are discussed. The review also includes discussion of the bond properties of the highly unstable N-bound azides ON-N3 and (FSO2)2N-N3. In the final chapter attention is drawn to the recently predicted and eventually experimentally verified elusive species OCN-NCO, which is isoelectronic to the hitherto unknown diazide N6.

Notizen: The reaction of Na2[M2(CO) 10] (M = Cr, Mo, W) with SnHal2 (Hal = Cl, Br) is a well established procedure for the synthesis of anions of type A, [{(CO)5M)SnHal3]-. Conditions are described which, for the same type of procedure, result in the additional formation of dianions of type B, [{(CO)5M}2SnHal2]2-. Procedures for separating these two types of anions in the form of their stable [Ph4P]+ or [nBu4N]+ salts by appropriate salt metathesis are presented. The structures of theses species have been characterized by X-ray analysis of three salts containing type A anions and two salts containing type B anions. The reactivity of the type B salts containing the bulky cations [Ph4P]+ or [nBu4N]+, respectively, is remarkably low; the salts are, however, transformed into highly reactive sodium salts by further metathesis with Na[BPh4]. In such salts the halide substitutents are easily exchanged as shown by the synthesis of ]})CO(5Cr}2oxinato]- (4)- from [Na-(THF)x]2[{(CO)5Cr}2SnCl2] and sodium 8-oxoquinolate, Na[C9H6NO]. The structure of the anion, 4 is compared to the structure of [[(CO)5Cr)SnCl2· THF] and sodium 8-oxochinolate. The preparation of the dinuclear anions [{(CO)5Cr}2E(OOCCH3)2]2- (E = Sn, 2g; E = Pb, 3) is accomplished by the reaction of [Ph4P]2[Cr2(CO)10] with the corresponding acetates E(OOCCH3)2. While 2g and 3 are formal analogues of the type-B anions, their structures reveal an asymmetrical η2-coordination of the two acetato ligands, in each case ending up in a 4+2 coordination for the main group centres, instead of the four-coordination observed for [{(CO)5M}2SnHal2]2-, All compounds have been characterized by usual spetroscopic and analytical techniques. X-ray analyses have been performed for selected examples. 119Sn-NMR data are presented for all of the compounds which contain tin-centred ligands.

Notizen: The halogen atoms in the 1-chloro-1H-phosphirenes, 5a-c, are easily substituted on reaction with organolithium and Grignard reagents, 14a-p, with formation of the corresponding O-, N-, C-, Si-, and Ge-substituted 1H-phosphirenes, 15a-t. C1/H exchange reactions also occur on reaction with lithium metal hydrides (5a → 17). Furthermore, substitution reactions are also realized with the alkali metal borates, 18a-g (→19a-g); the same is true for reactions with trimethylsilyl cyanide and azide (→22a-d). Some of the substitution products have been characterized in the form of their metal complexes, 16, 23, 24, and 25.

Notizen: Trialkylstannyl esters of tris(2-hydroxyalkyl)amines, N(CH2CHROSnAlk3)3 (9-11 (R = H, Me; Alk = Et, Bu), react with X3GeC(R1)(R2)COOR3 (12-17) (X = Cl or Br; R1, R2=H, Me, Ph, SiMe3, COOEt; R3=Me, Et) to give esters of α-germatranylcarboxylic acids, N(CH2CHRO)3GeC(R1)(R2)-COOR3 (1-8), in high yields. The synthesis of esters 12-17 is reported. Esters of α-germatranyldiphenylacetic acid 24 and 25 can be obtained by treatment of diphenylketene with Et3SnOMe to give in situ Et3SnC(Ph2)COOMe (23), followed by reaction with GeCl4 to give in situ Cl3GeC(Ph2)COOMe (22 and further reactions with 9 or 11, respectively. Reduction of germatrane 6 with LiAlH4 in diethyl ether leads to cleavage of the germanium-carbon bond with subsequent formation of (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylsilane. The crystal structures of 3, 6 and 7 are reported. 1-Acyloxygermatranes 26 and 27 are obtained by treatment of 1-methoxygermatrane (28) with diphenyl- and dichloroacetic acid, respectively.

Notizen: Tris(dimethylchlorostannyl)amine (2a) reacts with pyridine in a 3:4 molar ratio to produce the tin-nitrogen containing bicyclo[3.1.1]heptane (3) with elimination of the adduct Me2SnCl2·2 py. Treatment of the distannylamine 2,6-[Pr2H3N(SnMe2Cl)2 (4) with pyridine, however, leads to the formation of the 1:1 pyridine adduct 4 and this can be regarded as a model to explain the route to 3. The molecular structures of 3 and 5 were determined by multinuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in solution, as well as by X-ray structure analysis of their crystals. Typical structural features for both compounds are intramolecular Sn—X—Sn bridges. Support for the structures comes from MS fragmentation patterns, IR spectra, and the Mössbauer spectra.

Notizen: The 5-alkylidene-4,5-dihydro-3H-1,2,4(λ3)-diazaphospholes (4-phosphapyrazolines) are thermally much more stable than related compounds without the exocyclic double bond. Thermolysis reactions typically occur in the range 110-150°C in toluene solution, and different, mostly competing, reaction pathways are observed. Thermal extrusion of nitrogen from 8a-g gives rise to β-phosphanaylsiloxyalkenes 10, benzo[c]-phosphole derivatives 11, 14 and 115, (β-siloxyalkylidene)-Phosphiranes 12, and dihydro-1,3-oxaphospholes 13. The thermolysis of 5-alkylidene-4,5-dihydro-4-trimethylsilyl-3-trimethylsilyloxy-3H-1,2,4-dizaphospholes 17 afforded three products, including the highly substituted and stable 2-phosphabutadienes 18 formed by nitrogen extrusion and rearrangement. Finally, the 4-chloro-3-trimethylsilyloxy-substituted heterocycle 21 was transformed at 170°C into 4H-1,2,4-diazaphosphole 23. The structures of 13c and 18a were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Notizen: The reactions of the ammine-undecahydro-closo-dodecaborate(1-) anion with alkyl halides have been studied in detail. The degree of alkylation of the nitrogen was found to be dependent upon the steric demands of the alkyl groups. The derivatives were characterized by NMR and infrared spectroscopy. Four compounds were crystallized for single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The tetrahedral coordination of the nitrogen atom of the bis-alkylated derivatives was found to deviate towards planarity with increasing steric hindrance of the substitutents. - The syntheses, crystal structures, and spectral properties of four N-alkyl derivatives of [H3N—B12H11]-, ammine - undecahydro-closo-dodecaborate(1-) (3), are reported. Alkylation of 3 with ethyl iodide was achieved in dimethyl sulfoxide using potassium hydroxide as base. This led to orthorhombic crystals of [N(nC4H94][(CH3CH2)3N—B12H11] (4). The reaction of 3 with benzyl chloride resulted in the bisbenzylated product, isolated as triclinic crystals of [PPN][(C6H5CH2)2 NH—B12H11] (5). The alkylation of 3 with 2-bromopropane gave a mixture of the mono- and bisalkylated products. The monoalkylated derivative [PPN][(CH3)2CH)NH2-12H11] (6, crystallized in the triclinic space group p1) and the bisalkylated product [PPN]{[(CH3)2NH—B12H11) (7, monoclinic, P21./c) were separated on the basis of their different water solubilities. The solid-state structures of the compounds 4-7 revealed a slight distortion of the B12 icosahedron. The length of the B(1)-N(1) bond was found to be dependent on the steric requirements of the attached amine, e.g. primary amine 〈 secondary amine 〈 tertiary amine. This is demonstrated by the variation in the B—N bond length; from 157.8(2) pm for 6, 158.5(5) pjm for 5, 160.0(3) pm for 7, to 163.7(6) pm for 4.

Notizen: Reduction of the isoprene - PCl3 adduct 1 with magnesium powder, or with Si2Cl6, furnished P-chloro-3-methyl-phosphol-2-ene, 2, in satisfactory yield. Further reduction of 2 with Si2Cl6 gave the new trichlorosilyl-3-methylphosphol-2-ene, 3. The reaction of 2 with magnesium powder, with 3, or with 1/2 equivalent of Si2Cl6 provided the new γ3P-γP-diphosphane 1,1′-bi(3-methylphosphol-2-ene) 4. Reduction of 4 with Si2Cl6 led to 3. Oxidation of 4 with selenium gave the 1,2-diphosphane diselenide, 5. The oxidation of 4 with hexafluoroacetone led to a mixture of products, from which a novel tricyclic phosphorane 6 was separated. the structure of 196 was determined by X-ray diffraction; the coordination geometry at phosphorus in distorted trigonal bipyramidal, with a very long equatorial P - C(CF3)2 bond of 193.2(2) pm.

Notizen: In contrast to their all-carbon analogues, phosphaalkyne cyclooligomers only became accessible a few years ago. A milestone in the chemistry of cyclotetramers was the synthesis and structural characterization of the tetraphosphacubane 5, obtained as a thermolysis product of tert-butylphosphaacetylene (1). Since then, the construction of eleven cyclotetramers has been achieved, covering seven different frameworks (A-G). As a consequence of the use of kinetically stabilized phosphaalkynes as starting materials, all known cyclotetramers bear sterically demanding substituents (tert-butyl, tert-pentyl, 1-adamantyl). Cyclotetramerizations are not only achieved by thermolysis of 1, but also by alternative and selective routes such as transition-metal-mediated, Lewis acid- and base-induced processes, as well as by cycloadditions to phosphaalkyne cyclotrimers. Interestingly, these tetramers can be interconverted by various valence isomerizations. The results of thermal and photochemically-induced rearrangements are in good agreement with MO calculations carried out for the parent compounds. Phosphaalkyne cyclotetramers exhibit a highly interesting reactivity and other peculiar features. One outstanding example is the tetraphosphacubane 5, which shows unusual structural and spectroscopic properties as a result of its unique bonding arrangement.

Notizen: The 2-phosphanyl-4,5-dimethylphosphinines 1-5 are powerful bridging ligands able to stabilize metal-metal single and triple bonds between low-valent transition metal centres. Their reaction with Mn2(CO)10 in refluxing xylene yields the corresponding Mn2(CO)8 complexes 6 and 7. Reaction with [Fe2Cp2(CO)4] under UV irradiation similarly yields the Fe-Fe-bridged Fe2Cp2(CO)2 complexes 8 and 9. An additional observation is that the 2-phosphininyl-3,4-dimethylphosphaferrocene 10 is formed upon reaction of the 2-phospholylphosphinine 5 with [Fe2Cp2(CO)4] at high temperature under CO pressure. A clean addition occurs at the Mo≡Mo triple bond of [Mo2Cp2(CO)4] to give the Mo-Mo single-bonded complexes 11-15. The thermolysis of these complexes succeeds when the phosphanyl group is a phosphonite P(OEt)2 (13) or P(OAr)2 (14), affording cleanly the Mo2Cp2(CO)4 triple-bonded complexes 16 and 17, respectively. The metal-metal triple bonds of these complexes readily add two molecules of CO to reform 13 and 14, or one molecule of tBu-N≡C to give 18 and 19. The X-ray crystal structure analysis of the MO2C2(CO)4 complex 13a, with the 2-P(OEt)2- phosphinine, shows a gauche orientation of the two Cp rings and very short P-Mo bonds of 2.3565(4) and 2.406(2) Å to the phosphinine and P(OEt)2 groups, respectively.

Notizen: White phosphorus occurs in three modifications. The α form, which exists at roomtemperature, transforms reversibly to the β form at -77°C. The α · β transformation may be strongly delayed. Quenching the α form to -185°C followed by slow warming results in an exothermic reactions with formation of the γ form which transforms into the β form at -120°C in an endothermic reaction. A transition β · γ is not observed. The γ form is characterized by its powder diagram. The structure of the β form is redetermined from a single crystal at -185°C (P., α = 547.88(5), b = 1078.62(11), c = 1096.16(11)pm, α= 94.285(8), β = 99.695(7), γ = 100.680(7)., V = 623.79(10) · 106 pm3, Z = 6 formula units per cell). The P4 molecules exhibit pronounced librational motion in spite of the low temperature of investigation. The arrangement of the centers of the tetrahedra corresponds to the atom positions in the γ-plutonium structure, which is discussed in relation to the bcc structure.

Notizen: A dimethylpolysiloxane chain is covalently bound to the monomeric Lewis acid catalyst (1R)-(+)-oxovanadium(1V) bis[3- heptafluorobutanoylcamphorate] [(+)-5a] at the C-10 position of the camphor moiety yielding the novel chiral polymeric (1S)-( +)-oxovanadium(1V) bis[3-heptafluorobutanoylcamphorate] -dimethylpolysiloxane [( +)-6a][1]. The Lewis acid promoted hetero Diels-Alder reaction of trans-l-methoxy-3-(trimethylsilyloxy)- 1,3-butadiene (1) and benzaldehyde (2) is studied in the presence of the enantiomerically pure monomeric (5a, 5b) and polymeric (6a, 6b) catalysts. The monomeric and polymeric catalysts of identical chirality[1] invoke opposite enantioselectivities toward the formation of 2-phenyl- 2,3-dihydro-4H-pyrone (4). This remarkable result is corroborated by numerous control experiments. Thus, it is demonstrated that the environment of the active site of the catalyst is changed when the complex is fixed to a polymeric chain. In contrast to 5 and 6, the monomeric 12 and polymeric 13 europium(III) tris[3-heptafluorobutanoylcamphorates] of identical chirality invoke the same enantioselectivity toward the formation of 4. The concept of polymer attachment is utilized to recover the catalyst from the reaction mixture by precipitation and to recycle it for subsequent catalytic runs.

Notizen: The organometallic salt [Cp3Zr(N≡C-CH3)]+ [CH3B-(C6F5)3]- (3a) has been prepared by treatment of Cp3ZrCH3 with B(C6F5)3 followed by the addition of acetonitrile. X-ray crystal structure analysis of 3a shows that its cation consists of three uniformly coordinated η5-cyclopentadienyl ligands about the zirconium atom. The acetonitrile ligand is end-on coordinated. In the linear [Zr] -N≡C-CH3 unit the C≡N triple bond [N-C2 1.126(5) Å] is slightly shorter than in the free acetonitrile molecule [dC≡N = 1.141(2) Å], the structure of which was determined as a reference by X-ray diffraction of a crystal obtained by IR-laser-induced zone melting on the diffractometer.

Notizen: The reactions of [(MeCN)4Cu]BF4 with two or three equivalents of benzophenoneimine lead to the formation of [(Ph2C=NH)2]BF4 (1) and [ (Ph2C=NH)3Cu]BF4 (2), respectively. A further equivalent of the ligand does not coordinate to the cation of complex 2. The crystal structures of both compounds were determined. 1 shows a linearly two-coordinated copper(I) center with a Cu-N distance of 1.877(2) Å. In compound 2 a distorted trigonal planar coordination of copper is observed with N-Cu-N angles of 114.5(2), 112.9(2) and 132.4(2)°, corresponding to two nearly equal Cu-N distances [Cu-N2 1.947(5) and Cu-N3 1.934(5) Å] dnd a significantly longer third one (Cu-N1 2.011(5) Å]. A comparison of these data with recently determined structures of bis(benzophenoneimine)silver(I) and -gold(I) complexes shows that the covalent radii of the monovalent coinage metals decrease in the order Ag(I) 〉 Au(I) 〉 Cu(I).

Notizen: Air oxidation of (Oxydi-2,1-phenylene)(2-phenoxyphenyl)stibane (1) gives the phenoxystibane oxide [(2-PhOC6H4)O(C6H4)2Sb]2O2 (2). Single crystals of (o-Tol2Sb)4- O4(O2)2 (3) were obtained by air oxidation of o-TolSb-(SiMe3)2. Crystal structures of 2 and 3 are reported.

Notizen: The zinc hydroxide complexes Tp*Zn-OH of highly substituted pyrazolylborate ligands react with phenols, and alcohols, of sufficient acidity, in a condensation reaction with release of H2O. Starting with phenols the following were attached:phenolate, p-nitropehnolate, o-vanillinate, o-hydroxymethylphenolate, o,o-bis(hydroxymethyl) -p-methylphenolate. Whilst aliphatic alcohols and benzyl alcohol did not react, their derivatives, with highly electronegative substituents could be incorporated. Thus, the arylmethoxides OCH2C6F5 and OCH2C6H4NO2-p, as well as the alkoxides OCH2CF3 and OCH2CCl3, were attached. 2-Mercaptoethanol was bound via its thiolate function. The crystal structures of TpCum,Me ZN-OC6H4NO2-p,TpCum,Me ZN-OCH2-C6F5, TpCum,Me ZN-OCH2CF3, TpCum,Me ZN-OCH2CCl3 and TpCum,MeZn-SCH2CH2OH were determined.

Notizen: The new coordination compounds trans-[Pt(H)X(PPh3)2] with NCN- and C(CN)2-functionalized anions (X- = [N(O)C(CN)2]-, [NO2NCN]-, [N{C(CN)2}2]-, [NCC{C-(CN)2}2]-, have been characterized by 1H-, 31P-, 13C-NMR, and IR spectroscopy and elemental analyses the crystal structures of trans-[Pt(H)N(O)C(CN)2(PPh3)2], trans- [Pt(H)N{C(CN)2}2(PPh3)2], and trans-[Pt(H)NCC{C(CN)2}2-(PPh3)2) have been determined by X-ray diffraction. Remarkably, [N(O)C(CN)2]- is coordinated through the central nitrogen atom, while [N{C(CN)2}2]- and [NCC(C(CN)2]2]- are bonded through terminal nitrogen atoms of a C(CN)2 unit.

Notizen: This Microreview on the chemistry of organozinc reagents starts by briefly showing the methods of preparation of organozinc compounds and then discusses the considerable synthetic utility of zinc organometallics for the formation of new carbon-carbon bonds in the presence of transition-metal catalysts. Finally, the use of organozinc chemistry for the preparation of polyfunctional and chiral phosphanes is described.

Notizen: N-Lithio-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine [Li(tmp)] reacts with AlX3 (X = Cl, Br) in diethyl ether/ n-hexane solution to generate the products of substitution and ether cleavage, [tmpAl(X)(μ-OEt)], (la, X = Cl; 1b, X = Br). However, when the reaction is allowed to proceed in n-hexane alone, an almost quantitative yield of compounds tmp2AlX (2a, X = Cl; 2b, X = Br; 2c, X = I) is obtained. According to 27AI-NMR spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, cryoscopy, and X-ray crystal structure determinations, these compounds are monomeric in the solid state, in solution, and in the gas phase. 2b reacts with AgBF4 yielding the fluoride-bridged dimer (tmp2AlF), 2d, as shown by X-ray crystal structure determination.

Notizen: Solvent-free sodium phenoxide (NaOPh) crystallises as a polymer and forms a polymeric chain in the [0 0 1] direction. The low coordination of the sodium atoms, as evident in the crystal structure, is confirmed by the easy coordination of oxoligands (α-donors). Hence, the four-membered ring chain of the solvent-free sodium phenoxide is separated by oxoligands, and forms partial structures as the polymer fragments. Thus, NaOPh crystallises in THF with the formation of an Na6O6 core, consisting of two face-fused heterocubes, and in N, N, N′, N′-tetramethyl urea (TMU) with the formation of a Na4O4 heterocubane. The solvent-free NaOPh-CO2 complex obtained from the addition of CO2 to a solution of sodium phenoxide is, when exposed to a temperature of 80°C, subject to an irreversible phase transition, as demonstrated by FT-IR and DTA studies. The complex formed at 80°C is, apparently, another intermediate of the Kolbe-Schmitt reaction.

Notizen: 1.8-dilithionaphthalene 1 reacted with bis(dimethylamino)-chlorophosphane to form 1,8-bis[(diethylamino)phosphanyl]-naphthalene 2, whose structure was confirmed by X-ray crystal structure analysis; there are two independent molecules, in which the P(NEt2)2 groups adopt an eclipsed conformation. Reaction of 2 with gaseous HCl gave in low yield 1,8-bis-(dichlorophosphanyl)naphthalene 3, which was characterized by 1H- and 31P-NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. Attempted recrystallization of 3 led to oxidative hydrolysis which furnished 4, an anhydride of a bis(chlorophosphonic acid), whose structure was elucidated by X-ray crystal structure analysis. The geometry of 4 reveals a relief of strain from the bis (aminophosphane) 2; the naphthalene groups are less distorted and the P atoms are displaced less far from the naphthalene best plane.

Notizen: Vinylidenebis(diphenylphosphane) reacts with gold(I) or gold(III) compounds to give dinuclear {[{Au(C6F5)]2[(PPh2)2C=CH2{] or [Au{PPh2C(=CH2)Ph2P)]2(ClO4)2] or mononuclear complexes ([Au(C6F5)3(PPh2C(=CH2)Ph2P)]}, respectively. The latter reacts with gold(I) or silver(I) compounds to afford dinuclear [[Au(C6F5)3[PPh2C(=CH2)Ph2P}AuX], X=Cl or C6F5) or trinuclear species {[{Au(C6F5)3{PPh2C(=CH2)Ph2P{]2M]ClO4, M=Au or Ag}. No addition of nucleophiles to the C=C double bond is observed in these complexes, which contain the diphosphane acting as bridging or monodentate ligand. (SPPh2)2C=CH2 reacts with AgClO4 to give [Ag{SPPh2C(=CH2)Ph2PS}]2-(ClO4)2or[Ag[PPh2C(=CH2)Ph2P]2]ClO4. The crystal structure of [Au(C6F5)3{PPh2C(=CH2)Ph2P}Au(C6F5)] has been established by X-ray crystallography, and confirms the expected square planar and linear geometry for the Au111 and Au1 centres, respectively.

Notizen: A two-step formal insertion of 1,1,1,5,5,5-hexafluoro- (2a) and 1,111-trifluoropentane-2,4-dione (2b) into the P-H bonds of phosphane gave the primary a-hydroxyphosphanes 3 and 4, precursors for the resulting secondary phosphanes, 6,9-dioxa-2-phosphabicyclo[3.3.l]nonane (6a) and 2,4,8-trioxa-6-phosphaadamantane (7), both formed diastereospecifically. The molecular structures of 6a and 7 were established by single-crystal X-ray structure analysis which revealed two independent molecules for 6a in the unit cell possessing a chair-boat conformation with a C-P-C angle of 95.4(2)°, and a characteristic heteroadamantane geometry for 7, with the corresponding angle being smaller by 4.9°.

Notizen: Axial-chiral mono- and biscarbene complexes of chromium containing the 1,1-binaphthyl skeleton have been obtained in both racemic and enantiopure forms in a one-pot reaction starting from lithiated 2,2-dimethoxy-1,1-binaphthyl (1) and hexacarbonyl chromium via the Fischer route. An X-ray structure analysis of the biscarbene complex 2 reveals that the biscarbene functionalization significantly increases the dihedral angle defined by the biaryl planes. The enantiopure complexes have been characterized by CD spectroscopy.

Notizen: Treatment of the (butadiene)ML2 complexes 1 [ML2 = Cp2Zr (a), Cp2Hf (b), and (.-C5H4CH3)2Zr (c)] with B(C6F5)3 gives the 1:1 addition products (CH2CHCHCH2-B(C6F5_3)ML2 (3a-c). At -40°C the betaine complex 3a inserts one equivalent of methylenecyclopropane to give the regioisomeric insertion products 5a and 6a in a 60:40 ratio. These products exhibit the cyclopropylidene moiety in the α- and β-positions, respectively, relative to zirconium. The corresponding hafnocene complexes 5b and 6b are obtained in a 70:30 ratio starting from 3b. The reaction of 3(a-c) with allene gives a single insertion product (7a-c) in each case where the exo-methylene group is in the α-position to the metal center ([2,1]-insertion). The complexes 5-7 are chiral. They all exhibit a pronounced ·-interaction of the internal -C4H=C5H- double bond of the s̰-ligand chain with the metal center in addition to a metallocene/-C6H2-[B] ion pair interaction. The relative contributions of the cationic metallocene end of the dipolar complexes 5-7 are quite dependent on the steric and electronic properties of the respective metallocene units involved. This is revealed by a comparison to typical 13C-NMR parameters of the complexes 5-7 with a pair of suitable model complexes, namely the ethylene insertion product 4 into the betaine system 3a and its THF adduct 4.THF.

Notizen: The preparation of neopentane-based tripod ligands CH3C(CH2X)(CH2Y)(CH2Z( 3 (X = NR2, NHR; Y = PR2; Z = PR2, SR, S-) in a convergent manner is described. The procedure is based on the aminolytic cleavage of functionalized oxetanes CH3C(CH2OCH2)CH2R 1 by primary or secondary amines, leading to functionalized amino alcohols CH3C(CH2NHR)(CH2OH)(CH2R) or CH3C(CH2NR2)-(CH2OH)(CH2R) 2. The appropriate activation of the R (e.g. OR) and OH groups present in 2 allows for substitution vs. SR or PR2 donor functions. Depending on the nature of the groups present in each reaction step, various protection and groups present in each reaction step, various protection and deprotection steps have to be taken in the course of this type of preparation of the tripod ligands 3. By reaction with (CH3CN)3Mo(CO)3, ligands 3 form Mo(CO)4 derivatives 4 or Mo(CO)3 derivatives 5, depending on the reaction conditions. In compounds 4, the ligands are coordinated in a bidentate mode with the soft donor atoms (P, S) coordinated and the hard donor function playing the role of the dangling arm. In the trihapto bonding mode present in 5, all three donor functions, two soft (P, S) and one hard (NHR′, NR′2), are coordinated. The two types of coordination compounds may be interconverted: 4e (X = NMe2′ Y = PPh2, Z = SiPr) with a non-coordinating CH2NMe2 group is transformed into 5c upon photolytic decarbonylation. Under 1 bar CO at 20°C, 5c reverts to 4e. X-ray structure analysis of a series of compounds of types 4 and 5 reveals characteristics of the relevant conformational patterns. All compounds have been fully characterized by the standard analytical techniques (NMR, MS), as well as elemental analysis.

Notizen: The reaction of compounds (R3P) AuMe with diphenylphosphinous acid Ph2P(O)H affords methane and neutral complexes of the type (R3P(O)Ph2 (1a: R = Me; 1b: R = Ph, lc: R = o-Tol). 1a, b are obtained in high yield, but the yield of lc is lower owing to a side-reaction which leads to a different product: Ph2P(OH)-Au-P(O)Ph2 (2). The crystal structure of 1a was determined by a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study. The compounds is a monomer with a linear P-Au-P′ axis and the phosphane and phosphinite ligands in a staggered conformation. In solution (CHCl3, CH2Cl 2/) compounds 1a-c undergo a ligand redistribution, establishing equilibria that involve ionic isomers of the type [R3P)2Au]+ [Au-(P(O)Ph2)2]-, which are readily identified through their NMR data. The analogous reaction of (R3P)b AuMe with dimethylphosphite (MeO)2P(O)H gives methane and the corresponding dimethylphosphites of the type (R3P)AuP(O)(OMe)2 (3a: R = Me; 3b: R = Ph; 3c: R= o-Tol). The crystal structure of 3b has also been determined. It features a linear structure with an eclipsed conformation of the ligands. In polar solvents (CHCl3, methanol) there is again an eqilibrium between neutral and ionic isomers, the latter comprising bis(phosphane)gold cations [(R3P)2Au]+ and {Au[P(O)-(OMe)2]2)- anions, as confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.

Notizen: Eleven novel piperazine containing open-chain ligands L1-L11 were designed to offer symmetrical and asymmetrical complexation sites for metal ions and were synthesized by repetitive synthetic method. The divergent use of aromatic bishalomethyl and mono-N-alkylated piperazine compounds as spaces led toa series of long (up to M. W. = 836) oligomeric multidentate N-ligands. Due to the lack of solid state methods for structure analysis, an NMR technique using 113 Cd nucleus as a probe in solution state was utilised. 113 Cd chemical shifts were observed to be dependend on the coordination site and similar coordination sites in different ligands gave characteristically similar 113 Cd chemical shifts. As a result 113 Cd-NMR spectroscopy proved to be an excellent tool to distinguish between the structures of the different complexation sites on a nearly quantitative level.

Notizen: Monoanionic bi- and tridentate ligand systems emulating the structural features of the well-known poly(pyrazolyl)borates are created by bridging heteroaromatic rings with formally negatively charged p-block elements. Their properties and versatility are exemplified by their complexes with main group metals. Due to their N(σ)-donating and π-interacting ability, as well as the flexibility of the substituent bonding, these ligand systems have the potential to adapt both geometrically and electronically to the coordination requirements of the complexed metal. Within these complexes, the heteroaromatic substituents operate as charge spacers between the formally anionic center and the metal cation without encapsulating either site. This provides possible applications in the creation of reactive soft/hard bimetallic reagents, the realization of multinuclear arrays, and the design of preorganized CVD precursors, particularly en route to III/V-semiconducting thin films.

Notizen: The reactions of (Me2S)BH2Br and (Me2S)BHBr2 with equimolar quantities of 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphanyl)ethene (1) or -benzene (2) lead to cyclic, cationic bis(phosphane)boranes [4[(1)BH2]+ Br-; 6: [(2)BH2]+ Br; 7: [(2)BHBr]+ Br-]. The Br counterions can be exchanged in metathesis reactions (e.g. with AgBF4 to afford 4a). The tritertiary phosphane bis[2-(diphenylphosphanyl)phenyl]phenyl-phosphane (3), reacts with (Me2S)BHBr2 to give bicyclic dicationic tris(phosphane)borane 8, [(3)BH]2+ Br-, which can be converted into the bis(hexafluorophosphate) 8a using NH4PF6. All compounds have been characterized by analytical and NMR-spectroscopic data. The crystal and molecular structures of 5 - 7 have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The five-membered rings C2P2B have an envelope conformation and show no sign of electron delocalization. Attempts to deprotonate the B—H functions in 5 - 8 have not been successful. Clearly, the two (5 - 7) or three phosphonium centers (8) adjacent to the boron atom are not sufficient to induce an “umpolung” of the B—H group

Notizen: The dinuclear compound [{(η5 - Cp)Ni(PEt3)}2] (1) containing an unbridged Ni-Ni bond reacts with the heavier group 13 monochlorides [{CH(SiMe3)2)2}AlIIICl], InCl, and TlCl by scission of the metal-metal bond. In the case of InCl and TlCl the chloro-bridged dimmers [{(η5-Cp)Ni(PEt3)2ECl2Ecl}2] (E = In 2, Tl 5) were formed. The Tl compound 5 is unstable and decomposes via disproportionation a and formation of the halogen-free Tl [III] compound [{(η5-Cp)Ni(PEt3)}3Tl] (6). 2 can be dehalogenated with activated magnesium to yield the halogen-free In [III] compund [{(η5-Cp}Ni(PEt3)}3In] (4). The Ga analogue of 4 and 6 [{(η5-Cp)Ni(PEt3)}3Ga] (7) is accessible by a conproportionation of 1 with Ga metal in refluxing THF. In contrast to InCl and TlCl the aluminium (III) monochloride [{CH(SiMe3)2}2AlCl] reacts with 1 by a ligand redistribution reaction and formation of the salt [{(η5-Cp)Ni(PEt3)2]+-[{CH(SiMe3)2]2AlCl]2-. (8). Elemental Hg or Mg amalgam show the same activity as elemental Ga towards 1 and insert into the Ni—Ni bond by forming the linear Hg-bridged complex [(n3-Cp)Ni(PEt3)]2Hg] (9). The molecular structures of 2, 4, 8, and 9 were determined by X-ray crystallography. The In atom in 4 has a distorted trigonal-planar configuration with the central In atom being surrounded by three [(n5-Cp)Ni(PEt3)] fragments. 4 represents the first Ni-In cluster containing exclusively unsupported In - Ni bonds, as well as the first carbonyl-free Ni - In cluster. On the basis of spectroscopic data the same structure is assigned to the Ga and Tl analogues of 4. The Ni—Hg—Ni arrangement in 9 is exactly linear, as determined by X-ray crystallography.

Notizen: Schiff bases 1—11 were synthesized from α-amino acids or o-aminophenol and crocetindialdehyde, 2,7-dimethyloctatrienedial, terephthalaldehyde, or β,β′ -p-phenylendiacroleine. The reactions of these Schiff bases with chloro-bridged complexes [(R3P)(Cl)M(η-Cl)]2 (M = Pd, Pt) and [(C5Me5)(Cl)Ir(°Cl)]2 gave the dinuclear complexes 12-31.

Notizen: The suitability of enantiomerically pure deltacyclenes as building blocks in the synthesis of expanded phosphanes was examined. Different substituted deltacyclenes were irradiated with diphenylphosphane and three bisphosphanyl derivatives. With these P—H addition reactions, new chiral deltacyclane-derived phosphorus ligands were synthesized. They were tested in the Rh-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of (Z)-(ã)-N-acetamidocinnamic acid and in the Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylation of 1,5-dimethylbarbituric acid.

Notizen: Tricarbonyl(η6-1,3,5,7-cyclooctatetraene)chromium (1) yields upon UV irradiation in ether at 233 K with 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-butadiene (2) or 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene (3) by [6+2] cycloadditions the correspondingly substituted tricarbonyl(η6-bicyclo[4.2.2]deca-2,4,7-triene)chromium complexes 4, 5a and 5b. With ammonium cerium(IV) nitrate the organic ligand of complex 4, 9-isopropenyl-9-methyl-bicyclo[4.2.2]-deca-2,4,7-triene (6) is liberated. The complexes 4, 5a and 5b were characterised by IR and NMR spectroscopy, the ligand 6 by NMR spectroscopy.

Notizen: The solid-state structures of (p-bromoselenobenzoyl)morpholine (2a) and [p-(dimethylamino)selenobenzoyl]morpholine (2b) were determined by X-ray diffraction. Both molecules show a flat selenoamide group. The larger contribution of resonance stabilization by the aromatic ring carrying the p-dimethylamino substituent is reflected by the smaller interplanar angle Θ between the aromatic ring and the selenoamide group [53.3(1)° vs. 81.1(1)°] and by the shorter length of the C=Se bond [1.824(5) Å vs. 1.840(3) Å]. The Gibbs free energy of activation of C-N bond rotation (ΔG≠rot) of five p-substituted (selenobenzoyl)morpholines was determined by dynamic 13C NMR. The activation barriers were found to range from 61.6 kJ/mol (X = NNMe2) to 75.1 kJ/mol (X = H). The ΔG≠rot values of the corresponding (thiobenzoyl)morpholines were found to be from 3.2 kJ/mol (X = NMe2) to 5.0 kJ/mol (X = H) lower. In both cases, ΔG≠rot showed an excellent linear Hammett correlation with s̰+p.

Notizen: The reaction of lithium phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methanide with phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methylzinc chloride-tmeda in the presence of tmeda yields the addition product, a bis(tmeda)-lithium dialkylchlorozincate. The elimination of lithium chloride leads to the formation of a tmeda adduct of bis[phenyl-(trimethylsilyl)methyl]zinc. The metathesis reaction of phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methylzinc chloride-tmeda with lithium tris(trimethylsilyl)silylamide allows the isolation of the corresponding heteroleptic tmeda complex of an alkylzinc amide. The metalation of phenyl(trimethylstannyl)methane with butyllithium yields the transmetalation product benzyllithium. From the metathesis reaction of this lithium base with anhydrous zinc(II) chloride in the presence of tmeda, the tmeda adduct of dibenzylzinc crystallizes. The molecular structures of (tmeda)Li—CH(GeMe3)Ph, (tmeda)Zn(CH2Ph)2, (tmeda)Zn[CH(SiMe3)Ph]2, and (tmeda)Zn[CH(SiMe3)-Ph[N(H)Si(SiMe3)3 are reported. Whereas lithium bonds in an η3-fashion, the zinc atom forms a σ(Zn—C) bond. The extremely wide Zn—N—Si angle in (tmeda)Zn[CH(SiMe3)-Ph[N(H)Si(SiMe3)3 of 157° is remarkable.

Notizen: The mononuclear starting materials [Rh(η4-C8H12)(k2-P,Sb-iPr2PCH2SbR2)]PF6 (la, b) react with CF3CO2H in the presence of H2 to give the dinuclear hydridorhodium(II1) complexes [{RhH(k2-P,Sb-iPr2PCH2SbR2)]PF6 (2a, b) in almost quantitative yield. The X-ray crystal structural analysis of 2b (R = tBu) reveals a distorted octahedral geometry around the two metal centers with the two phosphanyl(stibanyl)methanes in a chelating and the two trifluoracetate ligands in a bridging coordination mode.