Use of an amino-silica column for the high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of synthetic oligodeoxy-nucleotides.

The use of an amino-silica column in the chromatographic analysis of synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides and their derivatives from different stages of oligonucleotide synthesis has been investigated. By eluting with 0.10 M potassium phosphate solution of pH 3.30, the nucleotide composition of oligonucleotides can be established within 15 min. In a linear gradient of phosphate buffer (0.10-0.75 M) at neutral pH, the separation of oligonucleotides by length and in an acidic medium pH 3.30-4.30) by composition is possible; the oligonucleotides may be in the free form or modified by the various protecting groups used in synthetic oligonucleotide chemistry. The analysis of some reaction mixtures from different stages of oligonucleotide synthesis and of a number of synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides and their derivatives has been performed.     

Multicomponent one-pot procedure for the synthesis of free alpha-chiral amines from aldehydes

[reaction: see text] The synthesis of free alpha-chiral amines by a one-pot multicomponent procedure from commercially available starting materials is described. This enantioselective reaction involves a catalytic asymmetric addition of dialkylzinc reagents to N-diphenylphosphinoylimines with use of an air-stable precatalyst complex 1. The alpha-chiral amines are prepared with a one-pot procedure from alkyl and aryl aldehydes in good yield (41-90%) and with excellent enantioselectivity (90-97% ee).     

Microwave-assisted Piloty-Robinson synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted pyrroles

The synthesis of N-acyl 3,4-disubstituted pyrroles can be accomplished directly from hydrazine and an aldehyde via a Piloty-Robinson pyrrole synthesis. The use of microwave radiation for the cyclization and pyrrole formation greatly reduces the time necessary for this process and facilitates moderate to good yields from hydrazine for the corresponding 3,4-disubstituted products (5-12). By simple hydrolysis, the free N-H pyrroles can be accessed after the Piloty-Robinson reaction and then used directly in the synthesis of octaethylporphyrin (H2OEP, 14) and octaethyltetraphenylporphyrin (H2OETPP, 15).     

Enantio- and diastereoselective additions to aldehydes using the bifunctional reagent 2-(chloromethyl)-3-(tributylstannyl)propene: application to a synthesis of the C16-C27 segment of bryostatin 1

[reaction: see text] Reactions of the bifunctional allylstannane 2-(chloromethyl)-3-(tributylstannyl)propene with aldehydes have been examined. These generally occur in high yields using Lewis acid promoters and the products can be isolated and purified without incident. Good yields and high enantioselectivities are also realized in catalytic asymmetric allylations (CAA reactions) using the previously described BITIP catalyst system. Protection of the free hydroxyl can be accomplished without cyclization to the derived tetrahydrofuran, although this transformation is also facile. The utility of the incorporated allyl chloride functionality allows for the obvious use of such products in reactions with nucleophiles. Use of these products in a less obvious connective strategy is demonstrated in the synthesis of the C12-C27 segment of bryostatin 1 where a connective, or "lynchpin", double-allylation process was employed. The beta-hydroxy allyl chloride obtained from an initial chelation-controlled allylation of aldehyde 16 was converted to allylstannane 19 and applied in a second allylation reaction, thus allowing for a highly convergent synthesis of the bryostatin C ring backbone in a stereoselective fashion.     

Rearrangement of 4-(1-haloalkyl)- and 4-(2-haloalkyl)-2-azetidinones into methyl omega-alkylaminopentenoates via transient aziridines and azetidines

The synthesis of 4-(1-haloalkyl)-2-azetidinones and 4-(2-haloalkyl)-2-azetidinones was investigated with use of the Staudinger reaction between in situ generated ketenes and alpha-haloimines or beta-haloimines. This new class of functionalized 2-azetidinones was further evaluated for its potential use as intermediates in the synthesis of highly functionalized compounds. The reaction of 4-(1-haloalkyl)-2-azetidinones and 4-(2-haloalkyl)-2-azetidinones with sodium methoxide in methanol yielded ring-opened products, i.e., methyl 2-alkoxy-4-(alkylamino)pentenoate and methyl 5-(alkylamino)pentenoate, respectively. Further attention was paid in detail to the reaction mechanism involved in this peculiar transformation. It was proven that these reactions proceeded via intermediate aziridines or azetidines.     

An efficient metal catalyst free approach to synthesize 5-(4-(1,2,4,5 tetrazin-3-yl)benzylamino)-5-oxopentanoic acid

Despite the wide use of 1,2,4,5- tetrazines in biomaterials and materials science, currently there does not exist synthetic method(s) that can yield significant amount of 1,2,4,5- tetrazines without the use of potentially toxic metal catalysts. Here, we report a less energy intensive and more efficient metal catalyst free approach for the synthesis of an asymmetric tetrazine. A range of operating parameters such as extraction pH and temperature were regulated to achieve a practical yield nearly 1.5 times greater than the yields reported in the literature for similar synthetic procedures.     

Synthesis of new sugar-based surfactants and evaluation of their hemolytic activities

The synthesis of four sugar-based surfactants derived from glucose and (R)-12-hydroxystearic acid is described. The surfactants have a hydroxy group in the hydrophobic part, which is either free or acylated using acetyl chloride, hexanoyl chloride, or myristoyl chloride. Three of the synthesized surfactants are water-soluble and are evaluated with respect to their CMCs and hemolytic activities. The fourth surfactant has limited water solubility and is not further included in the study. The investigated surfactants are all hemolytic close to their respective CMC indicating that their use in parenteral formulations may be limited. Nevertheless, surfactants having the proposed structure appear as promising alternatives to existing solubilizing agents for pharmaceutical applications.     

p-Menthane-3-carboxaldehyde: a useful chiral auxiliary for the synthesis of chiral quaternary carbons of high enantiomeric purity

(+)- or (-)-p-Menthane-3-carboxaldehyde is made in two easy steps from (+)- or (-)-menthone, respectively. This auxiliary allows for the synthesis of carbonyl compounds bearing a alpha-chiral quaternary carbon. The flexibility, efficiency, and ease of use of the method are demonstrated in a series of examples, which include the total synthesis of (+)-cuparenone as well as a partial synthesis of (-)-cassiol.     

An oxidation induced by potassium metal. Studies on the anionic cyclodehydrogenation of 1,1'-binaphthyl to perylene

Oxidative cyclization of 1,1'-binaphthyl (1) to perylene (2) can be achieved in essentially quantitative yield by the action of three or more equivalents of potassium metal in hot tetrahydrofuran. An overall reaction mechanism is proposed that accounts for all of the experimental observations reported by previous investigators and those from the present studies. The trans-6a,6b-dihydroperylene dianion (6(2-)) is believed to be the pivotal intermediate from which H(2) is lost. A radical chain reaction involving free hydrogen atoms (H(?)) in the two-step propagation cycle is proposed to explain the formation of H(2) from 6(2-). Anionic cyclodehydrogenations of this sort are complementary to those performed under strongly acidic/oxidizing conditions, photochemically, or thermally (flash vacuum pyrolysis), and a better understanding of how they occur, together with the optimized synthetic protocol reported here, should encourage their wider use in organic synthesis.     

Synthesis, characterisation and photo-stability of a folate-modified β-cyclodextrin as a functional food additive

A novel two-step synthetic route was developed and gave the mono-substituted derivative 6-deoxy-6-[(1-(2-amino)ethylamino)folate]-β-cyclodextrin (CDEnFA) with high yield (60?%). Elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, FTIR and Raman spectroscopies demonstrated the successful synthesis of the γ isomer only with no evidence of the presence of other isomers or free folic acid. Electronic absorption spectroscopy was used to study the photochemical properties of CDEnFA and showed that in both the solid state and aqueous solution CDEnFA is considerably more photo-stable than free folic acid.     

Tailoring a bacteriochlorin building block with cationic, amphipathic, or lipophilic substituents

Bacteriochlorins are attractive candidates for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of diverse medical indications owing to their strong absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region, but their use has been stymied by lack of access to stable, synthetically malleable molecules. To overcome these limitations, a synthetic free base 3,13-dibromobacteriochlorin (BC-Br(3)Br(13)) has been exploited as a building block in the synthesis of diverse bacteriochlorins via Pd-mediated coupling reactions (Sonogashira, Suzuki, and reductive carbonylation). Each bacteriochlorin is stable to adventitious dehydrogenation by virtue of the presence of a geminal dimethyl group in each pyrroline ring. The target bacteriochlorins bear cationic, lipophilic, or amphipathic substituents at the 3- and 13- (beta-pyrrolic) positions. A dicarboxybacteriochlorin was converted to amide derivatives via the intermediate diacid chloride. A diformylbacteriochlorin was subjected to reductive amination to give aminomethyl derivatives. A set of 3,5-disubstituted aryl groups bearing lipophilic or amphipathic groups was introduced via Suzuki coupling. Altogether 22 free base bacteriochlorins have been prepared. Eight aminoalkylbacteriochlorins were quaternized with methyl iodide at two or four amine sites per molecule, which resulted in water solubility. Each bacteriochlorin exhibits a Q(y) absorption band in the range of 720-772 nm. The ability to introduce a wide variety of peripheral functional groups makes these bacteriochlorins attractive candidates for diverse applications in photomedicine including PDT in the NIR region.     

Synthesis of l‐ and d‐Ubiquitin by One‐Pot Ligation and Metal‐Free Desulfurization

Native chemical ligation combined with desulfurization has become a powerful strategy for the chemical synthesis of proteins. Here we describe the use of a new thiol additive, methyl thioglycolate, to accomplish one‐pot native chemical ligation and metal‐free desulfurization for chemical protein synthesis. This one‐pot strategy was used to prepare ubiquitin from two or three peptide segments. Circular dichroism spectroscopy and racemic protein X‐ray crystallography confirmed the correct folding of ubiquitin. Our results demonstrate that proteins synthesized chemically by streamlined 9‐fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) solid‐phase peptide synthesis coupled with a one‐pot ligation–desulfurization strategy can supply useful molecules with sufficient purity for crystallographic studies.     

A Convenient and Efficient Synthesis of SLeX Analogs

Described is the preparation and use of tetrasaccharide 1, which enables a rapid and preparative scale synthesis of sialyl Lewis X (SLeX) analogs having 1-O- and 2-N-disubstituted glucosamine (GlcN) moieties. Such modifications should bring a dramatic change of the physical and pharmacological properties of the SLeX analogs. Therefore, tetrasaccharide 1 is a convenient intermediate for the synthesis of various SLeX analogs, since it has convertible 2-(trimethylsilyl)ethyl (SE) glycoside and the free amino group on GlcN moiety. The intermediate 1 was constructed from a glucosamine derivative by a highly efficient combined use of enzymatic galactosylation/sialylation and chemical fucosylation. Thus obtained 1 was converted into SLeX analogs by N-substitution followed by transformation of SE glycoside into other glycosides and deprotection. These synthesized analogs were found to inhibit cell adhesion of HL-60 cells to recombinant soluble human E-selectin.     

Regioselective synthesis of functionalized ferrocenylphenols based on cyclocondensation reactions of free and masked 1,3-dicarbonyl dianions

Highly functionalized ferrocenyl-substituted phenols were prepared by cyclization of masked or free dianions with 1,3-dielectrophilic 1-η5-ferrocenyl-3,3-bis(methylthio)prop-2-en-1-ones. While the cyclizations of 1,3-bis(silyloxy)-1,3-butadienes (masked dianions) proceed by initial 1,2-addition, the reactions of free 1,3-dicarbonyl dianions proceed by initial 1,4-addition. Therefore, both regioisomeric ferrocenylphenols are available from one and the same electrophile dependent on the type of nucleophile and reaction conditions employed. The reactions reported represent the first examples of the application of formal [3 + 3] cyclizations to the synthesis of organometallic compounds.     

Solid-phase synthesis of sn-1,2- and sn-2,3-diacylglycerols via ring-opening of the glycidyl-bound resin

A general method developed for the parallel solid-phase synthesis of sn-1,2- and sn-2,3-diacyglycerol derivatives. The technique relies on the use of carboxylic acid-promoted epoxide ring-opening reactions of the glycidyl-bound resin 3. The polymer-bound monoacylglycerol 5, formed in this manner, is transformed to the respective polymer-bound diacylglycerols 7 and 9 by reaction of the free alcohol moiety with a second carboxylic acid under conditions that lead to retention or inversion of C-2 stereochemistry. The sequence is completed by BCl3-promoted cleavage of 7 and 9 to form the sn-1,2- and sn-2,3-diacylglycerols, respectively.     

An effective method for the synthesis of carboxylic esters and lactones using substituted benzoic anhydrides with Lewis acid catalysts

An efficient mixed-anhydride method for the synthesis of carboxylic esters and lactones using benzoic anhydride having electron withdrawing substituent(s) is developed by the promotion of Lewis acid catalysts. In the presence of a catalytic amount of TiCl₂(ClO₄)₂, various carboxylic esters are prepared in high yields through the formation of the corresponding mixed-anhydrides from 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzoic anhydride and carboxylic acids. The combined catalyst consisting of TiCl₂(ClO₄)₂ together with chlorotrimethylsilane functions as an effective catalyst for the synthesis of carboxylic esters from free carboxylic acids and alcohols with 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic anhydride. Various macrolactones are prepared from the free ω-hydroxycarboxylic acids by the combined use of 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic anhydride and titanium(IV) catalysts together with chlorotrimethylsilane under mild reaction conditions. The lactonization of trimethylsilyl ω-(trimethylsiloxy)carboxylates using 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic anhydride is also promoted at room temperature in the presence of a catalytic amount of TiCl₂(ClO₄)₂. An 8-membered ring lactone, a synthetic intermediate of cephalosporolide D, is successfully synthesized according to this mixed-anhydride method using 4-(trifluoromethyl)benzoic anhydride by the promotion of a catalytic amount of Hf(OTf)₄.     

Novel one-pot expeditious synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted thiazoles through a three-component reaction under solvent free conditions

An expeditious one pot method has been developed for the synthesis of 2,4-disubstituted thiazoles under solvent free conditions via a multicomponent approach. Substituted thiazoles were synthesized with high yields by the reaction of cyclic ketones, thiosemicarbazide, and phenacyl bromides or 3-(2-bromoacetyl)-2H-chromen-2-ones in a shorter reaction time with high purity via simple purification technique.     

A new route to meso-formyl porphyrins

Prior syntheses of porphyrins bearing meso-formyl groups have generally employed the Vilsmeier formylation of an acid-resistant copper or nickel porphyrin. A new approach for the synthesis of free base porphyrins bearing one or two (cis or trans) meso-formyl substituents entails the use of a dipyrromethane bearing an acetal group at the 5-position, a dipyrromethane-1-carbinol bearing an acetal group at the 5-position or carbinol position, or a dipyrromethane-1,9-dicarbinol bearing an acetal group at a carbinol position. Treatment of the resulting meso-acetal-substituted free base porphyrin to gentle acidic hydrolysis yields the corresponding meso-formyl porphyrin.     

Comprehensive Study of the Organic‐Solvent‐Free CDI‐Mediated Acylation of Various Nucleophiles by Mechanochemistry

Acylation reactions are ubiquitous in the synthesis of natural products and biologically active compounds. Unfortunately, these reactions often require the use of large quantities of volatile and/or toxic solvents, either for the reaction, purification or isolation of the products. Herein we describe and discuss the possibility of completely eliminating the use of organic solvents for the synthesis, purification and isolation of products resulting from the acylation of amines and other nucleophiles. Thus, utilisation of N,N′‐carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) allows efficient coupling between carboxylic acids and various nucleophiles under solvent‐free mechanical agitation, and water‐assisted grinding enables both the purification and isolation of pure products. Critical parameters such as the physical state and water solubility of the products, milling material, type of agitation (vibratory or planetary) as well as contamination from wear are analysed and discussed. In addition, original organic‐solvent‐free conditions are proposed to overcome the limitations of this approach. The calculations of various green metrics are included, highlighting the particularly low environmental impact of this strategy.     

The exocyclic functionalisation of bis(thiosemicarbazonate) complexes of zinc and copper: the synthesis of monomeric and dimeric species

This paper reports the synthesis of bimetallic zinc thiosemicarbazone complexes with rigid aromatic linkers, using either 1,3- or 1,4- benzenediamines or 1,3- or 1,4- benzenedialdehydes as the basis of the linking groups. Non-rigid aliphatic diamines and dialdehydes were also used to link the zinc chelating units. Reaction of a bis(thiosemicarbazone) with a pendant NHNH(2) group with monoaldehydes or ketones gives a range of monomeric complexes with exocylic imine groups bearing a range of substituents. The zinc complexes can be quantitatively and rapidly transmetallated to the corresponding copper complexes and this route or direct reaction with the free ligand can be used to radiolabel the monomeric species with (64)Cu. In vivo and in vitro studies of one of the (64)Cu imine complexes shows substantial hypoxic selectivity and high tumour uptake in a murine model.