Optical rotation of achiral compounds

Oriented achiral molecules and crystals with D(2d) symmetry or one of its non-enantiomorphous subgroups, S(4), C(2v), or C(s), can rotate the plane of transmitted polarized light incident in a general direction. This well-established fact of crystal optics is contrary to the teaching of optical activity to students of organic chemistry. This Minireview gives an overview of the measurement and calculation of the chiroptical properties of some achiral compounds and crystals. Methane derivatives with four identical ligands related by reflection symmetry are quintessential optically inactive compounds according to the logic of van't Hoff. Analysis of the optical activity of simple achiral compounds such as H(2)O and NH(3) provides general aspects of chiroptics that are not readily broached when considering chiral compounds exclusively. We show here, through the use of group theoretical arguments, the transformation properties of tensors, and diagrams, why some achiral, acentric compounds are optically active while others are not.     

Bioactive constituents of the root bark of Artocarpus rigidus subsp. rigidus

Investigation of the chemical constituents of the root bark of Artocarpus rigidus BLUME subsp. rigidus has led to the isolation of six, structurally diverse phenolic compounds. These included two new compounds with modified skeletons, the flavonoid 7-demethylartonol E (1) and the chromone artorigidusin (2), together with four known phenolic compounds, the xanthone artonol B (3), the flavonoid artonin F (4), the flavonoid cycloartobiloxanthone (5), and the xanthone artoindonesianin C (6). Compounds 1, 4, and 5 exhibited antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum. All compounds showed antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with 4 being the most active compound (MIC 6.25 microg/ml). Compounds 5 and 6 were active against KB cells, whereas 2, 5, and 6 showed varying toxicity to BC cells. Compounds 1-3, 5, and 6 were active in the NCI-H187 cytotoxicity assay, with 3 being the most active compound (IC(50) 1.26 microg/ml).     

磺酰脲类化合物除草活性的QSAR研究

采用密度泛函理论方法, 在B3LYP/6-31G(d)水平下, 计算了23种磺酰类化合物的分子极化率及分子骨架中各原子的Milliken电荷. 提出了一种新的QSAR建模方法, 并据此对其中18种化合物进行多元线性回归分析, 建立了除草活性的预测模型(R=0.96, R2=0.92, r2adj=0.88, F=26.26, q2=0.71, p<0.01, SE=0.36), 对剩余五种化合物进行预测, 结果吻合. 该模型从化合物的亲水性、分子几何特征的角度对如何提高磺酰脲类化合物的除草活性进行了分析, 并对提高化合物除草活性的方法做出预测: 提高苯环和嘧啶环取代基的亲水性, 增加N13周围的电子云密度, 为苯环接入较小的取代基团, 在嘧啶环上接入较大取代基团都可提高化合物的除草活性. 预测结果与3D-QSAR方法的预测结果一致.