Synthesis,structural and biochemical aspects of titanocene and zirconocene chelates of acetylferrocenyl thiosemicarbazones

The reactions of bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium(IV)/zirconium(IV) dichloride with a new class of organometallic thiosemicarbazones (LH), derived by condensing acetylferrocene with substituted thiosemicarbazides, have been studied and two types of bimetallic products, viz. [Cp₂M(L)Cl] (M = Ti or Zr) and [CpZr(L)₃], have been isolated. On the basis of various physicochemical and spectral studies, five- and seven-coordinate structures have been assigned to these derivatives, respectively. Attempts have been made to establish a correlation between biological activity and the structures of the products.     

Iron(III) complexes of a tetradentate tripodal ligand N,N′,N″-tris (2-benzimidazolyl-methyl)amine

Summary Fe^III complexes of a tetradentate ligand with pendant benzimidazolyl groups have been synthesized and characterized. Room temperature Mössbauer spectra depict a quadruple split doublet in the case of NO _inf3 ^p– as co-ligand, while a nearly symmetrical one line spectrum is obtained for complexes with Cl^–as co-ligand. The isomer shift values are towards the lower end of the range found for other high spin Fe^III complexes. ¹H-n.m.r. spectra of the complexes reveal relatively broad linewidths with large isotropic shifts. Paramagnetically shifted resonances are observed in the range of –10.0–+70.0 p.p.m.Author to whom all correspondence should be directed.     

Quantitative estimations of ferric iron by phosphoric acid in aqueous-alcoholic medium

Summary The only method recommended for the direct estimation of ferric iron in presence of HCl is to reduce the ferric iron to ferrous iron and then to titrate against KMnO₄ solution by adding Reinhardt-Zimmermann reagent (MnSO₄ + H₂SO₄ + H₃PO₄). The solubility of the phosphato complexes of ferric chloride and phosphoric acid is much reduced by adding a nonaqueous solvent, ethyl alcohol or acetone. This property has been availed of to find out a method of estimating ferric iron directly against standard solution of phosphoric acid in aqueous-nonaqueous medium using K₄Fe(CN)₆ or cupferron as external indicators. A slight discrepancy at the end point, however, exists in the direct titration but it can be removed by applying a correction factor determined from the estimated results.     

A novel bioassay for screening and quantification of taxanes

We report a novel method for screening and quantifying tubulin-binding antimitotic agents that promote microtubule formation. The method is based on the shift in the peak of the fluorescence emission difference spectrum of tubulin complexed to metal free tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (TCPP) in the presence of antimitotic agents. Taxol (paclitaxel), an anti-tumor drug approved for the treatment of a variety of cancers, caused the appearance of a new fluorescence peak at 645 nm at concentrations as low as 125 nM, the intensity of which was a function of the paclitaxel concentration. Cephalomannine caused the induction of a new fluorescence peak at 651 nm only above 1 muM. Baccatin did not induce the appearance of any new peak within detectable operating measurement conditions. These observations are in accordance with the biological activities/cytotoxicities of these compounds. Accordingly, it is proposed that the new method can be used for high throughput screening of antimitotic compounds.     

Über triterpene—XXIX : Zur struktur des avenacins

From the roots of oat (Avena sativa) a second antibiotic active glycoside, avenacine B, was isolated in addition to the main glycoside avenacine A. In the aglycone of A the double bond could not be established contrary to the statement in the literature but an aldehyde group in addition to the keto group was identified and therefore the proposed structure has to be revised. In the aglycone of B the —CH₂OH-group of A has been substituted by CH₃. The structures of the sugar chains in both glycosides have been determined, in avenacine A as [β-d-gluco-pyranosyl(1 → 4)-[β-d-glucopyranosyl (1 → 2)]-α-l-arabinosyl (1)- and in B as [β-d-glucopyranosyl (1 → 4)]-β-d-glucopyranosyl (1)-.     

Role of palladium in the redox electrochemistry of ferrocene monocarboxylic acid encapsulated within ORMOSIL networks

We report herein the effect of palladium on the redox electrochemistry of ferrocene monocarboxylic acid encapsulated within an organically modified sol-gel glass network (ORMOSIL). It has been found that amount of palladium and its geometrical distribution significantly alter the redox electrochemistry of FcMCA. The geometrical distribution of palladium has been controlled by two methods: (i) palladium is allowed to link within nanostructured network of the ORMOSIL which was subsequently availed from the reactivity of palladium chloride and trimethoxysilane; (ii) palladium powder is encapsulated together FcMCA thus allowing the presence of palladium within the nanoporous domain. The content of palladium is varied by controlling the reaction dynamics of palladium chloride and trimethoxysilane interaction. For this we initially allowed to trigger hydrolysis, condensation and poly-condensation of trimethoxysilane and dimethyldiethoxysilane in acidic medium and subsequently partially dried ORMOSIL film was allowed to interact with palladium chloride. Even with partially dried ORMOSIL derived from trimethoxysilane and dimethyldiethoxysilane undergoes rapid interaction with palladium chloride and the transparent color of ORMOSIL changed to a black colour due to the formation of palladium silicon linkage. The palladium-silicon linkage has been identified by NMR, UV-VIS and transmission electron spectroscopy. The electrochemistry of FcMCA encapsulated within such an ORMOSIL matrix has been studied. Excellent redox electrochemistry of ferrocene monocarboxylic acid having peak potential separation tending to 0 for a multilayered electrode was investigated. The palladium content has been found to affect the redox electrochemistry of ferrocene as well as electrocatalytic efficiency of new ORMOSIL material. The electroanalysis of NADH is reported. The modified electrode is very sensitive to NADH with lowest detection limit of < 1 microM.     

Effect of attractive interactions on the structure of polymer melts confined between surfaces: a density-functional approach

A density-functional theory is presented to study the structure of polymers, having attractive interactions, confined between attractive surfaces. The theory treats the ideal-gas free-energy functional exactly and uses weighted density approximation for the hard-chain contribution to the excess free-energy functional. The bulk interactions of freely jointed hard spheres are obtained from generalized Flory equation of state and the attractive interactions are calculated using the direct correlation function obtained from the polymer reference interaction site model theory along with the mean spherical approximation closure. The theoretical predictions are found to be in quite good agreement with the Monte Carlo simulation results for varying densities, chain lengths, and different interaction potentials. The results confirm important implications of using different approximations for the hard-sphere and attractive interactions.     

A new access to polyhydroxy piperidines of the azasugar class: synthesis and glycosidase inhibition studies

A new synthetic strategy has been devised to access a variety of polyhydroxylated piperidines belonging to the azasugar class of glycosidase inhibitors. The key precursor (3aR, 7aR)-5-benzyl-2,2-dimethyl-7-methylenehexahydro[1,3]dioxo[4,5-c]pyridine is obtained by photoinduced electron transfer (PET) cyclization of the corresponding alpha-trimethylsilylmethylamine radical cation to the tethered acetylene functionality. The new molecules have been evaluated for inhibitory properties for certain beta-glycosidases and have been found to be moderate to weak inhibitors of the enzymes under study.     

Synthesis,spectroscopic and thermal studies on ruthenium(III), rhodium(III) and iridium(III) complexes with hydrazones derived from 2,6-diacetylpyridine and different aromatic hydrazides

Summary The reactions of MCl₃·3H₂O (M=Ru, Rh or Ir) with hydrazones have been studied by three different methods and complexes of the types [M(LH₂)(H₂O)₂]Cl₃, [M(L)Cl(H₂O)] and [M(LH₂)Cl₂]Cl·H₂O have been isolated. Tentative structural conclusions are drawn for these products based upon elemental analysis, electrical conductance, magnetic moment, and i.r. and¹H n.m.r. data. The thermal stability and mode of decomposition for the complexes have been studied by t.g.a., d.t.g. and d.s.c. techniques.