Synthetic entries to 6-fluoro-7-substituted indole derivatives

Three practical synthetic entries of functionalized 6-fluoro-7-substituted indole derivatives were developed in connection with the preparation of 7-fluoro-8-substituted-1,3,4,9-tetrahydropyrano[3,4-b]indole-1-acetic acid derivatives 11 . The first route, which permits group modification about position 8 of the pyranoindole skeleton, employs 2-bromo-3-fluoroaniline ( 18 ) as a key intermediate, the preparation of which was achieved by either a novel ortho metalation of 15 or via the intermediacy of 22 . The second route utilizes 32 to append a terminally functionalized three carbon side chain onto the indole template and in addition leads to 43 from 40 . The third route to the 7-fluoro-8-substituted-pyranoindole skeleton complements route two in that the synthetic pathway exploits 32 in a nucleophilic fashion to construct a terminally functionalized two carbon appendage onto the indole nucleus.     

Self-assembly of tetrahedral and trigonal antiprismatic clusters [Fe4(L4)4] and [Fe6(L5)6] on the basis of trigonal tris-bidentate chelators

In a one-pot reaction, the tetranuclear iron chelate complex [Fe4(L4)4] 6 was generated from benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid trichloride (4), bis-tert-butyl malonate (5a), methyllithium, and iron(II) dichloride under aerobic conditions. Alternatively, hexanuclear iron chelate complex [Fe(L5)6] 7 was formed starting from bis-para-tolyl malonate (5b) by employing identical reaction conditions to those applied for the synthesis of 6. The clusters 6 and 7 are present as racemic mixtures of homoconfigurational (delta,delta,delta,delta)/(lambda,lambda,lambda,lambda)-fac or (delta,delta,delta,delta,delta,delta)/(lambda,lambda,lambda,lambda,lambda,lambda)-fac stereoisomers. The structures of 6 and 7 were unequivocally resolved by single-crystal X-ray analyses. The all-iron(III) character of 6 and 7 was determined by M?ssbauer spectroscopy.     

A practical synthesis of 2′-aminoacylamino-2′-deoxyadenosines

A practical and efficient synthesis of 2′-aminoacylamino-2′-deoxyadenosine derivatives is reported. EDCI/HOBt-mediated coupling of a 3′,5′-diprotected 2′-amino-2′-deoxyadenosine derivative to various N-Cbz-l-amino acid derivatives followed by global deprotection affords analytically pure 2′-aminoacylamino-2′-deoxyadenosine derivatives without the necessity for preparative HPLC purification. These compounds are non-hydrolysable isosteres of 2′-aminoacyladenosines, which are of use in X-ray studies for the elucidation of the editing mechanism of various tRNA synthetases.     

X-ray microscopy

The wavelength limitation on resolution indicates that an x-ray microscope may surpass the optical microscope but will not compete with the electron microscope even if all the technical difficulties could be overcome. However, there are other advantages besides resolution that make x-rays an attractive medium for microscopy.

The penetration of x-rays allows the examination of the internal detail of a specimen on the micro scale without the need for sectioning and reconstruction. The large depth of focus permits the viewing of this internal detail with equal sharpness and stereographically if necessary. The specimen may be in air at atmospheric pressure, while the electron microscope demands high vacuum, and yet the resolution may be better than that of the optical microscope. Most important, the simple absorption and emission spectra of x-rays leads to the extraction of quantitative information from the image in terms of mass and elements present that in many cases cannot be obtained in any other way.

These and other reasons have led to the search for a usable x-ray microscope and the three more successful methods of reflection, contact and projection are discussed here. In addition, recent results on microanalysis show where the bulk of the future work will lie.     

Measuring thermodynamic length

Thermodynamic length is a metric distance between equilibrium thermodynamic states. Among other interesting properties, this metric asymptotically bounds the dissipation induced by a finite time transformation of a thermodynamic system. It is also connected to the Jensen-Shannon divergence, Fisher information, and Rao's entropy differential metric. Therefore, thermodynamic length is of central interest in understanding matter out of equilibrium. In this Letter, we will consider how to define thermodynamic length for a small system described by equilibrium statistical mechanics and how to measure thermodynamic length within a computer simulation. Surprisingly, Bennett's classic acceptance ratio method for measuring free energy differences also measures thermodynamic length.     

Drug-dendrimer supramolecular complexation studied from molecular dynamics simulations and NMR spectroscopy

Fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and NMR spectroscopy were employed to get insights about the molecular details of drug-dendrimer supramolecular association phenomena, using piroxicam (PRX) and the third generation poly(amido amine) (PAMAM-G3) dendrimer as model systems. Theoretical results concerning the complex stoichiometry suggest that PRX forms drug-dendrimer complexes of the type 24:1 at pH 7.0. This result was validated with the experimental quantities obtained from aqueous solubility profiles, which led to an empiric stoichiometry of 23:1 for the PRX:PAMAM-G3 system. The predicted binding mode between PRX and PAMAM-G3 accounts for the preferred encapsulation of the drug inside dendrimer cavities, which is mainly driven by van der Waals and hydrogen bonding interactions, and to a lesser extent, for the external association of the guest through electrostatic contacts with the positively charged amino groups of PAMAM periphery. The binding mode obtained from MD simulations was confirmed with 2D-NOESY experiments, which evidence the preferred internal complexation of PRX with PAMAM-G3. The predominance of internal encapsulation over external contacts in the PRX:PAMAM-G3 system differs from the general behaviour expected for acidic anionic guests, for which external electrostatic interactions with the positively charged PAMAM surface have been postulated as the most relevant factor for drug association.     

Stress-Induced Domain Wall Motion in a Ferroelastic Mn3+ Spin Crossover Complex

Domain wall motion is detected for the first time during the transition to a ferroelastic and spin state ordered phase of a spin crossover complex. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction and resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) revealed two distinct symmetry-breaking phase transitions in the mononuclear Mn³⁺ compound [Mn(3,5-diBr-sal₂(323))]BPh₄, 1. The first at 250 K, involves the space group change Cc→Pc and is thermodynamically continuous, while the second, Pc→P1 at 85 K, is discontinuous and related to spin crossover and spin state ordering. Stress-induced domain wall mobility was interpreted on the basis of a steep increase in acoustic loss immediately below the the Pc-P1 transition