Unusual Reactions of (+)‐Car‐2‐ene and (+)‐Car‐3‐ene with Aldehydes on K10 Clay

The reactions of (+)‐car‐2‐ene ( 1 ) and (+)‐car‐3‐ene ( 2 ) with aldehydes in the presence of montmorillonite clay were studied for the first time (Schemes 3 and 5). The major products of these reactions are optically active, substituted hexahydroisobenzofurans, probably formed as a result of an attack of the protonated aldehyde at the cyclopropane ring. Quite unexpectedly, the products are cis‐configured at the ring‐fusion site; the fact was established by means of quantum‐chemical calculations and NMR data. It appeared that the behavior of the 2 : 3 mixture 1 / 2 in reactions with aldehydes in the presence of K10 clay differed substantially from the reactivities of the corresponding individual monoterpenes.     

The syn-oriented 2-OH provides a favorable proton transfer geometry in 1,2-diol monoester aminolysis: implications for the ribosome mechanism

A computational study of 1-formyl 1,2-ethanediol aminolysis predicts a stepwise mechanism involving syn-2-OH-assisted proton transfer. The syn-oriented 2-OH takes over the catalytic role of the external water or amine molecule previously observed in 2-deoxy ester aminolysis. It provides more favorable, that is, more linear, proton transfer geometry for the rate-limiting transition state resulting in an almost billion-fold rate acceleration of the overall reaction. These findings provide structural basis for explanation of the efficiency of the proton shuttling mechanism and imply double proton transfer catalysis by peptidyl tRNA A76 2'-OH as a possible catalytic strategy used by ribosome.     

Structure, stability, electronic and magnetic properties of Ni4 clusters containing impurity atoms

Using a gradient-corrected density functional method, we studied computationally how single impurity atoms affect the structure and the properties of a Ni4 cluster. H and O atoms coordinate at a Ni-Ni bond, inducing small changes to the structure of bare Ni4 which is essentially a tetrahedron. For a C impurity, we found three stable structures at a Ni4 cluster. In the most stable geometry, the carbon atom cleaves a Ni-Ni bond of Ni4, binding to all Ni atoms. Inclusion of the impurity atom leads to a partial oxidation of the metal atoms and, in the most stable structures, reduces the spin polarization of the cluster compared to bare Ni4. An H impurity interacts mainly with the Ni 4s orbitals, whereas the Ni 3d orbitals participate strongly in the bonding with O and C impurity atoms. For these impurity atoms, Ni 3d contributions dominate the character of the HOMO of the ligated cluster, in contrast to the HOMO of bare Ni4 where Ni 4s orbitals prevail. We also discuss a simple model which relates the effect of a H impurity on the magnetic state of metal clusters to the spin character (minority or majority) of the LUMO or HOMO of the bare metal cluster.     

New approaches to hyperbranched poly(4‐chloromethylstyrene) and introduction of various functional end groups by polymer‐analogous reactions

A facile way for the synthesis of hyperbranched poly(4‐chloromethylstyrene) [P(4‐CMS)] with adjustable molar mass by classic atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and mechanistically similar procedures is presented. Subsequently, the chlorine functional groups have been modified to obtain polymers with different polarities. On the one hand, the polymer was end‐capped with unpolar groups (e.g., methyl, phenol ether) to obtain chemically inert substances. On the other hand, more complex functional groups have been introduced through azide groups by 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition reaction (“click chemistry”). Furthermore, a method for the introduction of ester groups under mild conditions using cesium carboxylates is presented, which also allowed the preparation of so‐called hyperstars by attaching COOH functionalized polystyrene chains onto the P(4‐CMS) as core molecule. All these reactions were carried out in high or very high yields. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 2224–2235, 2010     

Non-extractive procedure followed by LC/APCI MS/MS analysis of trimetazidine in plasma samples for assessing bioequivalence of immediate/modified release formulations

Trimetazidine and internal standard [1-(2,4,5-trimethoxybenzyl)piperazine] were isolated from plasma by protein precipitation with trifluoroacetic acid. The neutralized supernatant was separated on a C(8) column with methanol-aqueous 0.11% triethylamine adjusted to pH 3.3 with formic acid (1:4, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.85 mL/min. The separation was achieved within 8 min and the column ef fluent was transferred into an ion trap analyzer via an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization interface. The mass analyzer was used in the selected reaction monitoring mode, to enhance detection selectivity. The method was fully validated with a quantitation limit for trimetazidine of 1.5 ng/mL. The method was successfully applied to assess bioequivalence of two immediate and two modified commercially available pharmaceutical formulations containing 20 and 35 mg of trimetazidine, respectively.     

IR-Dichroism of metal dithiocarbamate single crystals by attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy

Reliable assignments of most of the bands of vibrational molecular spectra suffer from ambiguous interaction of atomic displacements. Various experimental methods must be used to ascertain the assignment. By means of dichroic measurements of vibrational bands additional information can be obtained to reach this goal. Thus FT-IR ATR spectra of single crystals of Cd(DEDTC)₂ were recorded. If the molecular site with respect to the crystallographic cell is taken into account, the symmetry of certain vibrational modes can be determined.For aC _2h factor group of the monoclinic cell it is possible to distinguish betweenA _u andB _u symmetry species by the different dichroic ratios of the vibrational bands. This method supports vibrational assignment being verified by force constant refinement calculations.As a result a correlation between molecular site, symmetry and dichroic ratios of vibrational modes of single crystals is presented.     

X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies of LiFe0.5Ti1.5O4 – A new primitive cubic ordered spinel

LiFe_0.5Ti_1.5O₄ was synthesized by solid-state reaction carried out at 900 °C in flowing argon atmosphere, followed by rapid quenching of the reaction product to room temperature. The compound has been characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer effect spectroscopy (MES). It crystallizes in the space group P4₃32, a = 8.4048(1) Å. Results from Rietveld structural refinement indicated 1:3 cation ordering on the octahedral sites: Li occupies the octahedral (4b) sites, Ti occupies the octahedral (12d) sites, while the tetrahedral (8c) sites have mixed (Fe/Li) occupancy. A small, about 5%, inversion of Fe on the (4b) sites has been detected. The MES data is consistent with cation distribution and oxidation state of Fe, determined from the structural data.The title compound is thermally unstable in air atmosphere. At 800 °C it transforms to a mixture of two Fe³⁺ containing phases – a face centred cubic spinel Li_(1+y)/2Fe_(5−3y)/2Ti_yO₄ and a Li_(z−1)/2Fe_(7−3z)/2Ti_zO₅ – pseudobrookite. The major product of thermal treatment at 1000 °C is a ramsdellite type lithium titanium iron(III) oxide, accompanied by traces of rutile and pseudobrookite.     

EMR Study of Bis(benzene-dithiocarboxylato)copper(II) Complex in Solution and Magnetically Diluted in Different Host Lattices

EMR studies of bis(benzene-dithiocarboxylato)copper(II) in the form of the pure solid sample, in solution as well as magnetically diluted in the host lattices of the corresponding complexes of Ni^II, Zn^II, Pd^II, and Pt^II are reported. Two different samples (violet and blue) have been obtained in the Ni^II complex host lattice with EMR spectra indicating a superposition of several individual Cu^II signals. The EMR spectrum of the violet sample is explained by a superposition of the individual signals of (thio-, perthio-carboxylate)Cu^II and bis(perthiocarboxylate)Cu^II while that for the blue Cu/Ni(dtb)₂ complex, as well as for Cu/Pd (dtb)₂ is explained by different positions of the Cu^II species in the host lattices. The EMR spectrum typical for the magnetically diluted sample caused by self redox reaction has been recorded in the pure solid sample of copper(II) dithiocarboxylate complex.