Preparation of dehydrated powder of hemoglobin vesicles

The carbonyl hemoglobin (CO-Hb), which was used to prevent denaturation (metHb) during the preparation of samples, was encapsulated into lipid vesicles constituted from unsaturated phospholipid, cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acid. Unsaturated components were polymerized by γ-irradiation to enhance the stability of bilayer membrane. An aqueous dispersion of resulting Hb vesicles was freeze-dried in the presence of saccharides (50–200 mM) to obtain a dehydrated powder of Hb vesicles. Change in the vesicle size, the leakage of encapsulated Hb and the oxidation of Hb to metHb were not observed. Therefore, the long-term storage of Hb vesicles can be realized as a dry powder.     

Practical synthesis of a neuropeptide Y antagonist via stereoselective addition to a ketene

[Reaction: see text]. The synthesis of neuropeptide Y antagonist 1, currently under clinical investigation for the treatment of obesity, is described. The convergent synthesis from trans-spirolactone carboxylic acid intermediate 2a and aminopyrazole 3 is predicated on a stereoselective route to the former. The coupling reaction of ethyl 4-oxocyclohexanecarboxylate (10a) with lithiated isonicotinamide 11 was investigated in detail, but even optimized conditions only provided a 45:55 ratio of trans:cis isomers (12a:12b). While selective crystallization schemes were developed to isolate the thermodynamically less stable trans isomer 2a, improved stereocontrol was subsequentially achieved by the application of ketene chemistry. The ketene formation and quench was investigated under a variety of conditions aimed at maximizing the trans:cis ratio. Reacting a mixture of carboxylic acids 2a and 2b with POCl3 in THF, followed by concomitant addition of tert-butyl alcohol in the presence of TMEDA at 35 degrees C provided a 4:1 ratio of trans:cis tert-butyl esters (18a:18b) via in situ ketene formation. Ester hydrolysis, followed by selective crystallization of undesired 2b as the HCl salt, led to isolation of 2a in 47% overall yield. Aminopyrazole intermediate 3 was synthesized via the condensation reaction of 2-fluorophenylhydrazine hydrochloride (4a) with acrylonitrile derivative 5 in 65-70% yield. Coupling of advanced intermediates 2a and 3b via activation with thionyl chloride gave a 92% yield of 1.     

Ligand binding properties of myoglobin reconstituted with iron porphycene: unusual O2 binding selectivity against CO binding

Sperm whale myoglobin, an oxygen storage hemoprotein, was successfully reconstituted with the iron porphycene having two propionates, 2,7-diethyl-3,6,12,17-tetramethyl-13,16-bis(carboxyethyl)porphycenatoiron. The physicochemical properties and ligand bindings of the reconstituted myoglobin were investigated. The ferric reconstituted myoglobin shows the remarkable stability against acid denaturation and only a low-spin characteristic in its EPR spectrum. The Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox potential (-190 mV vs NHE) determined by the spectroelectrochemical measurements was much lower than that of the wild-type. These results can be attributed to the strong coordination of His93 to the porphycene iron, which is induced by the nature of the porphycene ring symmetry. The O2 affinity of the ferrous reconstituted myoglobin is 2600-fold higher than that of the wild-type, mainly due to the decrease in the O2 dissociation rate, whereas the CO affinity is not so significantly enhanced. As a result, the O2 affinity of the reconstituted myoglobin exceeds its CO affinity (M' = K(CO)/K(O2) < 1). The ligand binding studies on H64A mutants support the fact that the slow O2 dissociation of the reconstituted myoglobin is primarily caused by the stabilization of the Fe-O2 sigma-bonding. The IR spectra for the carbon monoxide (CO) complex of the reconstituted myoglobin suggest several structural and/or electrostatic conformations of the Fe-C-O bond, but this is not directly correlated with the CO dissociation rate. The high O2 affinity and the unique characteristics of the myoglobin with the iron porphycene indicate that reconstitution with a synthesized heme is a useful method not only to understand the physiological function of myoglobin but also to create a tailor-made function on the protein.     

A molecular-beam study of the collision dynamics of methane and ethane upon a graphitic monolayer on Pt(111)

Utilizing a supersonic molecular-beam scattering technique, the angular intensity distributions of alkane molecules (CH4 and C2H6) have been measured, which are scattered from a chemically inert and highly oriented monolayer graphite (MG) on Pt(111). A MG which covers the Pt(111) surface with a full monolayer is found to induce a large energy loss of alkanes during collision with the surface by phonon creation due to the large mass ratio of an alkane molecule with respect to MG. Based on the classical cube model, only applicable to the molecules without internal mode excitation, the effective masses of MG of 76 (six atoms of carbon) and Pt(111) of 585 (three atoms of platinum) are determined from rare-gas atom scattering data. Despite the difference in the degree of freedom between CH4 and rare-gas atoms, CH4 scattering is found to be well described by the simple hard-cube model as a result of the high symmetry of the CH4 structure. With the recently developed ellipsoid-washboard model, an extension of the hard-cube model to include some internal mode excitation of impinging molecules in addition to the surface corrugation, it is found that unlike CH4 the cartwheel rotation mode of C2H6 is significantly excited during collision, while the helicopter mode excitation is negligible on a flat MG surface.     

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of (+)-totarol, (+)-podototarin, (+)-sempervirol, and (+)-jolkinolides E and D

The enzymatic resolution products [(1R,4aR,8aR)-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydro-5,5,8a-trimethyl-2-oxo-trans-naphthalene-1-methanol-2-ethylene acetal (8aR)-7 (98% ee) and {acetate of (1S,4aS,8aS)-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydro-5,5,8a-trimethyl-2-oxo-trans-naphthalene-1-methanol-2-ethylene acetal} (8aS)-9 (>99% ee)] obtained by the lipase-catalyzed enantioselective acetylation of (±)-7 in the presence of vinyl acetate as an acyl donor were converted to the ,β-unsaturated ketones (8aR)-6 and (8aS)-6, respectively. Concise syntheses of (+)-totarol 1, (+)-podototarin 2 and (+)-sempervirol 3 were achieved based on Michael reactions between (8aS)-6 and the appropriate β-keto ester followed by aldol condensation. The first chiral syntheses of (+)-jolkinolides E 4 and D 5 were achieved from (5R,10R,12R)-12-hydroxypodocarpa-8(14)-en-13-one 15 derived from (8aR)-6.     

Poly(ethylene glycol)-lipase complexes that are highly active and enantioselective in ionic liquids

Lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis between vinyl acetate and 2-phenyl-1-propanol was investigated in dialkylimidazolium-based ionic liquids. Although native lipase powder exhibited very low activity in an ionic liquid, forming a poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG)-lipase complex improved the lipase activity in the ionic liquid. The activity of the PEG-lipase complex was higher in ionic liquids than in common organic solvents (n-hexane, isooctane and dimethylsulfoxide). Fluorescence measurements using 4-aminophthalimide revealed that the ionic liquids were more hydrophilic than the organic solvents used for non-aqueous enzymology. A kinetic study of lipase-catalyzed alcoholysis in an ionic liquid ([Bmim][PF6]) revealed that the Michaelis constant (Km) for 2-phenyl-1-propanol in the ionic liquid was half that in n-hexane, suggesting that the ionic liquid stabilized the enzyme-substrate complex. Finally, we carried out enantioselective alcoholysis of 1-phenylethanol in ionic liquids employing the PEG-lipase complex, and obtained high enantioselectivity, comparable to that in n-hexane.     

Heterolytic cleavage of dihydrogen promoted by sulfido-bridged tungsten-ruthenium dinuclear complexes

A series of sulfido-bridged tungsten-ruthenium dinuclear complexes Cp*W(mu-S)(3)RuX(PPh(3))(2) (4a; X = Cl, 4b; X = H), Cp*W(O)(mu-S)(2)RuX(PPh(3))(2) (5a; X = Cl, 5b; X = H), and Cp*W(NPh)(mu-S)(2)RuX(PPh(3))(2) (6a; X = Cl, 6b; X = H) have been synthesized by the reactions of (PPh(4))[Cp*W(S)(3)] (1), (PPh(4))[Cp*W(O)(S)(2)] (2), and (PPh(4))[Cp*W(NPh)(S)(2)] (3), with RuClX(PPh(3))(3) (X = Cl, H). The heterolytic cleavage of H(2) was found to proceed at room temperature upon treating 5a and 6a with NaBAr(F)(4) (Ar(F) = 3, 5-C(6)H(3)(CF(3))(2)) under atmospheric pressure of H(2), which gave rise to [Cp*W(OH)(mu-S)(2)RuH(PPh(3))(2)](BAr(F)(4)) (7a) and [Cp*W(NHPh)(mu-S)(2)RuH(PPh(3))(2)](BAr(F)(4)) (8), respectively. When Cp*W(O)(mu-S)(2)Ru(PPh(3))(2)H (5b) was treated with a Br?nstead acid, [H(OEt(2))(2)](BAr(F)(4)) or HOTf, protonation occurred exclusively at the terminal oxide to give [Cp*W(OH)(mu-S)(2)RuH(PPh(3))(2)](X) (7a; X = BAr(F)(4), 7b; X = OTf), while the hydride remained intact. The analogous reaction of Cp+W(mu-S)(3)Ru(PPh(3))(2)H (4b) led to immediate evolution of H(2). Selective deprotonation of the hydroxyl group of 7a or 7b was induced by NEt(3) and 4b, generating Cp*W(O)(mu-S)(2)Ru(PPh(3))(2)H (5b). Evolution of H(2) was also observed for the reactions of 7a or 7b with CH(3)CN to give [Cp*W(O)(mu-S)(2)Ru(CH(3)CN)(PPh(3))(2)](X) (11a; X = BAr(F)(4), 11b; X = OTf). We examined the H/D exchange reactions of 4b, 5b, and 7a with D(2) and CH(3)OD, and found that facile H/D scrambling over the W-OH and Ru-H sites occurred for 7a. Based on these experimental results, the mechanism of the heterolytic H(2) activation and the reverse H(2) evolution reactions are discussed.     

Polymer‐Assisted Solution‐Phase Synthesis and Neurite‐Outgrowth‐Promoting Activity of 15‐Deoxy‐Δ12,14‐PGJ2 Derivatives

An efficient solution‐phase synthesis of rac‐15‐deoxy‐Δ^12,14‐PGJ₂ (15dPGJ₂) derivatives that contain variable α and ω chains based on a polymer‐assisted strategy and their neurite‐outgrowth‐promoting activity are described. The strategy for the synthesis of PGJ₂ derivatives involves the use of a vinyl iodide bearing cyclopentenone as a key intermediate, which undergoes Suzuki–Miyaura coupling and subsequent Lewis acid catalyzed aldol condensation for incorporation of the ω and α chains, respectively. For easy access to the PGJ₂ derivatives, a polymer‐supported catalyst and scavengers were adapted for use in these four diverse steps, in which workup and purification can be performed by simple filtration of the solid‐supported reagents. By using this methodology, we succeeded in the synthesis of 16 PGJ₂ derivatives with four alkyl boranes and four aldehydes. The neurite‐outgrowth‐promoting activity of the 16 synthetic compounds in PC12 cells revealed that the side‐chains play a major role in modulating their biological activity. The carboxylic acid on the α chain improved the biological activity, although it was not absolutely required. Furthermore, a PGJ₂ derivative with a phenyl moiety on the ω chain was found to exhibit an activity comparable to that of natural 15dPGJ₂.