Furanodictine A and B: amino sugar analogues produced by cellular slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum showing neuronal differentiation activity

We investigated the constituents of Dictyostelium discoideum to clarify the diversity of secondary metabolites of Dictyostelium cellular slime molds and to explore biologically active substances that could be useful in the development of novel drugs. From a methanol extract of the multicellular fruit body of D. discoideum, we isolated two novel amino sugar analogues, furanodictine A (1) and B (2). They are the first 3,6-anhydrosugars to be isolated from natural sources. Their relative structures were elucidated by spectral means, and the absolute configurations were confirmed by asymmetric syntheses of 1 and 2. These furanodictines potently induce neuronal differentiation of rat pheochromocytoma (PC-12) cells.     

Potential acting on the trapped electron

If the absorption of a trapped electron can be shown to correspond to bound—free transitions, it should be possible to calculate the potential acting on the trapped electron inversely from its absorption spectrum. In this paper we present the method of calculating the potential acting on a trapped electron from the observed absorption spectrum.     

Flow-injection spectrofluorometric determination of trace amounts of formaldehyde in water after derivatization with acetoacetanilide

A novel fluorophotometric method for formaldehyde determination in environmental waters was developed: the method does not require any enrichment procedures. A flow-injection analysis method for the spectrofluorometric determination of formaldehyde in waters, which is based on the reaction of formaldehyde with acetoacetanilide and ammonia, is proposed. The proposed method shows a good linearity from 0.50 to 40 × 10⁻⁷ M, and the limit of detection (LOD) of 3 × 10⁻⁹ M (0.09 ppb) is achievable. The sample throughput is 15 h⁻¹. One of the main advantages in the proposed method is that the reaction can be carried out at room temperature without any heating system. The effect of various interferences possibly present in the real water samples was investigated. Most cations and anions, as well as organic compounds, do not interfere with the determination of formaldehyde in environmental water samples. The proposed method is very simple, rapid, less expensive, and highly sensitive, and can be applied to the environmental water samples, such as rain, tap water and river water, at low concentration levels without any enrichment procedure.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of a new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, 2-(10,11-dihydro-10-oxodibenzo[b,f]thiepin-2-yl)propionic acid, in human plasma and urine

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the quantitation of a new anti-inflammatory agent, 2-(10,11-dihydro-10-oxodibenzo[b,f]thiepin-2-yl)propionic acid (CN-100; I), has been developed. The assay consists in extracting samples containing I and mefenamic acid, the internal standard, under acidic conditions and analysis by reversed-phase chromatography using ultraviolet detection at 330 nm. Preliminary plasma concentration-time and cumulative urinary excretion profiles from a healthy subject following oral administration of the tablet formulation are presented. This method is simple, sensitive and reproducible and is applicable to studies of the pharmacokinetic behaviour of I in humans.     

Pd(O) promoted rearrangement of 2-(1,3-butadienyl)cyclopropane- 1,1-dicarboxylate esters to 2-alkenyl-3-cyclopentene-1,1-dicarboxylate esters

The title dienylcyclopropanes smoothly rearrange of five-membered rings in the presence of a Pd(O) catalyst under mild conditions.     

Ceric-ion-initiated grafting of methyl methacrylate onto (1 → 5)-α-D-ribofuranan and (1 → 5)-α-D-xylofuranan

We report herein studies of grafting of MMA onto (1 → 5)-α-D -ribofuranan and (1 → 5)-α-D -xylofuranan by ceric ion initiation both in water and in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). In aqueous medium, the graft polymer having high grafting (%) can be obtained easily without adding any nitric acid. The degradation of polysaccharide by the acidic ceric ion solution is not serious; 73–82% of its original molecular weight remained after the polymerization. In DMSO, graft polymers having lower grafting (%) and lower molecular weight of grafts were obtained.     

Lactone and cyclic ether analogues of platelet-activating factor. Synthesis and biological activities

Six-membered lactone and tetrahydropyran analogues of platelet-activating factor (PAF), 4-11, and related antagonistic derivatives 41-46 were synthesized. None of the delta-lactones 4-7 showed PAF-like activities, while the corresponding cyclic ethers 8, 9 and 11 were slightly active. Some of the cyclic antagonists showed more potent inhibitory activities than the open chain antagonist CV-3988 against platelet aggregation (rabbit platelet-rich plasma, IC50) and hypotension (rat, ID50) induced by C16-PAF: e.g. dl-3-[6-[O-(trans-3-heptadecylcarbamoyloxytetrahydropyran-2- yl)methyl]phosphonoxy]hexylthiazolium (inner salt) (41d) (IC50 5.5 x 10(-7) M, ID50 0.046 mg/kg, i.v.); dl-3-[5-[O-(cis-3-heptadecylcarbamoylthiotetrahydropyran-2- yl)methyl]phosphonoxy]pentylthiazolium (inner salt) (43c) (IC50 5.7 x 10(-7) M, ID50 0.076 mg/kg, i.v.).     

Intramolecular tandem Michael-type addition/aldol cyclization induced by TiCl(4)-R(4)NX combinations

[reaction: see text] Treatment of formyl alpha,beta-enones with a TiCl(4)-R(4)NX combination induces an intramolecular aldol cyclization to furnish 2-acyl-3-halocyclohexanol with three controlled consecutive stereogenic centers. The reaction of bis-alpha,beta-enones with the combination provides cyclic diketones with high stereoselectivity via an intramolecular Michael addition reaction.     

Functionalization of chitosan with 3-nitro-4-amino benzoic acid moiety and its application to the collection/concentration of molybdenum in environmental water samples

A chitosan resin functionalized with 3-nitro-4-amino benzoic acid moiety (CCTS-NABA resin) was newly synthesized for the collection/concentration of trace molybdenum by using cross-linked chitosan (CCTS) as base material. The carboxyl group of the moiety was chemically attached to amino group of cross-linked chitosan through amide bond formation. The adsorption behavior of molybdenum as well as other 60 elements on the resin was examined by passing the sample solutions through a mini-column packed with the resin. After the elution of the elements collected on the resin with 1 M HNO₃, the eluates were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).

The CCTS-NABA resin can adsorb several metal ions, such as vanadium, gallium, arsenic, selenium, silver, bismuth, thorium, tungsten, tin, tellurium, copper, and molybdenum at appropriate pHs. Among these metal ions, only molybdenum could be adsorbed almost completely on the resin at acidic regions. An excellent selectivity toward molybdenum could be obtained at pH 3–4. The adsorption capacity of CCTS-NABA resin for Mo(VI) was 380 mg g⁻¹ resin. Through the column pretreatment, alkali and alkaline earth metals in river water and seawater samples were successfully removed.

The CCTS-NABA resin was applied to the adsorption/collection of molybdenum in river water and seawater samples. The concentrations of molybdenum in river water samples were found in the range of 0.84 and 0.95 ppb (ng g⁻¹), whereas molybdenum in seawater was about 9 ppb. The validation of the proposed method was carried out by determining molybdenum in the certified reference materials of SLRS-4, CASS-4, and NASS-5 after passing through the CCTS-NABA resin; the results showed good agreement with the certified values.