Total Synthesis of Indole‐Derived Allocolchicine Analogues Exhibiting Strong Apoptosis‐Inducing Activity

A series of novel pyrrolo‐allocolchicine derivatives (containing a 1‐methyl‐1H‐indol‐5‐yl moiety replacing ring C) was synthesized. The tetracyclic ring system was constructed by Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling of a 1‐methylindole‐5‐boronate with an ortho‐iodo‐dihydrocinnamic acid derivative and subsequent intramolecular Friedel–Crafts acylation. After reduction of the resulting ketone, the nitrogen functionality was introduced in a Mitsunobu‐type reaction by using zinc azide followed by LiAlH₄ reduction. Structural assignments were supported by X‐ray crystallography. The compounds synthesized were then tested against BJAB tumor cells and found to exhibit pronounced cytotoxic activity (proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction). The ketone 24 b was even active at sub‐nanomolar concentration. In addition, the antitumor potential of the compounds was confirmed by using B lymphoid cell lines.     

A practical synthesis of 4-[(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl]benzoic acid—the key precursor toward imatinib

A simple and efficient in situ synthesis of 4-[(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl]benzoic acid through direct reductive alkylation of 1-methylpiperazine in the presence of triacetoxy sodium borohydride in 95-99% yields is elaborated. The process is easy to scale-up for the large-scale synthesis of 4-[(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)methyl]benzoic acid as the key synthetic intermediate of imatinib. This method was used for the synthesis of benzyl derivatives of heterocyclic amines in 87-90% yields.     

Adhesion of mineral and soot aerosols can strongly affect their scattering and absorption properties

We use the numerically exact superposition T-matrix method to compute the optical cross sections and the Stokes scattering matrix for polydisperse mineral aerosols (modeled as homogeneous spheres) covered with a large number of much smaller soot particles. These results are compared with the Lorenz-Mie results for a uniform external mixture of mineral and soot aerosols. We show that the effect of soot particles adhering to large mineral particles can be to change the extinction and scattering cross sections and the asymmetry parameter quite substantially. The effect on the phase function and degree of linear polarization can be equally significant.     

Tracking the Structure-Reactivity Relationship of Zinc Guanidine-Pyridine Hybrid Complexes Initiating Lactide Polymerisation

Summary : Three zinc guanidine-pyridine hybrid complexes [Zn(TMGqu)₂(CH₃SO₃)][CH₃SO₃] ( 1 ), [Zn(DMEGqu)(CH₃SO₃)₂] ( 2 ) and [Zn(DMEGqu)₂(CH₃SO₃)][CH₃SO₃] ( 3 ) were synthesised, completely characterised and investigated on their activity in the solvent-free ring-opening polymerisation of D,L -lactide. It was proven that the bis-chelate trigonal-bipyramidally coordinated compounds 1 and 3 are able to act as initiators for lactide polymerisation, and polylactides with molecular weights (M_w) of around 28000 g/mol could be obtained with relatively narrow polydispersities. The tetrahedral complex 2 does not initiate lactide polymerisation. In an integrated approach of structural studies and DFT calculations, the active complexes 1 and 3 were analysed towards their structural and electronical pre-requisites in comparison to their more active triflate analogues 1 ^OTf and 3 ^OTf . The influence of coordination strength of the anionic component on the charge distribution within the complex and on the substrate accessibility to the zinc centre is highlighted as crucial factor for the polymerisation initiation. As result, it is shown that the mesylate complexes 1 and 3 have less positive charge on the zinc centre and the mesylate is stronger bound than the corresponding triflate in the triflate complexes 1 ^OTf and 3 ^OTf . Consequently, the reactivity of the complexes is directly correlated to the coordinational behaviour of the anionic component.     

Flexibility in Proteins: Tuning the Sensitivity to O2 Diffusion by Varying the Lifetime of a Phosphorescent Sensor in Horseradish Peroxidase¶

The heme in horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was replaced by phosphorescent Pt‐mesoporphyrin IX (PtMP), which acted as a phosphorescent marker of oxygen quenching and allowed comparison with another probe, Pd‐mesoporphyrin IX (Khajehpour et al. (2003) Proteins 53, 656–666). Benzohydroxamic acid (BHA), a competitive inhibitor of the enzyme, was also used to monitor its effects on phosphorescence quenching. With the addition of BHA, in the presence of oxygen, the phosphorescence intensity of the protein increased. In contrast, the addition of BHA, in the absence of oxygen, reduced the phosphorescence intensity of the protein. K_d= 18 μM when BHA binds to PtMP‐HRP. The effect of BHA can be explained by two factors: ( 1 ) BHA reduces the accessibility of O₂ to the protein interior and ( 2 ) BHA itself quenches the phosphorescence. Consistent with this, the oxygen quenching of the phosphorescence of PtMP‐HRP gave a quenching constant of k_q= 234 mm Hg^?1 s^?1 in the absence of BHA and k_q= 28.7 mm Hg^?1 s^?1 in the presence of BHA. The quenching rate of BHA is 4000 s^?1. The relative quantum yield of the phosphorescence of the Pt derivative is about six times that of the Pd derivative, whereas the phosphorescence lifetime is approximately eight times shorter. The high quantum yield and suitable lifetime make Pt‐porphyrins appropriate as sensors of O₂ diffusion and flexibility in heme proteins.     

Miscible blend dynamics and the length scale of local compositions

We consider the influence of a local, or effective, composition on dynamics in the miscible polymer blend PEO/PMMA. Quasielastic neutron scattering in combination with deuterium labeling is employed to determine characteristic relaxation times of the PEO component over spatial scales from 3 to 10 Å. Information about the distribution of relaxation times is obtained indirectly from the stretching parameters in a stretched exponential fit. We examine the behavior of these parameters with spatial scale and temperature, finding that their variation supports a distribution of PEO mobility in the blend which is far wider than pure PEO and narrows with decreasing temperature for small spatial scales. This is linked to the concept of local compositions defined over varying spatial scales, and indicates that the concept of a local composition, linked to PEO dynamics, is important in this system. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 2914–2923, 2005     

Spatial regimes in the dynamics of polyolefins: collective motion

Molecular simulation is used to characterize the spatial dependence of collective motion in four saturated hydrocarbon polymers. The observable is the distinct intermediate scattering function, as measured in coherent quasielastic neutron scattering experiments. Ranges of 0.01-1000 ps in time and 2-14 A in spatial scale are covered. In this time range, a two-step relaxation, consisting of a fast exponential decay and a slower stretched decay, is observed for all spatial scales. The relaxation times for the fast process are very similar to those obtained by following self motion, with a small modulation of relaxation times near the peak in the static structure factor which is well described by the narrowing picture suggested by de Gennes. For the slow process, self and collective relaxation times have larger numerical differences and follow different scaling with spatial scale. The modulation of slow relaxation times is larger than that observed for the fast process, but is overestimated by the de Gennes prediction, which only works qualitatively.     

Dissociation of multiply ionized isocyanic acid through electron impact

The dissociation of singly to triply ionized isocyanic acid (HNCO) has been investigated by two- and three-dimensional covariance mapping techniques through electron impact ionization at an electron energy of 200 eV. The absolute cross sections for the various dissociation channels of up to triply ionized HNCO have been measured. The HNCO dications dissociate mostly into ion pairs, while the HNCO trications dissociate mostly into ion triples, both through all the possible bond cleavages and charge allocations. Some major ion-pair dissociation channels of HNCO2+ are supposed to be sequential dissociation through initial charge separation. The metastable decay traces caused by HNCO(2+)-->H(+)+NCO+ and HNCO(+)-->HCO(+)+N have been observed on the covariance map.