Diels-Alder reaction of optically active (E)-γ-keto-α,β-unsaturated p-tolylsulfoxides with cyclopentadiene

The Diels-Alder reaction of enantiomerically pure (E)-γ-keto-α,β-unsaturated p-tolylsulphoxides 3 with cyclopentadiene give four easily separable diastereomers. The effect of several Lewis acids on the reaction was studied, finding a high endo selectivity with respect to the carbonyl group and moderate π-diastereoselectivity using BF₃·Et₂O as catalyst. The reactivity of compounds 3 as well as their endo selectivity are both higher than those observed for the corresponding (E)-3-sulfinylacrylates.     

Comparative enantioseparations with native beta-cyclodextrin,randomly acetylated beta-cyclodextrin and heptakis-(2,3-di-O-acetyl)-beta-cyclodextrin in capillary electrophoresis

Comparative enantioseparations were performed with three neutral cyclodextrins (CDs) in capillary electrophoresis (CE). In particular, native beta-CD was compared with single component heptakis(2,3-di-O-acetyl)-beta-CD (HDA-beta-CD) and randomly acetylated beta-CD (Ac-beta-CD) with the emphasis on the enantiomer migration order. The opposite affinity of the enantiomers of several chiral analytes was observed towards native beta-CD and its acetylated derivatives. The enantiomer affinity pattern of some chiral analytes was also opposite towards the two acetylated derivatives of beta-CD. In the case of the chiral drug clenbuterol (CL) an attempt was made to evaluate the possible structural reasons of the affinity reversal using one- and two-dimensional as well as transverse rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY). Significant differences were observed between the structure of the CL complexes with beta-CD and HDA-beta-CD.     

Combined use of liquid chromatography-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for the characterization of an acarbose degradation product

Directly coupled LC-MS and LC-NMR were applied to identify and structurally characterize an acarbose degradation product A in acidic media. A comparative analysis of the stop-flow LC-NMR (1H and TOCSY) and LC-MS data provided evidence that A is structurally related to acarbose, differing from the parent compound in a number of subunits present in the molecule. Spectral analysis revealed that A was the alpha-glucosidase inhibitor amylostatin XG. Complementary information obtained from the two methods led to the structural elucidation of A which was later corroborated by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy of the isolated molecule.     

1,2-fused pyrimidines. V. Synthesis of 1-alkyl or phenyl-2H-dipyrido-[1,2-a:2′,3′-d]pyrimidine-2,5(1H)-diones

The reaction of 2-[(N-acyl, N-alkyl or phenyl)amino]-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones 8a-g with the N,N-dimethylformamide/phosphorus oxychloride Vilsmeier reagent 1 (95°, 90 minutes) afforded 1-alkyl or phenyl-2H-dipyrido[1,2-a:2′,3′-d]pyrimidine-2,5(1H)^?diones, 3-alkyl substituted or not, 10a-g . The starting compounds 8 were prepared by treating 2-amino-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones N-alkyl substituted 7a,b or N-phenyl substituted 4 with excess anhydrides (130°, 7 hours) when the 2-(alkylamino) derivatives 7 were used in the reaction, compounds 8 were obtained along with very small amounts of 3-acyl-2-(alkylamino)-4H-pyrido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-ones 9 .     

Dynamics of heart rate

Heart rate oscillates on several different time scales and has long-term variability in the form of 1/f noise. The physiological control of heart rate is briefly reviewed, and several typical patterns of heart rate variability, in health and sickness, are described. Considered briefly are some possible dynamical mechanisms for heart rate variability.     

The Chemistry of Coumarin Derivatives. Part 5. Unusual course of the reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin and aliphatic aldehydes

The reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarin and certain aliphatic aldehydes affords 1:1 or complex 2:2 adducts besides (or in place) of the expected 2:1 bis(coumarin) adducts. Reaction with heptanal, cyclohexanecarbaldehyde, and pivalaldehyde are reported as representative. The structure of the reaction products was established by spectroscopical techniques, including X-ray analysis, and their formation was mechanistically rationalized. Some of the 1:1 adducts are synthetically useful for the preparation of 3-alkyl-4-hydroxycoumarins.     

Identification of fentanyl, alfentanil, sufentanil, remifentanil and their major metabolites in human urine by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry for doping control purposes

Since January 2005, the list of prohibited substances established by the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibits the opioid agent fentanyl as well as its related drugs in professional and amateur sports. Fast, reliable and robust analytical assays are required that allow the sensitive determination of these compounds or respective metabolites in human urine, and liquid chromatography interfaced to mass spectrometry has proven to be a suitable and powerful tool for drug testing for several years. A screening and confirmation method was developed that enables the identification of fentanyl, alfentanil, remifentanil and sufentanil as well as their N-dealkylated or de-esterified metabolites utilizing solid-phase extraction of a 2 mL urine aliquot followed by LC-electrospray-MS/MS analysis. The procedure was validated in terms of recovery (95.8-104.9%), lower limit of detection (0.5 ng mL-1), specificity and interday precision (3.9-19.8%) for the four opioid drugs and the metabolic product norfentanyl. In addition, the mass spectrometric behavior of fentanyl after electrospray ionization and collision-induced dissociation was studied by synthesis and analysis of structurally related compounds, and dissociation pathways were proposed allowing the characterization of target analytes and corresponding metabolites.     

Electron Transfer Spectra of Some Adducts of Niobium (V), Tantalum (V), Titanium (IV) and Zirconium (IV) Halides with Lewis Bases

The electron transfer spectra of adducts of the title metal halides with a series of ligands (nitriles, dialkylchalcogenides, phosphoryl and thiophosphoryl ligands and phosphines) have been studied. The effect of halogen substitution on the halogen metal transitions is discussed by comparing the spectra of the adducts with those of the hexahalometalates. The origin of the two ligand-metal transitions observed in most adducts is discussed, and the splitting of the metal d levels in these almost octahedral adducts is estimated. For each metal halide, the series of adducts with dialkyl chalcogenides show a linear relationship of slope one between the ligand ionisation potential and the ligand-metal charge transfer energy. The ligand optical electronegativities have been estimated.     

Formation of two isomeric closo-[(eta5-C5H5)FePC2B8H10] phosphadicarbaborane analogues of ferrocene via isolable eta1-bonded complexes of the [7-[(eta5-C5H5)Fe(CO)2]-(eta1-nido-PC2B8H10)] type

The reaction of nido-[7,8,9-PC(2)B(8)H(11)] (1) with [[CpFe(CO)(2)](2)] (Cp=eta(5)-C(5)H(5) (-)) in benzene (reflux, 3 days) gave an eta(1)-bonded complex [7-Fp-(eta(1)-nido-7,8,9,-PC(2)B(8)H(10))] (2; Fp=CpFe(CO)(2); yield 38 %). A similar reaction at elevated temperatures (xylene, reflux 24 h) gave the isomeric complex [7-Fp-(eta(1)-nido-7,9,10-PC(2)B(8)H(10))] (3; yield 28 %) together with the fully sandwiched complexes [1-Cp-closo-1,2,4,5-FePC(2)B(8)H(10)] 4 a (yield 30%) and [1-Cp-closo-1,2,4,8-FePC(2)B(8)H(10)] 4 b (yield 5%). Compounds 2 and 3 are isolable intermediates along the full eta(5)-complexation pathway of the phosphadicarbaborane cage; their heating (xylene, reflux, 24 h) leads finally to the isolation of compounds 4 a (yields 46 and 52%, respectively) and 4 b (yields 4 and 5%, respectively). Moreover, compound 3 is isolated as a side product from the heating of 2 (yield 10%). The structure of compound 4 a was determined by an X-ray structural analysis and the constitution of all compounds is consistent with the results of mass spectrometry and IR spectroscopy. Multinuclear ((1)H, (11)B, (31)P, and (13)C), two-dimensional [(11)B-(11)B]-COSY, and (1)H[(11)B(selective)] magnetic resonance measurements led to complete assignments of all resonances and are in excellent agreement with the structures proposed.     

Antibody-recruiting protein-catalyzed capture agents to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Antibiotic resistant infections are projected to cause over 10 million deaths by 2050, yet the development of new antibiotics has slowed. This points to an urgent need for methodologies for the rapid development of antibiotics against emerging drug resistant pathogens. We report on a generalizable combined computational and synthetic approach, called antibody-recruiting protein-catalyzed capture agents (AR-PCCs), to address this challenge. We applied the combinatorial protein catalyzed capture agent (PCC) technology to identify macrocyclic peptide ligands against highly conserved surface protein epitopes of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, an opportunistic Gram-negative pathogen with drug resistant strains. Multi-omic data combined with bioinformatic analyses identified epitopes of the highly expressed MrkA surface protein of K. pneumoniae for targeting in PCC screens. The top-performing ligand exhibited high-affinity (EC₅₀ ∼50 nM) to full-length MrkA, and selectively bound to MrkA-expressing K. pneumoniae, but not to other pathogenic bacterial species. AR-PCCs that bear a hapten moiety promoted antibody recruitment to K. pneumoniae, leading to enhanced phagocytosis and phagocytic killing by macrophages. The rapid development of this highly targeted antibiotic implies that the integrated computational and synthetic toolkit described here can be used for the accelerated production of antibiotics against drug resistant bacteria.

Antibody-recruiting protein-catalyzed capture agent (AR-PCCs) are a new class of all-synthetic and highly targeted antibiotics that recruit endogenous immune responses to eliminate drug-resistant microbes.