Synthesis, excitation energy transfer and singlet oxygen photogeneration of covalently linked N-confused porphyrin-porphyrin and Zn(II) porphyrin dyads

Dyads of a N-confused porphyrin (NCP) moiety covalently linked to a porphyrin free-base (H₂P) or a zinc(II) porphyrinate (ZnP) moiety via a flexible alkyl chain of variable length have been synthesized. Photoluminescence study demonstrated an efficient excitation energy transfer from H₂P/ZnP moiety to the NCP moiety. Measurement of the near-IR emission of singlet oxygen produced by these dyads via photosensitization showed that the NCP-ZnP dyads (Ф_Δ = (0.61-0.65) ± 0.13) were better ¹O₂ generators than the NCP-P dyads (Ф_Δ = (0.36-0.41) ± 0.08).     

Stereoselective formation of a single-stranded helicate: structure of a bis(palladium-allyl)quaterpyridine complex and its use in catalytic enantioselective allylic substitution

Chiral C2-symmetric quaterpyridine L reacts with [Pd(eta3-C3H5)Cl]2 to form a chiral single-stranded helical binuclear palladium complex of formula [Pd2(eta3-C3H5)2(L)]2+; the complex can efficiently catalyze allylic substitution of 1,3-diphenylprop-2-enyl acetate with dimethyl malonate with enantioselectivity up to 85%.     

Influence of Michael acceptor stereochemistry on intramolecular Morita-Baylis-Hillman reactions

[reaction: see text] A study of the effect of Michael acceptor stereochemistry on the efficiency of intramolecular Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) reactions has been performed. The reactions were catalyzed by a phosphine, and the reaction substrates studied were enones containing a pendant aldehyde moiety attached at the beta-position of the alkene group. In all cases examined with PPh3 as the catalyst, cyclization substrates possessing (Z)-alkene stereochemistry afforded a much higher yield of the desired product than did the E isomeric substrates under identical reaction conditions. This was also true when a polymer-supported phosphine catalyst was used. While both alkene isomers afforded the same product, in parallel reactions, the Z isomer afforded 2.5-8.5 times higher yield than did the corresponding E isomer. It is proposed that steric effects are a possible source of this dramatic difference in reactivity. Substrates where the beta-substituent is cis to the electron-withdrawing substituent are relatively more accessible to react with the nucleophile catalyst than are their trans counterparts. These findings are expected to be useful in the design of synthetic intermediates, as intramolecular MBH reactions are being increasingly used in the preparation of complex synthetic targets.     

Highly selective mitochondria-targeting amphiphilic silicon(IV) phthalocyanines with axially ligated rhodamine B for photodynamic therapy

Two axially ligated rhodamine-Si(IV)-phthalocyanine (Rh-SiPc) conjugates, bearing one and two rhodamine B, were synthesized and their linear and two-photon photophysical, subcellular localization and photocytotoxic properties were studied. These Rh-SiPc conjugates exhibited an almost exclusive mitochondrial localizing property in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (HK-1) cells and human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells. Strong photocytotoxic but low dark cytotoxic properties were also observed for the two Rh-SiPc conjugates toward the HK-1 cells. Using nuclei staining method and flow cytometric DNA content analysis, apoptotic cell death was induced by these conjugates upon photoactivation. This observation is consistent with their mitochondrial localization property. The observed properties of these conjugates qualify them as promising PDT agents.     

Carbon-boron bond cross-coupling reaction catalyzed by -PPh(2) containing palladium-indolylphosphine complexes

This study describes the application of indolylphosphine ligands with a diphenylphosphino moiety to the palladium-catalyzed borylation of aryl chlorides. The combination of palladium metal precursor with PPh(2)-Andole-phos, which comprises an inexpensive -PPh(2) group, provides highly effective catalysts for the borylation of aryl chlorides. A range of functional groups such as -CN, -NO(2), -CHO, -COMe, -COOMe, and -CF(3) was compatible, and the catalyst loading down to 0.025 mol % of Pd can be achieved. The Pd/PPh(2)-Andole-phos system is able to catalyze both borylation reaction and Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction in a one-pot sequential manner for the direct synthesis of biaryl compounds in excellent yields.     

On Jordan’s inequality

We present sharp upper and lower bounds for the function \(\sin (x)/x\). Our bounds are polynomials of degree 2n, where n is any nonnegative integer.