Structure Elucidator: a versatile expert system for molecular structure elucidation from 1D and 2D NMR data and molecular fragments

StrucEluc is an expert system that allows the computer-assisted elucidation of chemical structures based on the inputs of a series of spectral data including 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectra. The system has been enabled to allow a chemist to utilize fragments stored in a fragment database as well as user-defined fragments submitted by the chemist in the structure elucidation process. The association of fragments in this way has been shown to dramatically speed up the process of structure generation from 2D NMR data and has helped to minimize or eliminate the need for user intervention thereby further enabling the vision of automated elucidation. The use of fragments has frequently transformed very difficult 2D NMR elucidation challenges into easily solvable tasks. A strategy to utilize molecular fragments has been developed and optimized based on specific challenging examples. This strategy will be described here using real world examples. Experience gained by solving more than 150 structure elucidation problems from a variety of literature sources is also reviewed in this work.     

Asymmetric hydrogenation of ketones using a ruthenium(II) catalyst containing BINOL-derived monodonor phosphorus-donor ligands

[structure: see text] A series of ruthenium(II) complexes containing BINOL-based monodonor phosphorus ligands have been prepared and applied to the asymmetric catalysis of the hydrogenation of aryl/alkyl ketones. The best ligands for this application are those which contain an aromatic groups with either a methoxide or bromide on the ortho position. Using these ligands, alcohols with ee's of up to 99% are formed.     

Probing the glycosidic linkage: UV and IR ion-dip spectroscopy of a lactoside

The beta(1-->4) glycosidic linkage found in lactose is a prevalent structural motif in many carbohydrates and glycoconjugates. Using UV and IR ion-dip spectroscopies to probe benzyl lactoside isolated in the gas phase, we find that the disaccharide unit adopts only a single, rigid structure. Its fully resolved infrared ion-dip spectrum is in excellent agreement with that of the global minimum structure computed ab initio. This has glycosidic torsion angles of phi(H) (H1-C1-O-C4') approximately 180 degrees and psi(H) (C1-O-C4'-H4') approximately 0 degrees which correspond to a rotation of approximately 150 degrees about the glycosidic bond compared to the accepted solution-phase conformation. We discuss the biological implications of this discovery and the generality of the strategies employed in making it.     

Detection of VX contamination in soil through solid-phase microextraction sampling and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of the VX degradation product bis(diisopropylaminoethyl)disulfide

A solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) sampling and analysis method was developed for bis(diisopropylaminoethyl)disulfide (a degradation product of the nerve agent VX) in soil. A 30-min sampling time with a polydimethylsiloxane-coated fiber and high temperature alkaline hydrolysis allowed detection with 1.0 microg of VX spiked per g of agricultural soil. The method was successfully used in the field with portable GC-MS instrumentation. This method is relatively rapid (less than 1 h), avoids the use of complex preparation steps, and enhances analyst safety through limited use of solvents and decontamination of the soil before sampling.     

Sequential Injection Photometric Determination of Molybdenum Using Organic Wetting Film Extraction

Wetting film extraction was combined with colorimetry to determine nanogram amounts of molybdenum(VI). The simple extraction procedure enhanced sensitivity and selectivity while maintaining a high sample throughput. Extraction and back extraction steps were exploited to exclude interference from the 31 metal species and 11 anions tested. In the first step, molybdenum(VI) was extracted into a toluene film as an ion paired complex. Molybdenum(VI) reacted with thiocyanate to form anionic molybdenum(V) and/or molybdenum(VI) thiocyanate complexes. The complexes were extracted into a toluene film containing tetraheptylammonium bromide as ion pairing reagent. The thiocyanate ligands were displaced by 1,5-diphenylcarbazone (DPC) to form a more intensely colored complex (λ_max= 540 nm). DPC was introduced in the back extraction solvent, methanol. The relative standard deviation was 2.5% for 50 ng ml⁻¹of molybdenum(VI) (n= 10) at a rate of 25 samples h⁻¹. The detection limit (3 × baseline noise) was 2.5 × 10⁻⁸M.     

Application of parallel processing techniques to improving the efficiency of MM2 molecular mechanics calculations

The application of parallel processing techniques to molecular mechanics calculations is evaluated. Using the standard molecular mechanics package, MM2, four different parallel versions of the program are implemented in a four-processor computing environment. A set of 529 test structures is used to compare the efficiency of the parallel versions of MM2 to a standard serial version of the program. Statistics describing execution times and program execution cycles are gathered and analyzed. The effects of parallel processing overhead and computer system load are explored, and the practical utility of parallel processing in molecular mechanics is estimated. The results of these parallelization experiments indicate that for geometry optimizations requiring significant amounts of computing time an improvement in program execution speed approaching 50% is realizable. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fused lactones as a route to functionalized 1-substituted indoles

Indole lactones 8 and 14 were synthesized as a means of functionalizing the 1-isopropyl substituent of the indole nucleus. Lactone 8 , upon reduction with diisobutylaluminum hydride, produces lactol 9 which behaves like a masked hydroxy aldehyde and undergoes a Horner-Emmons reaction with triethyl phosphonoacteate to give α,β-unsaturated ester 3 which possesses a hydroxyl group on the 1-isopropyl moiety.     

The Enol of Acetone during Photochemical Reactions of 3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-2-butanone and of Acetone

The enol of acetone, formed by disproportionation reactions of 1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl radicals, is detected by NMR, spectroscopy during photoreactions of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-butanone in acetonitrile and of acetone in 2-propanol and slowly tautomerizes to acetone. The photolysis of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-butanone is shown to proceed via Type I cleavage, predominantly from an excited triplet state.     

Carbon dioxide emulsion assisted loading of polymer microspheres toward sustained release materials

An organic solvent-free method for encapsulating progesterone at high loadings within micron-sized inert latex polymer beads is reported. This approach makes use of a polymeric surfactant to emulsify carbon dioxide into an aqueous latex suspension. In this way, preformed approximately 4 microm polystyrene (PS) microparticles surface-grafted with poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) were plasticized and swollen followed by rapid partitioning of progesterone into the polymer matrix. The as-prepared polystyrene beads incorporated over 10% progesterone by weight while maintaining their initial size and morphological uniformity. Dissolution experiments were also carried out to obtain the release profile of progesterone entrapped within the PVP/PS particles.     

Novel heterocycles. 6. The condensation of ethyl o-fluorobenzoyl acetate with cyclic imino ethers

The reaction between ethyl o-fluorobenzoylacetate and cyclic imino ethers is described. The products, the corresponding 1,2-fused quinolines ( 13a-17a ), were isolated in good yields. In one instance the uncyclized condensation intermediate 18 was isolated and characterized.