Efficient, protection-free Suzuki-Miyaura synthesis of ortho-biphenyltetrazoles

We describe an efficient protocol for the Suzuki-Miyaura synthesis of ortho-biphenyltetrazoles from non-protected 2-bromophenyltetrazole and arylboronic acids. The optimised conditions were achieved using [1,1′-bis(diphenylphosphino)ferrocene]dichloropalladium(II) as catalyst and Na₂CO₃ as base. A panel of structurally diverse arylboronic acids was used to demonstrate the scope of the coupling procedure.     

Synthesis and polymerization of racemic and optically active β-substituted β-propiolactones. II: β-monosubstituted and β-disubstituted monomers and polymers with different optical purities

β-(trichloromethyl)-β-propiolactone (CCl₃-PL), β-(trifluoromethyl,methyl)-β-propiolactone (CF₃, Me-PL) and β-(trifluoromethyl,ethyl)-β-propiolactone (CF₃,Et-PL) have been obtained by the reaction of ketene with chloral, 1,1,1-trifluoroacetone and 1,1,1-trifluorobutanone, respectively. Chiral catalysis lead to optically active monomers. The enantiomeric excess of the lactones has been measured by ¹H-NMR spectroscopy, in the presence of 2,2,2-trifluoro-1-(9-anthryl)ethanol or an europium chiral shift reagent. Polymerizations have been carried out in bulk or in toluene, at 60°C or 80°C, using mainly organometallic initiators. The Polymers become insoluble and crystalline at enantiomeric excesses over 80% for CCl₃-PL and 70% for CF₃,Me-PL. Melting temperatures were recorded from 238 to 268°C for poly(CCl₃-PL) and from 78 to 100°C for poly(CF₃,Me-PL), depending upon the molecular weight and the enantiomeric excess. The ¹³C-NMR specroscopy of poly(CCL₃-PL) indicates that the polymerization of the corresponding lactone leads to polymers of increasing degrees of isotacticity with the enantiomeric excess of the monomer.     

Complete-active-space self-consistent-field/Amber parameterization of the Lys296–retinal–Glu113 rhodopsin chromophore-counterion system

A special hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics forcefield is defined, parameterized and validated for studying the photoisomerization path of the retinal chromophore in the rhodopsin protein. It couples a multireference ab initio Hamiltonian (CASSCF and second-order multireference many-body perturbation theory using a CASSCF reference) to describe the chromophore while the rest of the protein is approximated with the Amber forcefield. The frontier has been carefully parameterized in order to reproduce full quantum mechanics torsional energy profiles, for both the ground state and the first excited state. It is also shown that replacing the chromophore counterion with point charges is a valid approximation. This result is interpreted in terms of a cancellation effect for which a possible explanation is given.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic separation and dual competitive binding assay of corrinoids in biological material

Corrinoids were extracted with hot ethanol from human plasma and faeces and separated by high-performance liquid chromatography. The corrinoids (cobalamin and cobalamin analogues) were quantified in the eluted fractions by a dual radioisotope assay using as binders intrinsic factor and haptocorrin to detect cobalamin and total corrinoids, respectively. Recoveries ranged from 37.7 +/- 5.1% for hydroxycobalamin to 75.0 +/- 9.1% for cyanocobalamin. In plasma, the main forms of cobalamin were the coenzymes methylcobalamin and 5'-deoxyadenosylcobalamin (32.1 +/- 13.4 and 28.4 +/- 12.3%, respectively, of total corrinoids). The cobalamin analogue fraction of plasma was eluted with a retention time close to that of cobinamide and of deoxyadenosylcobalamin. In the faeces, most of the corrinoids separated were detected better by the haptocorrin assay than by the intrinsic factor assay. One corrinoid peak was eluted with the same retention time as cobinamide. This peak was detected by haptocorrin assay but not by intrinsic factor assay. It could therefore correspond to cobinamide.     

Syntheses of sulfoxide derivatives in the benzodiazine series. Diazines. Part 37

Syntheses of new sulfinylcinnolines, quinoxalines, quinazolines and phtalazines have been investigated starting from the appropriate halogenobenzodiazine derivatives. The latter were converted in one step to the corresponding sulfanyl benzodiazines which upon oxidation with m-CPBA led to the corresponding sulfoxide derivatives of benzodiazines in moderate to good yields. In parallel to this study, an improved method for the synthesis of 2-methylsulfinylquinoxaline starting from 2-sulfanylquinoxaline is also described and in the quinazoline series a synthetic route has been developed to prepare 2-tert-butyl-5-phenylsulfinylquinazoline with satisfactory yield as well as 2-tert-butyl-5-tert-butylsulfinyl-4(3H)-quinazolinone and 2-tert-butyl-8-tert-butylsulfinyl-4(3H)-quinazolinone.     

Improved determination of sulpiride in plasma by ion-pair liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

A specific and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the measurement of sulpiride in plasma is described. The internal standard used was veralipride, a structurally related substituted benzamide. A fluorescence detector with maximum excitation at 300 nm and maximum emission at 365 nm was used for quantitation. After an alkaline extraction procedure, the benzamides were separated on a 5-micron ODS column using a large organic counter ion in the mobile phase. The detector response was linear from 10 to 1000 ng/ml and the detection limit was 10 ng/ml, which is sensitive enough for pharmacokinetic studies. The suitability of the method for the analysis of biological samples was tested by studying the variation with time of plasma concentrations of sulpiride in normal human volunteers after a single therapeutic 200-mg oral dose of three different formulations of sulpiride.     

Non-covalent polyvalent ligands by self-assembly of small glycodendrimers: a novel concept for the inhibition of polyvalent carbohydrate-protein interactions in vitro and in vivo

Polyvalent carbohydrate-protein interactions occur frequently in biology, particularly in recognition events on cellular membranes. Collectively, they can be much stronger than corresponding monovalent interactions, rendering it difficult to control them with individual small molecules. Artificial macromolecules have been used as polyvalent ligands to inhibit polyvalent processes; however, both reproducible synthesis and appropriate characterization of such complex entities is demanding. Herein, we present an alternative concept avoiding conventional macromolecules. Small glycodendrimers which fulfill single molecule entity criteria self-assemble to form non-covalent nanoparticles. These particles-not the individual molecules-function as polyvalent ligands, efficiently inhibiting polyvalent processes both in vitro and in vivo. The synthesis and characterization of these glycodendrimers is described in detail. Furthermore, we report on the characterization of the non-covalent nanoparticles formed and on their biological evaluation.     

New mono- and bis-carbene samarium complexes: synthesis, X-ray crystal structures and reactivity

New samarium carbene complexes have been synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis; the carbenic nature was assessed by reactivity studies.     

Photoinduced electron transfer at liquid|liquid interfaces: dynamics of the heterogeneous photoreduction of quinones by self-assembled porphyrin ion pairs

The initial stages of the heterogeneous photoreduction of quinone species by self-assembled porphyrin ion pairs at the water|1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface have been studied by ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy and dynamic photoelectrochemical measurements. Photoexcitation of the water-soluble ion pair formed by zinc meso-tetrakis(p-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (ZnTPPS(4)(-)) and zinc meso-tetrakis(N-methylpyridyl)porphyrin (ZnTMPyP(4+)) leads to a charge-separated state of the form ZnTPPS(3)(-)-ZnTMPyP(3+) within 40 ps. This charge-separated state is involved in the heterogeneous electron injection to acceptors in the organic phase in the microsecond time scale. The heterogeneous electron transfer manifests itself as photocurrent responses under potentiostatic conditions. In the case of electron acceptors such as 1,4-benzoquinone (BQ), 2,6-dichloro-1,4-benzoquinone (DCBQ), and tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone (TCBQ), the photocurrent responses exhibit a strong decay due to back electron transfer to the oxidized porphyrin ion pair. Interfacial protonation of the radical semiquinone also contributes to the photocurrent relaxation in the millisecond time scale. The photocurrent responses are modeled by a series of linear elementary steps, allowing estimations of the flux of heterogeneous electron injection to the acceptor species. The rate of electron transfer was studied as a function of the thermodynamic driving force, confirming that the activation energy is controlled by the solvent reorganization energy. This analysis also suggests that the effective redox potential of BQ at the liquid|liquid boundary is shifted by 0.6 V toward positive potentials with respect to the value in bulk DCE. The change of the redox potential of BQ is associated with the formation of hydrogen bonds at the liquid|liquid boundary. The relevance of this approach toward modeling the initial processes in natural photosynthetic reaction centers is briefly discussed.     

The unexpected rearrangement of 1,5‐benzodiazepin‐2,4‐dione to a benzimidazol‐2‐one derivative during N,N'‐diglucosylation

Reaction of 1,5‐benzodiazepin‐2,4‐dione with 3‐O‐substituted‐5,6‐anhydro‐1,2‐isopropylidene‐α‐D‐glucofuranose gave the unexpected N,N'‐di‐glucofuranosyl benzimidazol‐2‐one by a novel rearrangement and ring closure reaction. A mechanism is proposed.