Synthesis and properties of highly fluorescent indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindoles

We report here the synthesis, X-ray structures, optical and electrochemical properties, fabrication of light-emitting devices, and density functional calculations for indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindole (INI) derivatives. Strongly luminescent heterocycles based on the INI unit were synthesized by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions between pyrido[2,1-a]isoindole (PIS) and acetylene or ethylene derivatives. They are indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindoles 2-9 and 14-15, benzo[1',2'-1,2]indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindoles 10, pyridazino[4',5':1,2]indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindoles 12-13, and 2,3-hydropyridazino[4',5':1,2]indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindole-1,4-dione 11. The relative luminescence quantum yield can be as high as 90%. Their reduction and oxidation potentials and high luminescence can make these heterocycles possible alternatives to tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq(3)). The brightness of the light-emitting device reached as high as 10(4) cd/m(2) and indolizino[3,4,5-ab]isoindole 3 emits beautifully blue light. The X-ray crystal structures of INI derivatives were obtained for the first time. The geometries obtained from X-ray data and density functional theory calculations shed more light on an interesting formally antiaromatic 16pi system, which is divided into 10pi and 6pi aromatic systems. We also report a relatively easy protonation of INI, which occurs at a carbon, rather than nitrogen atom.     

Ruthenium complex-catalyzed allylic alkylation of carbonucleophiles with allylic carbonates

Allylic carbonates except for allyl methyl carbonate reacted with carbonucleophiles such as ethyl acetoacetate in the presence of a catalytic amount of Ru(cod)(cot) [cod = cycloocta-1,5-diene, COT = cycloocta-1,3,5-triene] in N-methylpiperidine at 80°C to give the corresponding monoallylated carbonucleophiles in high yields with high regioselectivity. The regioselectivity was quite different from that in the palladium-catalyzed reactions. The allylation of carbonucleophiles using allyl methyl carbonate selectively gave the diallylated carbonucleophiles in high yields.     

Ruthenium-catalyzed formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition of alkynes with alkenes: formation of cyclohexenedicarboxylates via isomerization of alkynes and successive Diels-Alder reaction

Formal [4 + 2] cycloaddition of alkynes with electron-deficient alkenes, which affords 3,6-dialkyl-4-cyclohexene-1,2-dicarboxylates, was achieved using Ru(η⁶-1,3,5-cyclooctatriene)(η²-dimethyl fumarate)₂ as a catalyst. The reaction mechanism consists of two steps, isomerization of an alkyne to conjugated dienes and successive Diels-Alder reaction of the generated dienes with an electron-deficient alkene.     

Peculiar temperature dependence on the binding of methyl orange and its homologs by 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone copolymers

2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)-N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (VPy) copolymers of various compositions have been prepared. The copolymers obtained were examined for their ability to bind a homologous series of methyl orange derivatives, methyl orange, ethyl orange, propyl orange, and butyl orange, at 5, 15, 25, and 35°C, respectively, in an aqueous solution. The first binding constants and the thermodynamic parameters that accompanied the binding were evaluated. The binding ability of the copolymer for the small cosolute was enhanced with an increase of the HEMA content in the copolymer. Moreover, a bell-shaped curve appeared in the binding of butyl orange by the copolymers having higher HEMA residues when the first binding constant was plotted as a function of temperature, whereas no such phenomenon was detected for the copolymers with less HEMA content or for the less hydrophobic dye, methyl orange, ethyl orange, or propyl orange. This peculiar temperature dependence of the first binding constant shows that the enthalpy of the binding varies from a positive (unfavorable) value below ca. 15°C to a negative (favorable) one above this temperature. This behavior can be accounted for in terms of more hydrophobic effects involved in the binding process.     

Dioxygenation of human serum albumin having a prosthetic heme group in a tailor-made heme pocket

Human serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant plasma protein in our bloodstream and serves as a transporter for small hydrophobic molecules such as fatty acids, bilirubin, and steroids. Hemin dissociated from methemoglobin is also bound within a narrow D-shaped cavity in subdomain IB of HSA. In terms of the general hydrophobicity of the alpha-helical pocket, HSA potentially has features similar to the heme-binding site of myoglobin (Mb) or hemoglobin (Hb). However, the reduced ferrous HSA-heme complex is immediately oxidized by O2, because HSA lacks the proximal histidine that enables the heme group to bind O2. In this paper, we report the introduction of a proximal histidine into the subdomain IB of HSA by site-directed mutagenesis to construct a tailor-made heme pocket (I142H/Y161L), which allows a reversible O2 binding to the prosthetic heme group. Laser flash photolysis experiments revealed that this artificial hemoprotein appears to have two different geometries of the axial-imidazole coordination, and these two species (I and II) showed rather low O2 binding affinities (P1/2O2 = 18 and 134 Torr) relative to those of Mb and Hb.     

Study on the murexide reaction. V

Although the reaction of caffeine with hydrogen peroxide/hydrochloric acid or nitric acid and then with ammonia has been known to give a purple coloration (Murexide reaction), the use of hydrazine instead of ammonia is found to provide no purple coloration. The reaction of caffeine with hydrogen peroxide/hydrochloric acid and then with hydrazine hydrate afforded a yellow reaction mixture, from which 4-methyl-6-(N-methylcarbamoyl)-3,5-dioxo-2,3,4,5-tetrahydrotriazine 9 , oxalyl hydrazide 10 and hydroxylamine hydrochloride were isolated. The reaction of caffeine with nitric acid and then with hydrazine hydrate furnished a yellow reaction mixture, from which 8-amino-1,3,7-trimethyl-2,6-dioxo-1H,3H,7H-xanthine 11, 9 and hydroxylamine nitrate were isolated. Compound 9 was clarified to be produced from 3-hydroxy-4,6-dimethyloxazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine-2,5,7(3H,4H,6H)-trione 3 and 1,3-dimethylalloxan 7 by the ring transformation with hydrazine.     

Mechanism of formation of YBa2Cu4O8 superconductor in the sol-gel synthesis

It was shown that a single phase YBa₂Cu₄O₈ (124-phase) could be formed from gels at 1 atm oxygen pressure, and the mechanism of its formation was elucidated. It was found that there are two key routes for the sol-gel formation of the 124-phase, one involving the tetragonal YBa₂Cu₃O _y with a low concentration of oxygen defects (tetra-I phase) and the other involving the Ba₂Cu₃O_5.9 as important intermediates of the 124-phase. The rapid formation of these intermediate compounds from the gel was attributed to the small particle size of the oxides and carbonates precipitating at the initial stage of heating. It was thought that the small particles characteristic of sol-gel processing lead to the rapid formation of the intermediate compounds and subsequent precipitation of the 124-phase.     

Convenient synthesis of 2-alkylamino-6-carboxy-5,7-diarylcyclopenteno[1,2-b]pyridines via direct acylamination with imidoyl chlorides

A robust synthetic method for 2-alkylamino-6-carboxy-5,7-diarylcyclopenteno[1,2-b]pyridines via acylamination at the alpha position of the functionalized pyridine system has been developed. The key step in this method was achieved by treatment of the corresponding pyridine N-oxides with 2.5 equiv of imidoyl chlorides in the presence of triethylamine, thus producing the desired 2-acylaminopyridines in good yields (74-96%).     

AM1 calculation of hydration to aldehyde group in nitro-substituted benzaldehydes

Hydration to the aldehyde group in nitro-substituted benzaldehydes was studied theoretically by using an AM 1 method. The calculated values of activation energy and heat of reaction showed good correlations with the experimental values of rate constants and equilibrium constants, respectively. To examine the hydration mechanism, localized molecular orbitals were calculated. Furthermore, expression of the molecular orbitals of supermolecular complexes in terms of occupied and vacant orbitals of the component molecules elucidated that the interaction between the lonepair orbital of water and the antibonding C? O π-orbital of aldehyde was important. 2,6-DNBAl was concluded to be less reactive toward water than was 2.4-DNBAl. This is consistent with the experimental result that the mutagenic activity of 2,4-DNBAl depends not only on the reduction of the nitro group by a bacterial enzyme but also on the acetyl conjugation, but that in the case of 2,6-DNBAl the mutagenic activity is manifested through the reduction by a bacterial enzyme. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.