Solvent effects in the reaction of 2-thiophenesulfonyl chloride with aniline

The second order rate constants k₂ and the activation parameters for the reaction of 2-thiophenesulfonyl chloride with aniline together with solution enthalpies of the reactants have been measured in methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, acetonitrile and acetone. The reaction rates are slower in dipolar aprotic solvents than in protic ones due to a remarkable activation negative entropy. The rate constants k₂ are correlated with empirical solvent polarity parameters. The data seem in accord with a S_AN reaction mechanism.     

Asymmetric synthesis of 1-substituted-1-(pyridin-2-yl)methylamines by diastereoselective reduction of enantiopure N-p-toluenesulfinyl ketimines

Reduction of enantiopure N-p-toluenesulfinyl ketimines derived from 2-pyridyl ketones affords N-p-toluenesulfinyl amines with good yields and diastereoselectivities.     

Enantiomeric separation of acidic compounds of pharmaceutical interest by capillary electrochromatography employing glycopeptide antibiotic stationary phases

Enantiomeric separation of some selected acidic compounds of pharmaceutical interest belonging to the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were separated by capillary electrochromatography employing silica based glycopeptide antibiotic stationary phases, namely vancomycin or a teicoplanin derivatives (Hepta-Tyr). The vancomycin stationary phase allowed to achieve the chiral resolution of some racemic studied compounds only using mobile phases containing ammonium formate at a relatively low pH 2.5-3.5 and acetonitrile. Employing the teicoplanin derivative stationary phase, good enantiomeric resolution was achieved eluting with mobile phases containing sodium phosphate pH 6-acetonitrile. Enantiomers were moved to the detector because a relatively high reversed electroosmotic flow (due to the positive charge of the stationary phase) and to the electrophoretic mobility of analytes.     

OH radical oxidation of the sorbitylfurfural furanic ring to sugar derivatives induced by radiolysis in aerobic environment

Chemical radiolytic oxidation induced by OH addition on 1-(2-furan-2-yl-5-hydroxy-6-hydroxymethyl-[1,3]dioxan-4-yl)-ethan-1,2-diol (sorbitylfurfural, SF) leads, in the presence of controlled amounts of oxygen, to a permanent functional modification of the target molecule. The yield of conversion reaches 60% of the starting material. LC-MS analysis allowed the identification, as final products, of carboxylic acids, butenal and hydroxy-furan derivatives in which the sugar chain remains unbroken, while the furanic ring is attacked first by OH and then by oxygen, giving in succession an intra-/inter-molecular rearrangement of the allylperoxyl radicals thus formed. The proposed oxidation of the furanic ring envisages the peroxyl intermediates undergoing mono- and/or bi-molecular reactions; a reaction path has been outlined and is reported here. The presence of unsaturated bonds in the final products could provide a further site for radical scavenger activity. Therefore, the fast reaction with O₂ and the rearrangement of the produced peroxyl radicals to species, which are likely to be effective OH-capturers, reinforces the antioxidant ability of SF.     

Fast exopolysaccharide secretion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa on polar polymer surfaces

The influence of the surface chemical structure and related physicochemical properties on the adhesion of P. aeruginosa has been studied for moderately hydrophobic polymers and for hydrophilic surfaces obtained by O2-plasma treatments and 50 keV Ar+ beam irradiation of poly(hydroxymethylsiloxane) and poly(ethyleneterephthalate). The surface chemical structure has been obtained by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the roughness was measured by atomic force microscopy, and the surface free energy was evaluated from contact angle measurements for all the polymer substrates before and after the irradiation treatments. It is shown that a massive and unusually fast secretion of exopolysaccharides onto highly polar surfaces, corresponding to the formation of complex three-dimensional multilayers (i.e., biofilm-like structures), occurs already after 2 h of incubation. It is suggested that such highly polar surfaces can operate either by promoting, by means of a still unknown biomolecular mechanism, an early gene expression process or by mimicking the P. aeruginosa cellular walls.     

Separation and analysis of the major constituents of cloves by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

A micellar electrokinetic chromatographic method was developed and applied for the first time to the separation and quantification of the main components of cloves, namely eugenol and beta-caryophyllene. The analytes were separated in less than ten minutes in an unmodified fused silica capillary (effective length: 40.0 cm) using a background electrolyte composed of 25 mM carbonate buffer (pH 10.0) and 60 mM sodium dodecylsulfate. Analyte concentrations were determined in clove oil and in methanolic clove extracts after simple sequential dilution with methanol and background electrolyte, and the resulting electropherograms showed no interference due to other components. Precision assays gave satisfactory results, with mean standard deviation of peak areas lower than 4.7% (lower than 1.5% for migration times). The eugenol content of a commercial clove oil was about 70% (RSD% = 3.2), while that of beta-caryophyllene was about 15% (RSD% = 4.2); in clove extracts, on the other hand, eugenol was approximately 15% (RSD% = 4.7) and beta-caryophyllene 4% (RSD% = 5.1). Accuracy was also good (mean recovery >98%).     

Studies on the synthesis of heterocyclic compounds. Part X. One-step route to 1,2-dimethyl-3-R-5-salicyloylimino-3-pyrazolines

This communication outlines the development of a direct synthetic route to 1,2-dimethyl-3-R-5-salicyloyl-imino-3-pyrazolines, starting from readily available 3(5)-aminopyrazoles 1a, b, c and methyl salicylate. The structures of the new compounds 3a, b, c were determined on the basis of analytical and spectroscopic data as well as on the acid hydrolysis products.     

New synthetic approach to enantiopure bicyclic sulfonium salts: swainsonine analogues

The enantioselective synthesis of bicyclic sulfonium salts 8 or 9, thioanalogues of swainsonine derivatives, is described. The synthetic strategy is based on a stereo- and regiospecific transannular cyclization reaction of nine-membered cyclic sulfides, mediated by Me(3)SiI or carried out under acidic catalysis.     

The fragmentation of 5- and 3-substituted thiophene-2-carboxamides under electron impact

The 70 eV electron impact mass spectra of twelve 5- and 3-substituted thiophene-2-carboxamides are discussed with the aid of exact mass measurements and labelling experiments. All mass spectra exhibit pronounced molecular ions. Some isomeric 5- and 3-substituted title compounds can be differentiated by mass spectrometry. The fragmentation is influenced by a strong ‘ortho-effect’ which activates the NH₃ elimination. In the other cases the most important fragmentation is NH₂˙ loss, followed by CO elimination.     

New insight into solvent effects on the formal HOO. + HOO. reaction

The 2,2'-azobis(isobutyronitrile)(AIBN)-induced autoxidation of gamma-terpinene (TH) at 50 degrees C produces p-cymene and hydrogen peroxide in a radical-chain reaction having HOO* as one of the chain-carrying radicals. The kinetics of this reaction in cyclohexane and tert-butyl alcohol show that chain termination involves the formal HOO. + HOO. self-reaction over a wide range of gamma-terpinene, AIBN, and O2 concentrations. However, in acetonitrile this termination process is accompanied by termination via the cross-reaction of the terpinenyl radical, T., with the HOO. radical under conditions of relatively high [TH] (140-1000 mM) and low [O2] (2.0-5.5 mM). This is because the formal HOO. + HOO. reaction is comparatively slow in acetonitrile (2k approximately 8 x 10(7) M(-1) s(-1)), whereas, this reaction is almost diffusion-controlled in tert-butyl alcohol and cyclohexane, 2k approximately 6.5 x 10(8) and 1.3 x 10(9) M(-1) s(-1), respectively. Three mechanisms for the bimolecular self-reaction of HOO. radicals are considered: 1) a head-to-tail hydrogen-atom transfer from one radical to the other, 2) a head-to-head reaction to form an intermediate tetroxide, and 3) an electron-transfer between HOO. and its conjugate base, the superoxide radical anion, O2-.. The rate constant for reaction by mechanism (1) is shown to be dependent on the hydrogen bond (HB) accepting ability of the solvent; that by mechanism (2) is shown to be too slow for this process to be of any importance; and that by mechanism (3) is dependent on the pH of the solvent and its ability to support ionization. Mechanism (3) was found to be the main termination process in tert-butyl alcohol and acetonitrile. In the gas phase, the rate constant for the HOO. + HOO. reaction (mechanism (1)) is about 1.8 x 10(9) M(-1) s(-1) but in water at pH< or =2 where the ionization of HOO. is completely suppressed, this rate constant is only 8.6 x 10(5) M(-1) s(-1). The very large retarding effect of water on this reaction has not previously been explained. We find that it can be quantitatively accounted for by using Abraham's HB acceptor parameter, beta(2)(H), for water of 0.38 and an estimated HB donor parameter, alpha(2)(H), for HOO. of about 0.87. These Abraham parameters allow us to predict a rate constant for the HOO. + HOO. reaction in water at 25 degrees C of 1.2 x 10(6) M(-1) s(-1) in excellent agreement with experiment.