An efficient synthesis of dexlansoprazole employing asymmetric oxidation strategy

An alternative and scalable synthesis of dexlansoprazole ((R)-(+)-1); the (R)-enantiomer of Lansoprazole with an enantiomeric excess of >99.8% is presented.     

Brain delivery of transferrin coupled indinavir submicron lipid emulsions--pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution

Indinavir, an antiretroviral protease inhibitor used in treatment of HIV infection has limited penetration into brain due to efflux of P-glycoprotein. The aim of this work was to develop transferrin coupled submicron lipid emulsions (SLEs) containing indinavir for delivery to brain. Stearylamine containing SLEs were prepared, characterized, tested for stability and optimized formulation (SLE-4) was developed. Transferrin was coupled to get SLE-6 by water soluble EDC method and purified by gel filtration. The coupled transferrin was quantified by modified Bradford dye assay method. The fluorescent dye (DiD oil) incorporated SLEs were used to check the brain specific delivery of SLEs. The in vivo pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution were conducted in mice. During pharmacokinetic studies, there was no significant difference in the serum levels of indinavir from SLE-1, SLE-4 and SLE-6 formulations at all time points. In tissue distribution studies the therapeutic availability (TA) of indinavir in brain from SLE-6 was 4.69, 3.1 and 1.7 times higher than drug solution, SLE-1 and SLE-4 respectively whereas, the TA of indinavir from SLE-4 was 2.76 and 1.82 times the drug solution and SLE-1. The brain to serum ratios with SLE-6 were above one indicates the brain specific delivery. The brain delivery of indinavir was improved with transferrin ligand attachment to SLEs by receptor mediated transcytosis.     

A previously unrecognised hydronium di-cation in the crystal structure of a cucurbituril derivative

Examination of the crystal structure of the adduct of hydronium tetrachloroferrate dichloride with cucurbituril resulted in the discovery that the hydronium cation present therein is not the well known H7O3+ species; rather, it is an unprecedented cyclic species of composition (H14O6)2+, templated by the formation of five hydrogen bonds to cucurbituril.     

Spin state selective coherence transfer: a method for discrimination and complete analyses of the overlapped and unresolved 1H NMR spectra of enantiomers

In general, the proton NMR spectra of chiral molecules aligned in the chiral liquid crystalline media are broad and featureless. The analyses of such intricate NMR spectra and their routine use for spectral discrimination of R and S optical enantiomers are hindered. A method is developed in the present study which involves spin state selective two dimensional correlation of higher quantum coherence to its single quantum coherence of a chemically isolated group of coupled protons. This enables the spin state selective detection of proton single quantum transitions based on the spin states of the passive nuclei. The technique provides the relative signs and magnitudes of the couplings by overcoming the problems of enantiomer discrimination, spectral complexity and poor resolution, permitting the complete analyses of the otherwise broad and featureless spectra. A non-selective 180 degrees pulse in the middle of MQ dimension retains all the remote passive couplings. This accompanied by spin selective MQ-SQ conversion leads to spin state selective coherence transfer. The removal of field inhomogeneity contributes to dramatically enhanced resolution. The difference in the cumulative additive values of chemical shift anisotropies and the passive couplings, between the enantiomers, achieved by detecting Nth quantum coherence of N magnetically equivalent spins provides enhanced separation of enantiomer peaks. The developed methodology has been demonstrated on four different chiral molecules with varied number of interacting spins, each having a chiral centre.     

Correlation between photophysical properties and lasing performances of Rhodamine-19 in three types of sol–gel glass hosts

Rhodamine-19 (Rh-19) incorporated three types of sol–gel samples (mentioned as dope route-I, dope route-II and dip method) were prepared by using two different methods of dye impregnation. The photophysical properties of all the three types of Rh-19 incorporated sol–gel solids were studied by using the UV–Visible absorption and the fluorescence spectroscopy. A single photon counting technique was used to estimate the lifetime of fluorescent species. From the study of fluorescence spectra, the coexistence of dimers (fluorescent and non-fluorescent both) and monomer of Rh-19 was observed. The photophysical properties of Rh-19 were found to be the best in dip sample, medium in dope route-II sample and low in dope route-I sample. After studying photophysical properties, the samples were subjected to laser study under nitrogen laser pumping at 337.1 nm at the rate of 1.5 Hz in transverse dye laser cavity. The highest laser efficiency and photostability of the dye were observed in dip sample, medium in dope route-II sample and small in dope route-I sample. A comparison between photophysical properties and laser performance of these materials showed a very good correlation.     

Tris-hydroxymethylaminomethane (THAM): An efficient organocatalyst in diversity-oriented and environmentally benign synthesis of spirochromenes

Tris-hydroxymethylaminomethane has been demonstrated to be an efficient organocatalyst in diversity-oriented synthesis of medicinally prevalent spirochromenes by one-pot, three-component reactions between isatins, malononitrile, and enolizable CH acids like dimedone, 4-hydroxycoumarin, 4-hydroxy-N-methylquinolin-2-one, or in situ generated 2-methylpyrazolon-2-one. Biodegradability and extremely low cost of the catalyst are the noteworthy features of this chromatography-free protocol.     

Near infrared spectroscopic imaging assessment of cartilage composition: Validation with mid infrared imaging spectroscopy

Disease or injury to articular cartilage results in loss of extracellular matrix components which can lead to the development of osteoarthritis (OA). To better understand the process of disease development, there is a need for evaluation of changes in cartilage composition without the requirement of extensive sample preparation. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is a chemical investigative technique based on molecular vibrations that is increasingly used as an assessment tool for studying cartilage composition. However, the assignment of specific molecular vibrations to absorbance bands in the NIR spectrum of cartilage, which arise from overtones and combinations of primary absorbances in the mid infrared (MIR) spectral region, has been challenging. In contrast, MIR spectroscopic assessment of cartilage is well-established, with many studies validating the assignment of specific bands present in MIR spectra to specific molecular vibrations. In the current study, NIR imaging spectroscopic data were obtained for compositional analysis of tissues that served as an in vitro model of OA. MIR spectroscopic data obtained from the identical tissue regions were used as the gold-standard for collagen and proteoglycan (PG) content. MIR spectroscopy in transmittance mode typically requires a much shorter pathlength through the sample (≤10 microns thick) compared to NIR spectroscopy (millimeters). Thus, this study first addressed the linearity of small absorbance bands in the MIR region with increasing tissue thickness, suitable for obtaining a signal in both the MIR and NIR regions. It was found that the linearity of specific, small MIR absorbance bands attributable to the collagen and PG components of cartilage (at 1336 and 856 cm⁻¹, respectively) are maintained through a thickness of 60 μm, which was also suitable for NIR data collection. MIR and NIR spectral data were then collected from 60 μm thick samples of cartilage degraded with chondroitinase ABC as a model of OA. Partial least squares (PLS) regression using NIR spectra as input predicted the MIR-determined compositional parameters of PG/collagen within 6% of actual values. These results indicate that NIR spectral data can be used to assess molecular changes that occur with cartilage degradation, and further, the data provide a foundation for future clinical studies where NIR fiber optic probes can be used to assess the progression of cartilage degradation.     

Hydrogels as reaction vessels: acenaphthylene dimerization in hydrogels derived from bile acid analogues

Many chemical reactions which are otherwise clean often lead to the formation of multiple products. Such products may be formed due to a lack of chemo-, regio- and/or stereoselectivity. For such reactions to be useful, one should be able to control them to yield a single desired product. Of the many approaches used in this context, the use of reaction media with features different from those of isotropic solutions has been very effective. Surfactant micelles have been shown to control the product selectivity in photochemical reactions, but the dynamic nature of the micelles probably results in differential effects on reaction selectivity. In this article we provide the results on photodimerization reactions performed in bile salt gels.