Total synthesis of the marine alkaloid halitulin

The structure of the strongly cytotoxic marine alkaloid halitulin (1) has been confirmed by total synthesis and its absolute configuration determined as (15S). The synthesis follows a strategy previously reported by one of us and uses an efficient preparation of the quinoline-7,8-diol unit by modified Baeyer-Villiger and Skraup reactions. The O-benzyl protecting groups were removed in the last step of the synthesis by transfer hydrogenolysis without concomitant reduction of the quinoline ring. The method can be applied for the synthesis of halitulin analogues.     

HPLC separation and quantification of anionic surfactants using an automated on-line ion pair extraction system

Summary Aliphatic anionic surfactants, like alkylsulfonates, alkyl sulfates, -sulfo alkanoic acids and their esters, were separated with respect to their alkyl chain length by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using reversed phase (RP) columns. For sensitive and specific detection of these classes of compounds the HPLC separation was combined with a post-column ion-pair extraction system. The limit of detection is in the range of 3–30 ng. Previously reported detection systems of this kind were modified by changing the inner set-up of the phase separator and the extraction capillary and integrating a purge function, which led to a higher system stability and made automatization possible. In order to optimize the experimental set-up, the influence of the reagent concentration as well as different sizes and materials of the extraction capillary were evaluated. The calibration curve of surfactant concentrations versus fluorescence emission is discussed for sodium decylsulfonate. Since both the electrolyte concentration and the percentage of organic solvents in the mobile phase may adversely affect the detection system, different eluent compositions were tested.This article is part of the planned dissertation of Markus Schoester at the Mathematical Natural Science Faculty of the University of Düsseldorf     

Quantum-Chemical Calculations of the Reaction of Haloalkynes with Grignard Compounds

Two pathways of the reactions of methylmagnesium bromide with 1-chloro- and 1-bromo-3-methoxymethyl-1-propynes were simulated by the MNDO quantum-chemical method. The calculations predict initial coordination of magnesium to the C atom of the triple bond, which determines predominant nucleophilic substitution of the halogen atom according to the addition-elimination pattern.     

Top-down identification of endogenous peptides up to 9 kDa in cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue by nanoelectrospray quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry

Recent work on protein and peptide biomarker patterns revealed the difficulties in identifying their molecular components, which is indispensable for validation of the biological context. Cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue are used as sources to discover new biomarkers, e.g. for neurodegenerative diseases. Many of these biomarker candidates are peptides with a molecular mass of <10 kDa. Their identification is favourably achieved with a 'top-down' approach, because this requires less purification and an enzymatic cleavage will often not yield enough specific fragments for successful database searches. Here, we describe an approach using quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) as a highly efficient mass spectrometric purification and identification tool after off-line decomplexation of biological samples by liquid chromatography. After initial peptidomic screening with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) TOFMS, the elution behaviour in chromatography and the exact molecular mass were used to locate the same signals in nanoelectrospray measurements. Most of the peaks detected in MALDI-TOFMS could be retrieved in nanoelectrospray quadrupole TOFMS. Suitable collision energies for informative fragment spectra were investigated for different parent ions, charge states and molecular masses. After collision-induced dissociation, the resulting fragmentation data of multiply charged ions can become much more complicated than those derived from tryptic peptide digests. However, the mass accuracy and resolution of quadrupole TOF instruments results in high-quality data suitable for determining peptide sequences. The protein precursor, proteolytic processing and post-translational modifications were identified by automated database searches. This is demonstrated by the exemplary identifications of thymosin beta-4 (5.0 kDa) and NPY (4.3 kDa) from rat hypothalamic tissue and ubiquitin (8.6 kDa) from human cerebrospinal fluid. The high data quality should also allow for de novo identification. This methodology is generally applicable for peptides up to a molecular mass of about 10 kDa from body fluids, tissues or other biological sources.     

Synthetic Attempts towards Polymers with Pentafulvene Structural Units

Synthetic attempts towards fully conjugated polymers 9 with pentafulvene-diyl structural units are described. Cationic polymerization of pentafulvenes 1a (R = X = Me) and 1b (R = X = MeS) nearly quantitatively gives polymers 8a and 8b with typical M_n and M_w values of 38800 and 53750, respectively, for 8a , and 12000 and 35900, respectively, for 8b . Key step of the conversion 8a → 9a (Scheme 6) is a quantitative bromination 8a → 32a , the structure of 32a being confirmed by analytical data as well as by spectroscopic comparison with model compound 23 . Best results in view of two-fold the HBr elimination 32a → 9a are obtained with Et₃N, but so far elimination has not been complete. Synthetic sequences are optimized with model compound 21 (Scheme 4). Here again, bromination 21 → 23 is quantitative, while two-fold HBr elimination 23 → 22 with Et₃N proceeds in 51% yield. Dibromide 23 easily undergoes HBr elimination followed by a Br shift to give bromide 29 . Contrary to cationic polymerization, anionic polymerization of simple pentafulvenes 1 to 2 (which would be attractive in view of the conjugated polymers 3 ) is not successful: For pentafulvene 1b (R = X = MeS), the main reaction is Diels-Alder-type dimerization 1b → 15b (Scheme 2), even under anionic conditions.     

The Derivation of Inductive Substituent Constants from pKa Values of 4-Substituted Quinuclidines. Polar effects. Part I

Thermodynamic pK_a-values have been determined for 38 4-substituted quinuclidinium perchlorates. They are remarkably sensitive to the polar effect of the substituent and cover a range of 3.63 pK_a units. Furthermore, they vary linearly and almost equally with temperature since the contribution of the TΔS° term to the free energy of ionization is relatively small and constant. The magnitude of the polar effect of the 4-cyano group varies with the solvent and appears to depend on its ability to form hydrogen bonds to the substituent rather than its dielectric constant. New inductive substituent constants σ_I^q are derived from the pK_a values. Their correlation with known inductive constants is only fair or unsatisfactory, especially as regards the relative order of hydrogen and the alkyl groups. The discrepancies can be ascribed mainly to the different models used to derive the substituent constants.     

Models for the Active Center of Pterin-Containing Molybdenum Enzymes: Crystal structure of a molybdenum complex with sulfur and pterin ligands

The first crystal structure of a molybdenum complex 9 with a hydrogenated pterin and a sulfur ligand contributes to the discussion about the active center of molybdenum and tungsten enzymes containing a molybdopterin cofactor. Complex 9 was synthesized through a redox reaction of [Mo^VIO₂ (LN-S₂)] ( 8 ; LN-S₂ = pyridine-2, 6-bis(methanethiolato)) with 5, 6, 7, 8-tetrahydropterin ( 7 ). 2 HCl (H₄Ptr.2 HCl). The complex crystallizes, with a non-coordinating Cl-atom acting as a counterion, in the monoclinic space group C2/c (No. 15) with cell dimensions a = 22.900(5), b = 10.716(2), c = 17.551(4) Å, β = 120.36(3)°, and Z = 8. We interpret 9 as [Mo^IVO(LN-S₂)(H⁺-q-H₂Ptr)]Cl (q = quinonoid; H₂Ptr = dihydropterin), i.e., a Mo^IV monooxo center coordinated by a pyridine-2, 6-bis(methanethiolato) ligand and a protonated dihydropterin. The spectroscopic properties of this new complex are comparable to those of other crystalline molybdenum complexes of hydrogenated pterins without additional S-coordination. The slightly H₂O-soluble complex 9 reacts with the natural enzyme substrate DMSO very slowly, possibly due to the lack of easily dissociable ligands at the metal center.     

Synthese, 13C-NMR-Spektren und räumliche Struktur von ‘Push-Pull’-Diacetylenen

Synthesis, ¹³C-NMR Spectra, and X-Ray Investigation of ‘Push-Pull’ Diacetylenes Phenyl-substituted ‘push-pull’ diacetylenes 1f and 1g have been prepared by acetylation and benzoylation of the appropriate lithiodiynylamines 4 (Scheme 2). ¹³C-NMR spectra of diacetylenes 1a–g (Table 1) are discussed with respect to the expected polarisation of the diacetylene unit by ‘push’ and ‘pull’ substituents. X-Ray investigations of 1c , 1e , and 1f have been performed in view of the planned solid-state polymerisation of ‘push-pull’ diacetylenes. In the crystalline state, diacetylenes 1c and 1f are stacked, however, the stacking parameters do not allow a solid-state polymerisation.     

Approaching supramolecular functionality

Functional molecules require a high degree of complexity which is difficult to achieve by covalent synthesis. This article discusses supramolecular approaches to the creation of larger architectures through noncovalent bonds, self-assembly, and template strategies. It highlights selected examples for the structural and conformational control of function and attempts to identify difficulties and challenges which may arise in future.     

Convergence behavior of the density-matrix renormalization group algorithm for optimized orbital orderings

The density-matrix renormalization group algorithm has emerged as a promising new method in ab initio quantum chemistry. However, many problems still need to be solved before this method can be applied routinely. At the start of such a calculation, the orbitals originating from a preceding quantum chemical calculation must be placed in a specific order on a one-dimensional lattice. This ordering affects the convergence of the density-matrix renormalization group iterations significantly. In this paper, we present two approaches to obtain optimized orderings of the orbitals. First, we use a genetic algorithm to optimize the ordering with respect to a low total electronic energy obtained at a predefined stage of the density-matrix renormalization group algorithm with a given number of total states kept. In addition to that, we derive orderings from the one- and two-electron integrals of our test system. This test molecule is the chromium dimer, which is known to possess a complicated electronic structure. For this molecule, we have carried out calculations for the various orbital orderings obtained. The convergence behavior of the density-matrix renormalization group iterations is discussed in detail.