A Mechanistic Dichotomy in Two-Electron Reduction of Dioxygen Catalyzed by N,N’-Dimethylated Porphyrin Isomers

Selective two-electron reduction of dioxygen (O₂) to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) has been achieved by two saddle-distorted N,N’-dimethylated porphyrin isomers, an N21,N’22-dimethylated porphyrin ( anti -Me₂P ) and an N21,N’23-dimethylated porphyrin ( syn -Me₂P ) as catalysts and ferrocene derivatives as electron donors in the presence of protic acids in acetonitrile. The higher catalytic performance in an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was achieved by anti -Me₂P with higher turnover number (TON=250 for 30 min) than that by syn -Me₂P (TON=218 for 60 min). The reactive intermediates in the catalytic ORR were confirmed to be the corresponding isophlorins ( anti -Me₂Iph or syn -Me₂Iph ) by spectroscopic measurements. The rate-determining step in the catalytic ORRs was concluded to be proton-coupled electron-transfer reduction of O₂ with isophlorins based on kinetic analysis. The ORR rate by anti -Me₂Iph was accelerated by external protons, judging from the dependence of the observed initial rates on acid concentrations. In contrast, no acceleration of the ORR rate with syn -Me₂Iph by external protons was observed. The different mechanisms in the O₂ reduction by the two isomers should be derived from that of the arrangement of hydrogen bonding of a O₂ with inner NH protons of the isophlorins.     

Synthesis and Metalation of Doubly o‐Phenylene‐Bridged Cyclic Bis(dipyrrin)s with Highly Bent Skeleton of Dibenzoporphyrin(2.1.2.1)

Facile synthesis of dibenzoporphyrins(2.1.2.1) has been successfully reported by the simple condensation reaction of o‐dipyrrolylbenzene with various aldehydes in the presence of a Lewis acid. This reaction enables the preparation of various dibenzoporphyrin(2.1.2.1) derivatives with p‐substituted phenyl groups, five‐membered heterocycles, and ethynyl groups at the meso‐positions. Dibenzoporphyrins(2.1.2.1) consist of two dipyrrin units that are connected by o‐phenylene bridges, which adopt highly bent saddle‐shaped structures; this was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction analysis. We found that dibenzoporphyrin(2.1.2.1) can be described as a 20π antiaromatic conjugated system, but practically, it is not an antiaromatic macrocycle, which we revealed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy. The redox potentials had good correlations with Hammett substituent constant (σ_p) of the substituents at the meso‐positions. The free‐base dibenzoporphyrin(2.1.2.1) was able to form the metal complexes with nickel(II), copper(II), palladium(II), platinum(II), and tin(IV) ions. These results suggested that dibenzoporphyrin(2.1.2.1) derivatives can be utilized as novel macrocyclic dianionic tetradentate ligands for various metal ions to give complexes with varying optical and electrochemical properties.     

A Non‐Enzymatic Pathway with Superoxide in Intracellular Terpenoid Synthesis

Non‐C₅‐units terpenoids (norisoprenoids) with an acetonyl group are widely distributed in nature. However, studies on the biosynthesis of norisoprenoids are scarce. Now, the C₃₃ norisoprenoid, (all‐E)‐farnesylfarnesylacetone, was identified from Bacillus spp. and it was elucidated for the first time that superoxide mediates the cleavage of menaquinones (vitamin K) to form norisoprenoids in saponification treatment. From in vivo experiments using gene‐disrupted Bacillus subtilis strains targeted for enzymes responsible for menaquinone biosynthesis and for superoxide dismutase, it was suggested that the non‐enzymatic cleavage (autoxidation) of menaquinone with superoxide resulted in norisoprenoid synthesis in Bacillus cells. Furthermore, the bioactive norisoprenoids, farnesylacetone and phytone, were produced in Bacillus cells by this novel synthesis system.     

Efficient free energy calculation of water across lipid membranes

An efficient free energy (FE) calculation of a water molecule to go across lipid membranes is presented. Both overlapping distribution and cavity insertion Widom methods are complementarily used. The former is useful for a dense region where water molecules are found, i.e., from the interfacial to bulk water region, while the latter works well in the low density region, i.e., the hydrocarbon region. Since both methods evaluate the excess chemical potential of water, the obtained FE profile is free from the fitting problem usually arisen when a FE difference method is used. A diphytanyl phosphatidylcholine bilayer is used for our test calculations. An excellent and fast convergence of the chemical potential is obtained when each method is applied for the appropriate region. The estimated FE barrier using the Ewald method for the electrostatic interaction is approximately 7.2 kcal/mol, which is higher than that using the interaction cutoff of 20 A by about 0.9 kcal/mol.     

Synthesis of Heptagon-Containing Polyarenes by Catalytic C−H Activation

Nanocarbons incorporating non-hexagonal aromatic rings - such as five-, seven-, and eight-membered rings - have various intriguing physical properties such as curved structures, unique one-dimensional packing, and promising magnetic, optical, and conductivity properties. Herein, we report an efficient synthetic approach to polycyclic aromatics containing seven-membered rings via a palladium-catalyzed intramolecular Ar−H/Ar−Br coupling. In addition to all-hydrocarbon scaffolds, heteroatom-embedded heptagon-containing polyarenes can be efficiently constructed with this method. Rhodium- and palladium-catalyzed sequential six- and seven-membered ring formations also afford complex heptagon-containing molecular nanocarbons from readily available arylacetylenes and biphenyl boronic acids. Detailed mechanistic analysis by DFT calculations showed the feasibility of seven-membered ring formation by a concerted metalation-deprotonation mechanism. This reaction can serve as a template for the synthesis of a wide range of seven-membered ring-containing molecular nanocarbons.     

Free-energy analysis of the molecular binding into lipid membrane with the method of energy representation

A statistical-mechanical treatment of the molecular binding into lipid membrane is presented in combination with molecular simulation. The membrane solution is viewed as an inhomogeneous, mixed solvent system, and the free energy of solvation of a solute in membrane is computed with a realistic set of potential functions by the method of energy representation. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, benzene, and ethylbenzene are adopted as model solutes to analyze the binding into 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) membrane. It is shown that the membrane inside is more favorable than bulk water and that the solute distribution is diffuse throughout the membrane inside. The membrane-water partition coefficient is then constructed with the help of the Kirkwood-Buff theory from the solvation free energy obtained separately in the hydrophobic, glycerol, headgroup, and aqueous regions. To discuss the role of repulsive and attractive interactions, the solvation free energy is partitioned into the DMPC and water contributions and the effect of water to stabilize the benzene and ethylbenzene solutes within the membrane is pointed out.     

Calculating the surface tension between a flat solid and a liquid: a theoretical and computer simulation study of three topologically different methods

We discuss three topologically different methods for calculating the surface tension between a flat solid and a liquid from theoretical and computer simulation viewpoints. The first method, commonly used in experiments, measures the contact angle at which a static droplet of liquid rests on a solid surface. We present a new analysis algorithm for this method and explore the effects of line tension on the contact angle. The second method, commonly used computer simulations, uses the pressure tensor through the virial in a system where a thick, infinitely extended slab of liquid rests on a solid surface. The third method, which is original to this paper and is closest to the thermodynamic definition of surface tension, applies to a spherical solid in contact with liquid in which the flat solid is recovered by extrapolating the sphere radius to infinity. We find that the second and third methods agree with each other, while the first method systematically underestimates surface tension values.