Trifluoromethanesulfonyl azide: an efficient reagent for the preparation of α-cyano-α-diazo carbonyls and an α-sulfonyl-α-diazo carbonyl

The reaction scope of trifluoromethanesulfonyl azide in diazo transfer reactions was extended to include the preparation of α-cyano-α-diazo-carbonyls, phenyl sulfonyl diazoacetophenone and diethyl diazomalonate in high yields. The effect of the bases used in the diazo transfer reactions were found to have a dramatic influence on the success of the reaction with pyridine being the base of choice.     

Synthetic application of a substituent controlled claisen rearrangement. Preparation of advanced chiral intermediates for the synthesis of pseudomonic acids

A substituent controlled Claisen rearrangement is employed as the key reaction for a facile construction of chiral intermediates for the synthesis of pseudomonic acids from diacetyl-L-arabinal.     

Ruthenium-catalyzed [2+2] cycloadditions between C1-substituted 7-oxanorbornadienes and alkynes

Ruthenium-catalyzed [2+2] cycloadditions between C1-substituted 7-oxanorbornadienes and alkynes were investigated. Most of the cycloadditions occurred smoothly at 65 °C, giving the cyclobutene cycloadducts in moderate to good yields. The C1 substituent showed strong effect on the regioselectivity (up to 110:1) of the cycloadditions.     

Vacuum ultraviolet spark emission spectra of fluorine and some polyatomic fluorides in noble gases

Spark emission spectra in the vacuum ultraviolet are reported for several polyatomic fluorides in He + Ar mixtures, and for pure fluorine. These results are discussed in terms of the potential of a given fluorine compound for ArF formation. The 158 nm emission in fluorine is tentatively assigned to the ³Π_g → ³Π_u.     

Compounding Selectivity in Reactions of Diastereoisomeric Radical Intermediates. An experimental demonstration that the yield of a product from a diastereotopic-group-selective reaction can significantly exceed the level of group selectivity

Reduction of a bis-radical precursor, 6-phenyl-1,1-bis[3-(phenylselanyl)propyl]-3a,4-dihydro-1H,3H-cyclopenta[c]furan-5-one ( 6 ), with 3 equiv. of Ph₃SnH provides mixtures of cis,cis- or cis,trans-angular triquinane products (3aα,5aβ,8β,8aR*)- and (3aα,5aα,8β,8aR*)-hexahydro-3a-propyl-8-phenyl-5H-dicyclopenta[b,c]furan-7(8H)-one (cis,cis- 12 /cis,trans- 12 ), in yields that vary from 50%/50% to 91%/6% depending on the reaction concentration. A mechanistic model for this process is proposed that involves a non-selective phenylselenium-group abstraction step followed by successive kinetic resolutions of diastereoisomeric radical intermediates. This reaction shows how yields in group-selective reactions can be compounded to levels above that ostensibly permitted by the level of the group-selective step.     

The HLB dependency for detergent solubilization of hormonally sensitive adenylate cyclase.

The HLB dependency for the solubilization of membrane proteins and adenylate cyclase activity from a plasma membrane-enriched fraction from rat liver has been determined. The HLB (hydrophilic/lipophilic/balance) number of a detergent is an empirical measure of its relative hydrophobicity. Detergent HLB numbers vary systematically with the length of the ethylene oxide chain for a homologous series of detergents such as the Triton X series. These detergents have a constant hydrophobic moiety, octylphenyl, and a variable polar portion, polyethoxyethanol. Basal-NaF-epinephrine-, and glucagon-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities were solubilized in the HLB range of 16.8-17.4. Solubilization was most effective in 0.01 M Tris buffers at pH 7.5 containing 1-5 mM mercaptoethanol, 1 mM MgCl2, and 0.1% Triton X-305. The detergent to membrane protein ratio used in these studies was 3:1. Criteria for solubilization included lack of sedimentation at 100,000 X g, the absence of particulate material in the supernatant when examined by electron microscopy, and inclusion of hormonally sensitive adenylate cyclase activity in Sephadex G-200 gels. The apparent molecular weight of the solubilized enzyme was approximately 200,000 in the presence of Triton X-305. The solubilized enzyme was stimulated 5-fold by NaF, 7-fold by glucagon, and 20-fold by epinephrine compared to the particulate enzyme used in this study which was stimulated 10-fold, 3.4-fold, and 4-fold by NaF, epinephrine, and glucagon, respectively. The solubilized enzyme is stable for several weeks when stored at -60 degrees C.     

Polymers for catalytic cation radical chemistry

Cation radical polymers which have cation radical functions at up to 5% of the poly(styrene) monomer sites have been prepared, and their effectiveness in catalyzing the cation radical Diels-Alder reaction is demonstrated.     

Fluorous mixture synthesis of fused-tricyclic hydantoins. Use of a redundant tagging strategy on fluorinated substrates

Simple HPLC experiments were used to identify a redundant tagging scheme wherein six different amino acids were tagged with only four fluorous tags. The tagged amino acids were converted to regiosiomeric mixtures of tricyclic hydantoins. Despite the lack of selectivity, the mixtures were demixed and detagged to give 11 individual pure products in just 25 steps.     

Identification of novel macrocyclic peptidase substrates via on-bead enzymatic cyclization

Peptidase-catalyzed formation of macrocyclic lactams on solid phase identifies ring systems that are favorably bound in the enzyme active site. We evaluated several cyclic peptide motifs linked by ester bonds between the P2 and P1' or the P1 and P2' side chains. The depsipeptide represented by structure 5 was readily generated by a variety of peptidases from precursor omega-amino acids or omega-amino esters. This strategy for identifying ring systems for potential macrocyclic transition state analogues was demonstrated with the serine peptidases trypsin and chymotrypsin, with the aspartic peptidase pepsin, and with the zinc peptidase thermolysin.     

Recent advances in the activation of boron and silicon reagents for stereocontrolled allylation reactions

Despite the popularity of boron and silicon allylation reagents in stereocontrolled synthesis, they suffer from a number of inherent limitations that have slowed down their development as synthetic tools for nucleophilic additions to carbonyl compounds and imine derivatives. These limitations are the low reactivity and diastereoselectivity of allyl trialkylsilane reagents, and the lack of catalytic systems for the activation and substoichiometric control of enantioselectivity in the additions of allyl boron reagents. To develop more efficient and general methods for the control of absolute stereochemistry in the resulting homoallylic alcohols, new approaches aimed at solving the problem of activation of allylic boron and silicon reagents are needed. This Minireview describes a number of recent approaches that have been devised to address this problem.