Unprecedented InCl3-catalyzed formation of cis-fused perhydrofuro[2,3-b]oxepines

2-Methylindole and its N-substituted derivatives react smoothly with 2,3-dihydrofuran (DHF) in the presence of a catalytic amount of InCl₃ under mild conditions to afford the corresponding 2-methyl-3-perhydrofuro[2,3-b]oxepin-4-yl-1H-indole derivatives in fairly good yields with high diastereoselectivity, while 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran (DHP) affords exclusively 5,5-di(1H-3-indolyl)-1-pentanol derivatives in high yields under similar reaction conditions.     

Solvent-free one-pot reactions for annulating a pyrimidine ring on thiazoles under microwave irradiation

One-pot reactions of glycine, acetic anhydride and thiazole Schiff bases (2a-f) diastereoselectively and expeditiously annulate a pyrimidine ring on the thiazole nucleus to yield 6,7-dihydro-5H-thiazolo[3,2-a]pyrimidin-5-ones (4a-f) under microwave irradiation and solvent-free conditions.     

Iodine as novel reagent for the 1,2-addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to ketones including α,β-unsaturated ketones

Molecular iodine is found to catalyze efficiently the addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to a range of simple and functionalized ketones under very mild and convenient conditions to afford the corresponding cyanohydrin trimethylsilyl ethers in excellent yields in a short reaction period with high selectivity. α,β-Unsaturated ketones selectively afford the corresponding 1,2-adducts without the formation of 1,4-adducts under similar reaction conditions.     

Study of conventional versus microwave-assisted reactions of 3,4-epoxyalcohols by CeCl3·7H2O: Synthesis of tetrahydrofurans and 1-chloro-3-substituted-2-propanols

3,4-Epoxyalcohols undergo regioselective cyclization in the presence of CeCl₃·7H₂O in ref1uxing acetonitrile to afford tetrahydrofuran derivatives in good yields. On the other hand epoxyalcohols afforded 1-chloro-3-substituted-2-propanols under microwave irradiation using CeCl₃·7H₂O supported on SiO₂ under solvent-free conditions.     

Ab initio determination of molecular geometries and vibrational frequencies of CX3 COOH (X=H, F, Cl, Br)

Using Gaussian 03 Revision C.02 version of the quantum chemical program ab initio and DFT computations have been carried out at the rhf/6-31+g*, b3lyp/6-31+g*, b3lyp/6-31++g** and b3lyp/6-311++g** levels to compute optimized geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies along with intensities in IR and Raman spectra and atomic charges for the acetic (ethanoic) acid and its 1,1,1-tri-halo (fluoro, chloro and bromo) derivatives. The optimized molecular structures for all the four molecules are found to possess Cs point group symmetry. The symmetric stretching mode is found to have lowest magnitude of the three CX3 stretching modes for all the four molecules, whereas the symmetric deformation mode is found to have the lowest magnitude for EA and TFEA and the highest magnitude for TCEA and TBEA. The parallel rocking mode of the CX3 group is found to have lower magnitude than the perpendicular rocking mode for EA and TFEA where reverse is found for TCEA and TBEA. The modes of the COOH group are substituent sensitive except the OH stretching mode. Moreover, the maximum effect is found for the TFEA molecule. The CF3 group is found to have the characteristic frequencies as 235-505, 787, 1150-1190 and 1400 cm(-1) which are due to the modes delta s(CF3), nu s(CF3), nu as(CF3) and nu(C-CF3), respectively.     

Purification and characterization of zinc alpha2-glycoprotein-prolactin inducible protein complex from human seminal plasma

Zinc alpha2-glycoprotein (ZAG) is present at high concentration in human seminal plasma, and considered as soluble homologue of MHC-I. ZAG is a well-known biomarker for prostate and breast carcinomas. We have purified a naturally occurring complex of ZAG with Prolactin inducible protein (PIP), which is also a well-known biomarker for the same. The ZAG-PIP complex has been isolated and purified by simple chromatographic techniques in a reproducible two-step process, using ion exchange and gel-permeation chromatography and subsequently identified by MS. The complex between ZAG and PIP is formed by non-covalent interactions. The purity and molecular mass was determined by SDS-PAGE, which shows the bands corresponding to 40 kDa and 14 kDa, which were also confirmed by MALDI-TOF. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) experiments also showed hydrodynamic radii corresponding to 54, 40 and 14 kDa for ZAG-PIP complex, ZAG and PIP respectively. The concentration dependent aggregation of this complex has also been observed. Fluorescence analysis reveals that complexes have similar binding affinities as native ZAG, for their proposed ligands like arachidonic acid, polyethylene glycol and synthetic peptide. This is the first report on purification and characterization of a naturally occurring complex of ZAG-PIP in human seminal fluid.     

Template synthesis and characterization of oxovanadium(IV) complexes with tetraaza macrocyclic ligands and their activity on potato virus X

The oxovanadium(IV) complexes (I) of the type [VO(L)]SO₄ have been prepared using an in-situ method of synthesis with ligands derived from di-2-thienylethanedione with 1,2-diaminobenzene or 2,3-diaminopyridine. These parent complexes have been further reacted with μ-diketones to yield macrocyclic complexes (II) of types [VO(mac)]SO₄ (where mac = macrocyclic ligands derived by condensation of amino group of parent complex with μ-diketones), wherein the VO²⁺ cation acts as a template. Tentative structures of these complexes have been proposed on the basis of elemental analysis, electrical conductance, magnetic moments and spectral (infrared, electronic and electron spin resonance) data. The oxovanadium(IV) complexes are five coordinated wherein the tetraaza macrocyclic ligands act as tetradentate chelating agents. All the complexes are found to inhibit the infectivity of potato virus X, when checked using the test plant Chenopodium amaranticolor.     

Does Antibody Stabilize the Ligand Binding in GP120 of HIV-1 Envelope Protein? Evidence from MD Simulation

CD4-mimetic HIV-1 entry inhibitors are small sized molecules which imitate similar conformational flexibility, in gp120, to the CD4 receptor. However, the mechanism of the conformational flexibility instigated by these small sized inhibitors is little known. Likewise, the effect of the antibody on the function of these inhibitors is also less studied. In this study, we present a thorough inspection of the mechanism of the conformational flexibility induced by a CD4-mimetic inhibitor, NBD-557, using Molecular Dynamics Simulations and free energy calculations. Our result shows the functional importance of Asn425 in substrate induced conformational dynamics in gp120. The MD simulations of Asn425Gly mutant provide a less dynamic gp120 in the presence of NBD-557 without incapacitating the binding enthalpy of NBD-557. The MD simulations of complexes with the antibody clearly show the enhanced affinity of NBD-557 due to the presence of the antibody, which is in good agreement with experimental Isothermal Titration Calorimetry results (Biochemistry 2006, 45, 10973–10980).     

Thermal,mechanical and water barrier properties of graphene oxide/polyvinyl alcohol/polyol composite films

The novel polymer composite of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyol(PO) and graphene oxide (GO) was used to prepare the PVA/PO and GO/PVA/PO with different weight percents of GO (0.5 and 1% denoted as (0.5 wt%)GO/PVA/PO and (1 wt%)GO/PVA/PO, respectively) through solution casting blend technique. The structure–properties of all used films were confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and mechanical properties. The SEM results exhibited the uniform and homogeneous dispersion of GO in the PVA/PO blend matrix. The TEM and XRD analysis confirmed the structure and exfoliation of GO nanosheets, respectively. Thermal stability suggested that (0.5 wt%)GO/PVA/PO and (1 wt%) GO/PVA/PO films are more stable than PVA/PO. The tensile strength of (0.5 wt%)GO/PVA/PO and (1 wt%)GO/PVA/PO films reached 270.5% and 1349.6%, respectively, which are higher than that of the PVA/PO film. The decrease in the water absorption (WA) of GO/PVA/PO was found from 110.5 to 38.4%. The physico-mechanical properties of used films suggested that the prepared GO/PVA/PO blend composite films can be applied in food packaging areas.