Direct synthesis of Cbz-protected β-amino ketones by iodine-catalyzed three-component condensation of aldehydes, ketones and benzyl carbamate

Iodine has been found to be very effective catalyst for a Mannich reaction between an aryl aldehyde, an aryl ketone and benzyl carbamate, even though this is a less reactive amine, to produce Cbz-protected β-aryl β-amino carbonyl compounds in high yields.     

Effects of Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma on Physicochemical Characteristics,Mechanical Properties and Biocompatibility of Silk/PVA Nanofibers

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - This work reports an investigation of the discharge characteristics of atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma in terms of I-V curves and...     

From subtle to substantial: role of metal ions on pi-pi interactions

Quantum chemistry calculations reveal that the subtle pi-pi interactions, usually in the range 2-4 kcal/mol, will become substantially significant, from 6 to 17 kcal/mol, in the presence of metal ion. The metal ions have higher affinity toward a pi-pi dimer compared to a single pi-moiety. Considering the widespread occurrence of cation-pi-pi motifs in chemistry and biology, as evident from the database analysis, we propose that the two key noncovalent forces, which govern the macromolecular structure, cation-pi and pi-pi, work in concert.     

Exploring the size dependence of cyclic and acyclic pi-systems on cation-pi binding

MP2(FULL)/6-311++G** calculations are performed on the cation-pi complexes of Li+ and Mg2+ with the pi-face of linear (ethylene, butadiene, hexatriene, and octatetraene) and cyclic (benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene and naphthacene) unsaturated hydrocarbons. The interaction energy is found to increase systematically as the size of the pi-system increases. The higher interaction energy is in good correlation with the extent of charge transfer. The increase in the interaction energy is more dramatic in the case of acyclic systems. The computations reveal that larger pi-systems tend to have higher complexation energy with the metal ions, which will have important implications in our understanding of the structural and functional aspects of metal binding.     

The significance of the alkene size and the nature of the metal ion in metal-alkene complexes: a theoretical study

Cation interactions with π-systems are a problem of outstanding contemporary interest and the nature of these interactions seems to be quite different for transition and main group metal ions. In this paper, we have systematically analyzed the contrast in the bonding of Cu(+) and main group metal ions. The molecular structures and energetics of the complexes formed by various alkenes (A = C(n)H(2n), n = 2-6; C(n)H(2n- 2), n = 3-8 and C(n)H(2n + 2), n = 5-10) and metal ions (M = Li(+), Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Cu(+) and Zn(2+)) are investigated by employing ab initio post Hartree-Fock (MP2/6-311++G**) calculations and are reported in the current study. The study, which also aims to evaluate the effect of the size of the alkyl portion attached to the π-system on the complexation energy, indicates a linear relationship between the two. The decreasing order of complexation energy with various metal ion-alkene complexes follows the order Zn(2+)-A > Mg(2+)-A > Ca(2+)-A > Cu(+)-A > Li(+)-A > Na(+)-A > K(+)-A. The increased charge transfer and the electron density at (3,-1) intermolecular bond critical point corroborates well with the size of the π-system and the complexation energy. The observed deviation from the linear dependency of the Cu(+)-A complexes is attributed to the dπ→π* back bonding interaction. An energy decomposition analysis via the reduced variational space (RVS) procedure was also carried out to analyze which component among polarization, charge transfer, coulomb and exchange repulsion contributes to the increase in the complexation energy. The RVS results suggest that the polarization component significantly contributes to the increase in the complexation energy when the alkene size increases.     

A computational investigation and the conformational analysis of dimers, anions, cations, and zwitterions of L-phenylalanine

The structure and stability of various conformations of L-phenylalanine (PheN) and its zwitterions (PheZ), along with their ionized counterparts, cation (PheC) and anion (PheA), generated by adding and removing a proton respectively, have been investigated using first principle calculations in vacuum and in solution. This is followed by an extensive study on various possible dimer (PheD) conformations, which are noncovalently bound units without a peptide bond. This study results in 52, 31, 12, 9, and 11 minimum energy structures on the potential energy surfaces of PheD, PheN, PheC, PheA, and PheZ, respectively. Several important nonbonded interactions such as hydrogen bonds, NH-π, CH-π, OH-π, and π-π interactions, which impart stability to the monomeric and dimeric units, have been analyzed. The capability and strength of the nonbonded interactions drastically changing the conformational orientations of monomeric units has been illustrated.     

Intramolecular O‐arylation using nano‐magnetite supported N‐heterocyclic carbene‐copper complex with wingtip ferrocene

Nano‐magnetite supported N‐heterocyclic carbene‐copper complex with wingtip ferrocene has been prepared via multi‐step procedure. The complex has been characterized by various analytical techniques such as fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR), fourier transform Raman (FT‐Raman), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The catalytic activity of the complex has been exploited in intramolecular O‐arylation of o‐iodoanilides under heterogeneous conditions. The complex could be successfully recycled up to twelve consecutive cycles.     

A simple and efficient method for regioselective and stereoselective synthesis of vicinal bromohydrins and alkoxybromides from an olefin

A very rapid and efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of vicinal bromohydrins and alkoxybromides directly from an olefin without any catalyst. The reaction was performed in CH3CN-water (4:1) or alcohol using N,N-dibromo-p-toluenesulfonamide (TsNBr2) as the brominating agent. Excellent yields and regio- and stereoselectivities have been obtained. Bromohydrins are formed instantaneously, whereas formation of alkoxybromides takes 30-60 min.     

Self-assembled, mesoporous polymeric networks for patterned protein arrays

A facile, self-assembly approach to the fabrication of a robust, mesoporous, biocompatible polymeric network for the spatial organization of proteins is described. Surface-deposited poly(styrene) (PS) beads that assemble into a two-dimensional (2-D) hexagonal array are used to template cross-linked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), yielding an inverse opal structure. The porous, water insoluble network is used to entrain a model, soluble protein, green fluorescent protein (GFP). The polymeric network is characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical microscopy, and the spatial localization of the incorporated GFP is determined by fluorescence microscopy. The results demonstrate that this system may constitute a versatile platform for the lateral organization of biomolecules.