General strategy for a short and efficient synthesis of 3-hydroxy-4-methylprolines (HMP)

The non-proteinogenic amino acid 3-hydroxy-4-methylproline (HMP) is an active constituent of some potent antimicrobials including echinocandins, nostopeptins, pneumocandins, sporiofungin and mulundocandins. A synthesis has been achieved in 10 steps with 29% overall yield; the Evans’ aldol reaction using Crimmins’ modified method was pivotal to the success of the strategy.     

Tevatron: Recent results and prospects at the upgrade

In this article, we review some of the recent results from CDF and DØ experiments at the Tevatron and their prospects at the upgrade. Among the topics discussed are top quark physics, electroweak physics, qcd physics and new physics beyond standard model.     

Use of a chiral surfactant for enantioselective reduction of a ketone

The influence of a chiral surfactant and a polymer-supported chiral additive on reduction of ketones using sodium borohydride will be described. Initial preparations involved methylation of (S)-leucinol to give (2S)-N , N-dimethyl-2-amino-4-methyl-1-pentanol (1) (67%). The chiral surfactant (2) was synthesized by reacting (1) with bromohexadecane (71%). The functionalized styrene for the polymer-supported chiral additive (5) was synthesized by reacting (1) with 4-vinylbenzyl chloride. Polymerization was carried out with 10% of the functionalized monomer (4), 5% cross-linking agent divinylbenzene, and 85% styrene with AIBN as the initiator. The activity of the chiral surfactant and polymeric additive were examined by using them as additives in a standard reduction of 2-pentanone with sodium borohydride to yield (R)- and (S)-2-pentanol (3) (20%). The resulting alcohol was analyzed by polarimetry (ee 9.5%) and also esterified with (2S)-methylbutyric acid prior to characterization by NMR. 13C NMR indicated an enantiomeric excess of 5.2% when the chiral surfactant was used, and 7% when the polymeric additive was used.     

Use of cluster expansion techniques in quantum chemistry. A linear response model for calculating energy differences

In this paper we have reviewed the theoretical framework of the coupled-cluster (cc) based linear response model as a tool for directly calculating energy differences of spectroscopic interest like excitation energy (ee), ionisation potential (ip) or electron affinity (ea). In this model, the ground state of a many-electron system is described as in a coupled cluster theory for closed shells. The electronic ground state is supposed to interact with an external photon field of frequencyw, and the poles of the linear response function as a function ofw furnish with the elementary excitations of the system. Depending on the general form of the coupling term chosen, appropriate difference energies like ee, ip or EA may be generated. Pertinent derivations of the general working equations are reviewed, and specific details as well as approximations for ee, ip or ea are indicated. It is shown that the theory bears a close resemblance to the equation of motion (eom) method but is superior to the latter in that the ground state correlation is taken to all orders and may be looked upon as essentially a variant of renormalisedtda. A perturbative analysis elucidating the underlying perturbative structure of the formulation is also given which reveals that the theory has a hybrid structure: the correlation terms are treated akin to an open shellmbpt, while the relaxation terms are treated akin to a Green function theory. A critique of the methodvis-a-vis other cc-based approaches for difference energies forms the concluding part of our review.     

Mapping the Geometry of Metal Three‐Coordination Using Crystal Structure Data: Reaction Pathway for Ligand Addition to Linear HgII Species

Symmetry‐modified principal‐component analysis has been used to visualise the geometrical distortions of three‐coordinate metal centres observed in crystal structures retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database. It is shown that compounds of Cu, Ag, Hg, Zn, and Au dominate the dataset, and exhibit distortions away from the trigonal planar archetype towards a) T‐shaped and b) Y‐shaped geometries. A small number of compounds, principally of Cu and Ag, also show distortions towards trigonal pyramidal geometries. The interconversions from Y‐shaped geometries, through the trigonal planar form to T‐shaped geometries are clearly mapped by the PC analysis. For Hg^II complexes, it is possible to interpret the transition from T‐shaped geometries to the trigonal planar form in terms of a reaction pathway for ligand addition to linear L₁? Hg^II? L₂ species.     

Synthesis of cyclopentane building blocks via an intramolecular CH insertion reaction of a chiral pool derived α-diazo-γ-hydroxy-β-ketosulfone

A highly functionalized cyclopentanone building block 13 was prepared by a facile Rh-catalyzed intramolecular CH insertion reaction of an enantiopure α-diazo-γ-hydroxy-β-ketosulfone 12, in turn derived from an α-hydroxy acid 2. A cyclic γ-hydroxy vinyl sulfone 16 was also prepared from 13.     

Carbene-catalyzed enantioselective annulation of dinucleophilic hydrazones and bromoenals for access to aryl-dihydropyridazinones and related drugs

4,5-Dihydropyridazinones bearing an aryl substituent at the C6-position are important motifs in drug molecules. Herein, we developed an efficient protocol to access aryl-dihydropyridazinone molecules via carbene-catalyzed asymmetric annulation between dinucleophilic arylidene hydrazones and bromoenals. Key steps in this reaction include polarity-inversion of aryl aldehyde-derived hydrazones followed by chemo-selective reaction with enal-derived α,β-unsaturated acyl azolium intermediates. The aryl-dihydropyridazinone products accessed by our protocol can be readily transformed into drugs and bioactive molecules.

Polarity inversion of arylidene hydrazones to react with bromoenals via carbene organic catalysis is disclosed. The reaction enantioselectively affords 6-aryl-4,5-dihydropyridazinones and related drugs with proven commercial applications.     

Polyhydroxy pregnanes from Dregea volubilis

Three new polyhydroxy pregnanes named dregealol (1), volubilogenone (2) and volubilol (3) were isolated from the flowers of Dregea volubilis, and their structures elucidated from extensive 2D NMR analysis. The structure of volubilol (3) was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic studies. The known pregnane derivatives drevogenin D, iso-drevogenin P and 17α-marsdenin were also isolated.     

Oligosaccharides through reactivity tuning: convergent synthesis of the trisaccharides of the steroid glycoside Sokodoside B isolated from marine sponge Erylus placenta

Chemical synthesis of the trisaccharide of the steroid glycoside Sokodoside B isolated from Erylus placenta is reported. Stereoselective, high-yielding glycosylation strategies through thioglycoside activation using H₂SO₄ immobilized on silica in conjunction with N-iodosuccinimide are used for better results. A late stage TEMPO-mediated oxidation was performed for the formation of required uronic acid moiety. An analog of the target trisaccharide is also prepared by using a bis-glycosylation approach.     

A novel synthesis of vinyl esters from vinylversatate-10

Vinylversatate-10 (VV10)¹ has successfully been used to synthesise a large number of lower vinyl esters by transvinylation in presence of mercuric acetate and sulfuric acid. The synthesis of vinylhalo esters proceeds with more difficulty. It has been observed that neither Hg(OAc)₂ nor H₂SO₄ alone is capable of initiating the transvinylation. Furthermore, it has been found that a molar ratio 2:1 of VV10 to carboxylic acid is sufficient to drive the reaction to the right by continuous distillation of the vinyl ester formed, and as a result a high yield of vinyl ester is obtained. A mechanism for this reaction and for the formation of side products has been proposed.