Exiguolide, a new macrolide from the marine sponge Geodia exigua

A new 20-membered macrolide designated exiguolide has been isolated from the marine sponge Geodia exigua, and its structure determined by interpretation of spectroscopic data. Exiguolide specifically inhibited fertilization of sea urchin (Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus) gametes but not embryogenesis of the fertilized egg.     

Infrared spectroscopic analyses of transformations of chemical species on the silica highly-reacted with gaseous BF3.

Transformations of chemical species formed by the reaction of gaseous BF3 with high pressure and silica preheated at 473 and 1093 K were studied with the use of infrared absorption spectrometry. The species containing -BF2 and the species containing >BF were transformed to each other on the highly-reacted silica depending on the pressure of BF3 in cell, and some of the species containing -BF2 were also desorbed without their transformations to the species containing >BF. H2O played important roles in these transformations.     

Chiral discrimination of a helically organized crown ether array parallel to the helix axis of polyisocyanate

The asymmetric polymerization of 4′‐isocyanatobenzo‐18‐crown‐6 with the lithium amide of (S)‐(2‐methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine successfully proceeded to afford end‐functionalized poly(4′‐isocyanatobenzo‐18‐crown‐6) with (S)‐(2‐methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine (polymer 2 ). In the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of 2 , a clear positive Cotton effect was observed in the range of 240–350 nm corresponding to the absorption of the polymer backbone, indicating that 2 partially formed a one‐handed helical structure, which was preserved by the chirality of (S)‐(2‐methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine bonding to the terminal end in 2 . In the titration experiments for the CD intensity of 2 in the presence of D ‐ and L ‐Phe·HClO₄ (where Phe is phenylalanine), a small but remarkable difference was observed in the amount of the chiral guest needed for saturation of the CD intensity and in the saturated CD intensity, indicating that the extremely stable, one‐handed helical part should exist in the main chain of 2 , which was not inverted even when the unfavorable chiral guest for the predominant helical sense, L ‐Phe·HClO₄, was added. In addition, helical polymer 2 exhibited a chiral discrimination ability toward racemic guests; that is, the guests were extracted from the aqueous phase into the organic phase with enantiomeric excess. The driving force of the chiral discrimination ability of 2 should certainly be attributed to the one‐handed helical structure in 2 . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 325–334, 2006     

Synthesis of well‐defined syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) with low‐temperature atom transfer radical polymerization in fluoroalcohol

The copper‐mediated atom transfer radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in 1,1,1,3,3,3‐hexafluoro‐2‐propanol (HFIP) was studied to simultaneously control the molecular weight and tacticity. The polymerization using tris[2‐(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine (Me₆TREN) as a ligand was performed even at ?78°C with a number‐average molecular weight (M_n) of 13,400 and a polydispersity (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight) of 1.31, although the measured M_n's were much higher than the theoretical ones. The addition of copper(II) bromide (CuBr₂) apparently affected the early stage of the polymerization; that is, the polymerization could proceed in a controlled manner under the condition of [MMA]₀/[methyl α‐bromoisobutyrate]₀/[CuBr]₀/[CuBr₂]₀/[Me₆TREN]₀ = 200/1/1/0.2/1.2 at ?20°C with an MMA/HFIP ratio of 1/4 (v/v). For the field desorption mass spectrum of Cu^IBr/Me₆TREN in HFIP, there were [Cu(Me₆TREN)Br]⁺ and [Cu(Me₆TREN)OCH(CF₃)₂]⁺, indicating that HFIP should coordinate to the Cu^I/Me₆TREN complex. The syndiotacticity of the obtained poly(methyl methacrylate)s increased with the decreasing polymerization temperature; the racemo content was 84% for ?78°C, 77% for ?30°C, 75% for ?20°C, and 63% for 30°C. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 1436–1446, 2006     

Novel catalytic asymmetric sulfoxidation in water using the hypervalent iodine reagent iodoxybenzene

A new catalytic asymmetric oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides in water using the hypervalent iodine(V) reagent iodoxybenzene (PhIO2) has been developed. This methodology is distinctly different from the previously reported use of cyclodextrins or biological catalysts and provides a new route to asymmetric sulfoxidation in water.     

Post-oxidative conversion of thiol residue to sulfonic acid in the binding sites of molecularly imprinted polymers: disulfide based covalent molecular imprinting for basic compounds

An imprinted polymer using a disulfide derivative as a template was treated with NaBH4 to yield the polymer with thiol groups in the binding sites. The thiol groups were then oxidized with H2O2/AcOH to yield the molecularly imprinted polymer with sulfo groups in the binding sites. This site conversion can provide amine-imprinted polymers, in which amine is retained to the imprinted polymer by the strong electrostatic interaction between the amino group and the sulfo group in the binding sites.     

Signaling molecularly imprinted polymers: molecular recognition-based sensing materials

Molecular imprinting is a template polymerization technique that can easily provide synthetic polymers capable of molecular recognition for given target molecules. In addition to their highly specific recognition ability, we are attempting to introduce signaling functions to molecularly imprinted polymers, enabling them to respond according to specific binding events. Some of our work regarding such signaling molecularly imprinted polymers is presented here, including molecularly imprinted polymers that induce spectral shifts of target compounds because of binding. Such compounds include hydrogen-bonding-based fluorescent imprinted polymers and metalloporphyrin-based signaling molecularly imprinted polymers.     

Selective flow-injection determination of methanol in the presence of ethanol based on a multi-enzyme system with chemiluminescence detection

A highly selective flow-injection system was developed for the determination of methanol. The system consisted of three immobilized enzymes with luminol chemiluminescence detection. First, methanol was oxidized in the presence of alcohol oxidase to yield formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide produced was then destroyed by catalase. The formaldehyde formed in the first stage was further oxidized by NAD⁺-formaldehyde dehydrogenase. The NADH formed was oxidized by 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium methylsulphate (1-MPMS), and finally the reduced 1-MPMS was spontaneously oxidized and hydrogen peroxide was produced. The concentration of the hydrogen peroxide produced, which was proportional to the initial concentration of methanol, was determined by luminol chemiluminescence. The determination range was from 0.1 to 100 mg l⁻¹ and the response time was less than 2 min per sample with a relative standard deviation of less than 3%. The system showed good selectivity for methanol; the response was ca. 50 times higher than for ethanol.