Carbon-bound diazeniumdiolates from the reaction of nitric oxide with amidines

[reaction: see text] The enediamine tautomer of a variety of substituted amidine free bases reacts with nitric oxide (NO) to produce compounds containing a carbon-bound diazeniumdiolate [R1R2R3C-N(O)=NO-] functional group (previously called "nitrosohydroxylamines"). The new reaction has been shown to be quite general, although the nature of the products does vary. Amidines containing more than one replaceable hydrogen produce polydiazeniumdiolates as intermolecular salts, while those in which only one diazeniumdiolation can occur provide zwitterionic salts. These diazeniumdiolated amidines are shown to be useful NO donor compounds which undergo very slow spontaneous dissociation on dissolution in pH 7.4 phosphate buffer to produce mixtures of NO and nitrous oxide containing mostly NO. The most advantageous manifestation of the new discovery is the preparation of the monodiazeniumdiolated amidine zwitterions. Reaction of the medically relevant alpha-adrenergic agonists tetrahydrozoline and idazoxan produced monodiazeniumdiolated amidine zwitterions from which NO release was observed for up to 28 days and showed little sign of ending. The reaction should be applicable to a variety of pharmaceutical agents, including NO synthase inhibitors, antitumor agents, and antibacterials.     

Reaction of nitric oxide at the beta-carbon of enamines. A new method of preparing compounds containing the diazeniumdiolate functional group

The reaction of nitric oxide (NO) with enamines has been investigated. Unlike previously reported reactions of NO as a free radical with alkenes, the electrophilic addition of NO to the beta-carbon of enamines results in the formation of compounds containing the diazeniumdiolate functional group (-[N(O)NO](-)). This reaction between NO and enamines has been shown to be quite general and a variety of enamine-derived diazeniumdiolates have been isolated and characterized. While enamines derived from aldehydes and ketones whose structures allow for sequential multiple electrophilic additions tended to undergo overreaction leading to unstable products, it has been shown that this complication may be overcome by suitable choice of reaction solvent. The products obtained may exist as zwitterionic iminium salts or as neutral species depending upon the structure of the parent enamine. The diazeniumdiolate derived from 1-(N-morpholino)cyclohexene is unique among the new compounds in that it spontaneously releases NO upon dissolution in buffered aqueous solution at pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C. While the total quantity of NO released by this material (ca. 7% of the theoretical 2 moles) is apparently limited by a competing reaction in which it hydrolyzes to an alpha-diazeniumdiolated carbonyl compound and the parent amine, this feature may prove to be of great value in the development of multiaction pharmaceuticals based upon this new type of NO-releasing compound. Reports of enzymatic (oxidative) release of NO from previously known carbon-bound diazeniumdiolates also suggest that analogues of these compounds may be useful as pharmaceutical agents. This new method of introducing the relatively rarely studied diazeniumdiolate functional group into organic compounds should lead to further research into its chemical and biological properties.     

Stereoselective Csp3−Csp2 Cross‐Couplings of Chiral Secondary Alkylzinc Reagents with Alkenyl and Aryl Halides

We report palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling reactions of chiral secondary non‐stabilized dialkylzinc reagents, prepared from readily available chiral secondary alkyl iodides, with alkenyl and aryl halides. This method provides α‐chiral alkenes and arenes with very high retention of configuration (dr up to 98:2) and satisfactory overall yields (up to 76 % for 3 reaction steps). The configurational stability of these chiral non‐stabilized dialkylzinc reagents was determined and exceeded several hours at 25 °C. DFT calculations were performed to rationalize the stereoretention during the catalytic cycle. Furthermore, the cross‐coupling reaction was applied in an efficient total synthesis of the sesquiterpenes (S)‐ and (R)‐curcumene with control of the absolute stereochemistry.     

Note of correction: Broadening of NO γ-band lines

Errors in Ref. 1 are corrected. Using the new data, the collisional broadening coefficient of NO γ-band lines by N₂ is 2390 (±220) atm^-1-K (old value = 1270±200) and the optical collision diameter is 13.3±0.6 Å (instead of 3.5±0.3 Å). Values for argon (2150±200 atm^-1-K) and CO₂ (2040±200 atm^-1-K) yield the optical collision diameters of 13.2 and 13.1 Å, respectively.     

Boundary-layer effect on railgun muzzle voltage

Measured values of railgun muzzle voltage exceed those predicted from simple armature models by several tens of volts. This excess voltage is called the contact potential and may represent a substantial fraction of the power dissipated in the armature. A simple two-dimensional model for the conductivity and velocity boundary layers has been used to calculate the electric field in the region near the rail surfaces. Calculations were performed for parameters characteristic of the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI) 1-cm square-bore railgun. These calculations showed that the electric field decreased across the boundary-layer thickness and predicted contact potentials from 12.5 to 88.7 V, depending on the choice of boundary-layer parameters     

Mechanical properties and adhesion of hydrated glass surface layers

This paper reviews results for interfacial adhesion and fracture of silicate glasses that demonstrate the effect of hydrated glass surface layers on the mechanical properties of glass. First, it is shown how the generation of hydrated surface layers formed on alkali borosilicate glasses can control crack propagation rates. Crack growth data, solution analysis and surface stress measurements are used to support a fracture model that involves the generation of surface stress on the crack walls behind the crack tip. A fracture mechanics based model is used to show that stressed layers can contribute to the crack tip stress intensity in a way that either increases or decreases the rate of crack propagation. In the case of alkali containing silicate glasses, tensile stresses formed on the crack walls increase the crack tip stress and contribute to the formation of a low velocity plateau in the stress intensity vs. crack velocity curve. Second, fracture mechanics test techniques are used to examine the adhesive bond formed between hydrated surface layers and bulk silicate glass. The adhesive bonds formed by sol-gel precursors composed of colloidal silica, hydrolyzed organosilanes and alkali silicate solutions are compared to determine the mechanism of interfacial bonding to dense silica substrates. The formation of siloxane bonds across the interface depends upon the nature of the silicate polyanions in solution. For the case of soluble alkali silicate derived films, heat treatments at temperatures as low as 200°C can result interferfacial adhesion energies as large as the fracture energy of silica glass. These results have important implications to the aging and repair of surface damage in glass as well as the adhesion of sol-gel derived thin films.     

N-nitrosothialdine. Synthesis,X-ray crystallography,and N-N rotational barrier

Crystalline N-nitrosothialdine ($\text{2}$) has been prepared in 38% yield by treating thialdine ($\text{1}$) with $\text{n}$-butyl nitrite and acetic acid in hexane. X-Ray crystallography of $\text{2}$ revealed that its three methyl groups are a11 $\text{cis}$ and, rather surprisingly, all equatorial; this finding contrasts sharply with results for other nitrosamine heterocycles which have been investigated, whose bulky alpha substituents are forced into a primarily axial orientation by the large steric requirement of the N-N-0 system. The equatorial methyl group both displaces the nitroso group from the C-N-C plane and twists it somewhat about the N-N bond. N-Nitrosothialdine's unusually low barrier to rotation about the N-N bond (72 kJ/mole) is attributed to this steric crowding, combined with inductive electron withdrawal by the two sulfur atoms.     

Chemistry of the diazeniumdiolates. 3. Photoreactivity

We have found O(2)-substituted diazeniumdiolates, compounds of structure R(2)N-N(O)=NOR' that are under development for various possible pharmaceutical uses, to be rather photosensitive. With R = ethyl and R' = methyl, benzyl, or 2-nitrobenzyl, the observed product distributions suggest that two primary pathways are operative. A minor pathway involves the extrusion of nitrous oxide (N(2)O) with simultaneous generation of R(2)N(*) and R'O(*), which may then form amines, aldehydes, and alcohols. The major reaction pathway is an interesting photochemical cleavage of the N=N bond to form a nitrosamine (R(2)NN=O) and an oxygen-substituted nitrene (R'ON). The intermediacy of the O-nitrene was inferred from the production of abundant oxime, via rearrangement of the O-nitrene to a C-nitroso compound (R'ON --> O=NR'), and subsequent tautomerization to the more stable oxime. Involvement of the O-nitrene was confirmed by trapping with 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene to form the aziridine and with oxygen to generate the nitrate ester. 2-Nitro substitution on the benzyl derivative had surprisingly little effect on the reaction course. For each compound examined, minor amounts of nitric oxide (NO), presumably produced by secondary photolysis of the nitrosamine, were observed. Time-resolved infrared experiments provided additional support for the above reaction pathways and confirmed that the nitrosamine is a primary photoproduct. We have also found that the relative contributions of the reaction pathways can be altered in certain derivatives. For example, when R' = 2,4-dinitrophenyl, the contribution of the nitrosamine/O-nitrene-forming pathway was diminished. Pharmacological implications of these results are discussed.