Control of chain ends of polyesters in polycondensation of AA and BB monomers by use of solid‐phase reagent

For selective synthesis of linear polyester having a functional group at one end, polycondensation between 1,4‐butanediol ( 1a ) and sebacoyl chloride ( 2a ) and between 1,12‐dodecanediol ( 1b ) and isophthaloyl chloride ( 2b ) was conducted in the presence of oxime resin or oxime silica gel, followed by cleavage of the formed polyester from the solid‐phase support with aniline. Matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectra and ¹H NMR spectra of the cleaved polyester showed that the products contained not only polyester with anilide at one end ( poly 1 ), but also polyester with anilides at both ends ( poly 2 ). The product ratio of poly 1 to poly 2 ( poly 1 / poly 2 ) was dependent on monomers, monomer concentration, feed ratio of monomer to oxime moiety in the support, oxime content in the support, reaction solvent, and the nature of the support. Polyester with a high poly 1 / poly 2 ratio of 81/21 and moderate molecular weight (M_n = 1430 g/mol) was obtained by polycondensation of 1b and 2b in the presence of oxime silica gel in dichloromethane. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1379–1386     

Synthesis of Porphyrinquinone and Doubly‐Fused Diporphyrin Quinone Through Oxidation of Diarylporphyrins Using a Hypervalent Iodine Compound

Treatment of a meso‐diarylporphyrin with PhI(OAc)₂ in the presence of BF₃ ? OEt₂ and propionic acid affords the corresponding porphyrinquinone in a high yield (91%). A novel quinone derived from meso‐meso β–β doubly‐fused diporphyrin was obtained as the sole byproduct (16% yield), which exhibits strong panchromatic absorption between 300 and 1000 nm. It has a low HOMO‐LUMO gap owing to expanded and low‐symmetry π‐planes.     

Comprehensive Metabolite Profiling in Genetic Resources of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Collected from Different Geographical Regions

Garlic (Allium sativum) is the second most important Allium crop that has been used as a vegetable and condiment from ancient times due to its characteristic flavor and taste. Although garlic is a sterile plant that reproduces vegetatively through cloves, garlic shows high biodiversity, as well as phenotypic plasticity and environmental adaptation capacity. To determine the possible mechanism underlying this phenomenon and to provide new genetic materials for the development of a novel garlic cultivar with useful agronomic traits, the metabolic profiles in the leaf tissue of 30 garlic accessions collected from different geographical regions, with a special focus on the Asian region, were investigated using LC/MS. In addition, the total saponin and fructan contents in the roots and cloves of the investigated garlic accessions were also evaluated. Total saponin and fructan contents did not separate the garlic accessions based on their geographical origin, implying that saponin and fructan contents were clone-specific and agroclimatic changes have affected the quantitative and qualitative levels of saponins in garlic over a long history of cultivation. Principal component analysis (PCA) and dendrogram clustering of the LC/MS-based metabolite profiling showed two major clusters. Specifically, many Japanese and Central Asia accessions were grouped in cluster I and showed high accumulations of flavonol glucosides, alliin, and methiin. On the other hand, garlic accessions grouped in cluster II exhibited a high accumulation of anthocyanin glucosides and amino acids. Although most of the accessions were not separated based on country of origin, the Central Asia accessions were clustered in one group, implying that these accessions exhibited distinct metabolic profiles. The present study provides useful information that can be used for germplasm selection and the development of new garlic varieties with beneficial biotic and abiotic stress-adaptive traits.     

Enantioselective reductive aldol reaction using tertiary amine as hydride donor

An efficient method was developed for the enantioselective reductive aldol reaction of α,β-unsaturated ketones with aldehydes in the presence of a Lewis base catalyst; conjugate reduction using a tertiary amine and trichlorosilyl triflate, followed by an aldol reaction with BINAP dioxide (BINAPO) as an organocatalyst, gave the corresponding product in high yield with high stereoselectivity.     

Enantioselective Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction catalyzed by a chiral phosphine oxide

An application of a hypervalent silicon complex, generated from a chiral phosphine oxide catalyst and silicon tetrachloride, to the enantioselective organocatalytic Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction is described. A chloride anion liberated from the hypervalent silicon complex smoothly generated a γ-chloro silyl enol ether that subsequently reacted with an aldehyde to afford the Baylis–Hillman adducts in good yields and with good enantioselectivities.     

Formation of double helix self-assembled monolayers of ethynylhelicene oligomer disulfides on gold surfaces

Optically active ethynylhelicene pentamers and hexamers linked by disulfide bonds were synthesized. They formed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with double helix structure on gold surfaces, which were analyzed by infrared reflection-absorption spectroscopy (IR-RAS), quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), and circular dichroism (CD). Double helix SAMs could be formed on gold surfaces either from double helices or random coils in solution. The double helices on the surface were more stable than in solution. This result suggested the presence of strong intercomplex interactions between double helix complexes on the surface.     

Trichlorosilyl triflate for enantioselective direct-type aldol reaction with chiral phosphine oxide

Trichlorosilyl triflate, in the presence of a chiral Lewis base catalyst, provides an effective method for the enantioselective direct-type aldol reaction of aldehydes and ketones. A chiral Lewis base induces both the production and activation of trichlorosilyl enol ether, yielding an aldol product in good yield and with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities.