Synthesis of an isostere of an O-linked glycopeptide

[reaction: see text] A route for the synthesis of an electrophilic, carbocyclic galactose equivalent from D-galactose is described. The strategy utilizes ring-closing metathesis with Grubbs's second-generation catalyst as the key step. The galactose-derived electrophile reacted in an S(N)2 fashion with N-Boc-cysteine methyl ester to provide an alpha-galactosylserine isostere. The method was extended to the synthesis of a glycopeptide isostere.     

Effect of an electric field on an interfacial profile

We consider the interface between two dielectric liquids in an electric field which is parallel to the interface. Using the Ginsburg-Landau model for binary fluids we add a term for the electric field energy and show that near the critical point the effect of the electric field is to change both the interface width and the critical temperature.     

Adsorption study of an industrial dye by an organic clay

In this study, the adsorption of an industrial dye Supranol Yellow 4GL onto Cetyltrimethylammonium-bentonite (CTAB-bentonite) is investigated. The organobentonite is synthesised by exchanging cetyltrimethylammonium cations (CTAB) with inorganic ions on the surface of bentonite. The adsorption of Supranol Yellow 4GL onto organobentonite is found to be maximum when the concentration of CTAB exchanged is 100% according to the cation exchange capacity of the clay (CEC). The modification of organobentonite is examined using XRD and FTIR techniques. The effect of the process parameters such as: contact time, adsorbate concentration, adsorbent dose, pH and temperature are reported. Nearly 1200 seconds of contact time are found to be sufficient for the adsorption to reach equilibrium. The pseudo second order model is used to describe the kinetic data, and the rate constant is therefore evaluated. The dye adsorption to organobentonite is characterized by monolayer isotherm and caused by adsorption with relatively strong uptake. The Langmuir and Freundlich models adsorption are applied to describe the isotherm equilibrium and to determine its constants. The Langmuir and Freundlich models agree well with the experimental data with a adsorption capacity of 0.5 g of dye per g of organobentonite. A better fixation was obtained at acidic pH. The effect of temperature on the adsorption of dye has been also studied and the thermodynamic parameters ΔH, ΔS, ΔG, were determined. Organobentonite is found to be effective for removing Supranol Yellow 4GL dye from wastewater.     

Integration of an electrochemical-based biolithography technique into an AFM system

An ordinary atomic force microscopy (AFM) was functionalized and applied to electrochemically draw micropatterns of biomolecules. To fabricate an electrochemical AFM probe having an electrode at the tip, a metal-coated AFM probe was first insulated with Parylene C, and then the apex of the tip was ground mechanically to expose the electrode. The effective electrode diameter was estimated to be ca. 500 nm. The electrode probe was positioned close to a heparin-coated antibiofouling substrate and used to locally generate hypobromous acid from a dilute Br⁻ solution to render the substrate surface protein-adhesive. In situ topographical imaging after the electrochemical treatment suggested the heparin layer became detached to allow the adsorption of proteins, in this case fibronectin. The diameter of the drawn fibronectin pattern was 2 μm, which is one order of magnitude smaller than we achieved previously using a microdisk electrode (tip diameter 10 μm). Figure AFM configuration integrated with the electrochemical-based surface modification and resultant micropatterns of fluorescence-labeled fibronectin Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The silver salt of 12-tungstophosphoric acid: an efficient catalyst for the three-component coupling of an aldehyde, an amine and an alkyne

A three-component coupling of an aldehyde, an alkyne and an amine to prepare propargylamines was performed using the silver salt of 12-tungstophosphoric acid (Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀) as a heterogeneous catalyst under mild reaction conditions in the absence of any co-catalyst. A variety of aldehydes and amines were converted to the corresponding propargylamines demonstrating the versatility of the reaction. The Ag₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (AgTPA) catalyst was recovered quantitatively by a simple filtration and reused several times.     

Pi-dimer of an aniline dimer: an ESR-UV-vis spectroelectrochemical study

It is shown for the first time that the most important intermediate formed during aniline polymerization, the p-aminodiphenylamine, forms a pi-dimer under oxidation at room temperature in acidified organic solvents that are used in electropolymerization. N-Phenylquinonediimine, which is generally assumed to be formed under oxidation, is only formed in basic solutions and in ionic liquids. Most of the mechanistic studies reported so far take the formation of N-phenylquinonediimine under consideration, although it is not consistent with the UV-vis spectra measured during oxidation of p-aminodiphenylamine. The formation of a pi-dimer is very well consistent with the electronic spectra of the oxidation product. In this way the pi-dimer is very important for the interpretation of the UV-vis spectra of higher oligomers and polyaniline as well. Furthermore, it offers a new interpretation of the redox behavior of p-aminodiphenylamine as found by cyclic voltammetry and has to be considered in the mechanism of the electrochemical polyaniline formation.     

Mechanism of Thermal Degradation of an Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Based on an Epoxy-POSS

A novel inorganic-organic hybrid material, belonging to the family of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS), was used to reduce the trend of a conventional epoxy-amine system to undergo combustion. The mixtures with different percentages in weight of POSS, and equal number of equivalents between of epoxy and amino groups were tested by thermogravimetic analysis (TGA) in both, argon and oxygen atmospheres. The results indicated that the char/ceramic yield values increase with the content of POSS and therefore, fire resistance is enhanced. Activation energies of degradation processes were obtained by Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose method. An empirical kinetic model satisfactorily explained the degradation mechanism of different blends.     

A convenient and inexpensive conversion of an aziridine to an oxazolidinone

The conversion of an aziridine to the corresponding oxazolidinone using only carbon dioxide and a catalytic amount of lithium iodide is discussed. In all cases, either no reaction occurred or a high yield of product was obtained. HMPA has been added to the reaction mixture, as needed, to drastically improve the regioselectivity. Net retention of stereochemistry between the starting aziridine and the product oxazolidinone was observed.     

Tetrahedrane--dossier of an unknown

To probe whether tetrahedrane should be isolable the thermodynamics and kinetics of C4H4 singlet and triplet structures were studied extensively at the CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ//CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ, CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ, CCSD(T)/cc-pVDZ//B3 LYP/6-311G**, and B3 LYP/6-311G** levels of theory. The reaction of cyclopropene with atomic carbon, which was previously suggested to involve tetrahedrane as a reactive intermediate, was re-examined experimentally with low-temperature matrix-isolation techniques. While experimental and theoretical results exclude the intermediacy of tetrahedrane in the above reaction, it is predicted to be an isolable molecule. Among the many C4H4 species, we pay special attention to the electronic effects on the ground state multiplicity of the respective carbenes.     

Synthesis of an Azasteroid Using an Acyl Iminium Ion-Initiated Tandem Cyclization

An acyl iminium ion-initiated tandem cyclization gave an unexpected dienone product, a seco-azasteroid (2). The factors governing the formation of 2 were investigated in an attempt to optimize its formation. The reaction was applied to a more elaborate system, resulting in the synthesis of the full steroid skeleton of 13-azaandrosta-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (3), which contains the unusual substitution of a chlorine atom for the axial 19-methyl.     

Coupling of an atmospheric-samling ion source with an ion-trap mass spectrometer

An atomospheric-sampling glow-discharge ionization source has been interfaced with an ion-trap mass spectrometer. Under optimum conditions, the efficiency of ion injection is 1–5%. Several factors have a significant effect on the ion injection efficiency, including the voltages on the three-element lens system situated between the ion-source exit and the ion-trap entrance end-cap, the pressure of the bath gas present in the ion-trap vacuum housing, the nature of the bath gas and the amplitude of the radiofrequency voltage applied to the ring electrode during ion injection. Collision-induced dissociation (and electron detachment from anions) is also observed for some ions on injection, depending on the conditions. The most important experimental variables in determining the extent to which dissociation (or electron detachment) occurs are the nature of the bath gas, the bath gas presure and the radiofrequency voltage applied to the ring electrode during injection. These effects are illustrated with data obtained for polyatomic anions injected from the golw-discharge ion source.     

Fabrication of an integrated PDMS microchip incorporating an LED-induced fluorescence device

A microfluidic device with an integrated fluorescence detection system has been developed in order to miniaturize the entire analytical system. A blue or green light-emitting diode (LED) and an optical fiber were mounted in a polydimethylsiloxane-based microchip. The performance of this device was evaluated by microchip electrophoresis. When a green LED was used as the light source, the calibration curve of Sulforhodamine-101 was linear over the range 1–100 M. The detection limit was found to be 600 nM (240 amol) for a S/N ratio of 3. When using a blue LED, the calibration curve of Fluorescein was linear over the range 0.2–100 M. The detection limit was estimated to be 120 nM (50 amol) (S/N=3). The detection sensitivity per unit power was comparable to that of LIF. The RSD values for the migration time, peak height and peak area were 0.74, 7.18 and 9.45%, respectively. The integrated microfluidic device was successfully used to determine amino acid derivatives.     

Synthesis and DNA triplex formation of an oligonucleotide containing an urocanamide

An urocanamide nucleoside designed and previously tested as its protected ribose derivative in aprotic solvents for binding a cytosine-guanine (CG) Watson-Crick base pair was successfully incorporated into a triplex forming oligonucleotide. Binding affinity and specificity of this nonnatural nucleoside were studied in a triple helix with duplex targets containing all four possible Watson-Crick base pairs opposite the nucleoside analog in the third strand. UV melting experiments indicate the formation of a well-defined triplex with specific binding of the urocanamide analog to a CG inversion of the homopurine-homopyrimidine target. However, binding affinities in the triplex are weak and much lower when compared to the canonical base triads.     

Electrophoresis of an arbitrarily oriented toroid in an unbounded electrolyte solution

The electrophoresis of a non-conducting rigid toroid in an unbounded Newtonian electrolyte solution having an arbitrary orientation is modeled theoretically under the condition of low surface potential. In particular, the influence of the orientation angle, defined as the angle between the applied electric field and the center line of the toroid, on its electrophoretic behavior as the thickness of double layer varies is investigated. The results of numerical simulation reveal that both the thickness of double layer and the orientation angle can influence appreciably the mobility of the toroid. In general, for a fixed orientation, the mobility of the toroid increases with decreasing double layer thickness, and for a fixed double layer thickness, the scaled electrophoresis mobility increases with increasing orientation angle. If the double layer is infinitely thin, then the present result reduces to that predicted by Smoluchowski, that is, the scaled electrophoretic mobility of the toroid is unity, and is not influenced by its shape. On the other hand, if it is infinitely thick, then the present result follows the same trend as that predicted by Henry, that is, the electrophoretic mobility of the toroid depends highly on its form effect, and the thicker the double layer the smaller that mobility. If the thickness of double layer is comparable to the radius of a toroid, the variation in the orientation angle can lead to as much as 40% difference in the mobility.     

Development of an improved synthetic route to an AB phenylquinoxaline monomer

The primary objective of this research was the development of an efficient synthetic route for a previously prepared self‐polymerizable PPQ monomer mixture, 2‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐3‐phenyl‐6‐fluoroquinoxaline and 3‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐2‐phenyl‐6‐fluoroquinoxaline. Thus, the intermediate, 4‐hydroxybenzil, was synthesized in good yield, starting from phenol with phenylacetyl chloride, followed by oxidation. The other intermediate, 4‐fluoro‐1,2‐phenylenediamine, was also less costly synthesized, starting from 2,4‐difluoronitrobenzene with ammonium hydroxide, followed by reduction, giving excellent yield. The overall monomer yield was superior to previous reports. Another research objective involved preparation of various monomer mixtures that could be synthesized even less costly, and attempts on polymerization could generate the same structure of PPQ from an original monomer mixture. Thus, the monomer mixture that had switched functional groups from the original one, 2‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐3‐phenyl‐6‐hydroxyquinoxaline and 3‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐2‐phenyl‐6‐hydroxyquinoxaline, was prepared. Various monomers with different functional groups attached on the 6‐position of the quinoxaline ring, such as chloro‐ and nitro‐substituted monomers instead of fluoro‐substituted ones, were also prepared. Several attempts to build up high molecular weights were not successful. In the case of the switched monomer mixture, weaker nucleophility and less activation on the fluorine atom were to be the reason in the switched monomer. In the cases of chloro‐ and nitro‐substituted monomers, poorer leaving power and side reactions were to be the reasons. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 801–814, 2005     

The Thermal Rearrangement of an NHC-Ligated 3-Benzoborepin to an NHC-Boranorcaradiene

An N-heterocyclic-carbene-ligated 3-benzoborepin with a bridged structure has been synthesized by double radical trans-hydroboration of benzo[3,4]cycloundec-3-ene-1,5-diyne with an N-heterocyclic carbene borane. The thermal reaction of the NHC-ligated borepin at 150 °C gives an isolable NHC-boranorcaradiene. Experiments and density functional theory calculations support a mechanism whereby the borepin initially rearranges to a boranorcaradiene by a thermal 6π-electrocyclic reaction. This is followed by 1,5-boron shift to give a rearranged boranorcaradiene. This shift occurs with stereoinversion at boron through a transition state with open-shell diradical character. This is the first example of the isolation of a boranorcaradiene from a thermal reaction of a borepin.     

Intracellular Photophysics of an Osmium Complex bearing an Oligothiophene Extended Ligand

This contribution describes the excited-state properties of an Osmium-complex when taken up into human cells. The complex 1 [Os(bpy)₂(IP-4T)](PF₆)₂ with bpy=2,2′-bipyridine and IP-4T=2-{5′-[3′,4′-diethyl-(2,2′-bithien-5-yl)]-3,4-diethyl-2,2′-bithiophene}imidazo[4,5-f][1,10]phenanthroline) can be discussed as a candidate for photodynamic therapy in the biological red/NIR window. The complex is taken up by MCF7 cells and localizes rather homogeneously within in the cytoplasm. To detail the sub-ns photophysics of 1 , comparative transient absorption measurements were carried out in different solvents to derive a model of the photoinduced processes. Key to rationalize the excited-state relaxation is a long-lived ³ILCT state associated with the oligothiophene chain. This model was then tested with the complex internalized into MCF7 cells, since the intracellular environment has long been suspected to take big influence on the excited state properties. In our study of 1 in cells, we were able to show that, though the overall model remained the same, the excited-state dynamics are affected strongly by the intracellular environment. Our study represents the first in depth correlation towards ex-vivo and in vivo ultrafast spectroscopy for a possible photodrug.     

Preparation of an analogue of orbicuside A,an unusual cardiac glycoside

A steroid containing a multi-linked glycoside, analogous to the bufadienolide orbicuside A, has been prepared. The key steps were (i) the preparation of a 2α-allyloxycarbonyloxy-3β-hydroxy steroid, (ii) a Ferrier reaction between the steroid and a rhamnal derivative, (iii) removal of protecting group and oxidation of the 2-hydroxy group, (iv) dihydroxylation of the pseudoglycal from the sterically more hindered side and finally (v) ring closure by acetal formation under acidic conditions.