The synthesis and application of fluorous boronates without perfluorinated solvents

The synthesis of a fluorous diol 4 bearing a perfluorodecyl chain was described. A series of boronic acid were attached to 4 by esterification. The purification of the products was fulfilled by facile filtration instead of expensive and environmental troublesome fluorous liquid-liquid extraction. The Suzuki cross-coupling reactions of the formed fluorous boronates 5 underwent smoothly and the fluorous diol 4 was recycled in good yields.     

Triple responsive block copolymers combining pH‐responsive,thermoresponsive, and glucose‐responsive behaviors

Polymers with multiple tunable responses were achieved by incorporating boronic acid functionality along the backbone of a thermoresponsive polymer. The inherent Lewis acidity and diol‐sensitivity of boronic acid moieties allowed these polymers to respond to changes in pH and glucose concentration. Through reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer copolymerization of boronic acid‐containing monomers with N‐isopropylacrylamide, well‐defined block copolymers were synthesized containing a hydrophilic N,N‐dimethylacrylamide block and a second, responsive block with temperature‐dependent water solubility, making the resulting polymers capable of self‐assembly into nanostructures upon heating. By incorporating boronic acids within the thermoresponsive block, the cloud point of the polymer depended on the solution conditions, including pH and diol concentration, allowing tunable cloud point ranges. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2309–2317     

Fluororeactands for the Detection of Saccharides Based on Hemicyanine Dyes with a Boronic Acid Receptor

Three hemicyanine dyes with boronic acid receptor functions have been synthesized in a two step procedure. These dyes are capable of forming a covalent bond between their boronic acid moiety and the diol moiety of saccharides which causes fluorescence to change. In detail, the indicator dyes exhibit absorbance maxima at around 460 nm and emission at around 600 nm, show increases in fluorescence upon exposure to saccharides and can be used in aqueous solution at physiological pH.     

Poly(glyceryl glycerol): A multi‐functional hydrophilic polymer for labeling with boronic acids

The synthesis of poly(glyceryl glycerol) (PGG), a polymer featuring a polyethylene oxide backbone and 1,2‐diol groups in every repeating unit, is presented. PGG was prepared by monomer‐activated ring‐opening polymerization of (dl ?1,2‐isopropylidene glyceryl) glycidyl ether, introducing a functional azido‐ or bromo‐head group to each chain. The 1,2‐diol groups, which were released by acidic deprotection, readily reacted with boronic acid derivatives, enabling the attachment of functional moieties under mild aqueous conditions. PGG was conjugated to poly(l ‐lactide) (PLLA) via azide‐alkyne cycloaddition and the resulting copolymer assembled into nanoparticles of 70 nm diameter in aqueous solution. Labeling of the PGG–PLLA particles was achieved by simple mixing with a boronic acid‐functional fluorophore. The labeling efficiency was determined by fluorescence spectroscopy to be 85.5% for boronic acid‐functional rhodamine B compared with 0.2% for plain rhodamine B. The strong interaction of PGG with boronic acids is ascribed to its polyol structure. This study demonstrates the usefulness and versatility of PGG as a hydrophilic polymer for possible biomedical applications. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55 , 1822–1830     

Interference of ascorbic acid in the sensitive detection of dopamine by a nonoxidative sensing approach

The electrochemistry of a poly(anilineboronic acid)/carbon nanotube composite was studied in the presence of dopamine and ascorbic acid. To understand the binding affinity of dopamine and ascorbic acid to the boronic acid functional groups in the composite, the association constants between the diol groups in dopamine and ascorbic acid and the boronic acid were experimentally determined using a fluorescence-based binding assay. The results demonstrate that ascorbic acid could severely interfere with the detection of dopamine in nonoxidative boronic acid-binding approaches: Ascorbic acid was able to electrocatalytically reduce the fully oxidized polyaniline backbone during the electrochemical oxidation process; similarly to dopamine, ascorbic acid was also able to bind to the boronic acid groups through its planar diol group even though the binding affinity is much lower. The examination of the dopamine transduction mechanism and ascorbic acid interference mechanism in this nonoxidative approach will benefit the design of future boronic acid-based sensors.     

The relationship among pKa, pH, and binding constants in the interactions between boronic acids and diols—it is not as simple as it appears

In our continuing efforts into designing boronic acid-based sensors that recognize cell-surface carbohydrates, it has been necessary to examine various factors that affect the binding affinity between a boronic acid moiety and a diol. The current prevailing view is that the strongest boronic acid/diol complexes are generated by a combination of high solution pH and a low boronic acid pK_a. However, there has never been a systematic examination of the relationship among the binding constants, boronic acid pK_a, and the pH of the solution. Herein we report our findings with a series of 25 arylboronic acids with various substituents and their binding affinities with diols. We have found that (1) the relationship between the pK_a of monosubstituted phenylboronic acid and its substituents can be described using a Hammet plot; (2) the optimal pH for binding is not always above the pK_a of the boronic acid, and is affected by the pK_a values of the boronic acid and the diol, and other unknown factors; and (3) the general belief that boronic acids with lower pK_a values show greater binding affinities for diols is not always true.     

A Stereoselective Total Synthesis of Xyolide,a Natural Bioactive Nonenolide

A stereoselective total synthesis of xyolide, a naturally occurring bioactive nonenolide, has been accomplished. The acid fragment of the molecule has been prepared from D ‐mannitol and the alcohol fragment from (2Z)‐but‐2‐ene‐1,4‐diol. The synthesis involves the coupling of these two fragments using the Yamaguchi esterification protocol, followed by intramolecular ring‐closing methathesis. The diastereoisomeric alcohol fragment has also been utilized in this synthesis by employing the Mitsunobu esterification.     

茜素红S-硼酸体系对单糖的双光谱识别

利用硼酸与茜素红S和糖中的邻二羟基可逆结合的特点,以硼酸为中介运用竞争结合作用机理构建单糖分析法.在pH7.4的KH2PO4-NaOH缓冲溶液中,茜素红S作为指示剂与硼酸结合生成ARS-BA配合物,其结合常数为5.09×102L/mol.糖与指示剂ARS竞争结合硼酸使指示剂游离出来,产生明显的颜色变化,据此建立糖的识别方法.考察了D-葡萄糖、D-山梨醇、D-半乳糖、D-甘露糖、D-果糖、D-阿拉伯糖和L-阿拉伯糖对上述ARS-BA体系光谱的影响.结果显示:该体系对D-山梨醇和D-果糖有较好的光谱响应,其光谱变化灵敏度依D-山梨醇＞D-果糖＞D-阿拉伯糖～D-半乳糖＞D-葡萄糖＞D-甘露糖＞L-阿拉伯糖之序.     

Reversed-phase affinity chromatography of ecdysteroids with boronic acid-containing eluents

Selective effects of boronic acid-containing eluents on the chromatographic behaviour of ecdysteroids are described. The use of such eluents provides a simple, rapid and sensitive means to assess the presence of certain diol groups in ecdysteroids by ordinary RP-HPLC. It is demonstrated that ecdysteroids with different sets of diols in their molecules have individual shapes of chromatographic peaks. A mechanism of the boronic acid effect is discussed.     

Boronic acid building blocks: tools for sensing and separation

In this feature article the use of boronic acids to monitor, identify and isolate analytes within physiological, environmental and industrial scenarios is discussed. Boronic acids recognise diol motifs through boronic ester formation and interact with anions generating boronates, as such they have been exploited in sensing and separation protocols for diol appended molecules such as saccharides and anions alike. Therefore robust molecular sensors with the capacity to detect chosen molecules selectively and signal their presence continues to attract substantial attention, and boronic acids have been exploited with some success to monitor the presence of various analytes. Reversible boronic acid-diol interactions have also been exploited in boron affinity chromatography realising new separation domains through the same binding events. Boronic acid diol and anion interactions pertaining to sensing and separation are surveyed.     

An electrophilic cleavage procedure for the asymmetric dihydroxylation: direct enantioselective synthesis of cyclic boronic esters from olefins

A variation within the osmium-catalysed asymmetric dihydroxylation (AD) of olefins is described that yields cyclic boronic esters from olefins in a straight-forward manner. This process represents the first real product alteration in asymmetric dihydroxylation, since all previous protocols lead to free diols exclusively. A protocol based on the Sharpless AD conditions (for enantioselective oxidation of prochiral olefins) was developed that gives cyclic boronic esters with excellent enantiomeric excesses (ee's). Some of the ee's are higher than those reported for conventional AD. The unprecedented role of phenyl boronic acid on the course of the AD reaction was investigated in detail. PhB(OH)2 does not interfere with the chiral ligand, leaving the enantioselective step of olefin oxidation intact. The main role of the boronic acids-apart from protecting the diol products against potential overoxidation-relies on removing the diol entity in an electrophilic cleavage, which is in contrast to the conventional hydrolytic cleavage of the AD protocols. Thus, a mechanistically new cleavage for enantioselective dihydroxylation reactions is introduced within the present work.     

Thermodynamic analysis of receptors based on guanidinium/boronic acid groups for the complexation of carboxylates, alpha-hydroxycarboxylates, and diols: driving force for binding and cooperativity

The thermodynamics of guanidinium and boronic acid interactions with carboxylates, alpha-hydroxycarboxylates, and diols were studied by determination of the binding constants of a variety of different guests to four different hosts (7-10). Each host contains a different combination of guanidinium groups and boronic acids. The guests included molecules with carboxylate and/or diol moieties, such as citrate, tartrate, and fructose, among others. The Gibbs free energies of binding were determined by UV/Vis absorption spectroscopy, by use of indicator displacement assays. The receptor based on three guanidinium groups (7) was selective for the tricarboxylate guest. The receptors that incorporated boronic acids (8-10) had higher affinities for guests that included alpha-hydroxycarboxylate and catechol moieties over guests containing only carboxylates or alkanediols. Isothermal titration calorimetry revealed the enthalpic and entropic contributions to the Gibbs free energies of binding. The binding of citrate and tartrate was investigated with hosts 7-10, for which all the binding events were exothermic, with positive entropy. Because of the selectivity of hosts 8-10, a simple boronic acid (14) was also investigated and determined to be selective for alpha-hydroxycarboxylates and catechols over amino acids and alkanediols. Further, the cooperativity of 8 and 9 in binding tartrate was also investigated, revealing little or no cooperativity with 8, but negative cooperativity with 9. A linear entropy/enthalpy compensation relationship for all the hosts 7-10, 14, and the carboxylate-/diol-containing guests was also obtained. This relationship indicates that increasing enthalpy of binding is offset by similar losses in entropy for molecular recognition involving guanidinium and boronic acid groups.     

The design of boronic acid spectroscopic reporter compounds by taking advantage of the pK(a)-lowering effect of diol binding: nitrophenol-based color reporters for diols

The complex that forms between a boronic acid and a diol is often much more acidic than the starting boronic acid. In conditions where the solution pH is between the two pK(a) values, the boron atom will convert from a neutral trigonal form to an anionic tetrahedral form upon complexation. Such a change is likely to dramatically alter the electron density of neighboring groups. Utilizing this effect, we have designed and synthesized two nitrophenol-based boronic acid reporter compounds that change ionization states and therefore spectroscopic properties upon diol binding. Both compounds show significant UV changes upon addition of saccharides. For example, a blue shift of the absorption max from 373 to 332 nm was observed with the addition of D-fructose to 2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenylboronic acid at neutral pH. Such a reporter compound can be used as a recognition and signaling unit for the construction of polyboronic acid sensors for the selective and specific recognitions of saccharides of biological significance.     

Preparative manipulation of gold nanoparticles by reversible binding to a polymeric solid support

A preparative scheme is presented for controlled modification of gold nanoparticles (NPs) by using reversible binding to a polymeric solid support through boronic acid chemistry. Octanethiol-capped Au NPs were bound to a boronic acid functionalized resin by custom-synthesized bifunctional linker molecules. The NPs were chemically released from the resin to the solution, with one (or a few) linker molecules embedded in their capping layer. This was confirmed by rebinding the linker-derivatized NPs to a boronic resin, exploiting the reversibility of the boronic acid/diol chemistry. The same scheme was employed to demonstrate a new method for affinity separation of NPs by means of a solid-phase reaction. The use of boronic acid provides versatility and chemical reversibility, while the polymeric solid support affords the separation and preparative aspects. The method presented here may be useful in various facets of NP handling, manipulation, and separation.     

Which is reactive in alkaline solution, boronate ion or boronic acid? Kinetic evidence for reactive trigonal boronic acid in an alkaline solution

That boronic acid is a reactive species toward a diol moiety even in an alkaline solution and that the boronate ion is not very reactive were demonstrated by the estimated upper limit of the rate constants for the reactions of some boronic acids with 2,2'-biphenol and 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene in a neutral-alkaline solution, which will correct a common misunderstanding in boron chemistry and would renew the idea of effective boronic acid sensor design for carbohydrates.     

Boronic Acids as Bioorthogonal Probes for Site‐Selective Labeling of Proteins

Over the past two decades, bioorthogonal chemistry has become a preferred tool to achieve site‐selective modifications of proteins. However, there are only a handful of commonly applied bioorthogonal reactions and they display some limitations, such as slow rates, use of unstable or cytotoxic reagents, and side reactions. Hence, there is significant interest in expanding the bioorthogonal chemistry toolbox. In this regard, boronic acids have recently been introduced in bioorthogonal chemistry and are exploited in three different strategies: 1) boronic ester formation between a boronic acid and a 1,2‐cis diol; 2) iminoboronate formation between 2‐acetyl/formyl‐arylboronic acids and hydrazine/hydroxylamine/semicarbazide derivatives; 3) use of boronic acids as transient groups in a Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling or other reactions that leave the boronyl group off the conjugation product. In this Review, we summarize progress made in the use of boronic acids in bioorthogonal chemistry to enable site‐selective labeling of proteins and compare these methods with the most commonly utilized bioorthogonal reactions.     

Short eight-steps total synthesis of racemic asteriscunolide C

A concise total synthesis of racemic asteriscunolide C in eight steps has been described starting from neopentane diol involving an efficient Yamaguchi esterification using an aldehyde-acid, intramolecular Horner–Wittig–Emmons olefination, and a late stage ring-closing metathesis to construct the strained 11-membered ring with one Z- and two E-double bonds.     

Boronic Acid‐Based Carbohydrate Sensing

The covalent boron–diol interaction enables elaborate design of boronic acid‐based saccharide sensors. Over the last decade, this research topic has been well developed thanks to the integration of boronic acid chemistry with a range of techniques, including supramolecular chemistry, materials chemistry, surface modification, and nanotechnology. New sensing strategies and platforms have been introduced and remarkable progress has been achieved to fully utilize the unique property of boron–diol interaction and to improve the binding affinity towards different targets, especially under physiological conditions. In this review, the latest progress over the past 30 months (from late 2012 to early 2015) is highlighted and discussed to shed light on this versatile and promising platform for saccharide sensing.     

Allosteric Indicator Displacement Enzyme Assay for a Cyanogenic Glycoside

Indicator displacement assays (IDAs) represent an elegant approach in supramolecular analytical chemistry. Herein, we report a chemical biosensor for the selective detection of the cyanogenic glycoside amygdalin in aqueous solution. The hybrid sensor consists of the enzyme β‐glucosidase and a boronic acid appended viologen together with a fluorescent reporter dye. β‐Glucosidase degrades the cyanogenic glycoside amygdalin into hydrogen cyanide, glucose, and benzaldehyde. Only the released cyanide binds at the allosteric site of the receptor (boronic acid) thereby inducing changes in the affinity of a formerly bound fluorescent indicator dye at the other side of the receptor. Thus, the sensing probe performs as allosteric indicator displacement assay (AIDA) for cyanide in water. Interference studies with inorganic anions and glucose revealed that cyanide is solely responsible for the change in the fluorescent signal. DFT calculations on a model compound revealed a 1:1 binding ratio of the boronic acid and cyanide ion. The fluorescent enzyme assay for β‐glucosidase uses amygdalin as natural substrate and allows measuring Michaelis–Menten kinetics in microtiter plates. The allosteric indicator displacement assay (AIDA) probe can also be used to detect cyanide traces in commercial amygdalin samples.     

Synthesis of low grafting density molecular brush from a poly(N‐alkyl urea peptoid) backbone

The synthesis of a molecular brush was accomplished by combining step‐growth polymerization and reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization in a “grafting from” methodology. A symmetrical N‐alkyl urea peptoid sixmer containing alkyne functional groups was prepared using a divergent strategy, and the structure of the product was confirmed using NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. A step‐growth process was used to prepare a linear poly(N‐alkyl urea peptoid) by reacting the diamine‐functionalized N‐alkyl urea peptoid sixmer with a diisocyanate. RAFT chain transfer agents were coupled to the poly(N‐alkyl urea peptoid) backbone through a copper‐catalyzed azide/alkyne cycloaddition reaction. The afforded macro‐RAFT agent was used to sequentially polymerize styrene and tert‐butyl acrylate block copolymer arms from the poly(N‐alkyl urea peptoid) backbone. The tert‐butyl groups were removed using dilute trifluoroacetic acid affording hydrophilic polyacrylic acid segments. The molecular brushes were observed to generate micelles in aqueous solution. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011