Autoxidation of 4-amorphen-11-ol and the biogenesis of nor- and seco-amorphane sesquiterpenes from fabiana imbricata

Photooxidation of 4-amorphen-11-ol (1), recently reported as one of the major sesquiterpene natural products from the medicinal plant Fabiana imbricata, results in three allylic hydroperoxides 6, 9 and 10, which are expected from the “ene-type” reaction of molecular oxygen with the tri-substituted double bond in 1. The tertiary allylic hydroperoxide 6 undergoes carbon-carbon bond cleavage and a second autoxidation reaction to yield the more highly oxygenated seco-amorphane 11 under very mild conditions. In acid, this compound may then undergo either a second carbon-carbon bond cleavage reaction to yield nor-sesquiterpenes 2 and 3 (reported as bona fide natural products from F. imbricata, or cyclize to the sesquiterpene peroxofabianane (5), which is a presumed precursor to the natural product fabianane (4). Some mechanistic investigations concerning the two chemical processes: viz:- carbon-carbon bond cleavage and autoxidation which would account for the formation of natural products 2, 3 and 4 from 1 are reported. Tertiary allylic hydroperoxide 32, which lacks the 11-hydroxyl functional group present in 1 undergoes only C-4/C-5 carbon-carbon bond cleavage under more forcing conditions, suggesting a role for this functional group in assisting the autoxidation reactions of 4-amorphen-11-ol.     

Using molecular iodine in direct oxidative condensation of aldoses with diamines: an improved synthesis of aldo-benzimidazoles and aldo-naphthimidazoles for carbohydrate analysis

A practical method has been developed for conversion of unprotected and unmodified aldoses to aldo-benzimidazoles and aldo-naphthimidazoles. Using iodine as an oxidant or promoter in acetic acid solution, a series of mono-, di-, and trialdoses, including those containing carboxyl and acetamido groups, undergo an oxidative condensation reaction with o-phenylenediamine or 2,3-naphthalenediamine at room temperature to give the aldo-benzimidazole and aldo-naphthimidazole products in high yields. No cleavage of the glycosidic bond occurs under such mild reaction conditions. The composition analysis of saccharides is realized by the HPLC analysis of the fluorescent naphthimidazole derivatives.     

Investigations of coronatine biosynthesis. Overexpression and assay of CmaT, a thioesterase involved in coronamic acid biosynthesis

The protein (CmaT) encoded by the cmaT gene of the coronamic acid biosynthetic gene cluster has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli in soluble and active form fused to the carboxyl terminus of MalE, the maltose-binding protein. CmaT was also overexpressed in E. coli as an N-terminal His-tagged protein. The N-terminal His-tagged form of CmaT was produced in insoluble form, but it could be refolded to obtain CmaT in soluble and highly active form. Both the MalE-CmaT fusion protein and the refolded His-tagged CmaT protein exhibited esterase activity.     

Addition of a Reformatsky reagent to N-anthracene-9-sulfonyl and related imines: Synthesis of protected β-amino acids

The Reformatsky reagent tert-butoxycarbonylmethylzinc bromide adds in high yields to N-sulfonylimines, e.g. 1a–1d, derived by condensation of benzaldehyde dimethyl acetal with methanesulfonamide, toluene-4-sulfonamide, 4-(methoxycarbonyl)benzenesulfonamide and sulfamide: the products are protected β-amino acids 2a–2d. N-Deprotection occurs reductively (Na-naphthalene; low yields) for 2b and 2c or hydrolytically (refluxing aq. pyridine; 76% yield of amino acid 3a after acid hydrolysis of the t-butyl ester) for the sulfamide derivatives 2d. Anthracene-9-sulfonamide (6) is readily available by sulfonation and chlorination of anthracene, and condenses with aldehydes [RCHO; R = Ph, 4-FC₆H₄, 4-MeOC₆H₄, 4-NCC₆H₄, 2-furyl, (E)-styryl], e.g. in the presence of TiCl₄/Et₃N, to yield imines 7a–7f, which after addition of tert-butoxycarbonylmethylzinc bromide give protected amino acids 8a–8f; however, 8f cyclizes to the sultam 9 via a spontaneous intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction. Reductive cleavage of the N-anthracene-9-sulfonyl group is much easier than for traditional N-sulfonyl protecting groups, as demonstrated by the deprotection of 8a and 8c using aluminium amalgam.     

Synthesis of the branched-chain sugar aceric acid: a unique component of the pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan-II

Described herein is the synthesis of 3-C-carboxy-5-deoxy-L-xylose (aceric acid), a rare branched-chain sugar found in the complex pectic polysaccharide rhamnogalacturonan-II. The key synthetic step in the construction of aceric acid was the stereoselective addition of 2-trimethylsilyl thiazole to 5-deoxy-1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-L-erythro-pentofuran-3-ulose (2), which was prepared from L-xylose. The thiazole group was efficiently converted into the required carboxyl group via conventional transformations. Aceric acid was also synthesized by dihydroxylation of a 3-C-methylene derivative of 2 followed by oxidation of the resulting hydroxylmethyl group. The C-2 epimer of aceric acid was also synthesized using thiazole addition chemistry, starting from L-arabinose.     

Preparation, characterization of carboxylated bamboo fibers and their adsorption for lead(II) ions in aqueous solution

The present study was conducted to develop a simple and versatile method to prepare carboxylated bamboo fibers which can be applied as potential bio-adsorbent for metal ions removal due to the high content of carboxyl groups. The chemical modification of bamboo fibers with citric acid (CA) was carried out by friendly semi-dry oven method. The resulting products with carboxyl group content between 1.99 and 4.13 mmol/g were accessible by changing ultrasonic pretreatment time, reaction temperature, reaction time and the amounts of catalyst and citric acid in order to minimize cross-linking reaction and thereby maximize carboxyl groups content. The characterization of the resulting products confirmed that carboxyl groups were successfully grafted onto surface of bamboo fibers. Moreover, the carboxylated bamboo fibers could be applied as bio-adsorbent for the removal of lead(II) ions from aqueous solution. Results showed that the adsorption capacity of Pd²⁺ could reach 127.1 mg/g for carboxylated bamboo fibers with 4.13 mmol/g carboxyl group content prepared under the ultrasonic pretreatment for 20 min at the CA/bamboo fibers weight ratio of 4.0 in the catalyst amount of 30 wt% at 120 °C for 90 min and the carboxylated bamboo fibers exhibited highly efficient regeneration with no significant loss of adsorption capacity of lead ion after five repeated adsorption/desorption cycles.     

Elucidation of the chemical structure of bongkrekic acid—I Isolation, purification and properties of bongkrekic acid

The preparation, isolation and purification of the toxic antibiotic bongkrekic acid (BA), produced by Pseudomonas cocovenenans on partially defatted coconut are described. It has been shown that BA is a branched unsaturated tricarboxylic acid with a gross formula of C₂₈H₃₈O₇. The presence of three methyl groups, one methoxyl group, one ring system and six double bonds—two isolated and two pairs of conjugated double bonds, both conjugated with a carboxyl group—is proved.     

One‐Step Hydrothermal Synthesis of Carboxyl‐Functionalized Upconversion Phosphors for Bioapplications

In this paper, we report a facile one‐step hydrothermal method to synthesize phase‐, size‐, and shape‐controlled carboxyl‐functionalized rare‐earth fluorescence upconversion phosphors by using a small‐molecule binary acid, such as malonic acid, oxalic acid, succinic acid, or tartaric acid as capping agent. The crystals, from nano‐ to microstructures with diverse shapes that include nanospheres, microrods, hexagonal prisms, microtubes, microdisks, polygonal columns, and hexagonal tablets, can be obtained with different reaction times, reaction temperatures, molar ratios of capping agent to sodium hydroxide, and by varying the binary acids. Fourier transform infrared, thermogravimetric analysis, and upconversion luminescence spectra measurements indicate that the synthesized NaYF₄:Yb/Er products with hydrophilic carboxyl‐functionalized surface offer efficient upconversion luminescent performance. Furthermore, the antibody/secondary antibody conjugation can be realized by the carboxyl‐functionalized surfaces of the upconversion phosphors, thus indicating the potential bioapplications of these kinds of materials.     

Asymmetric synthesis of N-protected amino acids by the addition of organolithium carboxyl synthons to ROPHy/SOPHy-derived aldoximes and ketoximes

A new asymmetric synthesis of alpha-amino acids is described in which the key step is the highly diastereoselective addition of organolithium carboxyl synthons (2-furyllithium, phenyllithium, vinyllithium) to (R)- and (S)-O-(1-phenylbutyl) oximes to give hydroxylamines, with vinyllithium being the most satisfactory nucleophilic reagent. Subsequent reductive cleavage of the N-O bond in hydroxylamines, followed by N-protection, and oxidative cleavage of the carboxyl precursor gave a range of N-protected amino acids and esters. The method was exemplified by the synthesis of a range of derivatives of non-proteinogenic amino acids such as 4-bromophenylalanine, tert-leucine, norvaline, cyclohexyl- and aryl-glycines, 2-amino-8-oxodecanoic acid (Aoda) and alpha-methylvaline.     

Microwave assisted acid cleavage for denaturation and proteolysis of intact human adenovirus

Microwave assisted acid cleavage was applied directly to intact adenovirus type 5 to achieve denaturation and proteolysis in a single reaction. The speed of the digestion, coupled with the simplicity of MALDI analysis, allowed peptide products to be profiled in less than 5 min. Identification of peptides from a range of proteins by MALDI-TOF confirms that both denaturation and proteolysis were achieved using low concentrations of acetic acid (12.5%) and short incubations (1.5 to 2 min) at high temperatures (140° C). These conditions favor production of peptides that carry Asp on their C-termini. When this cleavage reaction is carried out in highly enriched H(2) (18)O, a single atom of (18)O is introduced site-specifically into the carboxyl terminal. The labeling reaction is applied to label reporter peptides from human adenovirus type 5 harvested from HeLa cells. Small peptide products of endogenous processing were also observed.     

大尺寸石墨烯量子点组装体的制备及电化学发光性能

对氧化石墨烯纳米材料进行HNO₃氧化处理, 制备了水溶性好且具有强电化学发光(ECL)活性的大尺寸石墨烯量子点组装体(Large-sized graphene quantum dot assemblies, LSGQD-NAs). 利用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、 原子力显微镜(AFM)、 傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)和拉曼光谱(Raman)等方法对其进行了表征, 结果表明, 石墨烯量子点组装体的平均高度为20 nm, 且富含大量的羟基和羧基. 电化学测试结果显示, 在共反应物K₂S₂O₈存在下, LSGQD-NAs在阴极产生很强的ECL(峰值约在685 nm); 并推测了其ECL反应机理, 发现LSGQD-NAs容易通过中心未氧化的石墨烯π-π作用于GC电极表面进行组装修饰. 本研究为基于石墨烯量子点ECL传感器的研究提供了新方法.     

Identification and localization of the fatty acid modification in ghrelin by electron capture dissociation

Electron capture dissociation (ECD) has been demonstrated to be an effective fragmentation technique for characterizing the site and structure of the fatty acid modification in ghrelin, a 28-residue growth-hormone-releasing peptide that has an unusual ester-linked n-octanoyl (C8:0) modification at Ser-3. ECD cleaves 21 of 23 possible backbone amine bonds, with the product ions (c and z· ions) covering a greater amino acid sequence than those obtained by collisionally activated dissociation (CAD). Consistent with the ECD nonergodic mechanism, the ester-linked octanoyl group is retained on all backbone cleavage product ions, allowing for direct localization of this labile modification. In addition, ECD also induces the ester bond cleavage to cause the loss of octanoic acid from the ghrelin molecular ion; the elimination process is initiated by the capture of an electron at the protonated ester group, which is followed by the radical-site-initiated reaction known as -cleavage. The chemical composition of the attached fatty acid can be directly obtained from the accurate Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FTICR) mass measurement of the ester bond cleavage product ions.     

The structure of melanins and melanogenesis—III The structure of sepiomelanin

New degradation products of sepiomelanin have been obtained. Alkali fusion yields, in addition to other compounds, 5,6-dihydroxyindole, 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid, 4-methyl-cathechol and a compound, which is probably 5,6-dihydroxyindole-4,7-dicarboxylic acid. These products constitute the first proof of the indole structure of a natural melanin. The carboxyl group of 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid is not formed during alkali fusion, but pre-exists in the macromolecule. Cysteic acid, taurine, glycine and aspartic acid were obtained by oxidation of sepiomelanin with hydrogen peroxide in acetic acid. The formation of cysteic acid indicates that sepiomelanin is bound to the protein by means of cysteine. Taurine is clearly an artifact generated by decarboxylation of cysteine. Glycine and aspartic acid probably are derived from the pyrrole moiety of the indole units: they also result from the oxidation of 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid.

Oxidation of methylated sepiomelanin yields 3-carbomethoxypyrrole-2,5-dicarboxylic acid and 5-carbomethoxypyrrole-2,3-dicarboxylic acid; isolation of the former further proves the presence of pyrrole units in sepiomelanin, whereas formation of the latter is further evidence that some indole (probably dopachrome) units of the macromolecule have a carboxyl group in position 2.     

Coulometric titration of deactivated phenols with bromine

A number of deactivated phenols containing fluorine, chlorine or bromine, formyi, acetyl, carboxyl or nitro groups have been titrated with anodically generated bromine. The reaction was carried out in a water-acetic acid-pyridine medium and the reactivity was controlled by varying the water and pyridine content and the concentration of bromide ion. Hydrogen in all free positions ortho and para to the phenolic hydroxyl group is generally exchanged for bromine, but in certain instances a partial bromination is possible. The method as developed is widely applicable for deactivated phenols. Only certain ortho-substituted phenols could not be quantitatively titrated. The mean relative error for the phenols titrated was ± 1·2%.     

,β-unsaturated oximes Isoxazoline formation by thermal cyclisation of compounds related to benzalacetophenone oxime and isoxazoline thermal cycloreversion reactions

At about 300° the title compounds yield fragments attributed to cyclisation to isoxazolines and subsequent cycloreversion. Isoxazolines are formed at about 200° and can usually be isolated. At 300° they yield the same products as the oximes.

Thus benzalacetophenone oxime gives 3,5-diphenylisoxazoline which then largely undergoes two distinct cycloreversions: (a) 1,3-cleavage (numbers refer to isoxazoline bonds) yielding benzonitrile and acetophenone and (b) reductive 1,4-cleavage yielding benzaldehyde and 1-phenylethylimine hydrolysis products. By-products are 2,4,6-triphenylpyridine, water and ammonium benzoate. With -methylchalcone oxime reductive 1,4-cleavage is suppressed and with β-methylchalcone oxime both modes of cleavage are suppressed and 5-methyl-3,5-diphenylisoxazole is the stable product. An analogue of -methylchalcone oxime, 2-methyl-1-phenyl-3-(2-thienyl)prop-2-ene-1-one oxime gives fragments attributed to both cleavage modes of an unisolatable and hitherto unknown isoxazoline.

Possible mechanisms for the cyclisation and cycloreversions are discussed and the reductive 1,4-cleavage is believed to be a cycloreversion of a vinyl-nitrene.     

Asymmetric syntheses of protected (2S,3S,4S)-3-hydroxy-4-methylproline and 4′-tert-butoxyamido-2′-deoxythymidine

Described herein is a versatile approach to (i) (2S,3S,4S)-3-hydroxy-4-methylproline 3, a constituent of echinocandins and related oligopeptide antibiotics; (ii) (2S,3S)-3-hydroxyproline 1; (iii) (2R,3S)-3-hydroxyprolinol 5, and (iv) 4′-tert-butoxyamido-2′-deoxythymidine 6b. The method features a stepwise regio- and diastereoselective reductive furylation of the protected (3S,4S)-4-methylmalimide 10, (S)-malimide 9, and a chemoselective oxidative transformation of the furyl group to the carboxyl group as the key steps.     

Stereoselective cycloadditions of chiral acyl-nitroso compounds; selective reactions of ring-cleaved cycloadducts leading to a new approach to polyoxamic acid

Diesters obtained from diacids produced by oxidative ring cleavage of cycloadducts derived from acyl-nitroso compounds and cyclic 1,3-dienes undergo highly regioselective hydrolysis on reaction with lithium hydroperoxide, which allows for easy differentiation of the carboxyl groups leading to a new approach to polyoxamic acid.     

羟基酸引发ε-己内酯开环聚合的研究

研究了水、醇、羧酸存在下ε 己内酯开环聚合的情况 ,发现在适当温度下 (80℃ ) ,羧基并不引发ε 己内酯的开环聚合 ,但对羟基引发ε 己内酯开环聚合起加速作用 ,而且催化能力与酸度有关 .进而又对羟基酸(乙醇酸、DL 苹果酸、柠檬酸 )引发ε 己内酯开环聚合做了研究 ,合成了一系列含不同数目遥爪羧基的α 羟基 ω 羧基 (1,2 ,3)己内酯低聚物 (HCPCL) ,并对其结构做了酸值滴定、羟值滴定、UV、FTIR与1H NMR分析 .对羧基催化羟基引发ε 己内酯开环聚合的机理做了分析     

Mass-spectrometric behavior of oxidized triacylglycerols and their TMS derivatives

The mass spectrometric fragmentation of oxidized triacylglycerols of castor oil and their TMS derivatives have been studied for the first time. Three types of fragmentary ions have been detected: 1) products of the successive elimination of TMSOH; 2) ions characteristic for unoxidized triacylglycerols; and 3) products of the cleavage of C-C bonds present in the α-positions to the TMSO groups, which are characteristic for these hydroxy acid derivatives. The origin of these ions has been confirmed by measurements of elementary composition and by the analysis of MD spectra. The specific cleavage of the C-C bonds in the α-positions to the OTMS (OH) groups permits the mass-spectrometric method to be proposed for the analysis of mixtures of oxidized triacylglycerols.     

Kinetics of the sulfodeacylation of 2,4,6,2′,6′-pentamethylbenzophenone,a process comprising successive first-order reactions occurring by two alternative routes

Mesityl 2,6-xylyl ketone in 89.8% (w/w) sulfuric acid undergoes cleavage to give mesitylenesulfonic acid, xylenesulfonic acid, and carbon dioxide as final products. The reaction has been analyzed in terms of a series of first-order reactions. Of the two possible reaction paths available it was shown that fission at the mesityl group is responsible for about 98.5% of the overall initial reaction at 25°C.