Microbial deracemisation of N-(1-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl)benzamide

Microbial deracemisation of racemic N-(1-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl)benzamide to give the (R)-enantiomer is described using whole cells of Cunninghamella echinulata NRRL 1384. The deracemisation involves fast highly (S)-selective oxidation followed by slower partially (S)-selective reduction of the intermediate ketone. The yield and ee of (R)-N-(1-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl)benzamide were optimised (82%, 98% ee) by removal of a competing extracellular amidase/protease activity by using static cells at pH 5. Use of the protease inhibitor PMSF with growing cells leads to a slower deracemisation (82% ee) but a very high (98%) overall recovery of alcohol and ketone.     

Synthesis and spectral analysis of (±)-cis-N-[1-(2-hydroxy-2-phenyl-ethyl)-3-methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide and (±)-cis-N-[1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl)-3-methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide

Treatment of (±)-cis-N-(3-methyl-4-piperidyl)-N-phenylpropanamide (2) with styrene oxide (1) yielded a mixture of (±)-cis-N-[1-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)-3-methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide (3) and (±)-cis-N-[1-(2-hydroxy-1-phenylethyl)-3-methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide (4) . The structure of compound 3 was confirmed by an unambiguous synthesis via (±)-cis-N-[1-(2-oxo-2-phenylethyl)-3-methyl-4-piperidyl]-N-phenylpropanamide (6) . The proton and carbon-13 resonances of compounds 3 and 4 were assigned with the aid of two-dimensional heteronuclear correlation experiments.     

Water‐Soluble Molecular Capsules: Self‐Assembly and Binding Properties

The self‐assembly and characterization of water‐soluble calix[4]arene‐based molecular capsules ( 1?2 ) is reported. The assemblies are the result of ionic interactions between negatively charged calix[4]arenes 1 a and 1 b , functionalized at the upper rim with amino acid moieties, and a positively charged tetraamidiniumcalix[4]arene 2 . The formation of the molecular capsules is studied by ¹H NMR spectroscopy, ESI mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS), and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). A molecular docking protocol was used to identify potential guest molecules for the self‐assembled capsule 1 a?2 . Experimental guest encapsulation studies indicate that capsule 1 a?2 is an effective host for both charged (N‐methylquinuclidinium cation) and neutral molecules (6‐amino‐2‐methylquinoline) in water.     

Spectral characterization of the bioactive principles and antibacterial properties of cold methanolic extract of Olea europaea from the Hail region of Saudi Arabia

This work aimed to identify the bioactive constituents and antibacterial activity of a cold methanolic extract of Olea europaea leaves. GC–MS analysis of the cold methanolic extract of the leaves of O. europaea L. revealed several unique bioactive compounds, including 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-, n-hexadecanoic acid, 9-octadecenamide, (Z)-, hexadecanoic acid, 2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethyl ester, squalene, 2-(2-Hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)-3,5,6-trimethylpyrazine, Benzoic acid, 4-formyl-, methyl ester, 2-Methoxy-4-vinylphenol, Vitamin E etc. The FT-IR spectrum revealed distinct fingerprint regions at 3313, 2943, 2831, 1662, 1590, 1449, 1300, 1111, and 1020 cm^?1. The fingerprinting region is associated with the presence of several bioactive chemicals as determined by GC–MS analyses. The methanolic extract of O. europaea leaves revealed a broader spectrum of antibacterial activity. On the other hand, the spectrum of activity was substantially narrower than that of standard ciprofloxacin discs.     

Sensitive analysis of metal cations in positive ion mode electrospray ionization mass spectrometry using commercial chelating agents and cationic ion‐pairing reagents

Metals play a very important role in many scientific and environmental fields, and thus their detection and analysis is of great necessity. A simple and very sensitive method has been developed herein for the detection of metals in positive ion mode ESI‐MS. Metal ions are positively charged, and as such they can potentially be detected in positive ion mode ESI‐MS; however, their small mass‐to‐charge (m/z) ratio makes them fall in the low‐mass region of the mass spectrum, which has the largest background noise. Therefore, their detection can become extremely difficult. A better and well‐known way to detect metals by ESI‐MS is by chelating them with complexation agents. In this study eleven different metals, Fe(II), Fe(III), Mg(II), Cu(II), Ru(III), Co(II), Ca(II), Ni(II), Mn(II), Sn(II), and Ag(I), were paired with two commercially available chelating agents: ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and ethylenediaminedisuccinic acid (EDDS). Since negative ion mode ESI‐MS has many disadvantages compared to positive ion mode ESI‐MS, it would be very beneficial if these negatively charged complex ions could be detected in the positive mode. Such a method is described in this paper and it is shown to achieve much lower sensitivities. Each of the negatively charged metal complexes is paired with six cationic ion‐pairing reagents. The new positively charged ternary complexes are then analyzed by ESI‐MS in the positive single ion monitoring (SIM) and single reaction monitoring (SRM) modes. The results clearly revealed that the presence of the cationic reagents significantly improved the sensitivity for these analytes, often by several orders of magnitude. This novel method developed herein for the detection of metals improved the limits of detection (LODs) significantly when compared to negative ion mode ESI‐MS and shows great potential in future trace studies of these and many other species. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymmetric synthesis of spiro 2-pyrrolidin-5-ones, 2-piperidin-6-ones and 1-isoindolin-3-ones. Part 2: N-Acyliminium ion cyclisations with an internal alkene nucleophile

Chiral non-racemic bicyclic and tricyclic oxylactams obtained in two steps from N-(2-hydroxy-1(R)-phenylethyl)-succinimide and phthalimide are cyclised diastereoselectively in formic acid to give spiro[cyclohexane-1,2′-pyrrolidin]-5-ones and spiro[cyclohexane-1,1′-isoindolin]-3-ones, respectively.     

Two New Compounds Isolated from<em> Liriope muscari</em>

Two new compounds, (2S,3R)-methyl 7-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)-3-(hydroxymethyl)-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carboxylate (1) and (4R,5S)-5-(3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylphenyl)-4-isopropyldihydrofuran-2-one (2), tentatively named norcurlignan and limlactone, respectively, were isolated from Liriope muscari, together with the known compound (-)-pinoresinol (3). The structures of these compounds were elucidated and characterized on the basis of 1D NMR, 2D NMR, CD and MS data. The in vitro antioxidant activities of compounds 1-3 were assessed by the DPPH and ABTS scavenging methods.     

Gas-Phase Stability of Negatively Charged Organophosphate Metabolites Produced by Electrospray Ionization and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization

The formation mechanisms of singly and multiply charged organophosphate metabolites by electrospray ionization (ESI) and their gas phase stabilities were investigated. Metabolites containing multiple phosphate groups, such as adenosine 5'-diphosphate (ADP), adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP), and D-myo-inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate (IP₃) were observed as doubly deprotonated ions by negative-ion ESI mass spectrometry. Organophosphates with multiple negative charges were found to be unstable and often underwent loss of PO₃ ^–, although singly deprotonated analytes were stable. The presence of fragments due to the loss of PO₃ ^– in the negative-ion ESI mass spectra could result in the misinterpretation of analytical results. In contrast to ESI, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) produced singly charged organophosphate metabolites with no associated fragmentation, since the singly charged anions are stable. The stability of an organophosphate metabolite in the gas phase strongly depends on its charge state. The fragmentations of multiply charged organophosphates were also investigated in detail through density functional theory calculations.

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Six new 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromones from Agarwood

Six new chromones, 6-methoxy-2-[2-(3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyllchromone (2), 6,8-dihydroxy-2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone (3), 6-hydroxy-2-[2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]chromone (4), 6-hydroxy-2-[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]chromone (5), 7-hydroxy-2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone (6), and 6-hydroxy-7-methoxy-2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone (7) were isolated from the ether extract of agarwood in addition to a known compound, 2-(2-phenylethyl)chromone or flidersiachromone (1). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods including UV, IR, and NMR spectral data and comparisons with the calculated values using the hydroxyl and methoxyl substituent increments of the chromone ring.     

Reactions of N-(2,2-Dichloro-2-phenylethylidene)arenesulfonamides with Aromatic and Heterocyclic Compounds

Benzene, toluene, and 2-chlorothiophene regioselectively react with N-(2,2-dichloro-2-phenyl- ethylidene)arenesulfonamides in the presence of oleum to give N-[1-aryl(or hetaryl)-2,2-dichloro-2-phenylethyl]arenesulfonamides. Analogous C-amidoalkylation products are formed by the action of N-(2,2-dichloro- 1-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)- and N-(1-arylsulfonylamino-2,2-dichloro-2-phenylethyl)arenesulfonamides on toluene and 2-chlorothiophene in concentrated sulfuric acid.     

Enantioselective synthesis of (+)-(S)-7,8-dihydrokavain and (4R,6R)-4-hydroxy-6-(2-phenylethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-one, lactone analog of compactin and mevinolin

A simple and efficient asymmetric synthesis was performed of (+)-(S)-7,8-dihydrokanian and (4R,6R)-4-hydroxy-6-(2-phenylethyl)tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-one involving Keck allylation in the key stage of building up the carbon scaffold of the target molecules.     

Ionization Efficiency of Doubly Charged Ions Formed from Polyprotic Acids in Electrospray Negative Mode

The ability of polyprotic acids to give doubly charged ions in negative mode electrospray was studied and related to physicochemical properties of the acids via linear discriminant analysis (LDA). It was discovered that the compound has to be strongly acidic (low pK _a1 and pK _a2) and to have high hydrophobicity (logP _ow) to become multiply charged. Ability to give multiply charged ions in ESI/MS cannot be directly predicted from the solution phase acidities. Therefore, for the first time, a quantitative model to predict the charge state of the analyte in ESI/MS is proposed and validated for small anions. Also, a model to predict ionization efficiencies of these analytes was developed. Results indicate that acidity of the analyte, its octanol-water partition coefficient, and charge delocalization are important factors that influence ionization efficiencies as well as charge states of the analytes. The pH of the solvent was also found to be an important factor influencing the ionization efficiency of doubly charged ions.

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Synthetie approaches to steroidal alkaloids III . An attempted synthesis of ring-e of veratramine

In an effort to devise an alternative synthesis of the hydroxypiperidine ring present in the alkaloid veratramine, a model synthesis starting from cis-6-phenyl-4-heptenoie acid was explored. This acid was converted to the epoxide of cis-6-phcnyl-1-amino-4-hepten which on heating gave 2-( 1-hydroxy-2-phenylpropyl)pyrrolidine as the only produet. As a reference compound, 2-(1-phenylethyl)-3-hydroxypiperidine was synthesized using a variation of an established procedure.     

Stereoconvergent synthesis of N-Boc-(2R,3S)-3-hydroxy-2-phenylpiperidine

The stereoconvergent synthesis of N-Boc-(2R,3S)-3-hydroxy-2-phenylpiperidine from (R)-1-(2-((tert-butyldimethylsilyl)oxy)-1-phenylethyl)piperidin-2-one is described. The key steps involved are α-hydroxylation of quiral lactam with O₂, stereoconvergent reduction of (R)- or (S)-3-(benzyloxy)-piperidin-2-one with Red-Al® which afforded in both cases the trans-bicyclic oxazolidine in high stereoselectivity after chromatographic purification and a stereospecific Grignard addition to chiral bicyclic oxazolidine.     

Some aspects of nitroxide-mediated living radical polymerization of N-(p-vinylbenzyl)phthalimide

The free radical polymerization of N-(p-vinylbenzyl)phthalimide (VBP) “initiated” with the adduct of 2-benzoyloxy-1-phenylethyl and TEMPO (BS-TEMPO) or TEMPO-terminated polystyrene (PS-TEMPO) in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) at 125 °C was found to proceed in a living fashion, providing low-polydispersity PVBP and block copolymers of the type PS-b-PVBA, where TEMPO is 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy. Unlike TEMPO-mediated styrene polymerization, the polymerization rate slightly but distinctly depended on the adduct concentration, which was interpretable as a pre-stationary behavior. The hydrolysis of those polymers gave poly(p-aminomethylstyrene) (PAMS) and PS-b-PAMS, and further treatment of the block copolymer with hydrogen chloride provided an amphiphilic block copolymer. The polymeric amphiphile was used as an emulsifier in emulsion polymerization to produce a positively charged polymeric microsphere.     

Enzymatic resolution of (RS)-1-phenylalkyl β-d-glucosides to (R)-1-phenylalkyl β-primeverosides and (S)-1-phenylalkyl β-d-glucosides via plant xylosyltransferase

The stereoselective xylosylation of (RS)-1-phenylalkyl β-d-glucosides was investigated using plant xylosyltransferase isolated from cultured Catharanthus roseus cells. Enzymatic xylosylation of (RS)-1-phenylethyl β-d-glucoside afforded (R)-1-phenylethyl β-primeveroside and (S)-1-phenylethyl β-d-glucoside. The (R)-selective xylosylation of (RS)-1-phenylbutyl β-d-glucoside also occurred to give (R)-1-phenylbutyl β-primeveroside and recovered (S)-1-phenylbutyl β-d-glucoside.     

Chrysanthemyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate: the sex pheromone of the citrophilous mealybug, Pseudococcus calceolariae

Headspace volatiles collected from virgin females of the citrophilous mealybug, Pseudococcus calceolariae, contain three compounds not present in the headspace of control samples. The main female-specific compound is identified as [2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropyl]methyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate (chrysanthemyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate). The other two compounds are identified as [2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropyl]methanol (chrysanthemol) and [2,2-dimethyl-3-(2-methylprop-1-enyl)cyclopropyl]methyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate (chrysanthemyl 2-hydroxy-3-methylbutanoate). Traps baited with 100 μg and 1000 μg of chrysanthemyl 2-acetoxy-3-methylbutanoate captured 4- and 20-fold more males than traps baited with virgin females.     

Synthesis and biological activity of arylaliphatic <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-(2-aminoethyl)-<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)carboxamides

N-(2-Aminoethyl)-N-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)carboxamides were synthesized from styrene oxide by ring opening with N,N-disubstituted ethylenediamines followed by N-acylation. Synthesized compounds have pronounced antiarrhythmic activity and low toxicity.     

Fluorine cleavage of the light blue heteroleptic triplet emitter FIrpic

The lifetime stability of devices containing FIrpic as emitter has been a major concern for organic blue light emitting devices (OLEDs). To gain a deeper knowledge about the purity of FIrpic (bis[2-(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridyl-N,C2′]iridium (III)) emitters and how the purity is influenced by sublimation steps, non-sublimated and sublimated FIrpic material was analyzed via liquid chromatography coupled with electron spray ionization mass spectrometry (LC/ESI/MS). Cleavage of an electron-withdrawing group from one of the ligands of the heteroleptic phosphorescent emitter could be identified in sublimated FIrpic material via LC/ESI/MS. A detailed chemical analysis using LC/ESI/MS was carried out for complete blue emitting devices of the following structure: indium-tin-oxide (ITO)/50 nm (α-4,4′-bis[(1-naphthyl)phenylamino]-1,1′-biphenyl) (α-NPD)/10 nm 4,4′,4″-tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (TCTA)/100 nm TCTA:8% FIrpic/50 nm 1,1′-biphenyl-4′-oxy)-bis(8-hydroxy-2-methylquinolinato)-aluminum (BAlq)/1 nm LiF/100 nm Al. Two isomers of (FIrpic-1F) could be detected in an aged OLED. Changes in the ligand systems of FIrpic, especially the loss of fluorine during the deposition process can alter the emissive properties of the blue phosphorescent emitter. Beside isomer formation and chemical degradation of FIrpic, substantial degradation was observed for the hole transport material α-NPD in driven OLEDs.     

Chromogenic betaine lariates for highly selective calcium ion sensing in aqueous environment

This paper describes the design, synthesis, and the characterization of the two new chromogenic crown ethers 2,2′-[1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclooctadecane-7,16-diylbis(methylene)]bis[4-[(1-methyl-4-(1H)-pyridinylidene)ethylidene]-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one (KBC-001) and the lipophilic derivative 2,2′-[1,4,10,13-tetraoxa-7,16-diazacyclooctadecane-7,16-diylbis(methylene)]bis[4-[(1-dodecyl-4-(1H)-pyridinylidene)ethylidene]-2,5-cyclohexadien-1-one (KBC-002). A merocyanine dye that forms a betainic structure upon intramolecular charge transfer and shows solvent polarity dependent spectral sensitivity was selected as the chromophore system to develop the new chromoionophores. This approach allows the design of overall electrically neutral ligands bearing charged groups without the need of external counter ions. A proton ionizable group in the dye moiety acts as a charged ion-binding site and is an integral part of a lariat crown ether ionophore. A chromoionophore for calcium ion sensing has been developed, which combines the size-selective binding character of a crown ether with strong electrostatic attraction between the positively charged calcium ion and two negatively charged lariat side arms in the overall neutral compound. This water-soluble dye selectively responds to the presence of calcium ions in water at pH 8.5 with a dynamic response range between 10 μM and 10 mM. The binding event can be monitored both by absorption spectrometry and by fluorescence spectrometry. No cross-sensitivity was found for the physiologically important cations Mg²⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺ up to concentrations of 0.1 M under the same experimental conditions. In contrast to the water-soluble reagent KBC-001, the lipophilized derivative KBC-002 having two long alkyl chains was successfully applied to ion-exchange type optode membranes made from plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC). The dynamic response range of the optode at pH 9.0 was between 10 μM and 10 mM while retaining the high calcium selectivity.