Stepwise Synthesis of Fullerene Cyclopentadienide R(5)C(60)(-) and Indenide R(3)C(60)(-). An Approach to Fully Unsymmetrically Substituted Derivatives

Fullerene cyclopentadienide (PhCH(2))(2)Ph(3)C(60)(-) and indenide (PhCH(2))(2)PhC(60)(-), each bearing two different organic groups, were efficiently synthesized through regioselective reactions of 1,4-(PhCH(2))(2)C(60) with an organocopper reagent (PhMgBr/CuBr.SMe(2)) or a Grignard reagent (PhMgBr) followed by deprotonation with KO(t)()Bu.     

Pictet-Spengler reactions catalyzed by Brønsted acid-surfactant-combined catalyst in water or aqueous media

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOSA), Brønsted acid-surfactant-combined catalyst, efficiently catalyzes the Pictet-Spengler reactions of β-arylethyl carbamate derivatives with aldehydes in water. The present reaction is accelerated by the addition of 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP).     

Lactone and cyclic ether analogues of platelet-activating factor. Synthesis and biological activities

Six-membered lactone and tetrahydropyran analogues of platelet-activating factor (PAF), 4-11, and related antagonistic derivatives 41-46 were synthesized. None of the delta-lactones 4-7 showed PAF-like activities, while the corresponding cyclic ethers 8, 9 and 11 were slightly active. Some of the cyclic antagonists showed more potent inhibitory activities than the open chain antagonist CV-3988 against platelet aggregation (rabbit platelet-rich plasma, IC50) and hypotension (rat, ID50) induced by C16-PAF: e.g. dl-3-[6-[O-(trans-3-heptadecylcarbamoyloxytetrahydropyran-2- yl)methyl]phosphonoxy]hexylthiazolium (inner salt) (41d) (IC50 5.5 x 10(-7) M, ID50 0.046 mg/kg, i.v.); dl-3-[5-[O-(cis-3-heptadecylcarbamoylthiotetrahydropyran-2- yl)methyl]phosphonoxy]pentylthiazolium (inner salt) (43c) (IC50 5.7 x 10(-7) M, ID50 0.076 mg/kg, i.v.).     

Regioselective synthesis and properties of novel [60]fullerene bisadducts containing a dibenzocrown ether moiety

The reactions of [60]fullerene with bis-o-quinodimethane precursors 3, 4, and 5 containing a dibenzo-18-crown-6, 24-crown-8 and 30-crown-10 moiety, respectively, were investigated. Both 3 and 4 provided trans-4 bisadducts 6a and 7a, respectively, as major product, though the selectivity in the latter was lower than that in the former. As minor product, 6b (cis-2) was produced from 3, while 7c (e) as well as 7b (cis-2) were produced from 4. Precursor 5 exclusively afforded e bisadduct 8 without any other regioisomers. These bisadducts showed different ionophoric properties from one another; for instance, 6a and 7b exhibited a high complexing ability toward the K+ ion, while 6b hardly showed complexation with any alkali metal ions. The selectivity coefficients (K(Na,K)(pot)) of 6a and 7b toward K+ over Na+ ion, determined with an ion-selective electrode, were much higher than that of dibenzo-18-crown-6.     

Zooxanthellamide Cs: vasoconstrictive polyhydroxylated macrolides with the largest lactone ring size from a marine dinoflagellate of Symbiodinium sp

Zooxanthellamide Cs (ZAD-Cs), C(128)H(220)N(2)O(53)S(2) (ca. 2.7 kDa), was obtained from a cultured marine dinoflagellate of the genus Symbiodinium as an inseparable isomeric mixture of polyhydroxylated 61- to 66-membered macrolides. The chemical structures of the components were clarified by detailed 2D NMR analysis to be the macrolactonized analogues of zooxanthellamide A (ZAD-A), which had been previously isolated from the same microalgae. Chemical lability of ZAD-Cs suggests that ZAD-A is an artifact derived from ZAD-Cs during the isolation steps. Three of the components possess the largest (63-, 64-, and 66-membered) ring sizes found to date among the natural macrolides. ZAD-Cs exhibited higher vasoconstrictive activity than that of the zooxanthellatoxins, the first vasoconstrictive macrolides from Symbiodinium sp. The structure-activity relationship suggests that the huge macrolactone structure is important for biological activity. The relationship between the structures of the polyol metabolites and the phylogenetic systematics of Symbiodinium sp. is also discussed.     

Reaction pathway and stereoselectivity of asymmetric synthesis of chrysanthemate with the aratani C1-symmetric salicylaldimine-copper catalyst

The reaction pathway and the mechanism of asymmetric induction in the synthesis of (+)-trans-(1R,3R)-chrysanthemic acid methyl ester from methyl diazoacetate and 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene in the presence of a C(1)-chiral salicylaldimine Cu(I) complex has been probed with the aid of hybrid density functional calculations. The key finding is that the alkoxycarbonyl carbene complex intermediate is intrinsically chiral and that the intramolecular hydrogen bonding in the carbene complex transmits the chirality information from the side chain to the carbene complex. Molecular orbital backgrounds of the structure of the carbene complex and the transition state of the cyclopropanation have been elucidated.     

Bromination by means of sodium monobromoisocyanurate (SMBI)

A variety of aromatic compounds with both activating and deactivating substituents were brominated with sodium monobromoisocyanurate (SMBI) 1, diethyl ether, diethyl ether-methanesulfonic acid, trifluoroacetic acid, or sulfuric acid were employed as solvents. Thus nitrobenzene was conveniently brominated in sulfuric acid, benzene was readily monobrominated in diethyl ether-methanesulfonic acid, and phenol was selectively brominated at the ortho position under mild conditions in refluxing diethyl ether. With substituents that are easily protonated, trifluoroacetic acid may be employed as solvent in the reaction with 1, in contrast NBS was ineffective in trifluoroacetic acid. This renders 1 a superior reagent relative to NBS. In addition to aromatics, alkenes, ketones and esters were also brominated with 1. Diethyl malonate was brominated with 1 and then subjected to a Bingel reaction with NaH to afford the desired methanofullerene in reasonable yield.     

Thermal degradation of poly[(tetramethyl-p-silphenylene) siloxane]

For the purpose of studying the mechanism of thermal degradation of poly[(tetramethyl-p-silphenylene) Siloxane] (poly TMPS) a series of polymers with silphenylene and siloxane bonds in the main chain were prepared and subjected to thermogravimetry (TG) and pyrolysis study. Analyses of products from poly TMPS degradation (in vacuum at a constant temperature) by gas chromatography (GC), infrared (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) revealed that degradation occurs at the silphenylene bonds. The TG curves obtained in He for heating rates of 1,2,2.5,7.5, and 10°C/min were analyzed by the Ozawa method; activation energies of 39 ± 1 and 45 ± 2 kcal/mol were obtained respectively for the initial cleavage of the methyl side group and the later-stage scission of the main-chain silphenylene bond which leads to a major weight loss. The results agree with those obtained for other structurally similar polymers.     

Addition of hydrogen halides to alkylidenecyclopropanes: a highly efficient and stereoselective method for the preparation of homoallylic halides

The reaction of alkylidenecyclopropanes with HCl or with HBr proceeds very smoothly at 120°C to produce the corresponding homoallylic halides stereoselectively in good to excellent yields. For example, the reaction of (1-phenylbenzylidene)cyclopropane, (1-butylpentylidene)cyclopropane and octylidenecyclopropane with hydrochloric acid produced the corresponding homoallylic chlorides, 4-chloro-1,1-diphenyl-1-butene, 4-butyl-1-chloro-3-octene and (E)-1-chloro-3-undecene in 99, 96, and 87% yields, respectively. The reaction of (1-butylpentylidene)cyclopropane with hydrobromic acid yielded 1-bromo-4-butyl-3-octene in 95% yield.