Synthesis of 1‐substituted 3,5‐diaryl‐2‐pyrazolines by the reaction of α,β‐unsaturated ketones with hydrazines

1‐Acetyl‐, 1‐propionyl‐ and 1‐phenyl‐3,5‐diaryl‐2‐pyrazolines have been synthesized by the reaction of the appropriate α,β‐unsaturated ketones with hydrazine or phenylhydrazine in hot acetic acid or propionic acid. Structures of all new 2‐pyrazolines 16‐40 have been elucidated by microanalyses, ¹H and ¹³C nmr spectroscopies.     

Halo substituent effects on intramolecular cycloadditions involving furanyl amides

Intramolecular Diels-Alder reactions involving a series of N-alkenyl-substituted furanyl amides were investigated. Stable functionalized oxanorbornenes were formed in high yield upon heating at 80-110 degrees C. The cycloaddition reactions include several bromo-substituted furanyl amides, and these systems were found to proceed at a much faster rate and in higher yield than without substitution. This effect was observed by incorporating a halogen in the 3- or 5-position of the furan ring and appears to be general. The origin of increased cycloaddition rates for halo-substituted furans has been investigated with quantum mechanical calculations. The success of these reactions is attributed to increases in reaction exothermicities; this both decreases activation enthalpies and increases barriers to retrocycloadditions. Halogen substitution on furan increases reactant energy and stabilizes the product, which is attributed to the preference of electronegative halogens to be attached to a more highly alkylated and therefore more electropositive framework.     

Convergent approaches for the synthesis of the antitumoral peptide, Kahalalide F. Study of orthogonal protecting groups

Kahalalide compounds are peptides that are isolated from a Hawaiian herbivorous marine species of mollusc, Elysia rufescens, and its diet, the green alga Bryopsis sp. Kahalalide F and its synthetic analogues are the most promising compounds of the Kahalalide family because they show antitumoral activity. Linear solid-phase syntheses of Kahalalide F have been reported. Here we describe several new improved synthetic routes based on convergent approaches with distinct orthogonal protection schemes for the preparation of Kahaladide analogues. These strategies allow a better control and characterization of the intermediates because more reactions are performed in solution.     

Photodissociation dynamics of the NO dimer. I. Theoretical overview of the ultraviolet singlet excited states

Molecular orbital theory and calculations are used to describe the ultraviolet singlet excited states of NO dimer. Qualitatively, we derive and catalog the dimer states by correlating them with monomer states, and provide illustrative complete active space self-consistent field calculations. Quantitatively, we provide computational estimates of vertical transition energies and absorption intensities with multireference configuration interaction and equations-of-motion coupled-cluster methods, and examine an important avoided crossing between a Rydberg and a valence state along the intermonomer and intramonomer stretching coordinates. The calculations are challenging, due to the high density of electronic states of various types (valence and Rydberg, excimer and charge transfer) in the 6-8 eV region, and the multiconfigurational nature of the ground state. We have identified a bright charge-transfer (charge-resonance) state as responsible for the broadband seen in UV absorption experiments. We also use our results to facilitate the interpretation of UV photodissociation experiments, including the time-resolved 6 eV photodissociation experiments to be presented in the next two papers of this series.     

Two-compartment radial diffusive exchange analysis of the NMR lineshape of (129)Xe dissolved in a perfluorooctyl bromide emulsion

Hyperpolarized (129)Xe (xenon) gas dissolved in a perfluorooctyl bromide (PFOB) emulsion stabilized with egg yolk phospholipid (EYP) is a possible contrast agent for quantitative blood flow measurements using magnetic resonance imaging. The NMR line shape of xenon dissolved in PFOB emulsion depends strongly on the exchange of spins between PFOB and water. The exchange in this system depends on three factors: the geometrical factors (i.e., droplet size and surrounding water volume), the permeability of the EYP monolayer surrounding the droplet, and the diffusion coefficients of xenon in the two media. A theoretical model which predicts the line shape of xenon in the emulsion based on the Bloch-Torrey equations is presented. Fitting the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the theoretical line shapes with the FWHM of the experimental spectra obtained from emulsions with different water dilutions allows estimation of the volume-weighted average diameter of the PFOB droplets (3.5+/-0.8) microm and the permeability of the EYP membrane surrounding the droplet (58+/-14) microm / s.     

Soft core thermodynamics from self-consistent hard core fluids

In an effort to generalize the self-consistent Ornstein-Zernike approximation (SCOZA)-an accurate liquid state theory that has been restricted so far to hard core systems-to arbitrary soft core systems we study a combination of SCOZA with a recently developed perturbation theory. The latter was constructed by Ben-Amotz and Stell [J. Phys. Chem. B 108, 6877 (2004)] as a reformulation of the Weeks-Chandler-Andersen [J. Chem. Phys. 54, 5237 (1971)] perturbation theory directly in terms of an arbitrary hard sphere reference system. We investigate the accuracy of the combined approach for the Lennard-Jones fluid in comparison with simulation data and pure perturbation theory predictions and determine the dependence of the thermodynamic properties and the phase behavior on the choice of the effective hard core diameter of the reference system.     

Fumarate of (S,S)-alpha,alpha'-bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,8-anthracenedimethanol. A chiral macrocycle for the Diels-Alder reaction with cyclopentadiene

The synthesis and structural study of the fumarate of (S,S)-alpha,alpha'-bis(trifluoromethyl)-1,8-anthracenedimethanol by NMR spectroscopy are reported. The conformational study of the 13-membered macrocycle is presented. The cited alcohol is assayed as a chiral auxiliary in a Diels-Alder reaction with cyclopentadiene, and after methanolysis, provides the norbornene derivative with high enantioselectivity.     

Remarkable electron accepting properties of the simplest benzenoid cyanocarbons: hexacyanobenzene, octacyanonaphthalene and decacyanoanthracene

The optimised structures, electron affinities, and vibrational frequencies of the simplest benzenoid cyanocarbons, namely hexacyanobenzene C6(CN)6, octacyanonaphthalene C10(CN)8, and decacyanoanthracene C14(CN)10, have been studied using carefully calibrated density functional methods (Chem. Rev., 2002, 102, 231-282); the predicted adiabatic electron affinities are 3.53 eV for C6(CN)6, 4.35 eV for C10(CN)8 and 5.02 eV for C14(CN)10, which are significantly larger than those of the analogous benzenoid fluorocarbons as well as tetracyanoethane and tetracyanoquinodimethane.     

Unprecedented intermolecular C-H bond activation of a solvent toluene molecule leading to a seven-membered platinacycle

A novel platinum-mediated process involving intermolecular activation of a C(aryl)-H bond of toluene, intramolecular activation of an imine C(aryl)-Cl bond and formation of a C-C bond is reported.     

Beta-turn modified gramicidin S analogues containing arylated sugar amino acids display antimicrobial and hemolytic activity comparable to the natural product

This paper describes the design and synthesis of gramicidin S (GS) analogues 10a-c containing arylated sugar amino acids (SAAs) as a replacement of one of the two (D)Phe-Pro beta-turn regions. The cyclic, amphiphilic peptides adopt a beta-sheet conformation featuring an unusual reverse turn induced by the SAAs. The altered turn region induces a slight distortion of the antiparallel beta-sheet, as compared to GS; the overall geometry however closely resembles that of the nonarylated GS analogue 1. GS analogues 10a-c proved to be as active as the parent GS itself as antibacterial agents and are equally efficient in lysing red blood cells. These properties are in sharp contrast to the diminished biological activity displayed by 1. We conclude that the presence of aromaticity in the turn regions of GS derivatives is required for biological activity, whereas the native conformation of the beta-hairpin is not. Our findings may guide future research toward efficient and nonhemolytic GS analogues for combating bacterial infections.