Reverse turn induced pi-facial selectivity during polyaniline-supported cobalt(II) salen catalyzed aerobic epoxidation of N-cinnamoyl L-proline derived peptides

A novel chemo- and diastereoselective aerobic epoxidation of the N-cinnamoyl peptides catalyzed by polyaniline-supported cobalt(II) salen (PASCOS) is described. The N-cinnamoyl proline derived peptides 1 show a high pi-facial selectivity during these epoxidations. The origin of this diastereoselectivity in 1 has been attributed to (i) the propensity of the N-cinnamoyl proline amide to exist predominantly as trans rotamer in CDCl3, DMSO-d6, and CH3CN medium and (ii) existence of these peptides as organized structures (gamma- and beta-turns) due to the presence of intramolecular hydrogen bonds. An extensive solution NMR and MD simulation study on 1d and 1f indicates that the origin of the high pi-facial selectivity is due to the well-defined gamma- and beta-turns which result in the hindrance of one face of the cinnamoyl double bond in the transition state of the epoxidation reaction.     

NMR studies on dimethyl selenide and dimethyl telluride oriented in the nematic phase of a liquid crystal

¹H NMR spectra of dimethyl selenide with ¹³C and ⁷⁷Se satellites and of dimethyl telluride with ¹³C, ¹²³Te and ¹²⁵Te satellites have been investigated. The structural information has been derived and is found to be in good agreement with microwave results for dimethyl selenide. For dimethyl telluride our results disagree with earlier data obtained by extrapolation from similar molecules.     

The use of two nematic solvents in the determination of molecular structure of systems providing deceptively simple spectra

The use of two liquid crystals as solvents in the determination of molecular structure has been demonstrated for systems which do not provide structural information from studies in a single solvent owing to the fact that the spectra are deceptively simple, with the result that all the spectral parameters cannot be derived with reasonable precision. The specific system studied was 2-(p-bromophenyl)-4,6-dichloropyrimidine, for which relative inter-proton discances have been determined from the proton NMR spectra in two nematic solvents.     

Support vector machines in water quality management

Support vector classification (SVC) and regression (SVR) models were constructed and applied to the surface water quality data to optimize the monitoring program. The data set comprised of 1500 water samples representing 10 different sites monitored for 15 years. The objectives of the study were to classify the sampling sites (spatial) and months (temporal) to group the similar ones in terms of water quality with a view to reduce their number; and to develop a suitable SVR model for predicting the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of water using a set of variables. The spatial and temporal SVC models rendered grouping of 10 monitoring sites and 12 sampling months into the clusters of 3 each with misclassification rates of 12.39% and 17.61% in training, 17.70% and 26.38% in validation, and 14.86% and 31.41% in test sets, respectively. The SVR model predicted water BOD values in training, validation, and test sets with reasonably high correlation (0.952, 0.909, and 0.907) with the measured values, and low root mean squared errors of 1.53, 1.44, and 1.32, respectively. The values of the performance criteria parameters suggested for the adequacy of the constructed models and their good predictive capabilities. The SVC model achieved a data reduction of 92.5% for redesigning the future monitoring program and the SVR model provided a tool for the prediction of the water BOD using set of a few measurable variables. The performance of the nonlinear models (SVM, KDA, KPLS) was comparable and these performed relatively better than the corresponding linear methods (DA, PLS) of classification and regression modeling.     

Stereoselective synthesis of the ABCD ring framework of azaspiracids

A stereoselective synthesis of the ABCD ring framework of azaspiracid-1 and azaspiracid-3 has been achieved using a tandem bis-spiroketalization protocol in the presence of a mild proton source from 1,4-diketone precursor. A tetrahydrofuran intermediate with the correct stereochemistry for the D ring of azaspiracids-1 and 3 was then taken through a linear sequence of reactions to afford the desired diketone precursor. The D-ring of azaspiracid-1 was then constructed by employing a Sharpless asymmetric dihydroxylation followed by etherification using a homoallyl derivative. The structure of the ABCD ring framework with four contiguous rings was established by extensive NMR analysis.     

Synthesis of a novel cis-proline-derived cyclic type VI beta-turn mimic via ring-closing metathesis

A cis-proline derived cyclic mimic of a type VI beta-turn is synthesized via a ring-closing metathesis reaction. The solution NMR conformational study indicates that the major conformer of the cyclic peptide adopts a type VIa beta-turn in CDCl(3) and a type VIb beta-turn in DMSO-d(6).     

LiClO4- or LiOTf-accelerated 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions: a facile synthesis of cis-fused chromano[4,3-c]isoxazoles

Acetonitrile solutions of lithium perchlorate or lithium triflate are found to accelerate considerably the intramolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions of nitrones derived in situ from hydroxylamines and the O-prenyl derivatives of salicylaldehydes to afford enhanced rates and improved yields of tetrahydrochromano[4,3-c]isoxazole derivatives with high diastereoselectivity. The stereochemistry of the products has been assigned by using extensive NMR studies.