The proton spectrum including 13C-satellites of π-benzenechromium tricarbonyl in a nematic solvent

The proton spectrum of π-benzenechromium tricarbonyl with ¹³C-satellites due to ring- and carbonyl-carbons at natural abundance has been investigated in a nematic solvent. The structural data are found to be in agreement with those from electron and neutron diffraction measurements. The proton–proton indirect coupling constants have also been determined.     

NMR spectrum of benzo[b]furan in a nematic phase

The proton NMR spectrum of benzo[b]furan has been investigated in the nematic phase of a liquid crystal. Dipolar couplings obtained from the spectral analysis have been used to derive the interproton distance ratios. The phenyl ring geometry differs from that in benzo[b]thiophene. The deviations have been explained in terms of bond polarization effects.     

Proton NMR spectra including 13C- and 77Se-satellites in organoselenium compounds oriented in the nematic phase: Part 1. The spectrum of 2,1,3-benzoselenadiazole

The vibrationally corrected structure of 2,1,3-benzoselenadiazole is derived from the proton NMR spectrum including ¹³C-H and ⁷⁷Se-H satellites, in a nematic solvent. The results indicate considerable bond-fixation in the 6-membered ring.     

Investigation of Ti/CuO interface by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy

The Ti/CuO interface has been studied by the techniques of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. Thin films of titanium were deposited on a CuO substrate at room temperature by the e-beam technique. The photoelectron spectra of titanium and copper were found to exhibit significant chemical interaction at the interface. The titanium overlayer was observed to get oxidized to TiO₂, while the CuO was observed to get reduced to elemental copper. This chemical interaction was observed to occur until a thickness of 7 nm of the titanium overlayer. For thicknesses greater than this value, the presence of unreacted titanium in the sample was detected. Barrier characteristics at the Ti/CuO interface were also carried out for substrate temperatures of 300°C, 400°C, 500°C, and 600°C as a function of the titanium overlayer thickness. A linear trend in the barrier thickness of the overlayer was observed between 400°C and 600°C substrate temperatures. The atomic force microscopy micrographs of the unannealed samples depicted layer-by-layer growth of elemental titanium on copper. At the Ti/CuO interface in such samples, the micrographs exhibited island formation of TiO₂ corresponding to the Volmer-Weber growth model. This formation has been interpreted as the relaxation in the strain energy. The percentage coverage of the underlying substrate by the TiO₂ islands showed a linear trend for the thicknesses of the titanium overlayer investigated. The average size of these islands also showed a linear trend as a function of the thickness of the overlayer.     

Synthesis and conformational studies of peptides from new C-linked carbo-beta-amino acids (beta-Caas) with anomeric methylamino- and difluorophenyl moieties

New C-linked carbo-beta-amino acids (beta-Caas), Cbz-(S)-beta-Caa-(NHBoc)-OMe (1) and Cbz-(R)-beta-Caa-(NHBoc)-OMe (2), with an additional amine group (methylamino group of NHBoc) at the C-1 position of the lyxofuranoside side chain and Boc-(S)-beta-Caa-(diFP)-OMe (3) and Boc-(R)-beta-Caa-(diFP)-OMe (4), with a C-difluorophenyl (diFP) moiety at the anomeric position of the lyxofuranoside side chain were prepared from D-mannose. Beta-peptides [tetra- and hexapeptides] were synthesized from these beta-Caas, 'epimeric' [at the amine stereocentre (C(beta))], using the concept of 'alternating chirality' to carry out their conformational studies [NMR (CDCl(3)), CD and MD]. In the monomer design, it was envisaged that the presence of an additional amine group in 1 or 2 would help in solubilizing the peptides in water, while, the C-difluorophenyl (diFP) moiety of 3 and 4 is expected to enhance the biological activity. The peptides having 1 and 2, though could not retain their 12-10-mixed helices in water, have shown moderate activity against gram positive and gram negative bacterial strains. The peptides prepared from 3 and 4, much against our expectations, did not display any biological activity.     

Synthesis of putative chain terminators of mycobacterial arabinan biosynthesis

The synthesis of a variety of arabinose derivatives that have been modified at C-5 was achieved from d-arabinose. The 5-fluoro and 5-methoxy compounds were converted into the corresponding farnesyl phosphodiesters as putative chain terminators of mycobacterial arabinan biosynthesis. Biological testing of these materials revealed no effective anti-mycobacterial activity.     

First example of the carbon-Ferrier rearrangement of glycals with isocyanides: a novel synthesis of C-glycosyl amides

Glycals undergo smooth carbon-Ferrier rearrangement with isocyanides in the presence of a catalytic amount of FeCl₃ under mild reaction conditions to provide C-glycosyl amides in good yields with high α-selectivity. The use of FeCl₃ makes this method simple, convenient and cost-effective. This is the first report on carbon-Ferrier rearrangement using isonitriles as nucleophiles.     

The first stereoselective total synthesis of the Z-isomer of cytospolide E

A convergent and highly stereoselective total synthesis of the Z-isomer of cytospolide E has been achieved via Evan’s aldol reaction, Sharpless kinetic resolution and RCM cyclisation.     

Highly stereoselective synthesis of furano-oxepanes: intramolecular nitrone cycloaddition (INC) reactions on sugar derived 2-substituted allylic ethers

The stereoselective synthesis of furano-oxepanes has been achieved from sugar ethers by an intramolecular nitrone cycloaddition (INC) reaction. The substitution at the 2-position of the allylic group aided in the exclusive formation of oxepanes.