Analogues of Sialic Acids as Potential Sialidase Inhibitors Synthesis of 2-C-Hydroxymethyl Derivatives of N-Acetyl-6-amino-2,6-dideoxy-neuraminic Acid

The intramolecular cycloaddition of the previously described azidoalkene 16 , the related diacetates 7 and 13 , and the monoacetate 8 led diastereoselectivity to the (2R)- and (2S)-configurated hydropyridotriazoles 17 , 9 and 11 , 14 and 15 , and 10 and 12 , respectively (Scheme 1). Thermolysis of 16 gave also the aziridine 18 , its proportion increasing with reaction time. The diastereoselectivity of the cycloaddition- is rationalized on the basis of steric interactions and of H? bonds in the transition state. Photolysis in benzene partially transformed 9 into the aziridine 19 . Treatment of 9 with aqueous AcOH gave 19 and the tetrahydrofuran 20 , with AcOH in benzene 20 and the triacetate 23 , and with aqueous H₂SO₄ in THF, the primary alcohol 22 (room temperature) or 19 and 22 (0°). Deacetylation of 9 followed by reaction with pyridinium hydrochloride led to the tetrahydrofuran 21 and the chloride 24 (Scheme 2). The diacetate 22 and the triacetate 23 gave the tripl 25 which was deprotected to 26 . Reduction of the keto-aziridine 18 (NaBH₄) gave the alcohols 27 and 29 which were acetylated to give 28 and 19 , respectively (Scheme 3). Treatment of the aziridine 28 with AcOH in benzene followed by deacetylation gave 30 and hence 31 . AcOH in benzene transformed the triazoline 15 first into the aziridine 32 and hence into 33 , which was deprotected to give the triol 34 and hence 35 . The 2-(hydroxymethyl)piperidines 26 , 31 , and 35 inhibited Vibrio cholerae sialidase with K₁ = 3.8 · 10^?2 M, 3.4 · 10^?3 M, and 1.5 · 10^?4 M, respectively. The conformation of the glycerol side chain of these compounds and of the unbranched piperidines 2–4 deviates from the one of Neu5Ac (and Neu2en5Ac). This finding is rationalized by an H-bond between OH? C(8) and NH? C(6). The conformations and the K₁ values of 26 , 31 , and 35 correlate with each other.     

Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoclusters on Molecularly Modified GaAs

The elaboration of closed-packed monolayers of Au₅₅(PPh₃)₁₂Cl₆ clusters on oxidized and non-oxidized GaAs surfaces is reported. The first part of this work describes the use of silanethiol modified GaAs oxide surfaces to trap 18 nm gold colloids and Au₅₅(PPh₃)₁₂Cl₆ clusters. The surfaces characterized by AFM measurements present high-quality coverage on a quite long range for both metallic species. The second part is devoted to the elaboration of Au₅₅(PPh₃)₁₂Cl₆ cluster monolayers on non-oxidized p-type GaAs substrates, functionalized with dithiol molecules. AFM measurements demonstrate the presence of closed-packed two-dimensional arrangements of Au₅₅ clusters.     

Wavy graphene sheets from electrochemical sewing of corannulene

The presence of non-hexagonal rings in the honeycomb carbon arrangement of graphene produces rippled graphene layers with valuable chemical and physical properties. In principle, a bottom-up approach to introducing distortion from planarity of a graphene sheet can be achieved by careful insertion of curved polyaromatic hydrocarbons during the growth of the lattice. Corannulene, the archetype of such non-planar polyaromatic hydrocarbons, can act as an ideal wrinkling motif in 2D carbon nanostructures. Herein we report an electrochemical bottom-up method to obtain egg-box shaped nanographene structures through a polycondensation of corannulene that produces a new conducting layered material. Characterization of this new polymeric material by electrochemistry, spectroscopy, electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), scanning probe microscopy, and laser desorption-ionization time of flight mass spectrometry provides strong evidence that the anodic polymerization of corannulene, combined with electrochemically induced oxidative cyclodehydrogenations (Scholl reactions), leads to polycorannulene with a wavy graphene-like structure.

A bottom-up synthesis of wavy graphene structures obtained through an anodic polymerization process, combined with an electrochemically triggered oxidative cyclodehydrogenation, of the bowl-shaped polyaromatic hydrocarbon corannulene.     

Synthesis of mesoporous carbons using ordered and disordered mesoporous silica templates and polyacrylonitrile as carbon precursor

Mesoporous carbons were synthesized from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) using ordered and disordered mesoporous silica templates and were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption, and thermogravimetry. The pores of the silica templates were infiltrated with carbon precursor (PAN) via polymerization of acrylonitrile from initiation sites chemically bonded to the silica surface. This polymerization method is expected to allow for a uniform filling of the template with PAN and to minimize the introduction of nontemplated PAN, thus mitigating the formation of nontemplated carbon. PAN was stabilized by heating to 573 K under air and carbonized under N2 at 1073 K. The resulting carbons exhibited high total pore volumes (1.5-1.8 cm3 g(-1)), with a primary contribution of the mesopore volume and with relatively low microporosity. The carbons synthesized using mesoporous templates with a 2-dimensional hexagonal structure (SBA-15 silica) and a face-centered cubic structure (FDU-1 silica) exhibited narrow pore size distributions (PSDs), whereas the carbon synthesized using disordered silica gel template had broader PSD. TEM showed that the SBA-15-templated carbon was composed of arrays of long, straight, or curved nanorods aligned in 2-D hexagonal arrays. The carbon replica of FDU-1 silica appeared to be composed of ordered arrays of spheres. XRD provided evidence of some degree of ordering of graphene sheets in the carbon frameworks. Elemental analysis showed that the carbons contain an appreciable amount of nitrogen. The use of our novel infiltration method and PAN as a carbon precursor allowed us to obtain ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) with (i) very high mesopore volume, (ii) low microporosity, (iii) low secondary mesoporosity, (iv) large pore diameter (8-12 nm), and (v) semi-graphitic framework, which represent a desirable combination of features that has not been realized before for OMCs.     

Photochemisches Verhalten von 1- und 2-alkylierten 1, 2-Dihydronaphthalinen bei tiefen Temperaturen

The irradiations of 1, 1-dimethyl- (8), 1, 1-di-(tri-deuteriomethyl)- (d₆– 8 ), 1, 1, 2, 2-tetramethyl- ( 9 ) and cis- and trans-1, 2-dimethyl-1, 2-dihydronaphthalenes (cis- and trans- 10 ) were investigated in 2, 2-dimethylbutane/pentane at ?100° using a mercury high-pressure lamp, and with mercury high- and low-pressure lamps at room temperature. The results were compared with one another, and those of the individual compounds are collected in schemes 2 and 4–7. The most important results are the following: 1. The 1, 2-dihydronaphthalenes undergo a conrotatory ring opening to the o-quinodimethanes on irradiation with high- or low-pressure lamps at room temperature or at ?100°. Thermal reactions ([1, 7a]H-shifts, electrocyclisations) are suppressed at ?100°. The o-quinodimethanes formed from 8 (scheme 2), 9 (scheme 5) or cis- 10 (scheme 6) undergo on irradiation with the high-pressure lamp, [1, 5]H-shifts or photochemical Diels-Alder reactions after renewed photochemical excitation, to yield the benzobicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene derivatives. These Diels-Alder reactions do not proceed stereospecifically, and therefore are not orbital symmetry controlled reactions. 2. If the 1, 2-dihydronaphthalenes are irradiated at room temperature with either a high- or a low-pressure lamp, then the initially formed o-quinodimethanes undergo thermal [1, 7a]H-shifts, in preference to all other reactions, as long as this is sterically possible; the resulting products can undergo secondary photochemical transformations. Such o-quinodimethanes are formed on irradiation of 8, 9 and cis- 10 . From trans- 10 , an o-quinodimethane mixture is formed, of which one component (cis, cis- 22 ) undergoes thermal [1, 7a] H-shifts, while the other (trans, trans- 22 ) suffers a thermal disrotatory electrocyclisation to give cis- 10 . If a high-pressure lamp is used in the last experiment, then the competing photochemical Diels-Alder cyclisation to bicyclic compounds of the type 23 (scheme 7) can result in the trans, trans- 22 . As was shown by Salisbury [3], and confirmed by ourselves in other cases [2], photochemical Diels-Alder reactions or [1, 5]H-shifts in the o-quinodimethanes require light of wavelength ? 400 nm (high-pressure lamp). The present photochemical investigations amplify and confirm our earlier conclusions concerning the photochemistry of the 1, 2-dihydronaphthalenes [2].