The first general enantioselective catalytic Diels-Alder reaction with simple alpha,beta-unsaturated ketones

The first general approach to enantioselective catalysis of the Diels-Alder reaction with simple ketone dienophiles has been accomplished. The use of iminium catalysis has enabled enantioselective access to a fundamental Diels-Alder reaction variant that has previously been unavailable using chiral Lewis acid catalysis. A new chiral amine catalyst has been developed that allows a variety of monodentate cyclic and acyclic ketones to successfully participate in enantioselective [4 + 2] cycloadditions. A wide spectrum of cyclic and acyclic diene substrates can also be accommodated in this new organocatalytic transformation. A computational model is provided that is in accord with the sense of enantioinduction observed for all reactions conducted during the course of this study.     

A biosensor for monitoring formaldehyde using a new lipophilic tetrathiafulvalene-tetracyanoquinodimethane salt and a polyurethane membrane

The fabrication and application of an end-column amperometric detection (AD) system with a carbon electrode for capillary-column liquid chromatography (CLC) were described. This new amperometric detector showed good sensitivity and stability in detecting the thiocompounds and other analytes with CLC. In order to obtain the better separation and detection performance for analytes, several operational parameters had been investigated: the working potentials, pH and flow rate. Under the optimum conditions, the method could effectively separate and determine cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH), dopamine (DA) and 6-thiopurine (6-TP). Good repeatability for retention time was obtained with a relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) value of 0.5%. The linear range covered over three orders of magnitude and the limits of detection were 8 fmol for cysteine, 20 fmol for glutathione, 8 fmol for dopamine and 20 fmol for 6-thiopurine. This method was successfully applied in determination of urinary sample with characteristics of simplicity, high sensitivity and good repeatability.     

The first genuine observation of fluorescent mononuclear phthalocyanine aggregates

An initial photophysical study of a tetra-solketal-substituted zinc phthalocyanine is reported; at low temperature this compound exhibits very strong aggregation, and a new red shifted emission peak is observed, lambda max approximately 750 nm, attributed to a fluorescent phthalocyanine dimer.     

Preparation,properties and x-ray crystal structure of a complex of bis(triphenylphosphoranylidene)ammonium iodide with 7,7,8,8-tetracyano-P-quinodimethane: (PPN)2(TCNQ)3(CH3CN)2

Bis(triphenylphosphoranylidene)ammonium iodide (PPN⁺I^?) forms a 2:3 complex with TCNQ [(PPN)₂(TCNQ)₃(CH₃CN)₂] that provides an example of a TCNQ complex containing acetonitrile in the crystal lattice; the material is a semi-conductor with trimerised TCNQ stacks.     

Further investigations of the interaction of trimethylsilyl azide with substituted maleic anhydrides. Synthesis of 4- and 5-aryl substituted 1,3-(3H)oxazine-2,6-diones

The reactions of phenyl-, o-chlorophenyl-, p-chlorophenyl-, 3,4-dichlorophenyl-, p-fluoro- and p-anisylmaleic anhydrides with trimethylsilyl azide are described. In all cases mixtures of isomeric 4- and 5-aryl-2H-1,3-(3H)oxazine-2,6-diones are obtained after hydrolysis with the 4-isomer predominating. The yield of 5-isomer is greatest for o-chlorophenyl maleic anhydride, and substantial for other arylmaleic anhydrides, indicating increased importance of steric effects in these reactions, in contrast to previously reported syntheses of methyl and halo-substituted oxazine-diones, where electronic factors appeared dominant.     

Electron acceptors of the fluorene series. 10.(1) novel acceptors containing butylsulfanyl, butylsulfinyl, and butylsulfonyl substituents: synthesis, cyclic voltammetry, charge-transfer complexation with anthracene in solution, and X-ray crystal structures of two tetrathiafulvalene complexes

2,4,5,7-Tetranitro-9-fluorenone (1b) reacts readily with n-butanethiol in dipolar aprotic solvents with selective substitution of nitro groups by butylsulfanyl groups in positions 2 and 7 (2, 3); the 2,5-isomer 4 was formed only as a minor product (<1%). Condensation of fluorenones 2-4 with malononitrile yielded 9-dicyanomethylene derivatives 5-7, which showed strong intramolecular charge transfer (lambda approximately 510-560 nm) and were found to sensitize the photoconductivity of carbazole-containing polymer films. Oxidation of sulfides 2-4 gave sulfoxide 8 or sulfones 9-11, which then were converted into their corresponding dicyanomethylene derivatives 12-15. All these novel acceptors showed three reversible single-electron reduction waves (cyclic voltammetry) yielding radical anion, dianion, and radical trianion; moreover, acceptors 13-15 showed also a fourth reduction wave, representing reversible tetraanion formation. Substitution of the oxygen of the carbonyl group in the fluorenones by a dicyanomethylene group increased the thermodynamic stability (K(SEM) growth) of the radical anion; K(SEM) ranged from 3 x 10(5) to 3 x 10(9) M(-1). CV measurements characterize compounds 3, 4 (EA = 1. 86-1.89 eV) as poor acceptors, 2, 6-11 (EA = 2.13-2.31 eV) as moderate acceptors, and 5, 12-15 (EA = 2.53-2.66 eV) as strong electron acceptors. Charge-transfer complex (CTC) formation between acceptors 9, 10, 13, 14, and anthracene as a donor was monitored by the appearance of additional low-energy bands in the visible region (CTC bands) of their electron absorption spectra. Increasing the EA of the acceptors from 9-fluorenones to the corresponding 9-dicyanomethylenefluorenes increases the complexation constants K(CTC) by 2.5-3 times, while sulfonyl substituents present substantial steric hindrance for complexation (as compared to the nitro group), decreasing K(CTC) values. Two CTCs for acceptors 14 and 17 with tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) were obtained, and their structures were solved by single-crystal X-ray diffractometry, giving the stoichometries 14:TTF, 2:3, and 17:TTF:PhCl, 1:1:0.5. In the former complex the packing motif is a mixed.DDAD'A. stack; in the latter complex the D and A moieties form unusually close CT pairs, which pack in a herringbone motif.     

Lobocyclamides A-C,lipopeptides from a cryptic cyanobacterial mat containing Lyngbya confervoides

The structures of lipopeptides lobocyclamides A (1), B (2), and C (3) were solved using a combination of mass spectrometry, 2D NMR spectroscopy, and degradative analysis. Lobocyclamides B and C are the first peptides reported with the unusual amino acid 4-hydroxythreonine and also incorporate the rare homologous long-chain beta-amino acids 3-aminooctanoic acid and 3-aminodecanoic acid, respectively. The absolute configurations of the amino acid residues in each compound were assigned, after acid hydrolysis, by either direct chiral HPLC comparison with authentic standards or by prior derivatization by Marfey's method and reversed-phase HPLC. Both compounds exhibited moderate antifungal activity against a panel of Candida spp., including two fluconazole-resistant strains. When tested as a mixture, lobocyclamides A and B displayed synergistic in vitro antifungal activity, a phenomenon noted earlier for the related peptides laxaphycins A and B.     

New Experimental Insight into the Nature of Metal−Metal Bonds in Digallium Compounds: J Coupling between Quadrupolar Nuclei

Multiple bonding between atoms is of ongoing fundamental and applied interest. Here, we report a multinuclear (¹H, ¹³C, and ⁷¹Ga) solid‐state magnetic resonance spectroscopic study of digallium compounds which have been proposed, albeit somewhat controversially, to contain single, double, and triple Ga?Ga bonds. Of particular relevance to the nature of these bonds, we have carried out two‐dimensional ⁷¹Ga J/D‐resolved NMR experiments which provide a direct measurement of J(⁷¹Ga,⁷¹Ga) spin–spin coupling constants across the gallium?gallium bonds. When placed in the context of clear‐cut experimental data for analogous singly, doubly, and triply bonded carbon spin pairs or boron spin pairs, the ⁷¹Ga NMR data clearly support the notion of a different bonding paradigm in the gallium systems. Our findings are consistent with an increasing role across the purported gallane–gallene–gallyne series for classical and/or slipped π‐type bonding orbitals.     

Discovery,Characterization, and Analogue Synthesis of Bohemamine Dimers Generated by Non‐enzymatic Biosynthesis

Dibohemamines A–C ( 5 – 7 ), three new dimeric bohemamine analogues dimerized through a methylene group, were isolated from a marine‐derived Streptomyces spinoverrucosus. The structures determined by spectroscopic analysis were confirmed through the semi‐synthetic derivatization of monomeric bohemamines and formaldehyde. These reactions, which could occur under mild conditions, together with the detection of formaldehyde in the culture, revealed that this dimerization is a non‐enzymatic process. In addition to the unique dimerization of the dibohemamines, dibohemamines B and C were found to have nm cytotoxicity against the non‐small cell‐lung cancer cell line A549. In view of the potent cytotoxicity of compounds 6 and 7 , a small library of bohemamine analogues was generated for biological evaluation by utilizing a series of aryl and alkyl aldehydes.     

The Hydrazine–O2 Redox Couple as a Platform for Organocatalytic Oxidation: Benzo[c]cinnoline‐Catalyzed Oxidation of Alkyl Halides to Aldehydes

An organocatalytic oxidation platform that capitalizes on the capacity of hydrazines to undergo rapid autoxidation to diazenes is described. Commercially available benzo[c]cinnoline is shown to catalyze the oxidation of alkyl halides to aldehydes in a novel mechanistic paradigm involving nucleophilic attack, prototropic shift, and hydrolysis. The hydrolysis and reoxidation events occur readily with only adventitious oxygen and water. A survey of the scope of viable substrates is shown along with mechanistic and computational studies that give insight into this mode of catalysis.