Complete 1H NMR assignments of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and a new eudesmanoid from Senecio polypodioides

Chemical investigation of the aerial parts of Senecio polypodioides lead to the isolation of the new eudesmanoid 1β‐angeloyloxyeudesm‐7‐ene‐4β,9α‐diol ( 1 ) and the known dirhamnosyl flavonoid lespidin ( 3 ), while from roots, the known 7β‐angeloyloxy‐1‐methylene‐8α‐pyrrolizidine ( 5 ) and sarracine N‐oxide ( 6 ), as well as the new neosarracine N‐oxide ( 8 ), were obtained. The structure of 1 and 8 was elucidated by spectral means. Complete assignments of the ¹H NMR data for 5 , 6 , sarracine ( 7 ), and 8 were made using one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional NMR experiments and by application of the iterative full spin analysis of the PERCH NMR software. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interaction of PiB‐Derivative Metal Complexes with Beta‐Amyloid Peptides: Selective Recognition of the Aggregated Forms

Metal complexes are increasingly explored as imaging probes in amyloid peptide related pathologies. We report the first detailed study on the mechanism of interaction between a metal complex and both the monomer and the aggregated form of Aβ_1–40 peptide. We have studied lanthanide(III) chelates of two PiB‐derivative ligands (PiB=Pittsburgh compound B), L¹ and L², differing in the length of the spacer between the metal‐complexing DO3A macrocycle (DO3A= 1,4,7,10‐tetraazacyclododecane‐1,4,7‐triacetic acid) and the peptide‐recognition PiB moiety. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR spectroscopy revealed that they both bind to aggregated Aβ_1–40 (K_D=67–160 μM ), primarily through the benzothiazole unit. HSQC NMR spectroscopy on the ¹⁵N‐labeled, monomer Aβ_1–40 peptide indicates nonsignificant interaction with monomeric Aβ. Time‐dependent circular dichroism (CD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and TEM investigations of the secondary structure and of the aggregation of Aβ_1–40 in the presence of increasing amounts of the metal complexes provide coherent data showing that, despite their structural similarity, the two complexes affect Aβ fibril formation distinctly. Whereas GdL¹, at higher concentrations, stabilizes β‐sheets, GdL² prevents aggregation by promoting α‐helical structures. These results give insight into the behavior of amyloid‐targeted metal complexes in general and contribute to a more rational design of metal‐based diagnostic and therapeutic agents for amyloid‐ associated pathologies.     

Environmental Sustainability: implications and limitations to Green Chemistry

This study discusses the relationship between Green Chemistry and Environmental Sustainability as expressed in textbooks and articles on Green Chemistry authored by their promoters. It was found that although the Brundtland concept of Sustainable Development/Sustainability has been mentioned often by green chemists, a full analysis of that relationship was almost never attempted. In particular, green chemists have paid scarce attention to the importance of The Second Law of thermodynamics on Environmental Sustainability and the consequences of the limitations it imposes on Green Chemistry, which are discussed in this paper.     

Controllability results for the Moore–Gibson–Thompson equation arising in nonlinear acoustics

We show that the Moore–Gibson–Thomson equation

$\tau {?}_{ttt}y+\alpha {?}_{tt}y?c^2\mathrm{\Delta }y?b\mathrm{\Delta }{?}_{t}y=k{?}_{tt}(y^2)+{\chi }_{\omega (t)}u,$

is controlled by a force that is supported on an moving subset $\omega (t)$ of the domain, satisfying a geometrical condition. Using the concept of approximately outer invertible map, a generalized implicit function theorem and assuming that $\gamma :=\alpha ?\frac{\tau c^2}{b}>0$, the local null controllability in the nonlinear case is established. Moreover, the analysis of the critical value $\gamma =0$ for the linear equation is included.     

Dual stimuli‐responsive polyamines derived from modified N‐vinylpyrrolidones through CuAAC click chemistry

The synthesis via copper(I)‐catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) of three new monomer derivatives of N‐vinyl‐2‐pyrrolidone (VP) carrying cyclic pyrrolidine, piperidine, and piperazine groups and the corresponding copolymers with unmodified VP is shown. The systems bearing pyrrolidine and piperidine displayed both thermo‐ and pH‐response, which has not been reported previously for a polymer with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) backbone. A broad modulation of the LCST with the copolymer composition and pH was observed in a temperature range 0–100 °C. The polymers carrying piperazine exhibited broad buffering regions and no thermosensitivity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1098–1108     

Understanding Chemical Reactivity in Extended Systems:Exploring Models of Chemical Softness in Carbon Nanotubes

Chemical reactivity towards electron transfer is captured by the Fukui function.However,this is not well defined when the system or its ions have degenerate or pseudo-degenerate ground states.In such a case,the first-order chemical response is not independent of the perturbation and the correct response has to be computed using the mathematical formalism of perturbation theory for degenerate states.Spatialpseudo-degeneracy is ubiquitous in nanostructures with high symmetry and totally extended systems.Given the size of these systems,using degenerate-state perturbation theory is impractical because it requires the calculation of many excited states.Here we present an alternative to compute the chemical response of extended systems using models of local softness in terms of the local density of states.The local softness is approximately equal to the density of states at the Fermi level.However,such approximation leaves out the contribution of inner states.In order to include and weight the contribution of the states around the Fermi level,a model inspired by the long-range behavior of the local softness is presented.Single wall capped carbon nanotubes(SWCCNT) illustrate the limitation of the frontier orbital theory in extended systems.Thus,we have used a C360 SWCCNT to test the proposed model and how it compares with available models based on the local density of states.Interestingly,a simple Hü ckel approximation captures the main features of chemical response of these systems.Our results suggest that density-of-states models of the softness along simple tight binding Hamiltonians could be used to explore the chemical reactivity of more complex system,such a surfaces and nanoparticles.