Discovery of a new phosphotyrosine mimetic for PTP1B using breakaway tethering

Protein tyrosine phosphatases play important roles in many signaling cascades involved in human disease. The identification of druglike inhibitors for these targets is a major challenge, and the discovery of suitable phosphotyrosine (pY) mimetics remains one of the key difficulties. Here we describe an extension of tethering technology, "breakaway tethering", which is ideally suited for discovering such new chemical entities. The approach involves first irreversibly modifying a protein with an extender that contains both a masked thiol and a known pY mimetic. The extender is then cleaved to release the pY mimetic, unmasking the thiol. The resulting protein is screened against a library of disulfide-containing small molecule fragments; any molecules with inherent affinity for the pY binding site will preferentially form disulfides with the extender, allowing for their identification by mass spectrometry. The ability to start from a known substrate mimimizes perturbation of protein structure and increases the opportunity to probe the active site using tethering. We applied this approach to the anti-diabetic protein PTP1B to discover a pY mimetic which belongs to a new molecular class and which binds in a novel fashion.     

Enantioselective synthetic thalidomide receptors based upon DNA binding motifs

A series of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) synthetic receptors selective for the sedative thalidomide (5) have been designed and synthesized based upon the functional monomer 9-(2'-methacryloyloxyethyl)adenine (2). (1)H-NMR studies were used to establish the existence of DNA-like binding interactions between 2 and the template (5). A series of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate cross-linked copolymers was synthesized using either 2 or methacrylic acid, or a combination of these functional monomers. Zonal HPLC studies demonstrated enantioselectivity (alpha = 2.11) and ligand selectivity which could be attributed to the interaction of 2 with the imide moiety of 5. Compound 2 provided a more significant contribution to the binding of 5 than methacrylic acid, though a combination of these two functional monomers resulted in improved enantioselectivity. Frontal chromatographic and batch binding studies confirmed the observed differences in affinity of the imprinted and reference polymers for the template.     

Layer by layer complex architectures based on ammonium polyphosphate,chitosan and silica on polyester-cotton blends: flammability and combustion behaviour

Hybrid organic–inorganic coatings containing ammonium polyphosphate (APP), chitosan and silica have been deposited on polyester-cotton blends (PET-CO), exploiting the layer by layer assembly. To this aim, two different complex architectures (namely, chitosan/APP bilayers plus silica/silica bilayers or silica/silica/chitosan/APP quadlayers) have been thoroughly investigated. The effect of their morphologies on the flame retardancy properties of the fabrics (flammability and combustion behaviour) has been assessed. More specifically, some of the above complex architectures exhibited significant enhancements concerning flammability (i.e. the suppression of afterglow, together with a considerable final residue increase) and combustion behaviour as evidenced by cone calorimeter tests. A close relationship between the overall flame retardancy properties of the blends and the level of dishomogeneity of the LbL architectures has been shown.     

Catalytic enantioselective halolactonization of enynes and alkenes

New organocatalysts have been developed for the enantioselective halolactonization of (Z)-1,3-enynes and 1,1-disubstituted alkenes. In the case of 1,3-enynes, the carboxylate nucleophile and halogen electrophile were added to the conjugated π-system from the same face. Up to 99% ee was achieved for the 1,4-syn-bromolactonization of conjugated (Z)-1,3-enynes. Based on the results from the enyne halolactonization, a second generation of catalysts was designed for simple olefins. Up to 91% ee was observed for chlorolactonization of 1,1-disubstituted alkenes. The catalysts developed for the enantioselective halolactonization of both enynes and alkenes are composed of a cinchona alkaloid skeleton tethered to a urea group.     

Vibrational overtone spectroscopy, energy levels, and intensities of (CH3)3C-C≡C-H

The vibrational overtone spectra of the acetylenic (Δυ = 4, 5) and methyl (Δυ = 5, 6) C-H stretch transitions of tert-butyl acetylene [(CH(3))(3)C-C≡C-H] were obtained using the phase shift cavity ring down (PS-CRD) technique at 295 K. The C-H stretch fundamental and overtone absorptions of the acetylenic (Δυ = 2 and 3) and methyl (Δυ = 2-4) C-H bonds have been obtained using a Fourier transform infrared and near-infrared spectrophotometer. Harmonic frequency ω(ν(1)) and anharmonicities x(ν(1)) and x(ν(1), ν(24)) are reported for the acetylenic C-H bond. Molecular orbital calculations of geometry and vibrational frequencies were performed. A harmonically coupled anharmonic oscillator (HCAO) model was used to determine the overtone energy levels and assign the absorption bands to vibrational transitions of methyl C-H bonds. Band strength values were obtained experimentally and compared with intensities calculated in terms of the HCAO model where only the C-H modes are considered. No adjustable parameters were used to get order of magnitude agreement with experimental intensities for all pure local mode C-H transitions.     

Synthesis of novel 5-substituted pyrazole derivatives as cannabinoid antagonists

A facile seven-step sequence was developed from 4′-bromopropiophenone, utilizing a Suzuki-type coupling with an alkene, to give several novel 5-substituted pyrazole derivatives in overall yields of 11-31%. They are potent CB1 antagonists and have binding affinities similar to SR 141716A. Like SR 141716A, they may prove to be clinically useful for the treatment of obesity.     

Heat and moisture transfer in sol–gel treated cotton fabrics

Cotton fabrics have been treated by sol–gel processes in order to produce an inorganic coating on fibres, able to modify their thermal conductivity under an irradiating flow. To this aim, fabric specimens with different silica content have been tested following the ISO 6942 standard in order to establish the effect of the coating on coupled heat and moisture transfer through the cotton fibres. The collected results have been compared with those obtained by an optimized method using a cone calorimeter as the heating source. By this latter approach, it has been demonstrated that sol–gel cotton treated fabrics with high moisture uptake possess a significantly lower thermal conductivity with respect to cotton alone.     

Microwave-assisted in situ deprotection and ω-methoxylation of TMS-protected aryl alkynes

Using microwave technology, rapid ω-methoxylation of aryl alkynes is possible.