Synthesis of Anti-Inflammatory α-Arylalkanoic Acids by 1,2-Aryl Shift. New Synthetic Methods (42)

α-Arylalkanoic acids have acquired importance as anti-inflammatory agents and are now in great demand on the pharmaceutical front. Hence, the need has arisen for new and improved, economical synthetic procedures suitable for their preparation and manufacture on an industrial scale. For many years the synthetic approach to this class of compounds was restricted to the Willgerodt and Darzen reactions. More recently, several methods have been developed which are based on the 1,2-aryl shift in acetals of α-functionalized alkyl aryl ketones. This new approach starts from the oxythallation of alkyl aryl ketones first described by Taylor and McKillop in 1971. Asymmetric syntheses of some important arylakanoic acids have also been developed on this basis. The highly toxic thallium salts may be replaced, inter alia, by catalytically effective metal salts.     

Force field parameters for molecular mechanical simulation of dehydroamino acid residues

Parameters suitable to describe the conformational behavior of α – β unsaturated aminoacids and peptides in the framework of an existing force field for nucleic acids and proteins (S.J. Weiner, P.A. Kollman, D.A. Case, U. Chandra Singh, C. Ghio, G. Alagona, S. Profeta, Jr., and P. Weiner, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 106 , 765 (1984)) are proposed and tested. Attention is primarily focused on dehydrophenylalanine and dehydroalanine containing peptides. The values of the parameters needed were obtained from experimental measurements available in the literature and from ad hoc quantum mechanical calculations. The selected values have subsequently been adapted and refined through molecular mechanical simulations on model compounds, such as Ac-ΔPhe-NMe, for which it was possible to carry out STO-3G/SCF calculations to check selected points on the ?,ψ conformational map, and Ac-ΔAla-NMe, where the comparison was carried out at the 4-31G level. The newly determined force field was then applied to Ac-ΔPhe-Ala-ΔPhe-NMe, whose minimal energy structures allowed us to explain the different circular dichroism behavior observed in CH₂Cl₂ and in dioxane. Starting from two minimum energy geometries of this tripeptide, the full optimization with AM1 produced an independent guess to their structure and stability in good agreement with the molecular mechanical one.     

New semiconducting oxide photoanodes for water splitting in a photoelectrochemical cell Electrochemistry of n-type NiTiO3

The electrochemical behaviour of NiTiO₃ has been studied. The interest in this mixed-metal oxide lays in its possible use for solar-energy conversion. Anodic oxidation of NiTi0₃ was very irreversible. The electrode became aged, probably due to formation of a porous film of an irreducible higher oxide. The stirring-independent Cottrell behaviour of the anodic oxidation of NiTiO₃ should be due to current limitation by diffusion of a reaction product away from the NiTi0₃ surface through this irreducible higher oxide, which should be of a porous nature. The diffusion-limiting species could not be OH^?, as the Cottrell slopes only increased by about five times for a pH increase from 3 to 14. Five and two processes were involved in the anodic oxidation of NiTiO₃ at pH 14 and 3 respectively, as determined by chronopotentiometry. The same number of processes appeared upon inversion of the current.     

Unusual nitration of substituted 7-amino-1,8-naphthyridine in the synthesis of compounds with antiplatelet activity

Several 1,8-naphthyridine derivatives have been diazotizated to obtain the corresponding hydroxy derivatives or mixture of hydroxy and hydroxy nitro derivatives. The respective amounts of hydroxy and hydroxy nitro derivatives depends on the nature of the substituents, on their position on the naphthyridine nucleus, on the amount of sodium nitrite and on the reaction temperature. A study of the electronic density of some molecules suggests a possible explanation of the effects induced by the nature of the substituents and of their position. Some of the compounds were tested for their ability to inhibit human platelet aggregation in vitro induced by arachidonic acid. Only compound 26 showed interesting antiplatelet activity.     

New insights into the seleniranium ion promoted cyclization of prenyl and propenylbenzene aryl ethers

The chromane core is widely represented in nature being part of a wide array of secondary metabolites of plant, fungal, and bacterial origin. In this paper an improved method for the chemical synthesis of differently substituted chromanes is described. Substituted 2H-1-benzopyrans have been synthesized in good to excellent yields (52–81%) by treatment of 3,3-dimethylallyl and propenylbenzene ethers of differently substituted phenols with phenylselenyl chloride.     

A new application of imprinted polymers: Speciation of organotin compounds

Molecular imprinting technology has been employed for the first time to prepare a specifically affinity chromatographic stationary phase for speciation purposes. Tributyltin has been chosen as the template molecule and the non-covalent approach has been applied. Three different polymerization methods have been evaluated: (i) a composite material, (ii) a polymer prepared via-Iniferter grafting; (iii) an emulsion polymer. Columns packed with different polymers have been evaluated by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The chromatographic conditions as well as the analytical characteristics of the developed method are discussed in this paper. Our findings have shown formation of specific cavities in the grafted Iniferter as well as in the emulsion polymers with the latter achieving resolution of four organotin compounds. Detection limits are similar to those obtained with commercial, but not specific, stationary phases (6 pg for monobutyltin, MBT; 10 pg for both tributyltin, TBT, and triphenyltin, TPhT; and 20 pg for dibutyltin, DBT). The main advantage of this proposed stationary phase is that good recovery is obtained for all species, including MBT. Baseline resolution for TBT and TPhT has also been obtained. The high selectivity of this column prevents matrix interferences. The method has been validated by analyzing two biota reference materials (ERM-CE477 mussel tissue and T-38 oyster tissue).     

Brønsted Acid Assisted Regio‐ and Enantioselective Direct O‐Nitroso Aldol Reaction Catalysed by α,α‐Diphenylprolinol Trimethylsilyl Ether

In the presence of p‐nitrobenzoic acid, the O‐nitroso aldol reaction of nitrosobenzene with enolisable aldehydes may be promoted by commercially available α,α‐diphenylprolinol trimethylsilyl ether. The reaction proceeds with good yields and essentially complete enantioselectivity, with catalyst loadings in the 5–10 mol % range. The resulting α‐oxyaldehyde adducts may be transformed in situ into α‐oxyimines, which provide 1,2‐amino alcohols upon treatment with Grignard reagents, in good overall yield (45–59 %) and with typical diastereomeric ratios ≥95:5.     

Grafting of organosilane derived from 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and thiourea onto magnesium phyllosilicate by sol–gel process and investigation of metal adsorption properties

A layered inorganic–organic magnesium silicate (Mg-GTPS-TU) has been successfully synthesized by using sol–gel based precursor under mild temperature conditions and a new silylaing agent (GTPS-TU) derived from 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GTPS) and thiourea (TU) as the silicon source. The hybrid material was characterized through elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetry, and carbon and silicon solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The result confirmed the attachment of organic functionality to the inorganic silicon network. The inter-lamellar distance for the hybrid material was found to be 18.8 Å. Metal adsorption characteristics follows Cr(III) >Mn(II)>Zn(II) with more affinity towards Cr(III) in dilute aqueous solution. Evaluation of thermodynamic parameters ΔH and ΔS for Cr(III) were found to be 25.44 J mol⁻¹ and 79.9 J mol⁻¹ K⁻¹, respectively, indicating adsorption process to be endothermic in nature. The negative value of ΔG indicated the feasibility and spontaneity of ongoing adsorption process at relatively higher temperature. The presence of multiple coordination sites in the attached organic functionality expresses the potentiality of the hybrid material containing new silylating agent for heavy cation removal from eco-system.