Stereocontrolled assembly of tetrasubstituted tetrahydrofurans: a concise synthesis of virgatusin

The condensation of substituted allylsiloxanes with aldehydes leads to the highly stereoselective construction of 2,3,4,5-tetrasubstituted tetrahydrofurans. With electron-rich aryl and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes as substrates, the stereochemical outcome at C5 can be dictated by appropriate choice of Lewis acid. The reaction has been applied to a concise (nine step) synthesis of (+)-virgatusin (ent-1). [reaction: see text]     

The synthesis of 1-amino-2-hydroxy- and 2-amino-1-hydroxy-substituted ethylene-1,1-bisphosphonic acids and their N-methylated derivatives

A synthesis of 2-amino-1-hydroxyethylene-1,1-bisphosphonic acid 3 has been developed from N-phthaloylglycine via dimethyl 2-(N-phthaloylamino)acetylphosphonate 1. The preparation of the N-methylated and N,N-dimethylated derivatives 4 and 5 has been achieved by the reaction of 3 with formic acid and formaldehyde. The synthesis of 1-amino-2-hydroxyethylene-1,1-bisphosphonic acid 9 (R=R′=H) and its N-methylated and N,N-dimethylated analogues has been achieved by the reaction of phosphorus trichloride and phosphorous acid with the appropriate O-benzyl protected hydroxyacetamide, followed by catalytic hydrogenolysis of the protecting group.     

Inverted colloidal crystals as three-dimensional cell scaffolds

A new type of three-dimensional scaffold with inverted colloidal crystal geometry for the investigation of topological effects in cell cultures is introduced in this publication. The scaffolds are made by infiltration of the hexagonal crystal lattice of polystyrene spheres with sol-gel formulation and subsequent annealing. It possesses a relatively high degree of order among existing cell scaffolds and affords tight control over the scaffold porosity and tissue organization. The prepared scaffolds can be a convenient system for the investigation of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Their biocompatibility is demonstrated for human hepatocellular carcinoma HEP G2 and human bone marrow HS-5 cell cultures. A preliminary effect of the scaffold topology on cell proliferation is observed. HEP G2 hepatocytes form a large number of 10-15 cell colonies on scaffolds made from 75-microm spheres, while their number diminishes for scaffolds from 10- and 160-microm spheres. Under similar conditions, HS-5 forms smaller colonies consisting of three to four cells in 90-microm cavities.     

Electrophoretic analysis of electrically trained skeletal muscle.

Sheep latissimus dorsi muscle was electrically trained, thereby inducing fast-to-slow fibre-type transformation. Using a combination of one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis techniques with computer analysis, we have analysed altered expression of contractile protein isoforms at protein and mRNA level over a time course of electrical training extending to 5 months. Myosin heavy chain and regulatory myosin light chain analysis showed predominant expression of their slow isoforms (86% and 92%, respectively) after 3 months of training. At the same time point, however, tropomyosin analysis revealed that the slow isoform of the alpha-subunit accounted for 64% of the total alpha expression. Troponin T isoform switching proceeded more slowly over the same time course than tropomyosin and the thick filament proteins studied. Troponin T analysis revealed 5 fast and 2 slow isoforms in the sheep, of which the second slow isoform only became clearly visible after 5 months' training. At this time point the two slow isoforms were more predominant than their fast counterparts. This suggests that a wide heterogeneity of fast and slow isoform combinations are possible in the thin filament of skeletal muscle.     

A host-guest optical sensor for aliphatic amines based on lipophilic cyclodextrin

A host-guest optical sensor for the determination of aliphatic amines as exemplified by octylamine is proposed. It is based on the reversible fluorescence enhancement of heptakis(2,6-di-O-isobutyl)-β-cyclodextrin(DOB-β-CD) hosting tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) immobilized in poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) membrane by aliphatic amine extracted from aqueous phase into membrane phase. The optimum membrane contained 1.15 wt % TPP, 6.15 wt % DOB-β-CD as sensing reagent and other membrane materials. The fluorescence enhancement of the membrane resulted from the formation of a stable three-component complex among DOB-β-CD, TPP, and aliphatic amines. With the optimum conditions described, the fluorescence response of the sensor to octylamine shows a good correlation with the theoretically derived equation in the range 1.0 × 10^–6 to 8.0 × 10^–4 mol/L. The response characteristics including reversibility, response time, reproducibility and lifetime and selectivity of this optical device are also discussed in detail. This sensor has also been applied for the determination of octylamine in water samples containing interferents with satisfactory recovery. Received: 21 November 1999 / Revised: 10 January 2000 / Accepted: 15 January 2000     

A micro-mechanical beam-steering device for terahertz frequencies

Beam-steering techniques are required to fully exploit the benefits of present and future terahertz imaging systems. We propose and model a device that overcomes the difficulties that prevent analogues of existing electrical and optical micro-mechanical techniques being employed at terahertz frequencies. The device employs a variable phase-control medium comprised of interlocking artificial dielectric surfaces. We present an analytical array factor calculation that provides insight into the operation of the device and an improved discrete array factor model incorporating the complex transmission coefficients of the structure. The models are validated by comparison to results from a rigorous full-vector electromagnetic solver tool (finite-difference time-domain). We predict a practical device constructed from a silicon substrate could steer both TE and TM beams by up to 6.4°.