Estimation of intramolecular hydrogen bond energy via molecular tailoring approach

A novel method, based on the molecular tailoring approach for estimating intramolecular hydrogen bond energies, is proposed. Here, as a case study, the O-H...O bond energy is directly estimated by addition/subtraction of the single point individual fragment energies. This method is tested on polyhydroxy molecules at MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory. It is seen to be able to distinguish between weak ( approximately 1 kcal mol(-1)) and moderately strong ( approximately 5 kcal mol(-1)) hydrogen bonds in polyhydroxy molecules.     

Syntheses with nitriles,XCV: Deamination of cytosine derivatives

Summary Treatment of 2-formyl-3-dimethylamino-propenenitrile (1a) and 2-ethoxycarbonyl-3-dimethylamino-propenenitrile (1b), resp., with substituted ureas led to the 2-cyano-3-ureidoacrylates2, which can be cyclized under alkaline conditions to give 5-formyl-5-cyano-, and 5-alkoxycarbonyl-2-oxopyrimidine derivatives3,6, and7. Reaction of3 with isopentylnitrite gave a mixture of the deaminated and oxidized product4 and the oxo derivative5, which was acetalized during the separation step. Similar reaction with the alkoxycarbonyl derivatives7 led to the formation of 1-alkyl-5-alkoxycarbonyl-pyrimidine-2,6-diones8a–d.

---

Synthesen mit Nitrilen, 95. Mitt.: Deaminierung von Cytosinderivaten

Zusammenfassung Die Reaktion von 2-Formyl-3-dimethylamino-propennitril (1a) und 2-Ethoxycarbonyl-3-dimethylamino-propennitril (1b) mit substituierten Harnstoffen führte zur Bildung der 2-Cyan-3-ureidoacrlate2, welche unter alkalischen Bedingungen zu den 5-Formyl-, 5-Cyan- oder 5-Alkoxycarbonyl-2-oxopyrimidinen3,6 bzw.7 cyclisiert werden konnten. Reaktion von3 mit Isopentylnitrit ergab eine Mischung aus deaminiertem und zugleich oxidiertem Produkt4 sowie dem Oxoderivat5, welches während der Säulentrennung auf Kieselgel zusätzlich acetalisiert worden war. Die ähnliche Reaktion mit den Alkoxycarbonyl-Derivativen7 führte zur Bildung der 1-Alkyl-5-alkoxycarbonyl-pyrimidin-2,6-dione8a–d.

     

Hierarchically structured free-standing hydrogels with liquid crystalline domains and magnetic nanoparticles as dual physical cross-linkers

Here we report a modular strategy for preparing physically cross-linked and mechanically robust free-standing hydrogels comprising unique thermotropic liquid crystalline (LC) domains and magnetic nanoparticles both of which serve as the physical cross-linkers resulting in hydrogels that can be used as magnetically responsive soft actuators. A series of amphiphilic LC pentablock copolymers of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(5-cholesteryloxypentyl methacrylate) (PC5MA), and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blocks in the sequence of PAA-PC5MA-PEO-PC5MA-PAA were prepared using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. These pentablock copolymers served as macromolecular ligands to template Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), which were directly anchored to the polymer chains through the coordination bonds with the carboxyl groups of PAA blocks. The resulting polymer/MNP nanocomposites comprised a complicated hierarchical structure in which polymer-coated MNP clusters were dispersed in a microsegregated pentablock copolymer matrix that further contained LC ordering. Upon swelling, the hierarchical structure was disrupted and converted to a network structure, in which MNP clusters were anchored to the polymer chains and LC domains stayed intact to connect solvated PEO and PAA blocks, leading to a free-standing LC magnetic hydrogel (LC ferrogel). By varying the PAA weight fraction (f(AA)) in the pentablock copolymers, the swelling degrees (Q) of the resulting LC ferrogels were tailored. Rheological experiments showed that these physically cross-linked free-standing LC ferrogels exhibit good mechanical strength with storage moduli G' of around 10(4)-10(5) Pa, similar to that of natural tissues. Furthermore, application of a magnetic field induced bending actuation of the LC ferrogels. Therefore, these physically cross-linked and mechanically robust LC ferrogels can be used as soft actuators and artificial muscles. Moreover, this design strategy is a versatile platform for incorporation of different types of nanoparticles (metallic, inorganic, biological, etc.) into multifunctional amphiphilic block copolymers, resulting in unique free-standing hybrid hydrogels of good mechanical strength and integrity with tailored properties and end applications.     

Two-step evaluation of binding energy and potential energy surface of van der Waals complexes

Evaluation of intermolecular distance and binding energy (BE) of van der Waals complex/cluster at ab initio level of theory is computationally demanding when many monomers are involved. Starting from MP2 energy, we reached a two-step evaluation method of BE of van der Waals complex/cluster through reasonable approximations; BE = BE(HF) + sum Mi> Mj{BE (Mi- Mj)(MP2 or MP2.5) - BE(Mi-Mj)(HF)} where HF represents the Hartree-Fock calculation, Mi, Mj, etc. are interacting monomers, and MP2.5 represents the arithmetic mean of MP2 and MP3. The first term is the usual BE of the complex/cluster evaluated at the HF level. The second term is the sum of the difference in two-body BE between the correlated and HF levels of theory. This equation was applied to various van der Waals complexes consisting of up-to-four monomers at MP2 and MP2.5 levels of theory. We found that this method is capable of providing precise estimate of the BE and reproducing well the potential energy surface of van der Waals complexes/clusters; the maximum error of the BE is less than 1 kcal/mol and 1% in most cases except for several limited cases. The origins of error in these cases are discussed in detail.     

NO-NSAIDs. Part 3: nitric oxide-releasing prodrugs of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs

In continuation of our efforts to discover novel nitric oxide-releasing non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NO-NSAIDs) as potentially "Safe NSAIDs," we report herein the design, synthesis and evaluation of 21 new NO-NSAIDs of commonly used NSAIDs such as aspirin, diclofenac, naproxen, flurbiprofen, ketoprofen, sulindac, ibuprofen and indomethacin. These prodrugs have NO-releasing disulfide linker attached to a parent NSAID via linkages such as an ester (compounds 9-16), a double ester (compounds 17-24), an imide (compounds 25-30) or an amide (compounds 31-33). Among these NO-NSAIDs, the ester-containing NO-aspirin (9), NO-diclofenac (10), NO-naproxen (11), and the imide-containing NO-aspirin (25), NO-flurbiprofen (27) and NO-ketoprofen (28) have shown promising oral absorption, anti-inflammatory activity and NO-releasing property, and also protected rats from NSAID-induced gastric damage. NO-aspirin compound 25, on further co-evaluation with aspirin at equimolar doses, exhibited comparable dose-dependent pharmacokinetics, inhibition of gastric mucosal prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) synthesis and analgesic properties to those of aspirin, but retained its gastric-sparing properties even after doubling its oral dose. These promising NO-NSAIDs could therefore represent a new class of potentially "Safe NSAIDs" for the treatment of arthritic pain and inflammation.     

Intramolecular hydrogen bonding and cooperative interactions in carbohydrates via the molecular tailoring approach

In spite of many theoretical and experimental attempts for understanding intramolecular hydrogen bonding (H-bonding) in carbohydrates, a direct quantification of individual intramolecular H-bond energies and the cooperativity among the H-bonded networks has not been reported in the literature. The present work attempts, for the first time, a direct estimation of individual intramolecular O-H...O interaction energies in sugar molecules using the recently developed molecular tailoring approach (MTA). The estimated H-bond energies are in the range of 1.2-4.1 kcal mol(-1). It is seen that the OH...O equatorial-equatorial interaction energies lie between 1.8 and 2.5 kcal mol(-1), with axial-equatorial ones being stronger (2.0-3.5 kcal mol(-1)). The strongest bonds are nonvicinal axial-axial H-bonds (3.0-4.1 kcal mol(-1)). This trend in H-bond energies is in agreement with the earlier reports based on the water-water H-bond angle, solvent-accessible surface area (SASA), and (1)H NMR analysis. The contribution to the H-bond energy from the cooperativity is also estimated using MTA. This contribution is seen to be typically between 0.1 and 0.6 kcal mol(-1) when H-bonds are a part of a relatively weak equatorial-equatorial H-bond network and is much higher (0.5-1.1 kcal mol(-1)) when H-bonds participate in an axial-axial H-bond network.     

Volumetric and viscometric study of aqueous binary mixtures of some glycol ethers at T = (275.15 and 283.15) K

The experimental data for the density (ρ) and viscosity (η) are reported for aqueous binary mixtures of different glycol ethers, namely ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (EGMME), ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGMEE), diethylene glycol monomethyl ether (DEGMME), and diethylene glycol monoethyl ether (DEGMEE), at different temperatures (T = 275.15 K and 283.15 K) within the concentration range 0 mol · kg⁻¹ to 0.1 mol · kg⁻¹. The values of density (ρ) and viscosity (η) of the solutions were used to compute different derived parameters, such as apparent molar volume (?_V) of the solute, excess molar volume (V^E) of the solution, viscosity B and D coefficients of solution and temperature coefficient of viscosity B-coefficient (dB/dT) of solution. The limiting apparent molar volume of the solutes () have been obtained for aqueous binary mixtures of these glycol ethers by smooth extrapolation of ?_V–m curves to zero concentration. By using the values of , the limiting excess partial molar volumes () have also been calculated. The results are interpreted in term of various interactions such as solute–solvent interactions and hydrogen bonding.     

Lipid binding to the carotenoid binding site in photosynthetic reaction centers

Lipid binding to the carotenoid binding site near the inactive bacteriochlorophyll monomer was probed in the reaction centers of carotenoid-less mutant, R-26 from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Recently, a marked light-induced change of the local dielectric constant in the vicinity of the inactive bacteriochlorophyll monomer was reported in wild type that was attributed to structural changes that ultimately lengthened the lifetime of the charge-separated state by 3 orders of magnitude (Deshmukh, S. S.; Williams, J. C.; Allen, J. P.; Kalman, L. Biochemistry 2011, 50, 340). Here in the R-26 reaction centers, the combination of light-induced structural changes and lipid binding resulted in a 5 orders of magnitude increase in the lifetime of the charge-separated state involving the oxidized dimer and the reduced primary quinone in proteoliposomes. Only saturated phospholipids with fatty acid chains of 12 and 14 carbon atoms long were bound successfully at 8 °C by cooling the reaction center protein slowly from room temperature. In addition to reporting a dramatic increase of the lifetime of the charge-separated state at physiologically relevant temperatures, this study reveals a novel lipid binding site in photosynthetic reaction center. These results shed light on a new potential application of the reaction center in energy storage as a light-driven biocapacitor since the charges separated by ～30 ? in a low-dielectric medium can be prevented from recombination for hours.     

Selective aziridination of olefinic esters

Summary Oxidation of 3-amino-2-isobutylquinazoline-4-one (2) with lead tetraacetate at –20°C gave N-acetoxyamino-2-isobutylquinazolin-4-one (3), which selectively aziridinated olefinic esters to yield substituted 1-(2-isobutylquinazolin-4-one-3-yl)-aziridine-2-carboxylates5a–q.

---

Selektive Aziridinierung von olefinischen Estern

Zusammenfassung Oxidation von 3-Amino-2-isobutylchinazolin-4-on (2) mit Bleitetraacetat bei –20°C ergab N-Acetoxyamino-2-isobutylchinazolin-4-on (3), welches mit verschiedenen olefinischen Estern selektiv substituierte 1-(2-Isobutylchinazolin-4-on-3-yl)-aziridin-2-carbonsäureester5a–q lieferte.

     

Synthesis of Novel Dibenzo‐18‐crown‐6‐ ether‐Functionalized Benzimidazoles and its Applications in Colorimetric Recognition to Hg2+ and as Antifungal Agents

New crown ether‐functionalized benzimidazoles was designed and synthesized via formylation of dibenzo‐18‐crown‐6 followed by condensation with different o‐phenylene diamines. The complexation properties of crown ether‐functionalized benzimidazoles with various metals (K⁺, Ca²⁺, Ba²⁺, Co²⁺, Hg²⁺) were examined using UV–vis spectroscopy. Hg²⁺ showed a well‐defined peculiar absorption maximum at 366 nm exclusively. All these newly synthesized compounds were screened for antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae, respectively.