Easy preparation of the tris(2-fluoro-6-pyridylmethyl)amine ligand and instantaneous reaction of the corresponding dichloroferrous complex with molecular dioxygen: new access to dinuclear species

The tris(2-fluoro-6-pyridylmethyl)amine ligand, F3TPA, can easily be prepared by reaction of 2-fluoro-6-bromomethylpyridine with NH4Cl in the presence of NaOH. Complexation to FeCl2 affords the high-spin F3TPAFe(II)Cl2 complex, the X-ray structure of which is reported. The three fluorine substituents provide enough steric hindrance to force the tripod to coordinate in the tridentate mode, affording a trigonal bipyramidal iron center. This complex is thermally stable, and it reacts instantaneously with molecular dioxygen to afford the unsymmetrical micro-oxo dimer F3TPAFe(III)ClOFe(III)Cl3 as the major product, together with small amounts of the mixed salt [F3TPAFe(II)Cl]2, [Fe(III)2OCl6]. These two complexes have been isolated and characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis. A mechanism by which they are obtained is suggested and seems to parallel the well-known process of autoxidation of ferrous porphyrins.     

Plate coating: influence of concentrated surfactants on the film thickness

We present a large range of experimental data concerning the influence of surfactants on the well-known Landau-Levich-Derjaguin experiment where a liquid film is generated by pulling a plate out of a bath. The thickness h of the film was measured as a function of the pulling velocity V for different kinds of surfactants (C(12)E(6), which is a nonionic surfactant, and DeTAB and DTAB, which are ionic) and at various concentrations near and above the critical micellar concentration (cmc). We report the thickening factor α = h/h(LLD), where h(LLD) is the film thickness obtained without a surfactant effect, i.e., as for a pure fluid but with the same viscosity and surface tension as the surfactant solution, over a wide range of capillary numbers (Ca = ηV/γ, with η being the surfactant solution viscosity and γ its surface tension) and identify three regimes: (i) at small Ca α is large due to confinement and surface elasticity (or Marangoni) effects, (ii) for increasing Ca there is an intermediate regime where α decreases as Ca increases, and (iii) at larger (but still small) Ca α is slightly higher than unity due to surface viscosity effects. In the case of nonionic surfactants, the second regime begins at a fixed Ca, independent of the surfactant concentration, while for ionic surfactants the transition depends on the concentration, which we suggest is probably due to the existence of an electrostatic barrier to surface adsorption. Control of the physical chemistry at the interface allowed us to elucidate the nature of the three regimes in terms of surface rheological properties.     

An unprecedented switching of the second-order nonlinear optical response in aggregate bis(salicylaldiminato)zinc(II) Schiff-base complexes

A luminescent bis(salicylaldiminato)zinc(II) Schiff-base complex, 1, is characterized by a concentration dependent second-order nonlinear optical response, related to the degree of aggregation of the complex in a dichloromethane solution. The formation of the monomeric adduct, by addition of a Lewis base, such as pyridine, to concentrated solutions of 1, leads to a switch-on of the quadratic hyperpolarizability. This represents an unprecedented mode of NLO switching in molecular materials.     

Synthesis of a new family of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates, analogues of TPases transition states

A 6-step procedure was developed for the synthesis of a new family of acyclic nucleoside phosphonates (ANPs), "PHEEPA" [(2-pyrimidinyl-2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethyl)phosphonic acids] in overall yields ranging from 4.5% to 32%. These compounds, which possess on one side a hydroxy function and on the other side a phosphonate group, can be considered either as potential antiviral agents or as transition state analogues of nucleoside phosphorylases such as thymidine phosphorylase.     

Nature and structure of aluminum surface sites grafted on silica from a combination of high-field aluminum-27 solid-state NMR spectroscopy and first-principles calculations

The determination of the nature and structure of surface sites after chemical modification of large surface area oxides such as silica is a key point for many applications and challenging from a spectroscopic point of view. This has been, for instance, a long-standing problem for silica reacted with alkylaluminum compounds, a system typically studied as a model for a supported methylaluminoxane and aluminum cocatalyst. While (27)Al solid-state NMR spectroscopy would be a method of choice, it has been difficult to apply this technique because of large quadrupolar broadenings. Here, from a combined use of the highest stable field NMR instruments (17.6, 20.0, and 23.5 T) and ultrafast magic angle spinning (>60 kHz), high-quality spectra were obtained, allowing isotropic chemical shifts, quadrupolar couplings, and asymmetric parameters to be extracted. Combined with first-principles calculations, these NMR signatures were then assigned to actual structures of surface aluminum sites. For silica (here SBA-15) reacted with triethylaluminum, the surface sites are in fact mainly dinuclear Al species, grafted on the silica surface via either two terminal or two bridging siloxy ligands. Tetrahedral sites, resulting from the incorporation of Al inside the silica matrix, are also seen as minor species. No evidence for putative tri-coordinated Al atoms has been found.     

Determination of aminothiols by liquid chromatography with amperometric detection at a silver electrode: Application to white wines

Liquid chromatography coupled to a silver electrode based flow-through amperometric detector (LC-EC-Ag) was developed for the determination of aminothiols in white wines. The C18 reversed phase LC system operated in the isocratic mode at 0.7 mL min⁻¹ and used an acidic mobile phase composed of formic acid, EDTA, sodium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, and methanol 1% (v/v) at pH 4.5. The working electrode operated at 0.08 V vs Ag/AgCl, 3 M KCl and its manual cleaning was realized once a month by smoothing on a polishing cloth. The analyzed aminothiols were resolved and eluted within 4 min, and all standard curves were linear in the range 2 × 10⁻⁷–2 × 10⁻⁵ M. The analyzed wine samples needed no preparation other than dilution with the mobile phase. The concentration of cysteine (CYS), homocysteine (HCYS), glutathione (GSH) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in bottled white wines, determined by the method of standard addition, was found to be in the low μM range (0.2–2 mg L⁻¹) depending on the wine type and its age.     

Nouvelle Classe de Sucres a Liaison Osidique Stabilisee : 1-Desoxy-1,1,1-trifluoro-pent(hex)-2-uloses; Obtention de Quelques Derives

Abstract

L'hydrolyse acide des acétals et en particulier des osides fait intervenir un carbocation intermédiaire stabilisé par l'oxygène voisin; un substituant électroattracteur en α de l'atome d'oxygène ou de carbone d'un tel cation déstabilise cedernier et rend l'hydrolyse des acétals plus difficile. C'est ainsi que pour un 2-méthoxy-tétrahydropyrane, le remplacement en C-6 d'un groupement CH₂OH par CO₂Et¹ provoque une diminution de la vitesse d'hydrolyse d'un facteur de 200. Il est également bien connu que les 2-désoxy glycosides sont hydrolysés bien plus rapidement que leurs analogues 2-hydroxylés. Le même résultat est obtenu avec un atome d'halogène; c'est ainsi que Horton et coll.² en introduisant un atome d'iode en position 2′ d'analogues de la daunorubicine et de l'adriamycine ont pu augmenter leur efficacité in vivo. Compte tenu de la taille réduite de l'atome de fluor qui modifie peu l'encombrement de la molécule, plusieurs travaux ont été consacrés à l'introduction d'un fluor en position 2 d'osides pour ralentir leur vitesse d'hydrolyse in vivo. ^3-5 Cette même démarche a conduit d'autres auteurs à synthétiser des 2,2-difluorosucres.⁶ On pouvait donc envisager de remplacer l'hydrogène en C-1 de certains sucres par un groupement trifluorométhyle pour obtenir ainsi une nouvelle classe d'osides, dont la liaison osidique serait très stabilisée, ce qui devrait accroître leur durée de vie in vivo; on sait en effet ⁷ que les acétals de trifluorométhylcétones sont très difficiles à hydrolyser. Nous avons récemment décrit⁸ l'obtention des composés 1 et 9 et, on pouvait envisager de substituer l'hydroxyle anomérique de tels 2-uloses par divers nucléophiles. Les substitution nucléophiles en α d'un groupe CF₃ sont difficiles^9,10 et font en général intervenir un carbocation du type CF₃-C⁺R¹-XR² stabilisé par un hétéroatome X(O, S)^11-15 ou par un phényle.⁹ Ce carbocation est formé dans quelques cas par voie électrochimique,^14-15 mais, dans la plupart des travaux, il résulte soit de la rupture d'une liaison CR¹-Y assistée par un acide de Lewis soit de la solvolyse de cette liaison.⁹ Pour éviter l'emploi d'un acide de Lewis incompatible avec des groupes protecteurs acido-sensibles, nous avons mésylé l'hydroxyle anomérique pour obtenir un meilleur groupe partant. Nous décrivons dans cette note les résultats préliminaires obtenus principalement par action de divers nucléophiles sur ces mésylates.     

Stereoselective Cycloaddition of Monosubstituted Ketene to a Methyl Glyoxylate- and Threonine-Derived Imine: Synthesis of Optically Pure β-Lactamic α-Amino Ester with High Functionality

The reaction of chloroacetyl chloride and triethylamine with a chiral imine derived from the combination of methyl glyoxylate and protected L-threonine gave two optically active α-amino acid derivatives with a cis-substituted β-lactam skeleton in a 72:28 ratio. The major product is obtained in 59% yield by simple crystallisation.     

Synthesis of a New C-15 Phosphorus Ylide Used for the Preparation of Some β-End-Group Retinoid Derivatives

A synthesis of a new C-15 phosphorus ylide from a C-14 enaminone is reported. This reagent, which undergoes selective 1,2- or 1,4-additions with saturated and unsaturated aldehydes, may find some synthetic use for the preparation of β-end-group retinoid derivatives.     

Reversible Control over Molecular Recognition in Surface‐Bound Photoswitchable Hydrogen‐Bonding Receptors: Towards Read–Write–Erase Molecular Printboards

The synthesis of an anthracene‐bearing photoactive barbituric acid receptor and its subsequent grafting onto azide‐terminated alkanethiol/Au self‐assembled monolayers by using an Cu^I‐catalyzed azide–alkyne reaction is reported. Monolayer characterization using contact‐angle measurements, electrochemistry, and spectroscopic ellipsometry indicate that the monolayer conversion is fast and complete. Irradiation of the receptor leads to photodimerization of the anthracenes, which induces the open‐to‐closed gating of the receptor by blocking access to the binding site. The process is thermally reversible, and polarization‐modulated IR reflection–absorption spectroscopy indicates that photochemical closure and thermal opening of the surface‐bound receptors occur in 70 and 100 % conversion, respectively. Affinity of the open and closed surface‐bound receptor was characterized by using force spectroscopy with a barbituric‐acid‐modified atomic force microscope tip.