Total synthesis of discodermolide: optimization of the effective synthetic route

An efficient and modulable total synthesis of discodermolide (DDM), a unique marine anticancer polyketide is described including related alternative synthetic approaches. Particularly notable is the repeated application of a crotyltitanation reaction to yield homoallylic (Z)-O-ene-carbamate alcohols with excellent selectivity. Advantage was taken of this reaction not only for the stereocontrolled building of the syn-anti methyl-hydroxy-methyl triads of DDM, but also for the direct construction of the terminal (Z)-diene. Of particular interest is also the installation of the C13=C14 (Z)-double bond through a highly selective dyotropic rearrangement. The preparation of the middle C8-C14 fragment in two sequential stages and its coupling to the C1-C7 moiety was a real challenge and required careful optimization. Several synthetic routes were explored to allow high and reliable yields. Due to the flexibility and robust character of this approach, it might enable a systematic structural variation of DDM and, therefore, the elaboration and exploration of novel discodermolide structural analogues.     

Removal of Fluorescein using different iron oxides as adsorbents: effect of pH

In this work the adsorption process of Fluorescein (dye with aril-methane group) as a function of pH on three different adsorbents: goethite, Co-goethite, and magnetite has been studied experimentally and theoretically. FTIR and Raman spectroscopy have been performed in an attempt to confirm the structure of surface complexes formed by sorption of the Fluorescein to different iron oxides. Typical anionic adsorption behaviour was observed for this dye onto goethite and Co-goethite whereas the adsorption level was practically constant in the range of pH studied when the adsorbent was magnetite. The diffuse layer model was employed to fit the experimental results. The surface complexes proposed from the adsorption data were in agreement with the patterns obtained from FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. The surface structure of the oxides affects the adsorption process and the final adsorbed amount at the equilibrium. Our model of diffuse double layer with the addendum of the effect of hydrophobic forces fits well the adsorption data of Fluorescein on iron oxides at different pH in the studied range. At lower pH electrostatic forces by ligand-exchange are predominant. In the range of pH 9-11 hydrophobic forces are managing the Fluorescein adsorption on the iron oxides, with the formation of outer-sphere complexes through van der Waals/hydrophobic forces. It is interesting that in the three iron oxides studied, the adsorbed amount in this range is similar.     

Improving the resolution of neuropeptides in rat brain with on-line HILIC-RP compared to on-line SCX-RP

Our two already established on-line 2-D LC systems, a strong cation exchange-RP chromatography (SCX-RP) system and a hydrophilic interaction LC (HILIC)-RP 2-D LC system, were compared to explore which system is best suited for our further studies of differences in cerebral neuropeptide expression as a function of hypoxia-caused stress. The same mass spectrometer and database search parameters were applied in both systems. In total, 19 first dimension fractions were collected with the novel on-line HILIC-RP system, including a Hypercarb SPE column that was applied to trap the compounds not retained on a Kromasil C18 enrichment column. In contrast, six fractions were collected in the SCX-RP method, due to practical limitations of this traditional on-line 2-D LC system. With the on-line HILIC-RP system three times more peaks were detected. It was observed that most of the compounds eluted in the first two fractions in the SCX-RP method, while in the 2-D HILIC-RP method there seemed to be no correlation between peaks detected and fraction number. Thus, from this systematic study it seems that on-line HILIC-RP chromatography is the method of choice for comparative peptidomics of cerebral neuropeptides in future studies.     

Structure and thermal reactivity of Zn(II) salts of isocinchomeronic acid (2,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid)

The synthesis, an improved refined crystal and molecular structure re-determination, and the thermal decomposition behavior of two Zn(II) derivatives of isocinchomeronic acid (2,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid or H₂2,5-pydc) are presented. [Zn(2,5-pydc)(H₂O)₃Zn(2,5-pydc)(H₂O)₂]₂ (1) crystallizes in the triclinic P-1 space group with a = 7.106(2), b = 11.450(2), c = 11.869(1) Å, α = 107.29(1), β = 104.08(1), γ = 90.32(2)°, and Z = 2. [Zn(2,5-pydc)(H₂O)₂] · H₂O (2) is orthorhombic (P2₁2₁2₁ space group), with a = 7.342(1), b = 9.430(1), c = 13.834(2) Å, and Z = 4. The structures were refined to agreement R ₁-factors of 0.0315 (1) and 0.0336 (2). Complex (1) is arranged as molecular Zn₄(2,5-pydc)₄(H₂O)₁₀ tetramers, the cages of which define channels that remain unblocked by anions. Compound (2) is polymeric with Zn(2,5-pydc)(H₂O)₂ and Zn(2,5-pydc)(H₂O)₃ units linked through bridging ligands. Both compounds were synthesized under mild conditions in aqueous media, without need to resort to hydrothermal media. Changing the pH from 4.51 to 5.75 suffices to direct the chemical processes toward the orthorhombic compound rather than to the triclinic one.     

A Soft Copper(II) Porous Coordination Polymer with Unprecedented Aqua Bridge and Selective Adsorption Properties

Herein, the synthesis, crystal structure, and full characterization of a new soft porous coordination polymer (PCP) of ([Cu₂(dmcapz)₂(OH₂)]DMF_1.5)_n ( 1 ) formulation, which is easily obtained in the reaction of CuX₂ (X=Cl, NO₃) salts with 3,5‐dimethyl‐4‐carboxypyrazole (H₂dmcapz) is present. Compound 1 shows a copper(II) dinuclear secondary building unit (SBU), which is supported by two pyrazolate bridges and an unprecedented H₂O bridge. The dinuclear SBUs are further bridged by the carboxylate ligands to build a diamondoid porous network. The structural transformations taking place in 1 framework upon guest removal/uptake has been studied in detail. Indeed, the removal of the bridging water molecules gives rise to a metastable evacuated phase ( 1 b ) that transforms into an extremely stable porous material ( 1 c ) after freezing at liquid‐nitrogen temperature. The soaking of 1 c into water allows the complete and instantaneous recover of the water‐exchanged material ( 1 a′ ). Remarkably, 1 b and 1 c materials possess structural bistability, which results in the switchable adsorptive functions. Therefore, the gas‐adsorption properties of both materials have been studied by means of single‐component gas adsorption isotherms as well as by variable‐temperature pulse‐gas chromatography. Both materials present permanent porosity and selective gas‐adsorption properties towards a variety of gases and vapors of environmental and industrial interest. Moreover, the flexible nature of the coordination network and the presence of highly active convergent open metal sites confer on these materials intriguing gas‐adsorption properties with guest‐triggered framework‐breathing phenomena being observed. The plasticity of Cu^II metal center and its ability to form stable complexes with different coordination numbers is at the origin of the structural transformations and the selective‐adsorption properties of the studied materials.     

An approach to core–shell nanostructured materials with high colloidal and chemical stability: synthesis, characterization and mechanistic evaluation

Silver–polypyrrole (PPy) core–shell nanoparticles have been fabricated by a facile one-step “green” synthesis using silver nitrate as an oxidant and soluble starch as an environmentally benign stabilizer and co-reducing agent. The morphology and optical properties of the particles were significantly affected by the reaction temperature, soluble starch concentration, and ratio of pyrrole monomer to AgNO₃ oxidant. The core–shell nanoparticles exhibited outstanding dispersive properties in deionized water due to residual starch, as compared with PPy nanoparticles in which starch was absent. The mechanism of core–shell nanoparticle formation was elucidated through TEM imaging vs. reaction time. The colloidal and chemical stability of the nanoparticles was demonstrated in a variety of solvents, including acids, bases, and ionic and organic solvents, through monitoring the localized surface plasmon resonance of the nanoparticles. Furthermore, the catalytic properties of these silver–PPy core–shell nanoparticles were also demonstrated.

Real-time kinetics of surfactant molecule transfer between emulsion particles probed by in situ second harmonic generation spectroscopy

Emulsions are widely used in industrial and environmental remediation applications. The breaking and reformulation of emulsions, which occur during their use, lead to changes in their surface composition as well as their physical and chemical properties. Hence, a fundamental understanding of the transfer of surfactant molecules between emulsion particles is required for optimization of their applications. However, such an understanding remains elusive because of the lack of in situ and real-time surface-specific techniques. To address this, we designed and synthesized the surfactant probe molecules MG-butyl-1 (2) and MG-octyl-1 (3), which contain an n-butyl and an n-octyl chain, respectively, and a charged headgroup similar to that in malachite green (MG, 1). MG is known to be effective in generating second harmonic generation (SHG) signals when adsorbed onto surfaces of colloidal microparticles. Making use of the coherent nature of SHG, we monitored in real-time the transfer of 2 and 3 between oil-in-water emulsion particles with diameters of ~220 nm. We found that 3 is transferred ~600 times slower than 2, suggesting that an increase in the hydrophobic chain length decreases the transfer rate. Our results show that SHG combined with molecular design and synthesis of surfactant probe molecules can be used to measure the rate of surfactant transfer between emulsion particles. This method provides an experimental framework for examining the factors controlling the kinetics of surfactant transfer between emulsion particles, which cannot be readily investigated in situ and in real-time using conventional methods.     

Computational study of noncovalent complexes between formamide and formic acid

The geometries and binding energies of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4 formic acid-formamide complexes (FA-FMA) are calculated by quantum chemical procedures. Vibrational spectra and intermolecular distances of the most stable FA-FMA dimers as well as the influence of the basis set superposition error (BSSE) on the geometries and energies of the dimers are also discussed. All FA-FMA dimers are optimized at the B3LYP/cc-pVTZ, the MP2/cc-pVDZ, aug-cc-pVDZ, cc-pVTZ, and aug-cc-pVTZ levels of theory to study the influence of the level of theory on the calculated geometries and energies. CCSD(T)/cc-pVTZ single-point calculations at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ-optimized geometries were performed as reference for estimating the quality of lower level calculations. These calculations allow us to qualitatively describe the competition between different types of hydrogen-bonding interactions in FA-FMA complexes. FA-FMA dimers are compared to other formamide complexes and to the FA-FMA crystal structure.     

Synthesis of alpha-onoceradiene-like terpene dimers by intermolecular metathesis processes

[reaction: see text] New alpha-onoceradiene analogues having a terpene homodimer skeleton are accessible from Weinreb's amide 2 derived from commercial (R)-(+)-sclareolide using an intermolecular metathesis reaction as the key step to build the linker joining both terpene moieties.     

QM/MM study of the absorption spectra of DsRed.M1 chromophores

We report geometries and vertical excitation energies for the red and green chromophores of the DsRed.M1 protein in the gas phase and in the solvated protein environment. Geometries are optimized using density functional theory (DFT, B3LYP functional) for the isolated chromophores and combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods for the protein (B3LYP/MM). Vertical excitation energies are computed using DFT/MRCI, OM2/MRCI, and TDDFT as QM methods. In the case of the red chromophore, there is a general blue shift in the excitation energies when going from the isolated chromophore to the protein, which is caused both by structural changes and by electrostatic interactions with the environment. For the lowest ππ* transition, these two factors contribute to a similar extent to the overall DFT/MRCI shift of 0.4 eV. An enlargement of the QM region to include active‐site residues does not change the DFT/MRCI excitation energies much. The DFT/MRCI results are closest to experiment for both chromophores. OM2/MRCI and TDDFT overestimate the first vertical excitation energy by 0.3–0.5 and 0.2–0.4 eV, respectively, relative to the experimental or DFT/MRCI values. The experimental gap of 0.35 eV between the lowest ππ* excitation energies of the red (cis‐acylimine) and green (trans‐peptide) forms is well reproduced by DFT/MRCI and TDDFT (0.32 and 0.37 eV, respectively). A histogram spectrum for an equal mixture of the two forms, generated by OM2/MRCI calculations on 450 snapshots along molecular dynamics trajectories, matches the experimental spectrum quite well, with a gap of 0.23 eV and an overall blue shift of about 0.3 eV. DFT/MRCI appears as an attractive choice for calculating excitation energies in fluorescent proteins, without the shortcomings of TDDFT and computationally more affordable than CASSCF‐based approaches. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010