The synthesis and properties of new carbohydrate‐modified mesoionic thiazolo[3,2‐α]pyrimidine‐5,7‐dione acyclonucleosides

The synthesis of the first examples of Class II mesoionic thiazolopyrimidine acyclonucleosides (MTA) incorporating the 2,3‐dihydroxypropyl moiety as the sugar simulator is described. First, 2‐bromothiazole was reacted with excess 1‐amino‐2,3‐propanediol acetonide via an aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction to yield 1‐(2‐thiazolylamino)‐2,3‐propanediol acetonide. This acetonide intermediate was condensed at 160° with substituted bis(2,4,6‐trichlorophenyl) malonic esters to form a series of protected acyclonucleosides termed anhydro‐(8‐((2,2‐dimethyl‐1,3‐dioxolan‐4‐yl)methyl)‐5‐hydroxy‐7‐oxothiazolo[3,2‐a]pyrimi‐dinium hydroxides) which differ in their 6‐position substituent. Deprotection of these acyclonucleosides using p‐toluenesulfonic acid catalyst in methanol at 65° yielded the desired Class II MTA, anhydro‐(8‐(2,3‐dihydroxypropyl)‐5‐hydroxy‐7‐oxothiazolo[3,2‐a]pyrimidinium hydroxides).     

Synthesis of new o-alkyl substituted arylalkylphosphanes: study of their molecular structure and influence on rhodium-catalyzed propene and 1-hexene hydroformylation

A set of new phosphane ligands designed to increase the branched-to-normal ratio of the hydroformylation reaction were prepared in the same way as the previously reported ortho-alkyl substituted arylphosphanes, which have shown increased i/n ratios in the hydroformylation of propene and 1-hexene. In order to determine the relationship between the catalytic behavior and stereoelectronic properties of the ligands, various functional alkyl groups (methyl, isopropyl, cyclohexyl) were placed on the phosphorus atom directly and in the ortho position of the phenyl ring connected to phosphorus. In the hydroformylation reaction of propene and 1-hexene a higher i/n ratio resulted with nearly all the ligands compared with that of triphenylphosphane. Additionally as the ortho-alkyl-substituent became larger, it had a favorable effect on the i-selectivity. Characterization of the ligands was carried out by NMR spectroscopy (mainly ¹H, ³¹P{¹H}, ¹³C{¹H}, HSQC/HETCOR and COSY-90). Properties of the ligands were also studied by quantum mechanical calculations and by synthesizing three Rh(acac)(CO)(PR₃) derivatives. The o-alkyl-substituent was orientated outside the ligands’ cone angle in the X-ray crystal structures of (2-cyclohexylphenyl)dicyclohexylphosphane and (2,5-dimethylphenyl)bis(4-pyridyl)phosphane, and Rh(acac)(CO)(PR₃) complex of (2-methylphenyl)dicyclohexylphosphane.     

Photochemistry of Water-soluble Quinones. Production of a Water-derived Spin Adduct

Abstract— The photolyses of phosphate-buffered (pH 7) air- and nitrogen-saturated solutions containing the water-soluble quinones, 1,4-benzoquinone (BQ), 2-methyl-l,4-ben-zoquinone (MBQ), sodium 1,4-naphthoquinones-sulfonate (NQ2S), 9,10-anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQ2S) or 9,10-anthraquinone-l,5-disulfonate (AQDS), and the spin trap 5,5-dimethylpyrroline-l-oxide (DMPO) produce a DMPO-OH adduct. Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of the photolyzed samples in ₁₇0-enriched water demonstrates that this adduct derives almost exclusively from water. With the exception of BQ, quantum yields for the formation of DMPO-OH are larger in air than in nitrogen-saturated samples, thus supporting the idea of the formation of air-oxidized intermediates that enhance the DMPO hydroxylation reaction rate. Evidence has been obtained which suggests that BQ and MBQ, but not AQDS, are able to photoox-idize water, with the consequent production of the free OH radical.     

Isoelectric point separation of proteins by capillary pH-gradient ion-exchange chromatography

In the present work, isoelectric point (pl) separation of proteins by pH-gradient ion-exchange chromatography (IEC) on packed capillary columns is demonstrated. The development of a miniaturized flow-through pH probe for reliable pH monitoring of the column effluent, which was an important technical challenge for adapting this technique to capillary dimensions, was solved by designing a low microliter per minute flow rate housing to a commercially available micro pH probe. Highly linear outlet pH-gradients within the pH range 8.5-4.0 were obtained when applying simple inexpensive buffers consisting solely of piperazine, N-methylpiperazine and imidazole on 10 cm x 0.32 mm i.d. fused silica capillaries packed with anion-exchange poly(styrene divinylbenzene)-based macroporous materials, i.e. 10 microm Mono P from Amersham Biosciences and 10 microm PL-SAX from PolymerLabs. Furthermore, when using a pH-gradient from 6.8 to 4.3, both columns were able to baseline separate the A and B genetic variants of beta-lactoglobulin, which differ with two amino acid residues only, but the PL-SAX column provided almost a two-fold decrease in peak widths compared to the Mono P column. The influence of varying the buffer concentration, injection volume and column temperature on the peak widths and resolution of the beta-lactoglobulins was investigated, e.g. a 100 microl sample of dilute beta-lactoglobulins was injected directly on the column with practically no increase in peak width as compared to what obtained with conventional injection volumes. Finally, a pH-gradient from 6.8 to 4.3 was used to separate proteins in skimmed bovine milk on the PL-SAX column. The milk was simply diluted 1:10 (v/v) with water and filtrated before injection.     

Natural (5-oxoheptene-1E,3E-dienyl)-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one: total synthesis and revision of its absolute configuration

The synthesis of (5^′-oxoheptene-1^′E,3^′E-dienyl)-5,6-dihydro-2H-pyran-2-one has been performed in seven steps using four key steps: a ring-closing metathesis reaction to build up the unsaturated lactone, a Wittig reaction to control the C6-C7 (E) double bond, a cross-metathesis reaction to control the (E) double bond at C8-C9, and an enantioselective allyltitanation to control the absolute configuration at C5. Spectroscopic data (IR, MS, ¹H, and ¹³C NMR) were identical to those of the natural compound except for the optical rotation, which led us to re-assign the absolute configuration of the natural product.     

Determination of benzo[a]pyrene tetrols by column-switching capillary liquid chromatography with fluorescence and micro-electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detection

The present work displays capillary liquid chromatographic column switching methodology tailored for determination of benzo[a]pyrene tetrol isomers in biological matrices using on-line fluorescence and micro-electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detection. A well-established off-line crude solid phase extraction procedure was used in order to make the method compatible with several biological matrices. The solid phase extraction eluates were evaporated to dryness, redissolved in 1.0 ml methanol:water (10:90, v/v), loaded onto a 0.32 mm I.D. x 40 mm 5 microm Kromasil C(18) pre-column for analyte enrichment and back-flushed elution onto a 0.30 mm I.D. x 150 mm 3.5 microm Kromasil C(18) analytical column. The samples were loaded with a flow rate of 50 microl min(-1) and the tetrols were separated at a flow rate of 4 microl min(-1) with an acetonitrile:10 mM ammonium acetate gradient from 10 to 90%. A sample loading flow rate up to 50 microl min(-1) was allowed. The fluorescence excitation and emission were set to 342 and 385 nm, respectively, while mass spectrometric detection of the benzo[a]pyrene tetrols was obtained by monitoring their [M - H](-) molecular ions at m/z 319. The method was validated over the concentration range 0.1-50 ng ml(-1) benzo[a]pyrene tetrols in a cell culture medium with 100 microl injection volume, fluorescence detection and the first eluting tetrol isomer as model compound, resulting in a correlation coefficient of 0.993. The within-assay (n= 6) and between-assay (n= 6) precisions were determined to 2.6-8.6% and 3.8-9.6%, respectively, and the recoveries were determined to 97.9-102.4% within the investigated concentration range. The mass limit of detection (by fluorescence) was 3 pg for all the tetrol isomers, corresponding to a concentration limit of detection of 30 pg ml(-1) cell culture medium. The corresponding mass spectrometric mass limits of detection were 4-10 pg, corresponding to concentration limits of detection of 40-100 pg ml(-1) cell culture medium.     

2D LC Separation and Determination of Bradykinin in Rat Muscle Tissue Dialysate with On-Line SPE-HILIC-SPE-RP-MS

A 2D liquid chromatography (LC) system using hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) and reversed phase columns has been employed for comprehensive (LC × LC) separation of rat muscle tissue micro-dialysate. Incorporation of an on-line reverse-phase solid phase extraction (SPE) enrichment column in front of the first dimension enabled aqueous samples with high salt concentrations to be injected directly without compromising the chromatographic performance of the HILIC column. Since the SPE enrichment column allowed injection of large sample volumes (e.g. 450 μL), a capillary HILIC column (inner diameter 0.3 mm) could be employed instead of a larger column which is often used in the first dimension to load sufficient amounts of sample. The two chromatographic dimensions were connected using a column selector system with 18, 1.0 mm I.D. C₁₈ “transition” SPE columns. A PLRP C₁₈ column was used in the second dimension. The 2D LC system’s performance was evaluated with a tryptic digest mixture of three model proteins. Good trapping accuracy (HILIC→transition SPE→RP recovery >95%) and repeatability (within-and between day retention time RSDs of first and second dimension chromatography >1%) was achieved. A dialysis sample of rat muscle tissue was separated with the 2D system, revealing complexity and large differences in concentrations of the various compounds present, factors which could potentially interfere with the quantification and monitoring of two target analytes, arg-bradykinin and bradykinin. Subsequently, “Heart-cut” 2D LC-electrospray–mass spectrometry (ESI–MS) with post-column on-line standard injection was employed to monitor arg-bradykinin and bradykinin levels as a function of various muscle conditions. The method’s quantification precision was RSD = 3.4% for bradykinin.     

Recent Developments in the Chiral Brønsted Acid‐catalyzed Allylboration Reaction with Polyfunctionalized Substrates

Asymmetric allylboration has played a central role in organic synthesis ever since the pioneering work by Hoffman and Brown, having found applications in the total synthesis of many natural products. A new dawn for this 40 year‐old reaction occurred with the beginning of the new century when the first catalytic asymmetric methods came into play. In less than one decade, several methodologies, able to achieve the desired homoallylic alcohols with ee ranges in the high 90s, were developed. Among them, in the present account, we will disclose our contribution to the development of the chiral binolphosphoric‐derived Brønsted acid‐catalyzed allylboration of aldehydes originally reported by Antilla in 2010. Our contribution to this field lies in its application to polyfunctionalized systems, both on the aldehyde and the allylboronate in question, which enables the rapid construction of molecular diversity and complexity. Parts of the work described herein have been carried out in collaboration with the groups of Profs. Akiyama and Houk.

     

On-Line multitasking analytical proteomics: how to separate, reduce, alkylate and digest whole proteins in an on-Line multidimensional chromatography system coupled to MS

An on-Line multidimensional system has been developed, consisting of pH gradient strong anion exchange chromatography of native proteins in the first dimension with subsequent trapping and on-column reduction/alkylation on C4 trap columns and RP separation of the alkylated proteins in the second dimension followed by on-column tryptic digestion and electrospray MS detection. The system was evaluated using model proteins and a human urine sample. Compared to the commonly used in-solution alkylation method, the developed on-column method provides an equivalent efficiency. The recovery from the C4 trap columns of the alkylated proteins relative to the native state was from 94 to 102%. On-column tryptic digestion was satisfactory for many, but not for all proteins. The whole analytical procedure was performed on-Line with packed capillary columns for a total time of 320 min for the first ion exchange fraction, with additional 60 min for each subsequent fraction.     

Sensitive determination of a glyoxal-DNA adduct biomarker candidate by column switching capillary liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

A method based on column switching packed capillary liquid chromatography electrospray mass spectrometry has been developed for the determination of the adduct glyoxal-deoxyguanosine, a biomarker candidate for the assessment of glyoxal exposure, in DNA hydrolysate solutions. Microgram amounts of DNA were isolated and enzymatically hydrolyzed to deoxyribonucleosides, prior to ultrafiltration and subsequent dilution to a sample solution consisting of water-acetonitrile-formic acid (98 : 2 : 0.2, v/v). The sample solution was loaded onto a 1 mm I.D. x 5 mm Hypercarb (5 mum) porous graphitic carbon trap column for analyte enrichment using an injection volume of 200 mul, and was subsequently back-flushed onto a 0.30 mm I.D. x 150 mm Lichrospher diol (5 mum) analytical column. The samples were loaded with a flow rate of 40 mul min(-1) and glyoxal-deoxyguanosine was desorbed from the trap column and eluted with an isocratic mobile phase consisting of water-acetonitrile-formic acid (50 : 50 : 0.2, v/v) at a flow rate of 5 mul min(-1). Mass spectrometric determination of glyoxal-deoxyguanosine was obtained by multiple reaction monitoring of the transition [M + H](+)m/z 326 --> m/z 210. The method was evaluated over the concentration range 0.25-50 ng ml(-1) of glyoxal-deoxyguanosine in the hydrolysate of 5 mug DNA. The method was linear with a correlation coefficient of 0.9998 in this range. The within-day (n = 6) and between-day (n = 6) precisions were determined as 1.2-11% and 1.4-11% RSD, respectively, and the recovery was close to 100%. The mass limit of detection was 15 pg, corresponding to a concentration limit of detection of 75 fg mul(-1) DNA hydrolysate solution, corresponding to 48 adducts per 10(6) normal nucleosides. The method was applied for the determination of glyoxal-deoxyguanosine in DNA hydrolysate solutions of calf thymus DNA and cell cultures after reaction or incubation with glyoxal.