Synthesis of vinca alkaloids and related compounds. Part 108: Efficient convergent synthetic pathway to the ibophyllidine skeleton IV. First synthesis of (±)-18-hydroxy-20-epiibophyllidine

The first total synthesis of the pentacyclic alkaloid (±)-18-hydroxy-20-epiibophyllidine was realized via an efficient preparation of the d-seco-pseudoaspidospermane molecule. The key step of the sequence involves an intramolecular [4+2] cycloaddition reaction of the dihydrosecodine intermediate, which was built up from the reaction of a tryptamine derivative with an aldehyde-ester. After full epimerization, the intramolecular N-alkylation of the tetracyclic ester gave the pentacyclic compound. Reduction of the latter molecule led to the title compound.     

Moment functions and exponential monomials on commutative hypergroups

Aequationes mathematicae - The purpose of this paper is to prove that if on a commutative hypergroup an exponential monomial has the property that the linear subspace of all sine functions in its...     

Maximal Controllability for Boundary Control Problems

We develop a semigroup approach to abstract boundary control problems which allows to characterize the space of all approximately reachable states. We then introduce the “maximal reachability space” giving an upper bound for this space. The abstract results are applied to the flow in a network controlled in a single vertex.     

Exploring Ovarian Cancer Cell Resistance to Rhenium Anticancer Complexes

Rhenium tricarbonyl complexes have been recently investigated as novel anticancer agents. However, little is understood about their mechanisms of action, as well as the means by which cancer cells respond to chronic exposure to these compounds. To gain a deeper mechanistic insight into these rhenium anticancer agents, we developed and characterized an ovarian cancer cell line that is resistant to a previously studied compound [Re(CO)₃(dmphen)(ptolICN)]⁺, where dmphen=2,9‐dimethyl‐1,10‐phenanthroline and ptolICN=para‐tolyl isonitrile, called TRIP. This TRIP‐resistant ovarian cancer cell line, A2780TR, was found to be 9 times less sensitive to TRIP compared to the wild‐type A2780 ovarian cancer cell line. Furthermore, the cytotoxicities of established drugs and other rhenium anticancer agents in the TRIP‐resistant cell line were determined. Notably, the drug taxol was found to exhibit a 184‐fold decrease in activity in the A2780TR cell line, suggesting that mechanisms of resistance towards TRIP and this drug are similar. Accordingly, expression levels of the ATP‐binding cassette transporter P‐glycoprotein, an efflux transporter known to detoxify taxol, were found to be elevated in the A2780TR cell line. Additionally, a gene expression analysis using the National Cancer Institute 60 cell line panel identified the MT1E gene to be overexpressed in cells that are less sensitive to TRIP. Because this gene encodes for metallothioneins, this result suggests that detoxification by this class of proteins is another mechanism for resistance to TRIP. The importance of this gene in the A2780TR cell line was assessed, confirming that its expression is elevated in this cell line as well. As the first study to investigate and identify the cancer cell resistance pathways in response to a rhenium complex, this report highlights important similarities and differences in the resistance responses of ovarian cancer cells to TRIP and conventional drugs.     

Glucose‐ and Cellulose‐Derived Ni/C‐SO3H Catalysts for Liquid Phase Phenol Hydrodeoxygenation

Sulfonated carbons were explored as functionalized supports for Ni nanoparticles to hydrodeoxygenate (HDO) phenol. Both hexadecane and water were used as solvents. The dual‐functional Ni catalysts supported on sulfonated carbon (Ni/C‐SO₃H) showed high rates for phenol hydrodeoxygenation in liquid hexadecane, but not in water. Glucose and cellulose were precursors to the carbon supports. Changes in the carbons resulting from sulfonation of the carbons resulted in variations of carbon sheet structures, morphologies and the surface concentrations of acid sites. While the C‐SO₃H supports were active for cyclohexanol dehydration in hexadecane and water, Ni/C‐SO₃H only catalysed the reduction of phenol to cyclohexanol in water. The state of 3–5 nm grafted Ni particles was analysed by in situ X‐ray absorption spectroscopy. The results show that the metallic Ni was rapidly formed in situ without detectable leaching to the aqueous phase, suggesting that just the acid functions on Ni/C‐SO₃H are inhibited in the presence of water. Using in situ IR spectroscopy, it was shown that even in hexadecane, phenol HDO is limited by the dehydration step. Thus, phenol HDO catalysis was further improved by physically admixing C‐SO₃H with the Ni/C‐SO₃H catalyst to balance the two catalytic functions. The minimum addition of 7 wt % C‐SO₃H to the most active of the Ni/C‐SO₃H catalysts enabled nearly quantitative conversion of phenol and the highest selectivity (90 %) towards cyclohexane in 6 h, at temperatures as low as 473 K, suggesting that the proximity to Ni limits the acid properties of the support.     

Analysis of dexamethasone and prednisolone residues in bovine milk using matrix solid phase dispersion-liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

Dexamethasone and prednisolone are synthetic glucocorticoids, commonly used in veterinary practice for the treatment of illnesses such as respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. They are also used illicitly as growth promoters, which practice is banned in the European Union and the therapeutic use is restricted by establishing maximum residue limits (MRLs) 0.3-2 μg kg^− 1 for dexamethasone and 4-10 μg kg^− 1 for prednisolone depending on the tissue type.Matrix solid phase dispersion (MSPD)-liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection method was developed for the residue analyses of dexamethasone and prednisolone, validated according to European Directive requirements and tested on bovine milk derived from treated animals. MSPD offers extraction, clean-up and concentration in one step, making sample preparation easier and faster. Validation results and results of milk samples derived from treated animals proved, that the presented method can be applied to the determination of dexamethasone and prednisolone residues in cow's milk samples with a detection limit of 0.075 μg kg^− 1 for dexamethasone and 0.50 μg kg^− 1 for prednisolone.     

Photocatalytic Crystalline and Amorphous TiO2 Nanotubes Prepared by Electrospinning and Atomic Layer Deposition

In this work core/shell composite polymer/TiO₂ nanofibers and from those TiO₂ nanotubes were prepared. First, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) fibers were synthetized by electrospinning. They were covered with a 100 nm thick amorphous TiO₂ layer by atomic layer deposition at 50 °C. Later the polymer core was removed by two different methods: dissolution and annealing. In the case of dissolution in water, the as-prepared TiO₂ nanotubes remained amorphous, while when annealing was used to remove the polymers, the TiO₂ crystallized in anatase form. Due to this, the properties of amorphous and crystalline TiO₂ nanotubes with exactly the same structure and morphology could be compared. The samples were investigated by SEM-EDX, ATR-IR, UV-Vis, XRD and TG/DTA-MS. Finally, the photocatalytic properties of the TiO₂ nanotubes were studied by decomposing methyl-orange dye under UV light. According to the results, crystalline anatase TiO₂ nanotubes reached the photocatalytic performance of P25, while amorphous TiO₂ nanotubes had observable photocatalytic activity.     

Evaluation of the H2)dedpa scaffold and its cRGDyK conjugates for labeling with 64Cu

Studies of the acyclic ligand scaffold H(2)dedpa and its derivatives with the peptide cRGDyK for application in copper radiopharmaceuticals are described. Previously shown to be a superb ligand for (67/68)Ga, the chelate is now shown to coordinate (64)Cu in its derivatized and nonderivatized forms rapidly under mild reaction conditions (10 min, RT, pH 5.5 10 mM sodium acetate buffered solution). The hexadentate, distorted octahedral coordination of H(2)dedpa is confirmed in the corresponding solid state X-ray crystal structure of [Cu(dedpa)]. Cyclic voltammetry determined the reduction potential of [Cu(dedpa)] to be below values found for common bioreductants. Reduction and reoxidation were irreversible but reproducible, indicating a potential change of coordination mode upon reduction of Cu(II) to Cu(I). The thermodynamic stability constant log K(CuL) was determined to be 19.16(5), comparable to other frequently used (64)Cu chelates. Serum stability of the (64)Cu labeled chelate revealed only 3% transchelation/association to serum proteins after 2 h, while the conjugates reveal 10% ([Cu(RGD1)]) and 6% ([Cu(RGD2)]) transchelation at the same time point.