Rhodium-catalyzed organothio exchange reaction of α-organothioketones with disulfides

RhH(PPh(3))(4) and 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) catalyzed the organothio exchange reaction of α-organothioketones and organic disulfides. The reaction was affected by the structure of the substrate: α-phenylthio and α-alkylthio aryl ketones reacted effectively with diaryl and dialkyl disulfides; α-phenylthio dialkyl ketones reacted with diaryl disulfides but not with dialkyl disulfides; diaryl disulfides with electron-donating p-substituents were more reactive than those with electron-withdrawing p-substituents.     

Stereocontrolled synthesis of carbocyclic compounds with a quaternary carbon atom based on SN2' alkylation of γ,δ-epoxy-α,β-unsaturated ketones

We developed a new method for stereoselective construction of an all-carbon quaternary stereogenic center on a carbocyclic ring based on regio- and stereoselective S(N)2' alkylation reactions of γ,δ-epoxy-α,β-unsaturated cyclic ketones. Treatment of the ketones, which were readily prepared in enantiomerically pure form by means of aldol condensations between 3-ethoxy-2-cycloalkenones and α,β-epoxy aldehydes, with a R(2)Zn-CuCN reagent afforded anti-S(N)2' products stereoselectively. Conversely, the corresponding syn-S(N)2' products were stereoselectively obtained through two-step transformations of the same γ,δ-epoxy-α,β-unsaturated cyclic ketones: (1) conversion of the epoxide moiety to a chlorohydrin by treatment with MgCl(2) and (2) subsequent S(N)2' substitution of the chlorohydrin with a R(2)Zn-CuCN reagent. These substitution products with their chiral trans-allylic alcohol moieties are promising precursors for complex molecules. For example, Eschenmoser-Claisen rearrangement of one of the substitution products resulted in stereoselective formation of a keto amide having contiguous quaternary and tertiary stereogenic centers.     

(Nitronyl Nitroxide)‐Substituted Trioxytriphenylamine Radical Cation Tetrachlorogallate Salt: A 2p‐Electron‐Based Weak Ferromagnet Composed of a Triplet Diradical Cation

The synthesis and the solid state magnetic properties of (nitronyl nitroxide)‐substituted trioxytriphenylamine radical cation tetrachlorogallate, NNTOT+·GaCl4? , are reported. In the temperature region between 300 and 3 K, the magnetic behavior is characterized by the strong intramolecular ferromagnetic interaction (J/k_B=+400 K) between the radical ( NN ) and the radical cation ( TOT ⁺) and the weak intermolecular antiferromagnetic interaction (J/k_B=?1.9 K) between NNTOT⁺ ions. Below 3 K, a 3D‐type long‐range magnetic ordering into a weak ferromagnet was observed (T_N=2.65 K). The magnetic entropy (S_mag=8.97 J K^?1 mol^?1) obtained by the heat capacity measurement is in good agreement with the theoretical value of R ln3=9.13 J K^?1 mol^?1 based on the S=1 state.     

An application of EGA-MS with skimmer interface to pyrolysis behavior of DHTAM, an antibacterial and antifungal material with thermostability

An application of evolved gas analysis-mass spectrometry (EGA-MS) with skimmer interface was carried out to investigate the pyrolysis mechanism of an antibacterial and antifungal material that is expected with thermostability. The skimmer interface between a furnace and a vacuum chamber with a mass spectrometer transmitted the gaseous species, which were trapped by a general capillary interface. As a result, it became clear that the thermostability of antimicrobial activity was limited by the heat resistance of the coordinate bond between nitrogen and silver in the silver chelate.     

Synthesis and evaluation of 1-arylsulfonyl-3-piperazinone derivatives as factor Xa inhibitors V. A series of new derivatives containing a spiro[imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazine-2(3H),4'-piperidin]-5(1H)-one scaffold

We have already reported unique compounds containing a N,O-spiro acetal structure as an orally active factor Xa (FXa) inhibitor. This time, we described a N,N-spiro acetal structure as an analogue of the N,O-spiro acetal structure for an orally active FXa inhibitor. The synthesis of these analogues could be achieved in a similar fashion to the N,O-spiro acetal synthesis. Consequently, FXa inhibitory activity was increased and more active compounds could be found (M58163: IC50 = 0.61 nM, M58169: IC50 = 0.58 nM). Additionally, the absolute configuration could be determined by X-ray crystallography analysis (M58169: (R)-config.).     

Toward million-fold sensitivity enhancement by sweeping in capillary electrophoresis combined with thermal lens microscopic detection using an interface chip

This paper reports a thermal lens microscope (TLM) detection coupled with capillary electrophoresis (CE) by using an interface chip (IFChip) to achieve highly sensitive detection with high reproducibility. Fused silica capillaries with an inner diameter of 50 microm were directly connected to a microchannel on the IFChip. In comparison with an on-capillary detection method in CE-TLM, ca. 10-fold improvements in the reproducibility for peak height were obtained by using IFChips. The detection limit of an azo dye was estimated to be 3.6 x 10(-7)M (100 ppb), which was above 100-times lower than that of conventional absorbance detection. Toward further improvement of the detectability for nonfluorescent compounds, on-line sample preconcentration by sweeping was applied to the CE-TLM using the IFChip. Due to the sweeping effect, 3900000-fold increase in the sensitivity was successfully achieved.     

Molecular characterization of O-methyltransferases involved in isoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis in Coptis japonica

O-Methyltransferases, which catalyze the production of small molecules in plants, play a crucial role in determining biosynthetic pathways in secondary metabolism because of their strict substrate specificity. Using three O-methyltransferase (OMT) cDNAs that are involved in berberine biosynthesis, we investigated the structure that was essential for this substrate specificity and the possibility of creating a chimeric enzyme with novel substrate specificity. Since each OMT has a relatively well-conserved C-terminal putative S-adenosyl-L-methionine-binding domain, we first exchanged the N-terminal halves of different OMTs. Among the 6 combinations that we tested for creating chimeric OMTs, 5 constructs produced detectable amounts of recombinant proteins, and only one of these with an N-terminal half of 6-OMT and a C-terminal half of 4′-OMT (64′-OMT) showed methylation activity with isoquinoline alkaloids as a substrate. Further enzymological analysis of 64′-OMT reaction product indicated that 64′-OMT retained the regio-specificity of 6-OMT. Further examination of the N-terminal region of 64′-OMT showed that about 90 amino acid residues in the N-terminal half were critical for reaction specificity. The creation of OMTs with novel reactivity is discussed.     

Spontaneous supersymmetry breaking in large-N matrix models with slowly varying potential

We construct a class of matrix models, where supersymmetry (SUSY) is spontaneously broken at the matrix size N infinite. The models are obtained by dimensional reduction of matrix-valued SUSY quantum mechanics. The potential of the models is slowly varying, and the large-N limit is taken with the slowly varying limit.     

Fundamental studies on electrokinetic chromatography with PEGylated phospholipid micelles.

In this study, micelles prepared from distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine with covalently attached poly(ethylene) glycol) (PEG) of molecular weight 2000 (DSPE-PEG-2000) were employed in micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) as pseudostationary phases. Since DSPE-PEG-2000 contains long hydrophobic alkyl chains, an anionic phosphate group, and hydrophilic PEG chains, the prepared micelles are expected to provide a characteristic retention behavior for both neutral and ionic compounds. As a typical example, a baseline separation of phenol and 2-naphthol was successfully achieved by using the DSPE-PEG-2000 micelles as a background electrolyte for MEKC; such success clearly shows that the micelles can retain electrically neutral compounds. The MEKC separations of anionic and cationic compounds with a DSPE-PEG-2000 micellar solution and the enantioseparation of binaphthyl compounds with mixed micelles containing bile salt are also discussed.