Elaboration of vinblastine hybrids using a reactive in situ generated N-carboxyanhydride

Hybrids of vinblastine and phomopsin, designed by a molecular modelling study, were elaborated in order to target tubulin. The key step of the synthesis (fragmentation and insertion of vindoline) was mediated by an internal N-carboxyanhydride (or O-acylcarbamate). This reaction was diastereospecific and addition of silver salts could reverse the diastereoselectivity. Even if the synthesized compounds are inactive, this synthesis represents an original example of a C-N fragmentation mediated by a N-carboxyanhydride.     

Unprecedented noncatalyzed anti-carbozincation of diethyl acetylenedicarboxylate through alkylzinc group radical transfer

The radical carbozincation of diethyl acetylenedicarboxylate, performed at room temperature in the presence of air, leads to fumaric derivatives through a selective alkylzinc group radical transfer controlled by coordination. The total trans stereocontrol is unprecedented, carbocupration is well-known to give the reversal selectivity at low temperature, while classical radical addition methodologies lead to mixtures of isomers.     

Azadipyrromethene-based conjugated oligomers with near-IR absorption and high electron affinity

Solution-processable conjugated oligomers incorporating red-light absorbing azadipyrromethenes (aza-DIPY) within the main chain were synthesized via palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reactions. Thin films of these compounds absorbed light up to ～1000 nm and displayed reversible reductions as ascertained by cyclic voltammetry experiments. Reactions with trifluoroboron etherate yielded materials displaying a unique combination of good solubility in organic solvents, low optical band gaps (～1.3 eV), and high electron affinity (～4.5 eV).     

Retention mechanism divergence of a mixed mode stationary phase for high performance liquid chromatography

Mixed mode stationary phases utilize secondary retention mechanisms to add a dimensionality to the surface of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) adsorbents. This approach was used by several authors to improve the separation performance of single dimension separations. We explored the magnitude of these secondary interactions by performing an off-line two-dimensional (2D)-HPLC separation with a Scherzo SM-C18 column of a β-lactoglobulin tryptic digest with a mobile phase pH of 7 in the first dimension and 2 in the second. Mechanism divergence was determined using the peak capacity and a geometric approach to factor analysis, to measure the correlation. This separation was repeated with a C18 stationary phase as a control. It was found that the C18 column had a correlation coefficient of 0.784, smaller than the mixed mode column, 0.884. This indicated that the retention mechanisms of the C18 column were more divergent under these two pH environments than the mixed mode column. However, the SM-C18 still provided alternative selectivity of the peptides to that of the C18 and could be considered as a good alternative for further 2D-HPLC separations.     

Shell particles, trials, tribulations and triumphs

The concept of pellicular particles was imagined by Horváth and Lipsky fifty years ago. They were initially intended for the analysis of macromolecules. Later, shell particles were prepared. The rational behind this concept was to improve column efficiency by shortening the pathways that analyte molecules must travel and, so doing, to improve their mass transfer kinetics. Several brands of superficially porous particles were developed and became popular in the 1970s. However, the major improvements in the manufacturing of high-quality, fully porous particles, that took place in the same time, particularly by making them finer and more homogeneous, hampered the success of shell particles, which eventually disappeared. Recently, the pressing needs to improve analytical throughputs forced particle manufacturers to find a better compromise between the demands for higher column efficiency that require short diffusion paths of analyte molecules in columns and the need for columns that can be operated with the conventional instruments for liquid chromatography, which operate with moderate column back-pressures. This lead to the apparition of a new generation of columns packed with shell particles, which bring chromatographic columns to a level of efficiency undreamed of a few years ago. This evolution is reviewed, the reason that motivated it, and the consequences of their success are discussed.     

Water versus acetonitrile coordination to uranyl. Density functional study of cooperative polarization effects in solution

Optimizations at the BLYP and B3LYP levels are reported for mixed uranyl-water/acetonitrile complexes [UO(2)(H(2)O)(5-n)(MeCN)(n)](2+) (n = 0-5), in both the gas phase and a polarizable continuum modeling acetonitrile. Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulations have been performed for these complexes in the gas phase, and for selected species (n = 0, 1, 3, 5) in a periodic box of liquid acetonitrile. According to structural and energetic data, uranyl has a higher affinity for acetonitrile than for water in the gas phase, in keeping with the higher dipole moment and polarizability of acetonitrile. In acetonitrile solution, however, water is the better ligand because of specific solvation effects. Analysis of the dipole moment of the coordinated water molecule in [UO(2)(H(2)O)(MeCN)(4)](2+) reveals that the interaction with the second-shell solvent molecules (through fairly strong and persistent O-H···N hydrogen bonds) causes a significant increase of this dipole moment (by more than 1 D). This cooperative polarization of water reinforces the uranyl-water bond as well as the water solvation via strengthened (UO(2))OH(2)···NCMe hydrogen bonds. Such cooperativity is essentially absent in the acetonitrile ligands that make much weaker (UO(2))NCMe···NCMe hydrogen bonds. Beyond the uranyl case, this study points to the importance of cooperative polarization effects to enhance the M(n+) ion affinity for water in condensed phases involving M(n+)-OH(2)···A fragments, where A is a H-bond proton acceptor and M(n+) is a hard cation.     

Enantioselective de novo synthesis of 4-deoxy-D-hexopyranoses via hetero-Diels-Alder cycloadditions: total synthesis of ezoaminuroic acid and neosidomycin

The de novo synthesis of carbohydrates constitutes an important aspect of organic chemistry, and its application toward deoxy sugars is particularly noteworthy in targeting biologically active compounds. The enantioselective preparation of 4-deoxy-D-ribo-, 4-deoxy-D-lyxo-, and 4-deoxy-D-xylo-hexopyranosides, along with their uronate counterparts has been successfully accomplished using hetero-Diels-Alder reactions as the key step. Jacobsen chromium(III) catalyst and a titanium-binaphthol complex have been used to successfully catalyze diene and aldehyde cycloadditions, leading to optically active dihydropyran templates. 6-Hydroxydesosamine, orthogonally protected ezoaminuroic acid, and neosidomycin were synthesized using a comparative study. Also, a novel chiron approach to 4-deoxy-lyxo-hexopyranosiduronic acid methyl ester derivatives was efficiently accomplished starting from readily accessible starting materials. This work represents a systematic and comprehensive study toward a de novo synthesis of 4-deoxy-hexopyranoses via enantioselective hetero-Diels-Alder reactions.     

Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Vibrational Spectra of Coordination Polymers Based on TCE‐TTF

The room‐temperature infrared and Raman spectra of a series of four isostructural polymeric salts of 2,3,6,7‐tetrakis(2‐cyanoethylthio)‐tetrathiafulvalene (TCE‐TTF) with paramagnetic (Co^II, Mn^II) and diamagnetic (Zn^II, Cd^II) ions, together with BF₄^? or ClO₄^? anions are reported. Infrared and Raman‐active modes are identified and assigned based on theoretical calculations for neutral and ionized TCE‐TTF using density functional theory (DFT) methods. It is confirmed that the TCE‐TTF molecules in all the materials investigated are fully ionized and interact in the crystal structure through cyanoethylthio groups. The vibrational modes related to the C?C stretching vibrations of TCE‐TTF are analyzed assuming the occurrence of electron–molecular vibration coupling (EMV). The presence of the antisymmetric C?C dimeric mode provides evidence that charge transfer takes place between TCE‐TTF molecules belonging to neighboring polymeric networks.