Synthesis of polysubstituted benzothiophenes and sulfur-containing polycyclic aromatic compounds via samarium diiodide promoted three-component coupling reactions of thiophene-2-carboxylate

By the promotion of samarium diiodide, thiophene-2-carboxylate reacted with 2 equiv of ketones at the C-4 and C-5 positions to give diols such as 2 and 9. Because the intermediary organosamarium species were oxophilic but not too basic, the double hydroxyalkylations with various ketone substrates, including alkyl aryl ketones, acetylthiophenes, cyclohexanone, alpha-tetralone, and alpha-phenylacetophenones, were realized without complication of side reactions. The diol products underwent an acid-catalyzed dehydration to give dienes such as 3 and 10, which were treated with DDQ to give either polysubstituted thiophenes (e.g., 4 and 11) or benzothiophenes (e.g., 5, 13, and 14) depending on the reaction conditions. Oxidative annulations of 4,5-diarylthiophenes 11 and 4,5,6,7-tetraphenylbenzothiophenes 14 were carried out by photochemical or chemical methods to give the sulfur-containing polycyclic aromatic compounds, such as phenanthro[9,10-b]thiophene-2-carboxylate, piceno[13,14-b]thiophene-2-carboxylate, and tribenzo[fg,ij,rst]pentapheno[15,16-b]thiophene-2-carboxylates. This method is applicable to the preparation of polysubstituted thiophenes, benzothiophenes, and the related compounds possessing liquid crystalline, photochromic, and other functional properties.     

Supercritical fluid chromatography in drug analysis: a literature survey

The applications of supercritical fluid chromatography to the analysis of drugs have been carefully revised from the literature compiled in the Analytical Abstracts until March 1994. Easy-to-read tables provide useful information about the state-of-the-art and possibilities offered by SFC in pharmaceutical analysis. The tables comprise extensive data about samples analyzed, pharmaceutical principles determined, solvents used and sample quantity injected, supercritical fluids and modifiers employed, injection system, instrumentation, experimental conditions for chromatographic separations (density, pressure, flow, temperature), characteristics of columns employed (type, support, length, diameter, particle film thickness, stationary phase), detectors, type of restrictors, and also some analytical features of the methods developed (such as retention time, resolution, sensitivity, limit of detection and relative standard deviation).     

Supercritical fluid chromatography in drug analysis: a literature survey

The applications of supercritical fluid chromatography to the analysis of drugs have been carefully revised from the literature compiled in the Analytical Abstracts until March 1994. Easy-to-read tables provide useful information about the state-of-the-art and possibilities offered by SFC in pharmaceutical analysis. The tables comprise extensive data about samples analyzed, pharmaceutical principles determined, solvents used and sample quantity injected, supercritical fluids and modifiers employed, injection system, instrumentation, experimental conditions for chromatographic separations (density, pressure, flow, temperature), characteristics of columns employed (type, support, length, diameter, particle film thickness, stationary phase), detectors, type of restrictors, and also some analytical features of the methods developed (such as retention time, resolution, sensitivity, limit of detection and relative standard deviation).     

Secondary reactive oxygen species extend the range of photosensitization effects in cells: DNA damage produced via initial membrane photosensitization

The type-II photosensitization process is mediated by the formation of singlet oxygen (O2[1deltag]). The short lifetime of this species dictates that chemical reactions with biological substrates can only occur when O2(1deltag) is in very close proximity to the photosensitizer itself. In this study, deuteroporphyrin, a type-II, membrane-localized photosensitizer, was used to generate O2(1deltag) in human lymphoblast WTK-1 cells, and the range of influence was determined by a variety of biological assays. Surprisingly, the initial membrane-confined events were shown, by comet assay, to induce DNA damage in these cells. DNA damage was inhibited both by membrane-localized (alpha-tocopherol acetate) and by cytoplasmic (trolox) free radical scavengers. Comet formation also was inhibited by treatment at low temperature. DNA fragmentation was not influenced by treatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor, benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp-fluoromethylketone, showing that apoptosis was not responsible for fragmentation. Taken together, these results show that primary photosensitization reactions involving O2(1deltag), even when tightly confined in extranuclear locations, leads to the production of secondary reactive oxygen species, probably as a result of lipid peroxidation, that can act at greater distances from the photosensitizer itself. These experiments were carried out under conditions where cell survival was significant and raise questions regarding DNA damage and mutagenesis pathways, even when extranuclear O2(1deltag)-generating compounds are used.     

Direct determination of lead in blood by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with L'vov platform and matrix modification

An electrothermal atomic-absorption procedure with the L'vov platform and a simple five- or ten-fold sample dilution with a matrix-modifier solution containing diammonium hydrogenphosphate, Triton X-100 and nitric acid, is described for the direct determination of relatively low levels of lead in heparinized blood. The graphite-furnace parameters and matrix-modifier composition are optimized. Sensitivity, imprecision, accuracy and detection limit are reported. Results obtained by standard addition for ten human blood samples (30–400 μg l^?1 lead) were confirmed by an extraction/flame atomic-absorption reference method. Differences in mean lead values ranged from 2 to 31 μg l^?1 with 5.1% mean relative difference. The mean relative standard deviations for consecutive and between-day determinations were 4.6 and 9%, respectively. Accuracy was verified by analyzing six bovine-blood standards certified for lead in the range 70–1100 μg l^?1; deviations of found concentrations from expected values ranged from 0 to 44 μg l^?1 with 4.3% mean relative error. Recovery experiments done with human blood gave 104% (90–121%) of the added lead. The method offers several advantages for routine application in comparison with the extraction/flame atomic-absorption procedure.     

Methane steam reforming over rhodium promoted Ni/Al2O3 catalysts

The effect of Rh addition upon catalyst characteristics and performance in methane steam reforming was investigated using Rh-promoted Ni/Al₂O₃ catalysts. The number of reduced metal atoms exposed on the surface increased for the Rh-promoted catalysts. Rh-promoted catalysts showed an increase in CH₄ reforming activity; however, constant turnover frequencies for promoted and unpromoted catalysts suggest that the increase in the number of metal surface atoms caused the activity enhancement. Rh also facilitated reduction of Ni/Al₂O₃.     

The Geometry of Convex Transitive Banach Spaces

Throughout this paper, X will denote a Banach space, S=S(X)and B=B(X) will be the unit sphere and the closed unit ballof X, respectively, and G=G(X) will stand for the group of allsurjective linear isometries on X. Unless explicitly statedotherwise, all Banach spaces will be assumed to be real. Nevertheless,by passing to real structures, the results remain true for complexspaces. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 46B04, 46B10,46B22.     

Bounded step superdiffusion in an oriented hexagonal phase

Fluorescence recovery after pattern photobleaching is used to measure the self-diffusion of surfactant molecules, along cylinders and perpendicular to their main axis in an oriented hexagonal lyotropic phase. Unexpectedly, while the motion along cylinders is diffusive, a superdiffusive behavior is observed in the direction perpendicular to the cylinder axis. Moreover, varying the lattice parameter, we found that the perpendicular diffusion time is governed only by the number of cylinders to cross, providing experimental evidence for superdiffusion with a bounded step length.     

2-(Aminomethyl)phthalimide. A new reagent for the synthesis of 2,4-benzodiazepines

2,4-Benzodiazepines can be prepared by condensation of an activated 2-benzoylbenzoic acid with 2-(aminomelhyl)phthalimide. A synthesis of this reagent is described.