Dual Chemical Modification of a Polytheonamide Mimic: Rational Design and Synthesis of Ion‐Channel‐Forming 48‐mer Peptides with Potent Cytotoxicity

Polytheonamide B ( 1 ) is a natural peptide that displays potent cytotoxicity against P388 mouse leukemia cells (IC₅₀=0.098 nm ). Linear 48‐mer 1 is known to form monovalent cation channels on binding to lipid bilayers. We previously developed a fully synthetic route to 1 , and then achieved the design and synthesis of a structurally simplified analogue of 1 , namely, dansylated polytheonamide mimic 2 . Although the synthetically more accessible 2 was found to emulate the channel function of 1 , its cytotoxicity was decreased 120‐fold. Herein, the chemical preparation and biological evaluation of seven analogues 3 – 9 of 2 are reported. Compounds 3 – 9 were modified at their N terminus and/or the side chain of residue 44 of 2 to alter their physicochemical properties. The total synthesis of 3 – 9 was accomplished in a unified fashion by a combination of solid‐phase and solution‐phase chemistry. Systematic evaluation of the hydrophobicities, single‐channel currents, ion‐exchange activities, and cytotoxicities of 3 – 9 revealed that their hydrophobicities are correlated with the total magnitude of ion exchange and determine their cytotoxic potency. Consequently, the most hydrophobic analogue 9 exhibited the lowest IC₅₀ value, which is comparable to that of 1 . Therefore, these results clarified that the bioactivity of the polytheonamide‐based peptides can be rationally controlled by changing their hydrophobicity at the N and C termini of the 48‐amino‐acid sequence.     

Pd‐initiated polymerization of diazo compounds bearing dialkoxyphosphinyl group and hydrolysis of the resulting polymers and oligomers to afford phosphonic acid‐containing products

Pd‐initiated polymerization and oligomerization of diazo compounds containing a dialkoxyphosphinyl group are described. Polymerization of 2‐dialkoxyphosphinylethyl diazoacetates with π‐allylPdCl‐based initiating systems afforded C? C main chain polymers bearing phosphonate on each main chain carbon atom. The quantitative transformation of the side chain phosphonate to phosphonic acid resulted in the formation of water soluble polymers having the acid groups accumulated around their main chains, although the carbonyl ester linkage in the side chain was cleaved via intramolecular acid‐assisted hydrolysis in water at 80 °C. Pd‐initiated oligomerization of diethyl diazomethylphosphonate yielded an oligomeric product bearing diethoxyphosphiny groups directly attached to its main chain carbons, with unexpected incorporation of azo group in the main chain framework. Hydrolysis of the phosphonate of the oligomer afforded a water‐soluble product, which was revealed to show higher proton conductivity than poly(vinylphosphonic acid) under certain conditions. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2016 , 54, 1742–1751     

Reaction of Selenocarbonyl Compounds with Oxygen-Functionalized Conjugated Dienes

Selenoaldehydes and selenoketones, generated by thermal retro-Diels-Alder reaction of their cycloadducts with cyclopentadiene, reacted with oxygen-functionalized conjugated dienes such as 1-acetoxy-1,3-butadiene, Danishefsky's diene, and 1,4-diacetoxy-1,3-butadiene to give the corresponding cycloadducts in good yields regioselectively.     

Vinyl Polymerization by Metal Complexes. XXXIII. Polymerization of Acrylonitrile Initiated by Triazole-Copper(II) Complex in Dimethylsulfoxide Solution

Polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by triazole-copper(II) complexes was studied in dimethylsulfoxide solution. It was found that the polymerization proceeds by a free radical mechanism; however, the complexes can hardly homopolymerize methyl methacrylate and styrene. Ability of the complexes to initiate polymerization seems to depend on the substituents of triazole, the sort of solvents, and the counterions of copper(n) salts. From the data of visible spectroscopy and the spin trapping, the initiation mechanism was discussed in terms of reduction of copper(II) followed by forming active species.     

Vinyl Polymerization by Metal Complexes. XXXII. Formation of Glycolchitosan-Copper(II) Complex and the Initiation of Vinyl Polymerization by Using the Complex

The formation of the water-soluble glycolchitosan-copper (II) complex was studied by ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy and by viscosity measurement. The structure of the polymer complex in question was found to change with pH value of the system. The glycolchitosan-copper (II) complex was active as a free-radical initiator for the polymerization of methyl methacrylate and acrylonitrile in the presence of carbon tetra- chloride. The maximum conversion was observed at neutral pH, and was influenced by the presence of neutral salts. Relation- ship between the activity of the polymer complex for initiating the polymerization and its structure was discussed.     

Vinyl Polymerization by Metal Complexes. XXIII. UV and Kinetic Studies on the Photopolymerization with Iron(III)-Amine-Carbon Tetrachloride Systems

Abstract

In order to elucidate the initiation reaction of the photopolymerization with iron(III)-amine-carbon tetrachloride systems, the photochemical reaction process among iron(III), amine, and carbon tetrachloride in methanol solution was followed at 0°C by UV spectroscopy as for iron(III) ion. The rate constants of both the reduction of iron (III) under irradiation with light and the oxidation of iron(II) in the dark were measured, and were related to the rates of photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate. Kinetic study on the photopolymerization of methyl methacrylate with iron(III)-triethylenetetramine-carbon tetrachloride system was made in parallel in methanol solution at 0°C. The initiation mechanism of the photopolymerization was postulated.     

Vinyl Polymerization by Metal Complexes. VII

Abstract

The photopolymerization of vinyl monomers by metal salt-saccharide system was investigated in various solvents. The rate of polymerization in the presence of a iron(III) salt in aqueous media was remarkably accelerated by the addition of saccharides. The acceleration caused by a series of saccharides was found to be in the following order: glucose > fructose > lactose maltose. α-Methyl-d-glucoside and sucrose exhibited very little effect. The overall activation energy for the photopolymerization of acrylonitrile in the presence of glucose was found to be 2.7 kcal/mole, about half of the value obtained in the absence of glucose.     

Polymerization of Vinyl and Diene Monomers in Canal Complexes

In recent years the so-called biomimetic chemistry has received much attention. Studies of the preparation and design of functional polymers which can serve as polymeric enzyme and nucleic acid models appear to be a particularly rapidly expanding areas of research. These polymers and their aggregates should require highly specific sites or, in other words, atmospheres around them, in order to facilitate a series of selective reactions under conditions similar to those of biochemical environments. In this connection, molecular design of certain three-dimensional, highly organized spaces which consist of various sorts of molecular aggregates and can incorporate definite molecules in a specified way within their space are of interest for performing controlled organic and polymer synthetic reactions.     

Liquid crystalline properties of dissymmetric molecules IV. The substituent effect on thermal properties of nematic and smectic A phases in three aromatic ring systems with ester linkages

This paper describes the effect of substituent and ester linkage on smectic properties for some derivatives of 4-R -phenyl 4-(4-octyloxybenzoyloxy)benzoates (1), 4-octyloxyphenyl 4-(4-R-benzyloxy)benzoates (2), 4-(4-octyloxybenzoyloxy)phenyl 4- R -benzoates (3), and 4-R-phenyl 4-octyloxyphenyl terephthalates (4) where R = OCH₃, CH₃, OC₈H₁₇, C8H17, halogens, CF₃, OCF₃, CN, NO2, etc. The thermal properties are discussed in terms of the electrostatic nature of the substituents and the relative orientation of the ester groups with respect to both terminal substituents. The substituent effect on the layer structure of the smectic A phase is also examined by means of a small angle X-ray analysis.