Kinetic evidence for the formation of monocationic N,N'-disubstituted phthalamide in tertiary amine-catalyzed hydrolysis of N-substituted phthalimides

A kinetic study on the aqueous cleavage of N-(2-methoxyphenyl)phthalimide (1) and N-(2-hydroxyphenyl)phthalimide (2), under the buffers of N-methylmorpholine, reveals the equilibrium presence of monocationic amide (Ctam) formed due to nucleophilic reactions of N-methylmorpholine with 1 and 2. Pseudo-first-order rate constants for the reactions of water and HO- with Ctam (formed through nucleophilic reaction of N-methylmorpholine with 1) are 4.60 x 10(-5) s-1 and 47.9 M-1 s-1, respectively. But the cleavage of Ctam, formed through nucleophilic reaction of N-methylmorpholine with 2, involves intramolecular general base (2'-O- group of Ctam)-assisted water attack at carbonyl carbon of cationic amide group of Ctam in or before the rate-determining step.     

Efficient rate enhancement due to intramolecular general base (IGB) assistance in the hydrolysis of N-(o-hydroxyphenyl)phthalimide

The rates of the hydrolyses of N-(o-hydroxyphenyl)phthalimide (1) and N-(o-methoxyphenyl)phthalimide (2), studied at different pH, show that the hydrolysis of 1 involves intramolecular general base (IGB) assistance where the o-O- group of ionized 1 acts as IGB and H2O as the reactant. The rate enhancement due to the IGB-assisted reaction of H2O with ionized 1 is>8x10(4)-fold. Pseudo-first-order rate constant for the reaction of water with 2 is approximately 2x10(3)-fold smaller than the first-order rate constant (0.10 s-1) for pH-independent hydrolysis of 1 within the pH range of 9.60-10.10. Second-order rate constants (kOH) for hydroxide ion-assisted hydrolysis of ionized 1 and 2 are 3.0 and 29.1 M-1 s-1, respectively. The solvent deuterium kinetic isotope effect (dKIE) on the rate of alkaline hydrolysis of 1 and 2 reveals that the respective values of kOH/kOD are 0.84 and 0.78, where kOD represents the second-order rate constant for DO--assisted cleavage of these imides (1 and 2). The value of kwH2O/kdD2O is 2.04, with kwH2O and kdD2O representing pseudo-first-order rate constants for the reactions of ionized 1 with H2O and D2O, respectively.     

Butylated hydroxytoluene analogs: synthesis and evaluation of their multipotent antioxidant activities

A computer-aided predictions of antioxidant activities were performed with the Prediction Activity Spectra of Substances (PASS) program. Antioxidant activity of compounds 1, 3, 4 and 5 were studied using 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and lipid peroxidation assays to verify the predictions obtained by the PASS program. Compounds 3 and 5 showed more inhibition of DPPH stable free radical at 10?? M than the well-known standard antioxidant, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). Compound 5 exhibited promising in vitro inhibition of Fe2?-induced lipid peroxidation of the essential egg yolk as a lipid-rich medium (83.99%, IC?? 16.07 ± 3.51 μM/mL) compared to α-tocopherol (α-TOH, 84.6%, IC?? 5.6 ± 1.09 μM/mL). The parameters for drug-likeness of these BHT analogues were also evaluated according to the Lipinski’s “rule-of-five” (RO5). All the BHT analogues were found to violate one of the Lipinski’s parameters (LogP > 5), even though they have been found to be soluble in protic solvents. The predictive polar surface area (PSA) and absorption percent (% ABS) data allow us to conclude that they could have a good capacity for penetrating cell membranes. Therefore, one can propose these new multipotent antioxidants (MPAOs) as potential antioxidants for tackling oxidative stress and lipid peroxidation processes.     

Modified Baptista type chaotic cryptosystem via matrix secret key

In 1998, M.S. Baptista proposed a chaotic cryptosystem using the ergodicity property of the simple low-dimensional and chaotic logistic equation. Since then, many cryptosystems based on Baptista's work have been proposed. However, over the years research has shown that this cryptosystem is predictable and vulnerable to attacks and is widely discussed. Among the weaknesses are the non-uniform distribution of ciphertexts and succumbing to the one-time pad attack (a type of chosen plaintext attack). In this Letter, our objective is to modify the chaotic cryptographic scheme proposed previously. We use a matrix secret key such that the cryptosystem would no longer succumb to the one-time pad attack.     

Highly selective transformation of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid] into trans-crotonic acid by catalytic thermal degradation

Highly selective transformation of poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyric acid] (PHB) into trans-crotonic acid was achieved by thermal degradation using Mg compounds: MgO and Mg(OH)₂ as catalysts. Through catalytic action, not only the temperature and E_a value of degradation were lowered by 40-50 °C and 11-14 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively, but also significant changes in the selectivity of pyrolyzates were observed. Notably, Mg(OH)₂ showed nearly complete selectivity (∼100%) to trans-crotonic acid. Kinetic analysis of TG profiles revealed that the catalytic thermal degradation of PHB was initiated by some random degradation reactions, followed by the unzipping β-elimination from crotonate chain-ends as a main process. It was suggested that the Mg catalysts promote the totality of the β-elimination reactions by acting throughout the beginning and main processes, resulting in a lowering in the degradation temperature and the completely selective transformation of PHB.     

Effects of nonionic micelles on the rate of alkaline hydrolysis of N-(2'-methoxyphenyl)phthalimide (1): kinetic and rheometric evidence for a transition from spherical to rodlike micelles under the typical reaction conditions

Pseudo-first-order rate constants (k(obs)) for alkaline hydrolysis of N-(2'-methoxyphenyl)phthalimide (1) decrease nonlinearly with increasing total concentration of nonionic surfactant C(m)E(n) (i.e. [C(m)E(n)](T) where m and n represent the respective number of methyl/methylene units in the tail and polyoxyethylene units in the headgroup of a surfactant molecule and m/n=16/20, 12/23 and 18/20) at constant 2% v/v CH(3)CN and 1.0 mM NaOH. The k(obs)vs. [C(m)E(n)](T) data follow the pseudophase micellar (PM) model at ≤ 50 mM C(16)E(20), ≤ 1.4 mM C(12)E(23) and ≤ 2.0 mM C(18)E(20) where rate of hydrolysis of 1 in micellar pseudophase could not be detected. The values of k(obs) fail to follow the PM model at > ～50 mM C(16)E(20), > ～1.4 mM C(12)E(23) and > ～2.0 mM C(18)E(20) which has been attributed to a micellar structural transition from spherical to rodlike which in turn increases C(m)E(n) micellar binding constant (K(S)) of 1 with increasing values of [C(m)E(n)](T). Rheological measurements show the presence of spherical micelles at ≤ 50 mM C(16)E(20), ≤ 1.4 mM C(12)E(23) and ≤ 3.0 mM C(18)E(20). The presence of rodlike micelles is evident from rheological measurements at > ～50 mM C(16)E(20), > ～1.4 mM C(12)E(23) and > ～3.0 mM C(18)E(20).