Decarboxylative cross-couplings of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acids

Decarboxylative CC cross-couplings of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acids under a Pd/Ag-based catalytic system opens a new platform for the introduction of diverse C5 substituents. The reaction methods proceeded efficiently with a wide range of the acids and the coupling partners of aryl iodides, alkenes, bromoalkynes, and azoles. Considering ready availability of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acid from the oxidative dehydrosulfurative CN cross-coupling of the 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-1H-2-thiones, this reaction method unambiguously pave a shortcut to densely substituted 2-aminopyrimidine derivatives with unprecedented diversity.     

Pestalustaines A and B,unprecedented sesquiterpene and coumarin derivatives from endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis adusta

Pestalustaines A (1) and B (2), one unique sesquiterpene possessing an unusual 5/6/7-fused tricyclic ring system and one unprecedented coumarin derivative bearing 6/6/5/5-fused tetracyclic ring system, were isolated from the plant-derived Pestalotiopsis adusta. Their structures with absolute configurations were established by extensive NMR analysis, X-ray crystallography, and CD spectra associated with TD-DFT calculation. Hypothetical biosynthetic pathways for compounds 1 and 2 are proposed. Compounds 1 and 2 showed weak to moderate cytotoxic activities against three human tumor cell lines HeLa, HCT116, and A549, whose IC₅₀ values were ranged from 21.01 to 55.43?μM.     

A Chemical Proteomic Analysis of Illudin-Interacting Proteins

The illudin natural product family are fungal secondary metabolites with a characteristic spirocyclopropyl-substituted fused 6,5-bicyclic ring system. They have been extensively studied for their cytotoxicity in various tumor cell types, and semisynthetic derivatives with improved therapeutic characteristics have progressed to clinical trials. Although it is believed that this potent alkylating compound class acts mainly through DNA modification, little is known about its binding to protein sites in a cellular context. To reveal putative protein targets of the illudin family in live cancer cells, we employed a semisynthetic strategy to access a series of illudin-based probes for activity-based protein profiling (ABPP). While the probes largely retained potent cytotoxicity, proteomic profiling studies unraveled multiple protein hits, suggesting that illudins exert their mode of action not from addressing a specific protein target but rather from DNA modification and unselective protein binding.     

Aggregation behavior and non-covalent functionalization of borofullerenes B28, B38, and B40: A density functional theory investigation

Fullerene-like boron clusters (borofullerenes) are rising stars in the field of cluster chemistry. In this work, density functional theory calculations revealed that the recently reported small borofullerenes B_n (n = 28, 38, and 40) are all highly reactive and tend to form dimers and even trimers spontaneously. In addition, the non-covalent modification of these borofullerenes by various cycloparaphenylene nanorings can form stable host-guest systems with substantial intermolecular charge transfer at both ground and excited states. Our results demonstrate that the borofullerenes are versatile platform for exohedral functionalization, and are very promising candidates for the design of novel nanomaterials with desirable properties.     

Synthesis and characterization of phosphorylated Aspergillus niger for effective adsorption of uranium(VI)

The adsorption characteristics of phosphorylated Aspergillus niger (AN-P) for uranium(VI) were studied in this work. The AN-P was successfully prepared by the reaction of Aspergillus niger with phosphorus pentoxide in ice-bath under the catalysis of methanesulphonic acid. AN-P was characterized by FT-IR and SEM–EDS. The effects of pH, contact time, initial U(VI) ions concentration, adsorbent dosage and temperature on the adsorption of U(VI) by AN-P were investigated. The isotherm and kinetic data were accurately described by the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models, respectively. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption of U(VI) by AN-P was an spontaneous and endothermic process. This indicated that the AN-P composite is a promising adsorbent for efficient removal of U(VI) from radioactive wastewater.

     

Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetric determination of Cd and Pb at a bismuth glassy carbon electrode modified with Nafion, poly(2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes

A simple, cheap, and nonpolluting method was developed for the cloud point extraction of gold (Au) and palladium (Pd). It is based on the complexation reaction of Au and Pd with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-4-benzoyl-5-pyrazolone (PMBP) and micelle mediated extraction of the complex using the non-ionic surfactant poly(ethylene glycol) mono-p-nonylphenyl ether (PONPE 7.5). Under the optimized experimental conditions, the enrichment factors are 16 and 17 for Au and Pd, respectively, for 15?mL of preconcentrated solution. The limits of detection are 3.8???g?L^?1 and 1.8???g?L^?1 for Au and Pd, respectively. The relative standard deviations are 1.4% for Au and 0.6% for Pd (n?=?11). The method was successfully applied to the determination of Au and Pd in certified reference materials and mine samples.

Micellar properties of zwitterionic phosphobetaine amphiphiles in aqueous solution: Influence of the intercharge distance

Zwitterionic amphiphiles of the general formula H(CH₂)_y ⁺ N(CH₃)₂(CH₂)_n PO₂C₆H ₅ ^– , where the number of intercharge methylenesn is varied, were studied in dilute aqueous solution. Their critical micellar concentrations show a peculiar variation withn, first increasing asn varies from 1 to 4 and then slowly decreasing as methylenes are added up to 10. This behavior is interpreted as being the consequence of two opposite contributions. The first is the classical CMC lowering due to the increase of hydrophobic character with the total number of methylene groups in the surfactant molecule. The second contribution is the increase in the dipole moment of the zwitterionic headgroup withn, leading to stronger dipole-dipole repulsions between headgroups at the micellar surface. Experimental results suggest that the dipole moment does not increase linearly withn because of the polymethylene chain flexibility. This is supported by¹³C NMR relaxation experiments.