Polyoxometalates functionalized by bisphosphonate ligands: synthesis, structural, magnetic, and spectroscopic characterizations and activity on tumor cell lines

We report the synthesis and characterization of eight new Mo, W, or V-containing polyoxometalate (POM) bisphosphonate complexes with metal nuclearities ranging from 1 to 6. The compounds were synthesized in water by treating Mo(VI), W(VI), V(IV), or V(V) precursors with biologically active bisphosphonates H(2)O(3)PC(R)(OH)PO(3)H(2) (R = C(3)H(6)NH(2), Ale; R = CH(2)S(CH(3))(2), Sul and R = C(4)H(5)N(2), Zol, where Ale = alendronate, Sul = (2-Hydroxy-2,2-bis-phosphono-ethyl)-dimethyl-sulfonium and Zol = zoledronate). Mo(6)(Sul)(2) and Mo(6)(Zol)(2) contain two trinuclear Mo(VI) cores which can rotate around a central oxo group while Mo(Ale)(2) and W(Ale)(2) are mononuclear species. In V(5)(Ale)(2) and V(5)(Zol)(2) a central V(IV) ion is surrounded by two V(V) dimers bound to bisphosphonate ligands. V(6)(Ale)(4) can be viewed as the condensation of one V(5)(Ale)(2) with one additional V(IV) ion and two Ale ligands, while V(3)(Zol)(3) is a triangular V(IV) POM. These new POM bisphosphonates complexes were all characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The stability of the Mo and W POMs was studied by (31)P NMR spectroscopy and showed that all compounds except the mononuclear Mo(Ale)(2) and W(Ale)(2) were stable in solution. EPR measurements performed on the vanadium derivatives confirmed the oxidation state of the V ions and evidenced their stability in aqueous solution. Electrochemical studies on V(5)(Ale)(2) and V(5)(Zol)(2) showed reduction of V(V) to V(IV), and magnetic susceptibility investigations on V(3)(Zol)(3) enabled a detailed analysis of the magnetic interactions. The presence of zoledronate or vanadium correlated with the most potent activity (IC(50)~1-5 μM) against three human tumor cell lines.     

Electrophilic Fluorination of Organoplatinum(II) Iodides: Iodine and Platinum Atoms as Competing Fluorination Sites

A series of diphosphine Pt(II) aryl iodo complexes were reacted with XeF(2) to cleanly produce the corresponding Pt(II) difluoro complexes and free iodoarenes. However, when aryl ligands bearing fluoro substituents in the ortho positions were used, the formation of the corresponding Pt(II) aryl fluoro complexes was observed in the reaction with XeF(2). In the case of the Pt-C(6)F(5) complex, the products of the fluoride-for-iodide exchange were the only products observed by means of (31)P and (19)F NMR spectroscopy. The experimental and theoretical studies suggest that the formation of iodine-fluorine bond may accompany this transformation. The plausible "I-F" species could be trapped by electron-richer organoplatinum complexes to give a Pt(IV) transient which subsequently eliminates the corresponding aryl iodide. Hence, in some cases a pathway involving an attack of XeF(2) at the iodo ligand of Pt(II) aryl iodo complexes to generate I-F species can be operative in addition to or instead of the XeF(2) attack at the metal center. Our DFT studies demonstrate that the electrophilic attacks of XeF(2) at both sites, platinum and iodide, can be competitive.     

Alder-ene reaction: aromaticity and activation-strain analysis

We have computationally explored the trend in reactivity of the Alder-ene reactions between propene and a series of seven enophiles using density functional theory at M06-2X/def2-TZVPP. The reaction barrier decreases along the enophiles in the order H₂CCH₂ > HCCH > H₂CNH > H₂CCH(COOCH₃) > H₂CO > H₂CPH > H₂CS. Thus, barriers drop in particular, if third-period atoms become involved in the double bond of the enophile. Activation-strain analyses show that this trend in reactivity correlates with the activation strain associated with deforming reactants from their equilibrium structure to the geometry they adopt in the transition state. We discuss the origin of this trend and its relationship with the extent of synchronicity between H transfer from ene to enophile and the formation of the new C C bond. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2011     

Nitrogen adsorption and desorption at iron pyrite FeS2{100} surfaces

We have investigated the interaction of nitrogen with single-crystal iron pyrite FeS(2){100} surfaces in ultra-high vacuum. N(2) adsorbs molecularly at low temperatures, desorbing at 130 K, but does not adsorb dissociatively even at pressures up to 1 bar. Atomic surface N can, however, be obtained with nitrogen ions and/or excited neutral species, generated by passing N(2) through an ion gun. Substantial nitrogen-induced disorder is seen with both ions and neutrals, and no ordered N overlayers form; a decrease in the S/Fe ratio is seen when exposing to nitrogen ions. Recombinative desorption leads to temperature-programmed desorption peaks at 410 and 520-560 K which we associate with interstitial atomic N and substitutional ionic N, respectively, in the surface regions. Thermal repair of sputter damage necessitates segregation of bulk S to the surface, which, over repeated experiments, leads to gross cumulative damage to the bulk crystal. The desorption temperatures associated with recombinative desorption of atomic N from FeS(2){100} are significantly lower than those measured for Fe surfaces. This is linked to the inability of FeS(2){100} to dissociate N(2), but suggests that N(ads) will be significantly more able to react with other species than it is on Fe surfaces.     

Schr?dinger Dispersive Estimates for a Scaling-Critical Class of Potentials

We prove a dispersive estimate for the evolution of Schr?dinger operators H = ??? + V(x) in ${{\mathbb R}^3}$ . The potential should belong to the closure of ${C^c_b(\mathbb{R}^3)}$ with respect to the global Kato norm. Some additional spectral conditions are imposed, namely that no resonances or eigenfunctions of H exist anywhere within the interval [0, ??). The proof is an application of a new version of Wiener??s L ¹-inversion theorem.     

Complexity of the identity checking problem for finite semigroups

We prove that the identity checking problem in a finite semigroup S is co-NP-complete whenever S has a nonsolvable subgroup or S is the semigroup of all transformations on a 3-element set. Bibliography: 31 titles. Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 358, 2008, pp. 5–22.     

Cyclodextrin-mediated crystallization of acid β-glucosidase in complex with amphiphilic bicyclic nojirimycin analogues

Cyclodextrin-based host-guest chemistry has been exploited to facilitate co-crystallization of recombinant human acid β-glucosidase (β-glucocerebrosidase, GlcCerase) with amphiphilic bicyclic nojirimycin analogues of the sp(2)-iminosugar type. Attempts to co-crystallize GlcCerase with 5-N,6-O-[N'-(n-octyl)iminomethylidene]nojirimycin (NOI-NJ) or with 5-N,6-S-[N'-(n-octyl)iminomethylidene]-6-thionojirimycin (6S-NOI-NJ), two potent inhibitors of the enzyme with promising pharmacological chaperone activity for several Gaucher disease-associated mutations, were unsuccessful probably due to the formation of aggregates that increase the heterogeneity of the sample and affect nucleation and growth of crystals. Cyclomaltoheptaose (β-cyclodextrin, βCD) efficiently captures NOI-NJ and 6S-NOI-NJ in aqueous media to form inclusion complexes in which the lipophilic tail is accommodated in the hydrophobic cavity of the cyclooligosaccharide. The dissociation constant of the complex of the amphiphilic sp(2)-iminosugars with βCD is two orders of magnitude higher than that of the corresponding complex with GlcCerase, allowing the efficient transfer of the inhibitor from the βCD cavity to the GlcCerase active site. Enzyme-inhibitor complexes suitable for X-ray analysis were thus grown in the presence of βCD. In contrast to what was previously observed for the complex of GlcCerase with the more basic derivative, 6-amino-6-deoxy-5-N,6-N-[N'-(n-octyl)iminomethylidene]nojirimycin (6N-NOI-NJ), the β-anomers of both NOI-NJ and 6S-NOI-NJ were seen in the active site, even though the α-anomer was exclusively detected both in aqueous solution and in the corresponding βCD:sp(2)-iminosugar complexes. Our results further suggest that cyclodextrin derivatives might serve as suitable delivery systems of amphiphilic glycosidase inhibitors in a biomedical context.     

One electron oxidation of triferrocenylmethanol: synthesis, metal atom dynamics, electron delocalization, and the crystal structure of [Fc3COH](+) PF6⁻

The title compound 2 was prepared and its crystal structure was determined at 100 K. The neat solid was examined by temperature dependent (57)Fe M?ssbauer effect (ME) spectroscopy over the interval 92 < T < 318 K, and evidences two diamagnetic Fe(II) sites and one paramagnetic Fe(III) site. The latter shows spin-lattice relaxation, but there is no evidence of electron delocalization among the three iron sites in the above temperature interval. The mean-square-amplitude-of-vibration of the diamagnetic iron site has been determined from the recoil-free fraction ME resonance, and compared to the neutral Fc(3)COH homologue (1). The ME dynamical data are in good agreement with the U(i,j) value at 100 K extracted from the crystallographic results. The ME parameters at 5 K have also been determined with the sample compound embedded in a paraffin wax matrix as well as pelletized with BN.     

Trapping intermediates in an [8 + 2] cycloaddition reaction with the help of DFT calculations

DFT calculations predict that the [8 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between ketenes and 8-azaheptafulvenes occurs stepwise through antiaromatic zwitterionic intermediates. With adequate modifications of both the electronic properties of the ketene and the reaction conditions, these elusive intermediates have been successfully trapped and fully characterized (X-ray), thus confirming the predicted stepwise nature of the transformation.     

Sequential aldol condensation-transition metal-catalyzed addition reactions of aldehydes, methyl ketones, and arylboronic acids

Sequential aldol condensation of aldehydes with methyl ketones followed by transition metal-catalyzed addition reactions of arylboronic acids to form β-substituted ketones is described. By using the 1,1'-spirobiindane-7,7'-diol (SPINOL)-based phosphite, an asymmetric version of this type of sequential reaction, with up to 92% ee, was also realized. Our study provided an efficient method to access β-substituted ketones and might lead to the development of other sequential/tandem reactions with transition metal-catalyzed addition reactions as the key step.