Towards new ligands of nuclear receptors. Discovery of malaitasterol A, an unique bis-secosterol from marine sponge Theonella swinhoei

Malaitasterol A, an unprecedented bis-secosterol, was isolated from a Solomon collection of Theonella swinhoei. The structure was elucidated on the basis of a combination of comprehensive 1D and 2D NMR analysis, high-resolution mass spectrometry and DFT (13)C chemical shift calculations. The biological characterization of malaitasterol A provided evidence that this compound is a potent agonist of pregnane-X-receptor and its putative binding mode to PXR has been obtained through docking calculations.     

Synthetically persistent, self assembled [V(IV)2V(V)4] polyoxovanadates: facile synthesis, structure and magnetic analysis

Slow diffusion in a H-tube at room temperature of a methanolic solution of [VO(acac)(2)] (Hacac = acetylacetone) and 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) or 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) into an aqueous solution of sodium pyrophosphate (Na(4)P(2)O(7)) resulted in the serendipitous formation of X-ray quality crystals of mixed-valent, hexameric oxovanadates of general formula [V(6)O(12)(OCH(3))(4)(L)(4)]·solv [L = 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) for 1· 2CH(3)OH · 4H(2)O (1a), and 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy) for 2· 4H(2)O (2a)]. These were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR, elemental and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). A facile, rationalized synthetic route for the isolation of 1a and 2a could be established following structural determination, involving NaOH in place of Na(4)P(2)O(7) as pH modulator. The use of distilled water (pH 7) as methanolic co-solvent also resulted in crystallization of the two complexes, proving the presence of a base in the reaction scheme is not vital, with slightly pH-depended yields noted for 2a only. A survey of the literature revealed the occurrence of several other procedures, from classical methods to hydrothermal routes, leading to different solvates of 1, the crystal structure of 2 being unreported in any form to date. The precise nature of the molecular assembly in these type of hybrid organic-inorganic poly-vanadates is contradictory in published reports. On the basis of newly acquired high resolution crystal data and supported by magnetic investigation of the samples, we propose herein a formulation as [(V(IV)O)(2)(V(V)O(2))(4)(μ(3)-O)(2)(μ-OCH(3))(4)(L)(4)], with two oxovanadyl(IV) and four dioxovanadyl(V) units per molecule. A net ferromagnetic coupling between the two isolated V(IV) metal centers was measured with literature-consistent J values of +16.1(1) and +19.7(1) cm(-1) for 1a and 2a, respectively [H = -JS(A)·S(B) + S(A)·D·S(B) + βH (g(A)S(A) + g(B)S(B))], suggesting that crystal packing forces do not significantly influence the magnetic properties of this class of materials. A facile route toward the synthesis of the fully-oxidized [V(V)(4)O(8)(CH(3)O)(4)(bipy)(2)] and [V(V)(4)O(6)(CH(3)O)(6)(acac)(2)] tetraoxovanadates is also reported.     

Solomonamides A and B, new anti-inflammatory peptides from Theonella swinhoei

Two unprecedented cyclic peptides, solomonamides A and B, were isolated from the marine sponge Theonella swinhoei. The structures were elucidated on the basis of comprehensive 1D and 2D NMR analysis and high-resolution mass spectrometry. A combined approach, involving Marfey's method, QM J based analysis, and DFT J/(13)C calculations, was used for establishing the absolute configuration of the entire molecule. Solomonamide A showed in vivo anti-inflammatory activity.     

A General Entry to 10-Halocolchicides and 9-Haloisocolchicides

Readily accessible 10-tosyloxycolchicide (1) and LiX (X=Cl or Br or I) in MeOH/BF₃Et₂O at reflux give 10-chloro- (2), 10-bromo- (4), or 10-iodocolchicide (5), in good yields. 9-Chloro- (7) and 9-bromoisocolchidide (8) can be similarly obtained from 9-tosyloxyisocolchidide (6) and the method applies also to troponoids.     

Understanding run-in behavior of diamond-like carbon friction and preventing diamond-like carbon wear in humid air

The friction behavior of diamond-like carbon (DLC) is very sensitive to the test environment. For hydrogen-rich DLC tested in dry argon and hydrogen, there was always an induction period, so-called "run-in" period, during which the friction coefficient was high and gradually decreased before DLC showed an ultralow friction coefficient (less than 0.01) behavior. Regardless of friction coefficients and hydrogen contents, small amounts of wear were observed in dry argon, hydrogen, oxygen, and humid argon environments. Surprisingly, there were no wear or rubbing scar on DLC surfaces tested in n-pentanol vapor conditions, although the friction coefficient was relatively high among the five test environments. Ex situ X-ray photoelectron and near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure spectroscopy analyses failed to reveal any differences in chemical composition attributable to the environment dependence of DLC friction and wear. The failure of getting chemical information of oxygenated surface species from the ex situ analysis was found to be due to facile oxidation of the DLC surface upon exposure to air. The removal or wear of this surface oxide layer is responsible for the run-in behavior of DLC. It was discovered that the alcohol vapor can also prevent the oxidized DLC surface from wear in humid air conditions.     

Generation of spatially broadband twin beams for quantum imaging

We generate spatially multimode twin beams using 4-wave mixing in a hot atomic vapor in a phase-insensitive traveling-wave amplifier configuration. The far-field coherence area measured at 3.5 MHz is shown to be much smaller than the angular bandwidth of the process and bright twin images with independently quantum-correlated subareas can be generated with little distortion. The available transverse degrees of freedom form a high-dimensional Hilbert space that we use to produce quantum-correlated twin beams with finite orbital angular momentum.     

Size-dependent nonlinear elastic scaling of multiwalled carbon nanotubes

We characterize through large-scale simulations the nonlinear elastic response of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in torsion and bending. We identify a unified law consisting of two distinct power law regimes in the energy-deformation relation. This law encapsulates the complex mechanics of rippling and is described in terms of elastic constants, a critical length scale, and an anharmonic energy-deformation exponent. The mechanical response of MWCNTs is found to be strongly size dependent, in that the critical strain beyond which they behave nonlinearly scales as the inverse of their diameter. These predictions are consistent with available experimental observations.