The different steric environments of the 5-exo- and 5-endo- substituent for a pair of isomeric tricarbonyl(methoxycyclohexa-1,-diene)irons

A shift reagent has been employed to demonstrate the sterically-hindered environment of the methoxy group in tricarbonyl(5-endo-methoxycyclohexa-1,-diene)iron relative to that of the methoxy group in the 5-exo analogue.     

Bond interchange reactions in functionalized triglyceride oil/poly(ethylene terephthalate) compositions

Naturally functionalized triglyceride oils are renewable resources which contain reactive chemical groups, hydroxyl in the case of castor oil, and epoxide in the case of vernonia oil. In this article, the reaction of these groups, and the ester linkages between the glycerol and acid residue portions of the oil molecule with poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is investigated through a variety of means. Multiple reactions are possible in the triglyceride–PET system, some of which form a copolymer that increases miscibility, and if allowed to continue, forms a completely random copolymer mixture. Among the numerous reactions possible, PET–ester exchange with the hydroxyl or epoxide functionality of the triglyceride oils is found to be the most significant, and the effects of these and other reactions are observed and structural implications discussed. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Amino acid analysis by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with laser-induced fluorescence detection: application to nanolitre-volume biological samples from Arabidopsis thaliana and Myzus persicae

Amino acids were derivatised with 4-fluoro-7-nitrobenzo-2,1,3-oxadiazol (NBD-F), separated by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), and detected by argon-ion (488 nm) laser-induced fluorescence. The optimised MEKC background electrolyte conditions were: 40 mM sodium cholate, 5 mM beta-cyclodextrin in 20 mM aqueous borate buffer, pH 9.1, with 7% v/v acetonitrile. Using these conditions, 19 amino acids were separated within 17 min. The limits of detection were in the range of 7.6-42.2 pmol/mL and limits of quantitation from 0.05-0.14 nmol/mL. The method was systematically validated for injection volume error, migration time variation, calibration linearity, accuracy, precision, and recovery. Nanolitre volume samples of phloem sap of individual sieve element cells from the plant Arabidopsis thaliana and honeydew from the aphid Myzus persicae were directly analysed with this method. Quantitative amino acid concentrations in these two biological matrices were profiled for the first time. This method is particularly important because it allows the complete profile of the amino acids obtained from individual phloem elements, allowing cell to cell and plant to plant variation to be quantified, which to date has not been possible with Arabidopsis thaliana.     

5-Ethoxy-3-(trichloromethyl)-1,2,4-oxadiazole

5-Ethoxy-3-(trichloromethyl)-1, 2, 4-oxadiazole (V) was synthesized to elucidate the chemistry involved in the preparation of the hitherto unreported alkoxy-1, 2, 4-oxadiazoles and to determine the effect of the isosteric replacement of sulfur by oxygen on antifungal activity. Heating the “amino-oxime” tautomer II of trichloroacetamidoxime with ethyl chloroformate furnished exclusively the O-acylated product III. The trans configuration of III accounts for its resistance to cyclize under a variety of conditions, in contrast to the general behaviour of acylated amidoximes. Pyrolysis of III at 160° yielded IV which exists in the keto form. Refluxing IV with ethyl iodide in the presence of silver oxide gave an isomeric mixture which was separated by v.p.c. to give V and VI. Compound V retained 60% of the overall activity of the corresponding sulfur analog.     

Extended Hückel MO calculations of the conformation of several amino acids

The conformation of the amino acid residues, glycine, alanine, proline, and phenylalanine have been predicted from molecular orbital calculations of appropriate model compounds. Using the current main chain rotation convention (, ) the principle conformations were found to be glycine (0, 0), alanine (240, 240), proline (120, 330) and phenylalanine (30, 330). Several secondary conformations were also found for glycine. A comparison of the predicted conformations is in good agreement with experimental data on comparable residues or model compounds.Supported by National Institutes of Health Grants No. FR 5409-07 and GM 16312-01.Recipient of a Public Health Service Research Career Development Award AM 1159-01.     

Biomimetic cycloaddition approach to tropolone natural products via a tropolone ortho-quinone methide

[reaction: see text] A study toward a possible biomimetic hetero Diels-Alder reaction is reported between humulene and a novel tropolone ortho-quinone methide. A suitable tropolone ortho-quinone methide precursor has been prepared from 3-methyl-2-furoate. Heating the ortho-quinone methide precursor gave a tropolone ortho-quinone methide, which in the presence of humulene underwent a hetero Diels-Alder reaction to give a deoxy analogue of epolone B.