Creating carbon-carbon bonds with samarium diiodide for the synthesis of modified amino acids and peptides

In this perspective, an overview of our experiences on the application of samarium diiodide in organic synthesis for the preparation of amino acid and peptide analogues is presented. Three different carbon-carbon bond forming reactions are discussed, including side chain introductions, gamma-amino acid synthesis and acyl-like radical additions for the construction of C-C mimics of the peptidic bonds.     

Probing microstructure evolution during the hardening of gypsum by proton NMR relaxometry

We report a comprehensive proton NMR relaxation study of the water confined in the evolving porous structure of hardened gypsum prepared with different water-to-plaster ratios (w/p) and increasing additions of crushed gypsum. This study gives some new information on the microstructure, the water distribution, and the hydration kinetics without any drying or perturbing preparation. The bi-exponential transverse magnetization decay reveals the existence of two water populations in slow exchange. However, the different behaviors of these populations during saturation and desaturation experiments show evidence of a fast exchange of each population with the surface. Two modes of organization of the microstructure of this material are identified through an original model of exchange as a function of the water-to-plaster ratio (0.4 < or = w/p < or = 0.6 and 0.7 < or = w/p < or = 1). A clear gap is shown in the exchange rate value above w/p = 0.6 that could be representative of a percolation threshold. Both the method and the theory presented can be applied more widely to other porous media with reactive surface areas.     

Multi-scale approach continuously relating the microstructure and the macroscopic mechanical properties of plaster pastes during their settings

A new multi-scale experimental approach is proposed to continuously relate the microstructure and the macroscopic mechanical properties of plaster pastes during their settings. (1)H NMR relaxometry is used to follow continuously and not destructively, the degree of hydration and the microstructure evolution during the setting and hardening of plaster paste. Transmission of shear and compressional ultrasonic velocities enable the determination of macroscopic mechanical properties of the material during the setting. On the basis of similar behaviors of Young's modulus and NMR-population of confined water as function of the degree of hydration, we conclude that NMR gives a better understanding of the evolution of the microstructure at the origin of a better control of the macroscopic mechanical properties.     

Comparison of analytical strategies for the chromatographic and mass spectrometric measurement of brominated flame retardants: 1. Polybrominated diphenylethers

The chromatographic and mass spectrometric (MS) behaviors of 49 polybrominated diphenylether (PBDE) homologues toward various techniques is investigated. Special attention is paid to chromatographic separation, ionization processes, and signal acquisition modes. Different liquid chromatographic (LC) separation systems and gas chromatographic (GC) temperature program parameters are studied. For LC-MS experiments, the ionization efficiencies of electrospray, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization, and atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) are evaluated. For GC-MS experiments, negative chemical ionization with ammonia as reagent gas as well as negative and positive electron impact (EI) ionization are studied. Thus, fragmentation pathways of PBDEs are investigated, with the main objective being to determine the sensitivity/specificity balance of each tested technique with respect to their potential respective application (parent compound focusing, metabolite identification, and screening of analogue compounds). Finally, performances of the different tested techniques are compared and evaluated in terms of detection limits on standard solutions for each homologue group. In terms of ionization, EI remains the best compromise between sensitivity and specificity with possible complementary applications in MS-MS and high-resolution MS. Nevertheless, APPI appears to be a promising alternative.     

Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of Functionalized Cyclopropanes from α-Substituted Allyl Sulfones with Donor-Acceptor or Diacceptor Diazo Reagents

The catalytic asymmetric synthesis of highly functionalized cyclopropanes from α-substituted allyl sulfones and silanes is reported. The reaction, using α-aryl diazoacetates or diacceptor diazo reagents, catalyzed by a chiral rhodium complex (Rh₂((S)-BTPCP)₄), furnished the corresponding cyclopropanes in moderate to high yields (27–97 %), high diastereoselectivities (68 : 32 to 20 : 1 d.r.) and moderate to excellent ee (40–99 %). This methodology offers a privileged access to an underexplored class of enantioenriched cyclopropanes with a high level of functionality, an asset for further post-functionalization and their incorporation into more complex structure.     

Macrophage Activation by a Lipophilic Derivative of Muramyldipeptide within Nanocapsules: Investigation of the Mechanism of Drug Delivery

Different colloidal formulations: nanocapsules (NC), emulsion and micelles, containing the lipophilic immunomodulator muramyltripeptide cholesterol (MTP-Chol) induce nitric oxide synthase activity in the RAW 264.7 cell line. The use of cytochalasin B, an inhibitor of cell movements, showed that phagocytosis was an important mechanism as far as NC and the emulsion were concerned. However, when the cells were separated from particles containing the immunomodulator by a membrane of 100nm pore size, significant activity could still be obtained, provided that serum was included in the medium. To determine whether low-density lipoprotein (LDL) might act as an intermediate carrier for MTP-Chol, the transfer of the immunomodulator from NC to LDL was studied by an ultrafiltration/centrifugation method followed by HPLC analysis. Although MTP-Chol could be transferred to LDL, when purified human LDL was added to serum-free medium, activation by MTP-Chol NC was reduced, rather than increased. This suggests that intact LDL carrying MTP-Chol is not taken up to a great extent by these macrophages.     

Disulfide- and thiol-incorporating copper catenanes: synthesis, deposition onto gold, and surface studies

Two new copper-complexed [2]catenanes have been prepared, both of which consist of two different interlocking rings. In both cases, one of the rings incorporates a disulfide bridge. The other ring contains either a single chelate (phen=1,10-phenanthroline, a bidentate ligand) or two different chelates (phen and terpy, 2,2',6',2"-terpyridine, a tridentate chelate). Deposition of these two complexes on a gold electrode surface was carried out by standard procedures, leading to reductive cleavage of the S-S bridge. The adsorbed species can be viewed as [2]catenanes for which the gold atoms of the electrode surface are an integral fragment of one of the two rings. They yield clear electrochemical responses, but no motion is observed for the catenane incorporating a phen unit and a terpy fragment in one of the two rings, regardless of the metal oxidation state. This is at odds with the behavior of the parent compound in solution, which undergoes ring-gliding motions upon electrochemical reduction or oxidation of the copper center. Near-field microscopy was used to study the deposited layers (STM and AFM). STM images suggest that the molecules do not tend to order at long range on the surface. Polarization modulation-infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) led to promising results: the two catenanes deposited are likely to be oriented perpendicular to the gold surface. Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2111/2002/f3636_s.pdf or from the author. 1: Infrared spectra of [Cu.2]+ as a powder (black line, transmission IR spectroscopy) and as a SAM on gold (dotted line, PM-IRRAS). (Spectra offset and scaled for clarity; significant peaks marked with an asterisk.) 2: STM image (819x819 nm2) of a monolayer of [Cu.3]+ on Au(111) on mica.     

The Human Melanocyte as a Particular Target for UVA Radiation and an Endpoint for Photoprotection Assessment

The induction of DNA breaks by UVA (320-400 nm) in the nucleus of normal human melanocytes in culture was investigated using single cell gel electrophoresis, also called the comet assay. Endogenous pigment and/or melanin-related molecules were found to enhance DNA breakage: comets were more intense in melanocytes than in fibroblasts, in cells with high melanin content or after stimulation of melanogenesis by supplying tyrosine in the culture medium. After UVA doses where strong comets were observed, neither cytotoxicity nor stimulation of tyrosinase activity were detected. However, the accumulation of p53 protein suggested that cells reacted to genotoxic stress under these experimental conditions. The same approach was used to compare two sunscreens with identical sun protection factors but different UVA protection factors. The results presented in this paper suggest that human melanocytes may be used as a target cell to evidence broadspectrum photoprotection. Moreover, these data appear to be helpful in getting a better understanding of the role of sunlight in the initiating steps of melanocyte transformation.     

Credibility premiums for the zero-inflated Poisson model and new hunger for bonus interpretation

The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the credibility premiums in generalized zero-inflated count models for panel data. Predictive premiums based on quadratic loss and exponential loss are derived. It is shown that the credibility premiums of the zero-inflated model allow for more flexibility in the prediction. Indeed, the future premiums not only depend on the number of past claims, but also on the number of insured periods with at least one claim. The model also offers another way of analysing the hunger for bonus phenomenon. The accident distribution is obtained from the zero-inflated distribution used to model the claims distribution, which can in turn be used to evaluate the impact of various credibility premiums on the reported accident distribution. This way of analysing the claims data gives another point of view on the research conducted on the development of statistical models for predicting accidents. A numerical illustration supports this discussion.