Asymmetric synthesis of the quinolizidine alkaloid (-)-epimyrtine with intramolecular Mannich cyclization and N-sulfinyl delta-amino beta-ketoesters

A concise, six-step, enantioselective synthesis of (-)-epimyrtine employing the N-sulfinyl delta-amino beta-ketoester chiral building block is described.     

Regioselectivity preference of testosterone hydroxylation by cytochrome P450 3A4

Theoretical studies are presented into the experimentally observed regioselectivity difference of testosterone hydroxylation by cytochrome P450 3A4 at the 1β, 2β, 6β, and 15β positions. Such regioselectivity is investigated by density functional theory calculations on a model system. The barrier heights of hydrogen abstraction, which are corrected by zero-point vibrational energies, are computed to be about 10.1, 13.6, 14.4, and 16.2 kcal/mol for the 6β-, 2β-, 15β-, and 1β-positions, respectively. The calculated barriers suggest the regioselectivity preference of 6β ? 2β > 15β > 1β, which is in good agreement with experimental findings.     

Phosphoryl chloride induced ring contraction of 1,4-benzodiazepinones to chloromethylquinazolines

A ring contraction of 1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one to 2-chloromethylquinazoline in phosphoryl chloride is described. The intermediacy of an aziridinoquinazoline is proposed.     

Computational protein design: Advances in the design and redesign of biomolecular nanostructures

Computational protein design facilitates the continued development of methods for the design of biomolecular structure, sequence and function. Recent applications include the design of novel protein sequences and structures, proteins incorporating nonbiological components, protein assemblies, soluble variants of membrane proteins, and proteins that modulate membrane function.     

Chemistry of the oxophosphinidene ligand. 2. Reactivity of the anionic complexes [MCp{P(O)R*}(CO)(2)](-) (M = Mo, W; R* = 2,4,6-C(6)H(2)(t)Bu(3)) toward electrophiles based on elements different from carbon

The anionic oxophosphinidene complexes (H-DBU)[MCp{P(O)R*}(CO)(2)] (M = Mo, W; R* = 2,4,6-C(6)H(2)(t)Bu(3); Cp = η(5)-C(5)H(5), DBU = 1,8-diazabicyclo [5.4.0] undec-7-ene) displayed multisite reactivity when faced with different electrophilic reagents. The reactions with the group 14 organochloride compounds ER(4-x)Cl(x) (E = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb) led to either phosphide-like, oxophosphinidene-bridged derivatives [MCp{P(OE')R*}(CO)(2)] (E' = SiMe(3), SiPh(3), GePh(3), GeMe(2)Cl) or to terminal oxophosphinidene complexes [MCp{P(O)R*}(CO)(2)(E')] (E' = SnPh(3), SnPh(2)Cl, PbPh(3); Mo-Pb = 2.8845(4) ? for the MoPb compound). A particular situation was found in the reaction with SnMe(3)Cl, this giving a product existing in both tautomeric forms, with the phosphide-like complex [MCp{P(OSnMe(3))R*}(CO)(2)] prevailing at room temperature and the tautomer [MCp{P(O)R*}(CO)(2)(SnMe(3))] being the unique species present below 203 K in dichloromethane solution. The title anions also showed a multisite behavior when reacting with transition-metal based electrophiles. Thus, the reactions with the complexes [M'Cp(2)Cl(2)] (M' = Ti, Zr) gave phosphide-like derivatives [MCp{P(OM')R*}(CO)(2)] (M = Mo, M' = TiCp(2)Cl, ZrCp(2)Cl; M = W, M' = ZrCp(2)Cl), displaying a bridging κ(1),κ(1)-P,O- oxophosphinidene ligand connecting MCp(CO)(2) and M'Cp(2)Cl metal fragments (W-P = 2.233(1) ?, O-Zr = 2.016(4) ? for the WZr compound]. In contrast, the reactions with the complex [AuCl{P(p-tol)(3)}] gave the metal-metal bonded derivatives trans-[MCp{P(O)R*}(CO)(2){AuP(p-tol)(3)}] (M = Mo, W; Mo-Au = 2.7071(7) ?). From all the above results it was concluded that the terminal oxophosphinidene complexes are preferentially formed under conditions of orbital control, while charge-controlled reactions tend to give derivatives with the electrophilic fragment bound to the oxygen atom of the oxophosphinidene ligand (phosphide-like, oxophosphinidene-bridged derivatives).