Novel spiro and fused heterocycles from the allylation of indigo

The allylation of indigo results in the one-step synthesis of two unique complex heterocyclic systems: a spiroindoline-pyridoindolone arising from the addition of three allyl moieties and a fused pyridoindolo-azepinoindolone generated from the addition and subsequent cyclisation of two allyl moieties. The structures of these novel heterocycles are assigned unambiguously using extensive NMR experiments and by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The distribution of the products is influenced by the use of thermal versus microwave heating.     

One-step construction of 2-substituted-4,6-diazaindoles from carboxylic acid derivatives

Treatment of unprotected 5-amino-4-methylpyrimidine (2) with n-BuLi gave dianion 3. Direct condensation of the dianion with various carboxylic acid derivatives furnished a range of 2-substituted-4,6-diazaindoles in good yields in one step without the need for protecting groups or oxidation-state adjustment.     

Formation of water-soluble sulfonated azacalix[4]arenes from cyanuric chloride

Addition of cyanuric chloride 2 (2,4,6-trichlorotriazine) to 4,6-diaminobenzene-1,3-disulfonic acid 1 gives a bis-triazine 3 which may be cyclised with diaminoarenes to yield water-soluble azacalix[4]arenes 5a-d. Alternatively, double substitution of chloride from the bis-triazine 3 yields new bis-triazine derivatives which may likewise be cyclised to functionalised azacalixarenes bearing functionalised side chains.     

Alkyne‐Promoted H2 Loss in a Metallaborane: Nido‐to‐Closo Cluster Transformation and sp C?H Bond Oxidative Addition

A sensitive cluster : The labile rhodathiaborane [(PPh₃)₂(H)‐nido‐RhSB₉H₉(NC₅H₅)] combines the redox and coordinative flexibility of the {(PPh₃)₂(H)Rh} fragment with the capability of the 11‐vertex rhodathiaborane cluster to undergo oxidative nido‐to‐closo transformations induced by coordination of alkynes to the metal centre, which leads to hydrogenation of the triple bond, dehydrogenation of the cluster and oxidative addition of sp C? H bonds.

     

Interplay of Interactions Governing the Dynamic Conversions of Acyclic and Macrocyclic Helicates

Systemic change : A system of transformations between helical structures was observed to be governed by interactions mediated by the electronic effects of substituents, entropic effects, the conformational preferences of organic building blocks, and the coordinative preferences of the metal ion. All of these effects were important, but all must be considered together to allow the prediction of the product observed (see scheme).

     

Enantioselective Total Synthesis of Brevetoxin A: Unified Strategy for the B,E, G,and J Subunits

Brevetoxin A is a decacyclic ladder toxin that possesses 5‐, 6‐, 7‐, 8‐, and 9‐membered oxacycles, as well as 22 tetrahedral stereocenters. Herein, we describe a unified approach to the B, E, G, and J rings based upon a ring‐closing metathesis strategy from the corresponding dienes. The enolate technologies developed in our laboratory allowed access to the precursor acyclic dienes for the B, E, and G medium‐ring ethers. The strategies developed for the syntheses of these four monocycles ultimately provided multigram quantities of each of the rings, supporting our efforts toward the completion of a convergent synthesis of brevetoxin A.     

Tetrathiafulvalene Porphyrins

Four tetrathiafulvalene (TTF)‐annulated porphyrins 1 – 4 were synthesized and characterized. All contain a tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) core onto which four, two, or one TTF subunits were annulated. Absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic studies together with electrochemical investigations reveal that interactions between the porphyrin system and the annulated TTF units take place in solution. The annulation of one or more TTF units to the porphyrin core has a profound effect on the reduction potentials associated with this latter framework, with positive shifts in the range of 0.105 to 0.355 V and 0.200 to 0.370 V for the first and second reduction potential, respectively, compared to the corresponding processes in the model compound TPP, 18 . The redox potentials for the first oxidation of the TTF units are considerably shifted in 4 (ΔE_ox¹=+0.285 V) and 2 (ΔE_ox¹=?0.140 V), whereas for 1 and 3 these potentials remain within the region expected for a normal TTF unit. Considerable changes in the second oxidation potential associated with the TTF subunits were seen for 2 (ΔE_ox¹=?0.085) and 3 (ΔE_ox¹=?0.175). The emission spectra of 1 – 4 revealed that the porphyrin fluorescence is almost quenched in the neutral state of the TTF‐annulated porphyrins, a finding that is consistent with substantial electron transfer taking place from the TTF subunits to the porphyrin core. Oxidation of the TTF unit(s) (TTF→TTF^.+) present in 1 – 4 leads to the emission intensity being restored.     

Silica nanoparticle-templated methacrylic acid monoliths for in-line solid-phase extraction–capillary electrophoresis of basic analytes

Polymeric ion-exchange monoliths typically exhibit low capacities due to the limited surface area on the globules of the monoliths. The ion-exchange binding of protonated weakly basic analytes on deprotonated carboxylate sites on methacrylate polymer monoliths has been increased by templating the monoliths with silica nanoparticles. The templating method is achieved by adding the nanoparticles as a suspension to the polymerisation mixture. After polymerisation, the nanoparticles are removed by washing the monolith with strong base. Monolithic columns prepared using this procedure have exhibited a 33-fold increase in ion-exchange capacity when compared to untemplated monoliths prepared and treated under similar conditions. The templating procedure does not alter the macroporous properties of the polymer monolith, confirmed through scanning electron microscopy and BET surface area analysis, but provides increased capacity predominantly through the re-orientation of more carboxylic acid groups. The resulting increase in ion-exchange capacity has proven to be useful for the preconcentration and separation of neurotransmitters by in-line solid-phase extraction–capillary electrophoresis. The increased capacity of the templated monolith allowed the injection time to be increased 10 times over that of an untemplated monolith, allowing 10 times more sample to be injected with the efficiencies and recoveries remaining unaffected. The enhancement in sensitivity for the test mixture of neurotransmitter (dopamine, norepinephrine and metanephrine) ranged 1500–1900 compared to a normal hydrodynamic injection in capillary electrophoresis. Efficiencies obtained for the neurotransmitters were 100 000–260 000 plates, typical of those obtained in capillary zone electrophoresis. The applicability of the increased capacity silica nano-templated polymer monolith was demonstrated by analysing trace levels of caffeine in biological, food and environmental samples.     

Differential reactivity of aromatic diamines during polyimide formation in water

A series of mono and di-imide compounds were synthesized by the reaction of common aromatic diamines with 4,5-dichlorophthalic acid in aqueous solution (at temperature between 160 °C and 200 °C) as a precursor to determining the chemical reactivity changes in these diamines during copolyimide synthesis under the same conditions. The reactivities of the second amino group were shown to reduce dramatically, in number of examples, after substitution had occurred on the first amino group. The effect of these reactivity changes on polymer and copolymer properties was examined by the synthesis of a series of polymers containing two of the diamines with very different reactivity behaviours.The model compounds and polymers were characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR and where possible by mass spectroscopy. The polymers were also characterized by GPC, Tg and some mechanical properties.     

Top-down proteomics reveals novel protein forms expressed in methanosarcina acetivorans

Combining our previous work with current platforms presented here that identified 99 new proteins (Supplemental Table 1), a total of 200 protein identities in M. acetivorans have been confirmed. Of these, five proteins were unannotated, 15 were mispredicted, two exhibited variable removal of the start methionine, and one was a proteolysis fragment from the identical C-terminus of two possible proteins. The incorporation of LC-MS/MS and offline automation speeds up the processing of samples through automation of the top-down process. For five data files that were automatically processed and iteratively searched, 2 h were required to complete analysis. In these, a total of 835 identifications were detected by the search algorithm in this time period. The expanded use of top-down will use both online and offline strategies, with increasingly sophisticated data acquisition strategies tailored for the challenges of top-down fragmentation [[16], [18], [19], [32] and [33]].