Synthesis of 2,4-diamino-9H-indeno[2,1-d]pyrimidines

As part of a search for new antifolic, antimalarial, and antitumor agents, a series of 2,4-diamino-9H-indeno[2,1-d]pyrimidines was prepared by condensation of guanidine with substituted 2-alkoxy-3-cyano-1H-indenes. Base-catalyzed cyclization of 1,2-bis(cyanomethyl)benzenes afforded 2-amino-3-cyano-1H-indenes, which were converted into 3-cyano-2-methoxy-1H-indenes by acid hydrolysis and treatment of the resultant 1-cyano-2-indanones with diazomethane. Alternatively, 2-amino-3-cyano-1H-indenes could be transformed directly into 2-ethoxy-3-eyano-1H-indenes by reaction with ethanol and sulfuric acid. The 2,4-diamino-9H-indeno[2,1-d]-pyrimidines represent a new type of planar, tricyclic pyrimethamine analog, in which free rotation of the phenyl and pyrimidine rings is prevented by means of a methylene bridge.     

Synthesis and binding studies ofN-(2-Hydroxy-l-phenoxyacetyl) glycylglycine

The synthesis ofN-(2-hydroxy-l-phenoxyacetyl)glycylglycine3 from 2-acetoxyphenoxyacetic acid is described. Compound3, a simple model for the carboxy-containing ionophore, Lasalocid, binds cations in methanol in the order: Ca²⁺ Ba²⁺ > Sr²⁺ 2>> Li⁺ > Na⁺, K⁺.     

The perfect penicillin? Inhibition of a bacterial DD-peptidase by peptidoglycan-mimetic beta-lactams

6-(Glycyl-l-alpha-aminopimelyl)-aminopenicillanic acid and 7-(glycyl-l-alpha-aminopimelyl)-aminocephalosporanic acid have been synthesized as Streptomyces sp. peptidoglycan-mimetic beta-lactams. These compounds inactivate the Streptomyces R61 DD-peptidase with rate constants of 1.5 x 107 s-1 M-1 and 5.6 x 105 s-1 M-1, respectively. The former compound is thus the most effective beta-lactam inhibitor of a DD-peptidase yet described. The analogous d-alanyl-d-alanine peptide has previously been shown to react with this enzyme with comparable efficiency, kcat/Km = 8.7 x 106 s-1 M-1. These results show that, in this case at least, incorporation of a peptidoglycan-mimetic side chain into a beta-lactam greatly enhances its activity as a DD-peptidase inhibitor. This result has interesting implications for beta-lactam design.     

Synthesis of covalently linked porphyrin dimers and trimers

The synthesis of covalently linked porphyrin dimers and trimers is described. Mono- and dihydroxyporphyrins were synthesized by transeslerifying 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-carbomethoxy-phenyl)porphyrin with ethylene glycol. The mixture of transesterified porphyrins were separated by preparative thin layer chromatography. Metal derivatives were made of the mono- and dihydroxyporphyrins and these were reacted with the acid chloride of a monocarboxyporphyrin to yield hybrid dimers and trimers containing one melalloporphyrin and either one or two free base porphyrins. The structures and purity of the dimers and trimers were established by measuring the absorbance spectra, nmr spectra, and molecular weight by gel permeation chromatography.     

N-methylmonothiocarbamatopentamminecobalt(III): restricted C-N bond rotation and the acid-catalyzed O- to S-bonded rearrangement

High-resolution (1)H and (13)C NMR studies on the linkage isomers [(NH(3))(5)CoOC(S)NHCH(3)](2+) and [(NH(3))(5)CoSC(O)NHCH(3)](2+) reveal that the O-bonded form exists as a 5:1 mixture of Z and E isomers arising from restricted rotation about the C-N bond. Similarly, restricted rotation is observed (at 20 degrees C) for the S-bonded isomer (Z/E ca. 18:1), but not for the isoelectronic carbamate ion [(NH(3))(5)CoOC(O)NHCH(3)](2+), nor for the unsubstituted carbamato complex [(NH(3))(5)CoOC(O)NH(2)](2+). An analysis of the variable-temperature NMR data for the O-bonded carbamato and urea complexes has provided quantitative data on the rotational barriers, and these ions involve much faster C-N bond rotations than the thiocarbamato complexes. The acid-catalyzed reaction of [(NH(3))(5)CoOC(S)NHCH(3)](2+) is confirmed, but there is much less parallel hydrolysis (ca. 2%) than previously reported (40 +/- 10%) for 0.1 M HClO(4). In 1 M HClO(4), [(NH(3))(5)CoSC(O)NHCH(3)](2+) and [(NH(3))(5)CoOH(2)](3+) are formed in parallel as an 83:17 mixture. The kinetic data suggest that the protonated form is at least 20-fold more reactive than the free ion and that the linkage isomerization and hydrolysis pathways are both acid-catalyzed, the latter clearly more so than the rearrangement.     

Mechanistic studies of La3+- and Zn2+-catalyzed methanolysis of aryl phosphate and phosphorothioate triesters. Development of artificial phosphotriesterase systems

The methanolyses of a series of O,O-diethyl O-aryl phosphates (2,5) and O,O-diethyl S-aryl phosphorothioates (6) promoted by methoxide and two metal ion systems, (La3+)2(-OCH3)2 and 4:Zn2+:-OCH3 (4 = 1,5,9-triazacyclododecane) has been studied in methanol at 25 degrees C. Br?nsted plots of the logk2 values vs. pKa for the phenol leaving groups give beta(lg) values of -0.70, -1.43 and -1.12 for the methanolysis of the phosphates and -0.63, -0.87 and -0.74 for the methanolysis of the phosphorothioates promoted by the methoxide, La3+ and Zn2+ systems respectively. The kinetic data for the metal-catalyzed reactions are analyzed in terms of a common mechanism where there is extensive cleavage of the P-XAr bond in the rate-limiting transition state. The relevance of these findings to the mechanism of action of the phosphotriesterase enzyme is discussed.     

Probing the Relationship Between Detected Ion Intensity,Laser Fluence,and Beam Profile in Thin Film and Tissue in MALDI MSI

Matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI MSI) is increasingly widely used to provide information regarding molecular location within tissue samples. The nature of the photon distribution within the irradiated region, the laser beam profile, and fluence, will significantly affect the form and abundance of the detected ions. Previous studies into these phenomena have focused on circular-core optic fibers or Gaussian beam profiles irradiating dried droplet preparations, where peptides were employed as the analyte of interest. Within this work, we use both round and novel square core optic fibers of 100 and 50 μm diameter to deliver the laser photons to the sample. The laser beam profiles were recorded and analyzed to quantify aspects of the photon distributions and their relation to the spectral data obtained with each optic fiber. Beam profiles with a relatively small number of large beam profile features were found to give rise to the lowest threshold fluence. The detected ion intensity versus fluence relationship was investigated, for the first time, in both thin films of α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) with phosphatidylcholine (PC) 34:1 lipid standard and in CHCA coated murine tissue sections for both the square and round optic fibers in continuous raster imaging mode. The fluence threshold of ion detection was found to occur at between ~14 and ~64 J/m² higher in tissue compared with thin film for the same lipid, depending upon the optic fiber employed. The image quality is also observed to depend upon the fluence employed during image acquisition.

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Competitive affinity capillary electrophoresis assay based on a "hybrid" pre-incubation/on-capillary mixing format using an enantioselective aptamer as affinity ligand

In this paper, we describe an aptamer-based competitive affinity CE (ACE) assay involving (i) the pre-incubation of the target (D-arginine) and the specific ligand (anti-D-arginine-L-RNA aptamer) before (ii) the competition with the labeled target (dansylated D-arginine) through an on-capillary mixing strategy. The effects of some critical operating parameters such as the applied voltage and the sample-aptamer mixture plug length on the assay sensitivity were investigated. The ACE assay appeared particularly dependent on the plug length of the pre-incubated sample-aptamer solution. It was shown that this "hybrid" strategy significantly improved the assay sensitivity relative to that obtained with a "full" on-capillary mixing approach.     

Photolytic production of Fe3+ in CaS

Calcium sulfide powder containing iron as an impurity was irradiated with 580, 366 or 254 nm light at 77 K. Irradiation enhanced a broad (16 G peak-to-trough) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal at g = 2.017 and caused six sharp (～1 G) lines to appear in the X-band EPR spectrum at 347, 529, 956, 1963, 3547 and 5376 G. Enrichment of CaS with Fe²⁺ produced samples with similar photochemistry. It is proposed that irradiation causes the reaction Fe²⁺ + trap → Fe³⁺ + trap^?, whose products give rise to six sharp EPR lines assigned to Fe³⁺ and a broad line associated with trap^?. Both hyperfine splitting by ⁵⁷Fe (13 G) and superhyperfine splitting by ³³S (11.4 G) are observed in the six line spectrum. The environment of the photo-generated Fe³⁺ has less than octahedral symmetry. V²⁺ was observed at octahedral sites in unirradiated CaS for the first time, and is characterized by the EPR parameters g = 1.961 and A (hyperfine coupling) = 74.6 × 10^?4 cm^?1. EPR signals due to Mn²⁺ and Cr³⁺ at octahedral sites and Fe³⁺ at a low symmetry site were also observed in unirradiated CaS.