Reduction of a "cation pool": a new approach to radical mediated C--C bond formation.

Carbocations, carbon radicals, and carbanions are important reactive carbon intermediates in organic chemistry, and their interconversions can be carried out by redox processes. Although, such relationships have been well recognized, experimental work has been limited to analytical studies on highly stabilized intermediates. In this study such interconversions were examined using electrochemical reduction of "cation pools". Acyliminium cations, which were generated by low-temperature electrolysis of carbamates, were reduced electrochemically in the absence of radical acceptors. The homo coupling products formed effectively, suggesting that the one-electron reduction of the acyliminium cation produced the corresponding carbon-centered radical. Next, the electrochemical reduction of the acyliminium cations in the presence of electron-deficient olefins was examined. The cross coupling products were obtained in good-to-moderate yields. A mechanism involving radical addition to the double bond followed by the reduction of the resulting radical to the carbanion was suggested. The overall transformation serves as redox-mediated formal addition of C-H to C=C. The present strategy opens new opportunities to manipulate reactive carbon species using redox processes in organic synthesis.     

An analytical method for irinotecan (CPT-11) and its metabolites using a high-performance liquid chromatography: parallel detection with fluorescence and mass spectrometry

Irinotecan or 7-ethyl-10-[4-(1-piperidino)-1-piperidino]carbonyloxycamptothecin (CPT-11) is an anticancer pro-drug used in the treatment of many types of cancer. We describe here the validation of an analytical method for CPT-11 and its metabolites, including an active metabolite, 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), its glucuronidated form, SN-38G, and several cytochrome P450 3A-mediated products such as 7-ethyl-10-[4-N-(5-aminopentanoic acid)-1-piperidino]carbonyloxycamptothecin (APC) using a high-performance liquid chromatography connected to parallel fluorescence and mass spectrometry detection systems. This method is characterized as follows: (1) simple extraction of the analytes from biomaterials with perchloric acid/methanol; (2) sensitive quantitation of major metabolites (SN-38G, SN-38 and APC) with a fluorescence detector (FLD), where the limits of quantitation by FLD were 2.5 ng/mL for SN-38G and APC, 5 ng/mL for CPT-11 and 1 ng/mL for SN-38, respectively; (3) parallel selective monitoring of the metabolites including minor metabolites with a mass selected detector (MSD). There was no observed interference by other drugs expected to be co-administered. This method showed its usefulness by identifying a novel metabolite produced in human hepatic microsomes. The results indicate that this combination of FLD and MSD enables a highly selective analysis of CPT-11 and its metabolites, and is useful for studies both in vivo and in vitro.     

Radical polymerization of 3-methylene-5,5′-dimethyl-2-pyrrolidinone: A cyclic analog of N-substituted methacrylamide

3-Methylene-5,5′-dimethyl-2-pyrrolidinone (α-MDMP), a cyclic analog of N-substituted methacrylamide, was synthesized and polymerized with α,α′-azobis (isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) in solution. Poly(α-MDMP) is only soluble in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) at room temperature. Thermogravimetry of poly(α-MDMP) showed 10% weight loss at 355°C in air and 400°C under nitrogen, respectively. The kinetics of α-MDMP homopolymerization with AIBN was investigated in DMSO. The rate of polymerization (R_p) can be expressed by R_p = k[AIBN]^0.49[α-MDMP]^1.0 and the overall activation energy has been calculated to be 73.2 kJ/mol. Monomer reactivity ratios in copolymerization of α-MDMP (M₂) with methyl methacrylate (M₁) are r₁ = 0.71 and r₂ = 0.71, from which Q and e values of α-MDMP are calculated as 0.75 and -0.43, respectively. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Charge carrier transport properties in polymer liquid crystals containing oxadiazole and amine moieties in the same side chain

Steady-state and transient photocurrent measurements were carried out to study the charge carrier transport properties of polymer liquid crystal (LC) containing oxadiazole (OXD) and amine moieties in the same side chain. The steady-state photocurrent measurement with asymmetric electrodes of ITO and Al and a short penetration depth of the illumination light indicated that both electrons and holes can be transported in this film. The transient hole photocurrent observed by time-of-flight (TOF) experiments was dispersive at room temperature. The hole drift mobility significantly depended on temperature and electric field and was determined to be 6.1 x 10(-8) cm2/Vs at a field of 9.1 x 10(5) V/cm. According to the disorder formalism, the Gaussian width of the density of states was determined to be 170 meV for holes. Despite the indication of possible electron transport in this film, we could not determine the electron mobility by TOF experiments due to strong dispersive photocurrent. We discuss the present charge transport properties of the film in relation to a large dipole attributed to an electrical push-pull structure of p-dimethylaminophenyl-substitited OXD moiety in polymer LC and its electroluminescent properties.     

Synthesis of 2β-fluoro-1α-hydroxyvitamin D3

2β-Fluoro-1α-hydroxyvitamin D₃($\text{3}$) was prepared from 1,2α-epoxy-cholest-5-en-3β-yl tetrahydropyranyl ether($\text{1a}$ via 2β-fluorocholest-5-ene-1α, 3β-diol($\text{2}$).     

Syndiospecific living propylene polymerization catalyzed by titanium complexes having fluorine-containing phenoxy-imine chelate ligands

The propylene polymerization behavior of a series of Ti complexes featuring fluorine-containing phenoxy-imine chelate ligands is reported. The Ti complexes combined with methylalumoxane (MAO) can be catalysts for living and, at the same time, stereospecific polymerization of propylene at room temperature or above. DFT calculations suggest that the attractive interaction between a fluorine ortho to the imine nitrogen and a beta-hydrogen of a growing polymer chain is responsible for the achievement of room-temperature living propylene polymerization. Although the Ti complexes possess C(2) symmetry, they are capable of producing highly syndiotactic polypropylenes. (13)C NMR is used to demonstrate that the syndiotacticity is governed by a chain-end control mechanism and that the polymerization is initiated exclusively via 1,2-insertion followed by 2,1-insertion as the principal mode of polymerization. (13)C NMR spectroscopy also elucidated that the polypropylenes produced with the Ti complexes possess regio-block structures. Substitutions on the phenoxy-imine ligands have profound effects on catalytic behavior of the Ti complexes. The steric bulk of the substituent ortho to the phenoxy oxygen plays a decisive role in achieving high syndioselectivity for the chain-end controlled polymerization. Over a temperature range of 0-50 degrees C, Ti complex having a trimethylsilyl group ortho to the phenoxy oxygen forms highly syndiotactic, nearly monodisperse polypropylenes (94-90% rr) with extremely high peak melting temperatures (T(m) = 156-149 degrees C). The polymerization behavior of the Ti complexes can be explained well by the recently proposed site-inversion mechanism for the formation of syndiotactic polypropylene by a Ti complex having a pair of fluorine-containing phenoxy-imine ligands.     

Production of scalar Higgs and pseudoscalar Higgs in multi-Higgs doublet models at \gamma\gamma colliders

We present the effects of heavy CP-even (H) and CP-odd (A) Higgs bosons on the production cross section of the process at the energy around the mass poles of the Higgs bosons. It is found that interference between H and A with small mass gap, as well as the ones between Higgs bosons and continuum, contributes to the cross section, if the photon beams are polarized and if we observe the helicity of the top quarks. It is demonstrated in the framework of the minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model that the H and A contributions can be sizable at future colliders for small values of . The methods to measure the CP-parity of the Higgs boson are also presented. The statistical significance of detecting the Higgs signals and measuring the Higgs CP-parity is evaluated. Received: 16 December 1999 / Revised version: 30 January 2000 / Published online: 6 April 2000     

Electrochemical and structural investigations of the reaction of lithium with tin-based composite oxide glasses

Tin-based composite oxide materials have received considerable attention as potential anode materials for rechargeable lithium batteries. In this contribution we present the results of our investigations of the SnOB₂O₃P₂O₅ system. We have investigated its electrochemical properties and especially its cycling performance. A focus of our interest was to explain the structural changes which occur during lithium cycling and their strong dependence on the preparation method. A part of the SnO component was converted into a very stable metallic phase. In addition, a decrease was observed in capacity owing to the formation of isolated and inactive tin grains. We also report on structural changes in the B₂O₃P₂O₅ matrix. Received: 2 October 1997  / Accepted: 3 July 1998