Esterification of carboxylic acids catalyzed by in situ generated tetraalkylammonium fluorides

Esterification of carboxylic acids with alkyl halides can be efficiently catalyzed by tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) generated in situ from tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate (TBAHSO₄) and KF·2H₂O in THF. The general applicability and the characteristic feature of this approach has been amply demonstrated.     

Isolation of Six New Flavonoids from Melicope triphylla

Six new flavonoids-5-hydroxy-3,8-dimethoxy-3',4':6,7-bismethylenedioxyflavone (1), 3,3',4',5-tetramethoxy-7-(3-methylbut-2-enyloxy)flavone (2), 7-(2-hydroxy-3-methylbut-3-enyloxy)-3,3',4',5-tetramethoxyflavone (3), 7-(2-hydroxy-3-methylbut-3-enyloxy)-3,5-dimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (4), 7-(2-hydroxy-3-methylbut-3-enyloxy)-3,3',4',5,8-pentamethoxyflavone (5), and 7-(2-hydroxy-3-methylbut-3-enyloxy)-3,5,8-trimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (6)-were isolated from the leaves of Melicope triphylla. In addition, six already known flavonoids were also detected: 5-hydroxy-3,6,7-trimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (7), 5,7-dihydroxy-3,3',4',8-tetramethoxyflavone (8), 4',5-dihydroxy-3,3',7,8-tetramethoxyflavone (9), 3,5,6,7,8-pentamethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (10), 3,5,6,7-tetramethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxyflavone (11), and 3,3',4',5,6,7,8-heptamethoxyflavone (12). The structures of the new compounds were established by spectroscopic methods. Compound 2 displayed ichthyotoxic activity against Japanese killifish (medaka in Japanese) (Oryzias latipes var.) at 10?ppm.     

On m-step Fibonacci sequence in discrete Lotka-Volterra system

The integrable Lotka-Volterra (LV) system stands for a prey-predator model in mathematical biology. The discrete LV (dLV) system is derived from a time-variable discretization of the LV system. The solution to the dLV system is known to be represented by using the Hankel determinants. In this paper, we show that, if the entries of the Hankel determinants become m-step Fibonacci sequences at the initial discrete-time, then those are also so at any discrete time. In other words, the m-step Fibonacci sequences always arrange in the entries of the Hankel determinants under the time-variable evolution of the dLV system with suitable initial setting. Here the 2-step and the 3-step Fibonacci sequences are the famous Fibonacci and Tribonacci sequences, respectively. We also prove that one of the dLV variables converges to the ratio of two successive and sufficiently large m-step Fibonacci numbers, for example, the golden ratio in the case where m=2, as the discrete-time goes to infinity. Some examples are numerically given.     

Synthesis of diazahexathia-24-crown-8 derivatives and structures of Ag+ complexes

Diazahexathia-24-crown-8 (2) has been isolated from the reaction mixture during the preparation of monoazatrithia-12-crown-4 (1). When N-Boc protected bis(2-chloroethyl)amine was employed as a starting material, N-Boc protected monoazatrithia-12-crown-4 (3) and N-Boc protected diazahexathia-24-crown-4 (4) were separated easily. Double-armed diazahexathia-24-crown-8 having two 3',5'-dichlorobenzyl groups (5a) or two 2-phenylethyl groups (5b) were also prepared using reductive amination. The stoichiometry and detailed structures of the Ag+ complexes with and were investigated by 1H NMR titration experiments and X-ray crystallography.     

Collective plasmon modes excited on a silver nanoparticle 2D crystalline sheet

This paper describes unique plasmonic characteristics of two dimensional (2D) crystalline sheets composed of homogeneous Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) fabricated by the Langmuir-Schaefer method at an air-water interface. The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) band of the Ag nanosheet was tuned by changing the interparticle distance of AgNPs via the length of the organic capping molecules. Red shift of the LSPR band of the AgNPs sheet followed an exponential law against the interparticle distance in a similar manner to the previous reports of metal nanodisc pairs. However, the shift was much larger and less dependent on the interparticle separation gap. This phenomenon is reasonably interpreted as the long-range interaction of LSPR in the 2D sheet ('delocalized' LSPR) confirmed by simulation using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The FDTD simulation also revealed additional enhancement of local electric fields on the 2D sheet compared to those on the single or paired particles.     

Concise total synthesis of antiarrhythmic drug dronedarone via a conjugate addition followed intramolecular heck cyclization

A concise, scalable, and an efficient total synthesis for dronedarone ( 2 ) was described using conjugate addition followed by intramolecular Heck cyclization. The other key reaction includes selective reduction of nitro functionality and addition of lithiated terminal alkyne to the aldehyde. The overall yield of this approach is 44% in six steps.     

Characterization of ribosomal proteins as biomarkers for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectral identification of Lactobacillus plantarum

For rapid identification of bacteria by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), a bioinformatics approach using ribosomal subunit proteins as biomarkers has been proposed. This method compares the observed masses for biomarkers with calculated masses as predicted from the amino acid sequences registered on protein databases. To evaluate this approach, the expressed ribosomal proteins of a genome-sequenced bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 8826, were characterized as a model sample. The protein expression of 42 ribosomal subunit proteins, together with 10 ribosome-associated proteins in the isolated ribosome fraction, was confirmed through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with peptide mass fingerprinting. The observed masses of the proteins in the isolated ribosome fraction were then determined by MALDI-MS. We preliminarily selected 44 biomarkers whose observed masses were matched with the calculated masses predicted from the amino acid sequence registered in the protein databases by considering N-terminal methionine loss only. Of these, the finally selected reliable biomarkers were 34 proteins including 31 ribosomal subunit proteins and 3 ribosome-associated proteins that could be observed in the MALDI mass spectra of the cell lysate sample. These biomarkers were usable in MALDI-MS characterization of two industrial L. plantarum cultures.     

Asymmetric induction in the Neber rearrangement of simple ketoxime sulfonates under phase-transfer conditions: experimental evidence for the participation of an anionic pathway

Phase-transfer catalysis has been successfully utilized for the Neber rearrangement of simple ketoxime sulfonates. For instance, treatment of (Z)-1a with p-toluenesulfonyl chloride (1.2 equiv), tetrabutylammonium bromide (5 mol %) and MeOH (10 equiv) in toluene-50% KOH aqueous solution (volume ratio = 3:1) at 0 degrees C for 2 h, and subsequent benzoylation followed by acidic hydrolysis afforded the protected alpha-amino ketone 2a in 80% isolated yield. On the basis of this finding, asymmetric Neber rearrangement with ketoxime (Z)-1a was examined under phase-transfer conditions using structurally rigid, C(2)-symmetric chiral quaternary ammonium bromide 3 as catalyst. The desired 2a was obtained in 80% yield and 51% ee. This represents the first experimental demonstration of the substantial involvement of anion pathway in the Neber rearrangement of simple ketoxime sulfonates. Importantly, the reaction with (E)-1a under otherwise similar conditions afforded racemic 2a in 61% yield. Moreover, enhanced enantioselectivity (63% ee) was observed in the rearrangement of the oxime sulfonate derived from (Z)-1b, and notably, use of mesitylene in place of toluene further increased the enantioselectivity to 70% ee. Our approach provides not only a new mechanistic insight but also an opportunity for extending the full synthetic utility of this classical yet useful rearrangement.     

Copolymerization of butadiene with vinyl chloride by radiation

The copolymerization of butadiene with vinyl chloride was demonstrated in homogeneous phase by radiation. The reactivity parameters were r₁ = 10 and r₂ = 0.02 (M₁ = butadiene) in bulk at ?10°C. The average molecular weight of the product was about 1000–2500, depending reaction conditions.