Design and synthesis of a diverse morpholine template library

Efficient and general procedures have been developed for the solution-phase preparation of substituted morpholine derivatives, and a library has been produced around generic structure 1. This library was designed with proprietary modeling software for use as a general screening library. The 30 R1 reagents were phenols, and the 275 R2 reagents were taken from five different reagent classes, giving a variety of product classes in the final library of 8250 potential products. All of the library members were generated from a common intermediate, mesylate (5), which was synthesized efficiently, in bulk, in three steps from N-benzylethanolamine (2). High-throughput chemistry using robotics was carried out to produce the 7907 library members, which were individually characterized by reversed-phase LC/MS analysis.     

Adatom concentration on GaAs(001) during MBE annealing

We study the concentration of adatoms on GaAs(001) during annealing under MBE conditions. By rapidly cooling the sample from typical growth temperatures and typical As overpressures, the thermal concentration of adatoms can be frozen into small islands on the terraces. The area of the resulting islands is measured with STM far from terrace steps, giving an estimate of the concentration of adatoms during equilibrium. We find that a surprisingly large concentration of adatoms is present for typical growth temperatures, e.g. 0.18 monolayer at 600°C. Possible consequences for current growth models are discussed.     

Characterization of silicon nanophotonic devices using the finite element method

The Poynting vector and the full-vectorial H and E-field profiles are considered for use in nanoscale silicon waveguides in this article. This paper reveals that the mode profile of a circular silicon nanowire is not circular and also has a strong axial field component. From the analysis, the characteristics of single mode operation and the vector field profiles of both circular and planar silicon nanowires are presented. The modal birefringence of rectangular silicon nanowires and power density in low-index region of a slot-type waveguide and designs of a compact polarization rotator are also presented in this work.     

Bis axial ligation of simple imine and methyleneamido groups by ruthenium porphyrins

Bis(N-ethylideneethanamine)ruthenium(ii) porphyrins, [Ru11(Por)(N(Et)=CHMe)2] (Por=TTP, 4-Cl-TPP), were prepared by the reaction of dioxoruthenium(VI) porphyrins with triethylamine in approximately 85% yields. The reaction between dioxoruthenium(VI) porphyrins and benzophenone imine afforded bis(diphenylmethyleneamido)ruthenium(IV) porphyrins, [Ru(IV)(Por)(N=CPh2)2] (Por=TTP, 3,4,5-MeO-TPP), in approximately 65% yields. These new classes of metalloporphyrins were characterized by 1H NMR, UV/Vis, and IR spectroscopy as well as by mass spectrometry and elemental analysis. The X-ray crystallographic structures of [Ru(II)(TTP)(N(Et)=CHMe)2] and [Ru(IV)(3,4,5-MeO-TPP)(N=CPh2)2] revealed an axial Ru-N bond length of 2.115(6) A for the imine complex and 1.896(8) A for the methyleneamido complex. Each of the N=CPh2 axial groups in [Ru(IV)(3,4,5-MeO-TPP)(N=CPh2)2] adopts a linear coordination mode with a corresponding Ru-N-C angle of 175.9(9)degrees. Spectral and structural studies revealed essentially single bonding character for the bis(imine) complexes but a multiple bonding character for the bis(methyleneamido) complexes with respect to their axial Ru-N bonds.     

Stereochemical investigations of a novel class of chiral phosphapalladacycle complexes derived from 1-[(2,5-dimethyl)phenyl]ethyldiphenylphosphine

The phosphapalladacycle derived from 1-(2',5'-dimethylphenyl)ethyldiphenylphosphine has been prepared in the optically active and racemic forms. The phosphine was synthesized as a racemate by the treatment of 1-chloro-1-(2',5'-dimethylphenyl)ethane with sodium diphenylphosphide in THF. The racemic phosphapalladacycle was subsequently obtained as the chloro-bridged dimer by the treatment of the phosphine with palladium(II) acetate followed by anion metathesis with lithium chloride. Alternatively, the phosphine could be optically resolved via metal complexation using (R,R)-bis(mu-chloro)bis{1-[1-(N,N-dimethylamino)ethyl]naphthyl-C(2),N}dipalladium(II) as the resolving agent. An efficient separation of the resulting diastereomeric complexes was achieved by silica gel chromatography. The obtained optically resolved diastereomers were next subject to chemoselective removal of the (R)-N,N-(dimethylamino)-1-(1-naphthyl)ethylaminate auxiliary by treatment with concentrated hydrochloric acid. This process yielded the binuclear dimer complexes containing the resolved eta(1)-P ligand. Cyclopalladation of the coordinated phosphine could next be performed by treatment of its eta(1)-P binuclear dimer with silver(I) hexafluorophosphate(V) in a dichloromethane/water mixture followed by treatment with lithium chloride, giving rise to a pair of optically pure enantiomeric dimers with [alpha](D) -322 and +319 degrees in CH(2)Cl(2). Despite the possibilities of the phosphine to attain a five- membered structure by ortho-palladation or a six-membered ring formation by aliphatic C-H bond activation, only the former was observed. X-ray crystallographic data of the meso dimer and an acetylacetonate derivative indicated that the phosphapalladacycle alpha-C methyl substituent was axially located. The 2-D (1)H-(1)H ROESY spectrum of the acetylacetonate derivative further revealed that the phosphapalladacycle was conformationally rigid in CDCl(3).     

Bruceines K and L from the Ripe Fruits of Brucea javanica

Bruceine K ( 1 ), a pentacyclic C₂₀‐quassinoid bearing a unique 12,20‐epoxy moiety, and bruceine L ( 2 ), along with the ten known compounds (6S,7E)‐6,9,10‐trihydroxy‐ and (6S,7E)‐6,9‐dihydroxymegastigma‐4,7‐dien‐3‐one ( 3 and 4 , resp.), cleomiscosins A–C, luteoline, quercetine, bruceantinol, pinoresinol, and thevetiaflavone, were isolated from the ripe fruits of Brucea javanica. Bruceines K ( 1 ) and L ( 2 ) were determined to be (1β,2α,11β,12β,14ξ,15β)‐12,20‐epoxy‐1,2,11,13,14,15‐hexahydroxypicras‐3‐en‐16‐one and (1β,2α,11β,12β,15β)‐13,20‐epoxy‐1,2,11,12‐tetrahydroxy‐16‐oxo‐15‐(senecioyloxy)picras‐3‐en‐21‐oic acid methyl ester (senecioic acid=3‐methylbut‐2‐enoic acid), respectively, on the basis of NMR (¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR, DEPT, ¹H,¹H‐COSY, NOESY, HMQC, and HMBC) and ESI‐MS data. Among the known compounds, (6S,7E)‐6,9,10‐trihydroxy‐ and (6S,7E)‐6,9‐dihydroxymegastigma‐4,7‐dien‐3‐one ( 3 and 4 , resp.), cleomiscosin C, luteoline, quercetine, and thevetiaflavone were isolated for the first time from the Brucea plants.     

Design, synthesis and biological characterization of novel inhibitors of CD38

Human CD38 is a novel multi-functional protein that acts not only as an antigen for B-lymphocyte activation, but also as an enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of a Ca(2+) messenger molecule, cyclic ADP-ribose, from NAD(+). It is well established that this novel Ca(2+) signaling enzyme is responsible for regulating a wide range of physiological functions. Based on the crystal structure of the CD38/NAD(+) complex, we synthesized a series of simplified N-substituted nicotinamide derivatives (Compound 1-14). A number of these compounds exhibited moderate inhibition of the NAD(+) utilizing activity of CD38, with Compound 4 showing the highest potency. The crystal structure of CD38/Compound 4 complex and computer simulation of Compound 7 docking to CD38 show a significant role of the nicotinamide moiety and the distal aromatic group of the compounds for substrate recognition by the active site of CD38. Biologically, we showed that both Compounds 4 and 7 effectively relaxed the agonist-induced contraction of muscle preparations from rats and guinea pigs. This study is a rational design of inhibitors for CD38 that exhibit important physiological effects, and can serve as a model for future drug development.     

A natural product-like inhibitor of NEDD8-activating enzyme

The natural product-like 6,6″-biapigenin has been identified as only the second inhibitor of NEDD8-activating enzyme using virtual screening. This compound was active in enzyme and cell-based assays, with potency in the micromolar range.