Receptor-mediated targeting of phthalocyanines to macrophages via covalent coupling to native or maleylated bovine serum albumin

Targeted delivery of aluminum tetrasulfophthalocyanine (AlPcS4) to the scavenger receptor of macrophages, via coupling to maleylated bovine serum albumin (mal-BSA), was explored as a means to improve photodynamic efficacy. The AlPcS4 was covalently coupled to BSA (9:1 molar ratio) via one or two sulfonamide-hexanoic-amide spacer chains, followed by treatment with maleic anhydride to yield the mal-BSA-phthalocyanine conjugates. The latter were tested for singlet oxygen production, receptor-mediated cell uptake and phototoxicity toward J774 cells of macrophage origin and nonphagocytic EMT-6 cells. Cell uptake of 125I-mal-BSA showed specific binding for J774 cells but not for EMT-6 cells. Competition studies of the conjugates with 125I-mal-BSA showed that coupling of AlPcS4 to BSA resulted in recognition of the conjugate by the scavenger receptor, whereas coupling to mal-BSA further enhanced its binding affinity. This suggests that affinity for the scavenger receptor is related to the overall negative charge of the protein. Phototoxicity of the conjugates toward J774 cells paralleled their relative affinity, with mal-BSA-AlPcS4 coupled via two spacer chains showing the highest activity. The conjugates were less phototoxic toward the EMT-6 cell line. The activities in both cell lines of all conjugated AlPcS4 preparations were, however, lower than that of the free disulfonated AlPcS2. Possible implications for the in vivo use of protein-photosensitizer conjugates to target selectively various macrophage-associated disorders is discussed.     

Preparation of amphiphilic glycerol-substituted zinc phthalocyanines using copper-free Sonogashira cross-coupling in aqueous medium

Palladium-catalyzed copper-free Sonogashira cross-coupling reactions were performed on a protected and unprotected monoiodotriglycerol substituted Zn(II) phthalocyanine with various alkynes in organic and aqueous medium. From the silyl protected alkyne derivative, a protected homo coupled dimeric product was also prepared using Glaser coupling. All products were purified by reverse phase HPLC and the assigned structures were confirmed by mass and UV-vis spectroscopy.     

An easy route for the synthesis of pyrazine-2,3-dicarbonitrile 5,6-bis-substituted derivatives using a palladium catalyst

An easy synthetic method for the preparation of pyrazine-2,3-dicarbonitrile 5,6-bis-substituted derivatives using Pd-catalyzed cross coupling reaction (Sonogashira, Suzuki, Heck) is described. The reaction conditions allow preparing symmetrical and unsymmetrical bis-substituted products in moderate to high yields, as precursors for the preparation of highly substituted symmetrical and non-symmetrical aza-phthalocyanines with well-defined spectral properties.     

Production of 64Cu on the Sherbrooke TR-PET cyclotron

At energies £15 MeV, ⁶⁴Cu is most readily produced using the ⁶⁴Ni(p,n)⁶⁴Cu reaction. Space restrictions in the TR-PET target selector required a target system of compact design that would still allow the quick and easy removal of the irradiated target. The target consists of a ⁶⁴Ni-plated rhodium disc held in place by a threaded cooling assembly. For removal, the cooling block is rotated slightly, allowing the disc to fall into a shielding container. The nickel is dissolved and the ⁶⁴Cu separated by anion exchange or electrochemical deposition. Yields of up to 330 mCi of radiochemically pure ⁶⁴Cu have been obtained.     

Controlling fullerene addition sequences, regioselectivity and magic numbers via metal encapsulation

A systematic density functional study of chlorine addition to C(70) up to C(70)Cl(12) confirms experimental observations of regioselectivity and stability of C(70)Cl(10). We show that K@C(70) follows an alternative addition sequence with different isomers and magic numbers to C(70) such as KC(70)Cl(3). This prediction is important for controlling functionalisation behaviour via encapsulation and endofullerene purification.     

Theoretical study of the addition patterns of C60 fluorination: C60Fn (n = 1-60)

A systematic study is presented of addition patterns occurring upon fluorination of C60. We use the program SACHA, which increments the number of fluorine addends, tests all available addition sites within a given cutoff radius, and selects the most energetically stable structure for further addition on the basis of full AM1 optimizations for every isomer. The lowest energy structures are optimized at HF/3-21G level of theory. A number of distinct addition routes are predicted, based on octahedral, 'S', and 'T' addition patterns, leading both to experimentally observed C60F(n) isomers and to isomers not previously described in the literature. Furthermore the main addition routes were analyzed for C60F2n isomers, using ab initio global and local aromaticity calculations. For this, magnetizability and NICS calculations have been carried out at HF/3-21G level of theory. We show the possibility of using NICS to predict the next preferential addition site, matching the above-described addition routes.     

The stereospecific synthesis of all four stereoisomers of 2-amino-6-phenoxy-cyclohexanol,

Epoxidation of 3-phenoxycyclohexene 5 with m-chloro-perbenzoic acid gave 6 and 7 in a ratio of 9:1. These two epoxides were heated with a series of amines to give the aminophenoxycyclohexanol derivatives 1 and 2 respectively; in all cases the reaction was regio- and stereospecific. Two methods based on the principle of neighbouring group participation were developed to synthesize the cis-amino alcohols 3 and 4 . In the first, the hydroxy group was used to introduce an amine function at the vicinal carbon atom. In the second method, the amino group served as the point of reference and the configuration of the adjacent alcohol function was inverted.