Synthesis and Characterization of [(1,4‐diamine)dichloro]platinum(II) Compounds Preliminary Studies on their Biological Activity

Two 1,4‐diamine ligands were synthesized having 1,2‐bis(aminomethyl)‐cyclohexane and 1,2‐bis(aminomethyl)‐benzene structures. The two ligands have different electron density in the six‐membered ring: a cyclohexane versus a phenyl ring. The organic synthesis of the ligands was carried out by synthetic pathways of seven and four steps, respectively, starting from 1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthalic anhydride and diethyl phthalate. The coordination of platinum to these ligands afforded platinum(II) complexes which are analogue to the clinical drug cisplatin but form a seven‐membered chelate ring. The interaction of the platinum compounds with DNA was studied in order to know the relationship between the electron density of ligands and their capability to chelate DNA, by using three techniques: Circular Dichroism, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis and Atomic Force Microscopy. The degree of interaction of both compounds with DNA was slightly different, but both complexes showed a cisplatin‐like behaviour and are promising candidates to follow an extensive study of their cytotoxic activity.     

A Clean Synthesis of 1,4‐Diarylquinoline Derivatives Catalyzed by TEBAC in Aqueous Media

A series of 1,4‐diarylquinoline derivatives were synthesized by the reaction of arylmethylidenemalononitriles or 2‐cyano‐3‐aryl‐1‐acrylate and 3‐arylamino‐5,5‐dimethylcyclohex‐2‐enone in aqueous media at 100 °C catalyzed by TEBAC. Meanwhile, the water medium was chosen as green solvent.     

The first immobilization of pyridine-bis(oxazoline) chiral ligands

[formula: see text] A chiral pyridine-bis(oxazoline) ligand, functionalized with a vinyl group in the pyridine ring, can be polymerized with styrene and divinylbenzene to obtain supported chiral ligands. As proof of the usefulness of this supported ligands, the corresponding ruthenium complexes are catalysts for the cyclopropanation reaction of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate with up to 85% ee.     

Direct evidence of a radical mechanism in the addition reaction of iododifluoroesters to olefins by spin trapping

We present EPR analysis of the reaction of ethyl iododifluoroacetate with 1-tetradecene in the presence of Zn + NiCl2 x 6H2O, confirming the mechanistic studies that provide evidence of a single electron transfer process. We have trapped for the first time the ethoxycarbonyldifluoromethyl radical with a variety of spin traps, such as phenyl tert-butyl nitrone (PBN), 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO), 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane (MNP), and 2-nitro-2-nitrosopropane (NNP), and the EPR spectra of the corresponding adducts have been recorded. In a second step the ethoxycarbonyldifluoromethyl radical adds to the olefin to furnish a second radical intermediate, which can be trapped with NNP. Evidence of this second radical was obtained by EPR only with electron-rich olefins, such as alpha-methylstyrene and 2,4,6-trimethylstyrene, and the new adducts were recorded and interpreted. In addition, we also report the EPR spectra of the corresponding adducts when other alkylating reagents are used, such as ethyl iodoacetate, n-perfluorohexyl iodide, methyl omega-iodohexadecanoate, and n-butyl iodide.     

Engineering reactions in crystalline solids: predicting photochemical decarbonylation from calculated thermochemical parameters

A detailed thermochemical analysis of the alpha-cleavage and decarbonylation reactions of acetone and several ketodiesters was carried out with the B3LYP/6-31G* density functional method. The heats of formation of several ground-state ketones and radicals were calculated at 298 K to determine bond dissociation energies (BDE) and radical stabilization energies (RSE) as a function of substituents. Results show that the radical-stabilizing abilities of the ketone substituents play a very important role on the thermodynamics of the alpha-cleavage and decarbonylation steps. An excellent correlation between calculated values and previous experimental observations suggests that photochemical alpha-cleavage and decarbonylation in crystals should be predictable from knowledge of excitation energies and the RSE of the substituent.     

Synthesis and characterization of macrocyclic vinyl aromatic polymers

The synthesis and characterization by size exclusion chromatography, liquid chromatography, NMR, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization, thermal analysis, and other techniques of well‐defined and narrow molecular weight distribution macrocyclic polystyrene (PS), poly(2‐vinylpyridine), poly(α‐methylstyrene), poly (2‐vinyl‐naphthalene) (P2VN), and poly(9,9‐dimethyl‐2‐vinylfluorene) (PDMVF) containing a single 1,4‐benzylidene, methylidene, or 9,10‐anthracenylidene unit are reviewed. The absorption and emission spectroscopy of PS, P2VN, and PDMVF is also discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2139–2155, 2006     

Synthesis and Catalytic Application of Homo-bimetallic Metallocene Complexes as Ethylene Polymerization Catalysts

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Colloidal aggregation induced by long range attractions

The structure of colloidal clusters formed by long-range attractive interactions under diluted conditions is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. For a not-too-long attraction range, clusters show self-similar internal structure with lower density than that typical for diffusive aggregation. For long-range interactions, low kappa, nonfractal clusters are formed (dense at short scales but open at long ones). The dependence on the volume fraction shows that more-compact clusters are grown the higher the colloidal density for diffusive aggregation and attraction-driven aggregation in the fractal regime. The whole trend is explained in terms of the interpenetration among aggregates. In attraction-driven aggregations, the interpenetration of clusters competes with aggregation in the tips of the clusters, causing low-density clusters.     

(Z)‐1‐Ferrocenyl‐3‐(3‐hydroxy­anilino)­but‐2‐en‐1‐one and (Z)‐1‐ferrocenyl‐3‐(4‐hydroxy­anilino)­but‐2‐en‐1‐one

The title compounds, both [Fe(C₅H₅)(C₁₅H₁₄NO₂)], crystallize with Z′ = 2 in the centrosymmetric space group P. In each compound, there is an intra­molecular N—H⋯O=C hydrogen bond, and pairs of inter­molecular O—H⋯O=C hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains, parallel to [10] in the 3‐hydr­oxy compound and parallel to [10] in the 4‐hydr­oxy compound.     

Calorimetric unfolding of intramolecular triplexes: length dependence and incorporation of single AT --> TA substitutions in the duplex domain

DNA triplexes have been the subject of great interest due to their ability to interfere with gene expression. The inhibition of gene expression involves the design of stable triplexes under physiological conditions; therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of the energetic contributions controlling their stability. We have used a combination of UV spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques to investigate the unfolding of intramolecular triplexes, d(A(n)C5T(n)C5T(n)), where n is 5-7, 9, and 11, and related triplexes with a single AT --> TA substitution in their duplex stem. Specifically, we obtain standard thermodynamic profiles for the unfolding of each triplex in buffer solutions containing 0.1 M or 1 M NaCl. The triplexes unfold in monophasic or biphasic transitions (triplex --> duplex --> coil) depending on the concentration of salt used and position of the substitution, and their transition temperatures are independent of strand concentration. The DSC curves of the unsubstituted triplexes yielded an unfolding heat of 13.9 kcal/mol for a TAT/TAT base-triplet stack and a heat capacity of 505 cal/ degrees C.mol. The incorporation of a single substitution destabilizes triplex formation (association of the third strand) to a larger extent in 0.1 M NaCl, and the magnitude of the effects also depends on the position of the substitution. The combined results show that a single AT --> TA substitution in a homopurine/homopyrimidine duplex does not allow triplex formation of the neighboring five TAT base triplets, indicating that the in vivo formation of triplexes, such as H-DNA, is exclusive to homopurine/homopyrimidine sequences.