Enantioselective Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction catalyzed by a chiral phosphine oxide

An application of a hypervalent silicon complex, generated from a chiral phosphine oxide catalyst and silicon tetrachloride, to the enantioselective organocatalytic Morita–Baylis–Hillman reaction is described. A chloride anion liberated from the hypervalent silicon complex smoothly generated a γ-chloro silyl enol ether that subsequently reacted with an aldehyde to afford the Baylis–Hillman adducts in good yields and with good enantioselectivities.     

PNA for one-base differentiating protection of DNA from nuclease and its use for SNPs detection

By the combination of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) with single-stranded DNA specific nucleases, alteration of a single base to another in DNA has been detected with high accuracy. Only the DNAs in DNA/PNA duplexes involving a mismatch are efficiently hydrolyzed by these enzymes, whereas fully matching sequences are kept intact. This difference is visually scored by adding 3,3'-diethylthiadicarbocyanine, which changes its color from blue to purple upon binding to DNA/PNA duplexes. These findings are applied to the convenient and straightforward detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). When the target site in the sample DNA is completely complementary with the PNA, a notable amount of DNA/PNA duplex remains and thus the solution exhibits purple color. In the presence of even one mismatch between PNA and DNA, however, the DNA is completely digested by the enzyme and therefore the dye shows its intrinsic blue color. The SNPs in the apolipoprotein E gene of human DNA have been successfully genotyped by this method.     

Novel synthesis and properties of 7,9-dimethylcyclohepta[b]pyrimido[5,4-d]furan-8(7H),10(9H)-dionylium tetrafluoroborate: autorecycling oxidation of some alcohols under photo-irradiation

Three-step reactions starting from 2-chlorotropone with barbituric acid afforded novel 7,9-dimethylcyclohepta[b]pyrimido[5,4-d]furan-8(7H),10(9H)-dionylium tetrafluoroborate (9·BF₄⁻), which is the isoelectronic compound of the 5-ethyl-3-methyllumiflavinium ion. The stability of cation 9 is expressed by the pK_R+ value, which was determined spectrophotometrically, as ca. 6.0. The electrochemical reduction of 9 exhibited low reduction potential at −0.58 (V vs Ag/AgNO₃), upon cyclic voltammetry (CV). In a search for the reactivity, reactions of 9·BF₄⁻ with some nucleophiles, hydroxide, hydride, amines, thiols, and methanol, were carried out to exhibit that the introduction of nucleophiles is dependent on the nucleophile itself. The photo-induced oxidation reactions of some alcohols catalyzed by 9·BF₄⁻ under aerobic conditions were carried out to give the corresponding carbonyl compounds in more than 100% yield [based on compound 9·BF₄⁻], suggesting the oxidizing function of 9·BF₄⁻ toward alcohols in the autorecycling process. The UV-vis and fluorescence spectra of 9 were studied to suggest the electron transfer from alcohols to the excited 9.     

Structure and biosynthetic implication of (S)-NHAB, a novel shunt product, from a disruptant of the actVI-ORFA gene for actinorhodin biosynthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2)

A novel shunt product was isolated from a disruptant of the actVI-ORFA gene involved in the biosynthesis of actinorhodin (ACT) in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Its structure was elucidated as 1,4-naphthoquinone-8-hydroxy-3-[3(S)-acetoxy-butyric acid], (S)-NHAB, based on NMR, MS, and CD spectroscopic data as well as a single crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis. The formation of (S)-NHAB involves a retro-Claisen type C-C bond cleavage of an ACT biosynthetic intermediate. Feeding experiments with [1-¹³C] and [2-¹³C] acetates indicated its biosynthetic origin as a single octaketide chain. The relevant gene product, Act-ORFA, which is a functionally unknown protein, is proposed to play a regulatory role related to the multi-enzymatic steps to ACT production, based on the metabolic profile of its disruptant and the wide distribution of actVI-ORFA homologues in the gene clusters for Streptomyces aromatic polyketides.     

Novel 2-pyrone synthesis via the nucleophilic addition of active methine compounds to 2-alkynone

Novel 2-pyrone synthesis via the nucleophilic addition of active methine compounds to 2-alkynone has been developed. The reaction of active methine compounds with 2-alkynone provided 2-pyrones in good yields.     

Metal-ion-assisted hydrolysis of dipeptides involving a serine residue in a neutral aqueous solution

Dipeptides having a serine residue at the C-terminus, X-Ser, where X is an appropriate amino acid residue, were efficiently hydrolyzed in the presence of ZnCl2 at pH 7.0. The rapid hydrolysis of X-Ser is due to an autocatalysis of the hydroxy group in the serine residue, and is found to be accelerated by a metal ion, in particular by ZnCl2. Roles of the metal ion in the hydrolysis of peptides involving a serine residue, in relation to the recently reported protein cleavages, are discussed.     

Fast and quantitative analysis of branched-chain amino acids in biological samples using a pillar array column

In this study, a fast and quantitative determination method for branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), namely leucine, isoleucine, and valine, was developed using a pillar array column. A pillar array column with low-dispersion turns was fabricated on a 20?×?20-mm² microchip using multistep ultraviolet photolithography and deep reactive ion etching. The BCAAs were fluorescently labeled with 4-fluoro-7-nitro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole (NBD-F), followed by reversed-phase separation on the pillar array column. The NBD derivatives of the three BCAAs and an internal standard (6-aminocaproic acid) were separated in 100 s. The calibration curves for the NBD-BCAAs had good linearity in the range of 0.4–20 μM, using an internal standard. The intra- and interday precisions were found to be in the ranges of 1.42–3.80 and 2.74–6.97 %, respectively. The accuracies for the NBD-BCAA were from 90.2 to 99.1 %. The method was used for the analysis of sports drink and human plasma samples. The concentrations of BCAAs determined by the developed method showed good agreements with those determined using a conventional high-performance liquid chromatography system. As BCAAs are important biomarkers of some diseases, these results showed that the developed method could be a potential diagnostic tool in clinical research.     

Optical Polymer Having a High Refractive Index and High Abbe Number Prepared by Radical Polymerization Using 2,5-BiS(2-Thia-3-Butenyl)-1,4-Dithiane

Abstract

Novel poly(vinylsulfide)s were prepared by addition polymerization using 2,5-bis(2-thia-3-butenyl)-1,4-dithiane (TBD) with a radical initiator for an optical polymer having a high refractive index (n_D) and Abbe number (v). Homopolymerization of TBD (72.9% conversion) and copolymerization with acrylonitrile or acrylates having nonpolar groups (50.4–81.3% conversion according to the comonomers used) in a limited composition range yielded hard and transparent polymers suitable for application in optics. The methacrylates used yielded no polymeric product as a result of the copolymerization. The obtained polymers had T_g, n_D and v ranging between 41.0–124.0°C, 1.678–1.546 and 34.1–43.8, respectively, except that poly(TBD) did not exhibit T_g below 200°C, and it had the highest n_D Most of the polymers have higher n_D and v than those of other conventional optical polymers and moreover, their values are comparable to those of flint glasses. The copolymerizability of TBD and the group contribution to n_D and v are discussed based on the Q-e scheme and on the Lorentz-Lorenz equation, respectively. This work shows that TBD serves as a useful material for the preparation of polymers having high n_D and v along with a T_g of more than 100°C, and that the polymers thus obtained are promising optical materials.