Daphniglaucins A and B,novel polycyclic quaternary alkaloids from Daphniphyllum glaucescens

[structure: see text] Two cytotoxic quaternary Daphniphyllum alkaloids with an unprecedented fused-polycyclic skeleton containing a 1-azoniatetracyclo[5.2.2.0.(1,6)0.(4,9)]undecane ring system, daphniglaucins A (1) and B (2), have been isolated from the leaves of Daphniphyllum glaucescens. Their structures and relative stereochemistry were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data.     

Inorganic speciation of As(III, V), Se(IV, VI) and Sb(III, V) in natural water with GF-AAS using solid phase extraction technology

The paper presents a procedure for the multi-element inorganic speciation of As(III, V), Se(IV, VI) and Sb(III, V) in natural water with GF-AAS using solid phase extraction technology. Total As(III, V), Se(IV, VI) and Sb(III, V) were determined according to the following procedure: titanium dioxide (TiO₂) was used to adsorb inorganic species of As, Se and Sb in sample solution; after filtration, the solid phase was prepared to be slurry for determination. For As(III), Se(IV) and Sb(III), their inorganic species were coprecipitated with Pb-PDC, dissolved in dilute nitric acid, and then determined. The concentrations of As(V), Se(VI) and Sb(V) can be calculated by the difference of the concentrations obtained by the above determinations. For the determination of As(III), Se(IV) and Sb(III), palladium was chosen as a modifier and pyrolysis temperature was 800 °C. Optimum conditions for the coprecipitation were listed for 100 ml of sample solution: pH 3.0, 15 min of stirring time, 40.0 μg l⁻¹ Pb(NO₃)₂ and 150.0 μg l⁻¹ APDC. The proposed method was applied to the determination of trace amounts of As(III, V), Se(IV, VI) and Sb(III, V) in river water and seawater.     

Ubiquitous strategy for probing ATR surface-enhanced infrared absorption at platinum group metal-electrolyte interfaces

A versatile two-step wet process to fabricate Pt, Pd, Rh, and Ru nanoparticle films (simplified as nanofilms hereafter) for in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) study of electrochemical interfaces is presented, which incorporates an initial chemical deposition of a gold nanofilm on the basal plane of a silicon prism with the subsequent electrodepostion of desired platinum group metal overlayers. Galvanostatic electrodeposition of Pt, Rh, and Pd from phosphate or perchloric acid electrolytes, or potentiostatic electrodeposition of Ru from a sulfuric acid electrolyte, yields sufficiently "pinhole-free" overlayers as evidenced by electrochemical and spectroscopic characterizations. The Pt group metal nanofilms thus obtained exhibit strongly enhanced IR absorption. In contrast to the corresponding metal films electrochemically deposited directly on glassy carbon and bulk metal electrodes, the observed enhanced absorption for the probe molecule CO exhibits normal unipolar band shapes. Scanning tunneling microscopic (STM) images reveal that fine nanoparticles of Pt group metals are deposited around wavy and stepped bunches of Au nanoparticles of relatively large sizes. This ubiquitous strategy is expected to open a wide avenue for extending ATR surface-enhanced IR absorption spectroscopy to explore molecular adsorption and reactions on technologically important transition metals, as exemplified by successful real-time spectroscopic and electrochemical monitoring of the oxidation of CO at Pd and that of methanol at Pt nanofilm electrodes. The spectral features of free water molecules coadsorbed with CO on Pt, Pd, Rh, and Ru are also discussed.     

Ring‐Opening Reactions of 3‐Aryl‐1‐benzylaziridine‐2‐carboxylates and Application to the Asymmetric Synthesis of an Amphetamine‐Type Compound

Nucleophilic ring‐opening reactions of 3‐aryl‐1‐benzylaziridine‐2‐carboxylates were examined by using O‐nucleophiles and aromatic C‐nucleophiles. The stereospecificity was found to depend on substrates and conditions used. Configuration inversion at C(3) was observed with O‐nucleophiles as a major reaction path in the ring‐opening reactions of aziridines carrying an electron‐poor aromatic moiety, whereas mixtures containing preferentially the syn‐diastereoisomer were generally obtained when electron‐rich aziridines were used (Tables 1–3). In the reactions of electron‐rich aziridines with C‐nucleophiles, S_N2 reactions yielding anti‐type products were observed (Table 4). Reductive ring‐opening reaction by catalytic hydrogenation of (+)‐trans‐(2S,3R)‐3‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)aziridine‐2‐carboxylate (+)‐trans‐ 3c afforded the corresponding α‐amino acid derivative, which was smoothly transformed into (+)‐tert‐butyl [(1R)‐2‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)‐1‐methylethyl]carbamate((+)‐ 14 ) with high retention of optical purity (Scheme 6).     

Furopyridines. X. Synthesis of tricyclic heterocycles,furo[2,3-b:4,5-c']-, furo[3,2-b:4,5-c']-, furo[2,3-c:4,5-c']- and furo[3,2-c:4,5-c']dipyridine

This paper describes the synthesis of four tricyclic heterocycles, furo[2,3–6:4,5-c']- ( 5a ), furo[3,2-b:4,5-c']- ( 5b ), furo[2,3-c:4,5-c']- ( 5c ) and furo[3,2-c:4,5-c']dipyridine ( 5d ). Starting with 2-formylfuropyridines ( 1a-d ), β-(2-furopyridyl)acrylic acids 2a-d were obtained by condensing with malonic acid. The acrylic acids were converted to the acid azides by reaction with ethyl chloroformate and the subsequent reaction with sodium azide. Heating of the acid azides at 230–240° with diphenylmethane and tributylamine gave tricyclic pyridinones 3a-d , which were converted to the respective chloro derivatives 4a-d by reaction with phosphorus oxychloride. Reduction of the chloro compounds over palladium-charcoal yielded compounds 5a-d respectively. All the compounds 2 to 5 were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral data. The H and ¹³C nmr and electronic spectral features of the furodipyridines were discussed comparing with those of the parent furopyridines.     

Molecular mechanics (MM3) calculations on lithium amide compounds

The MM3 force field has been extended to deal with the lithium amide molecules that are widely used as efficient catalysts for stereoselective asymmetric synthesis. The MM3 force field parameters have been determined on the basis of the ab initio MP2/6-31G* and/or DFT (B3LYP/6-31G*, B3-PW91/6-31G*) geometry optimization calculations. To evaluate the electronic interactions specific to the lithium amides derived from the diamine molecules properly, the Lewis bonding potential term for the interaction between the lithium atom and the nonbonded adjacent electronegative atom such as nitrogen was introduced into the MM3 force field. The bond dipoles were evaluated correctly from the electronic charges on the atoms calculated by fitting to the electrostatic potential at points selected. The MM3 results on the molecular structures, conformational energies, and vibrational spectra show good agreement with those from the quantum mechanical calculations.     

Furopyridines. V. A simple synthesis of furo[2,3-c]pyridine and its 2-and 3-methyl derivatives

A simple synthesis of furo[2,3-c]pyridine and its 2- and 3-methyl derivatives from ethyl 3-hydroxyisonicotinate ( 2 ) is described. The hydroxy ester 2 was O-alkylated with ethyl bromoacetate or ethyl 2-bromopropionate to give the diester 3a or 3b . Cyclization of compound 3a afforded ethyl 3-hydroxyfuro [2,3-c]pyridine-2-carboxylate ( 4 ) which was hydrolyzed and decarboxylated to give furo[2,3-c]pyridin-3(2H)-one ( 5a ). Cyclization of 3b gave the 2-methyl derivative 5b . Reduction of 5a and 5b with sodium borohydride yielded the corresponding hydroxy derivative 6a and 6b , respectively, which were dehydrated with phosphoric acid to give furo[2,3-c]pyridine ( 7a ) and its 2-methyl derivative 7b . 4-Acetylpyridin-3-ol ( 8 ) was O-alkylated with ethyl bromoacetate to give ethyl 2-(4-acetyl-3-pyridyloxy) acetate ( 9 ). Saponification of compound 9 , and the subsequent intramolecular Perkin reaction gave 3-methylfuro[2,3-c]pyridine ( 10 ). Cyclization of 9 with sodium ethoxide gave 3-methylfuro[2,3-c]pyridine-2-carboxylic acid, which in turn was decarboxylated to give compound 10 .     

Structural and electrochemical studies of novel bis(mu-methoxo)diiron complexes: observation of Fe(III)Fe(IV) and Fe(IV)Fe(IV) states resonating with phenoxyl radicals

Novel diiron complexes with an Fe2(mu-OMe)2 core were studied as models of the active site of nonheme iron-containing enzymes. X-ray crystal structures of the complexes showed the existence of two types of ligand folding-parallel and twisted-both of which have four virtually equivalent phenolato groups sticking out from the Fe2O2 rhombic plane. Cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed two or more distinct redox waves in a region of relatively high potential, in addition to known Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox waves in a region of lower potential. These new peaks were assigned to the high-valence state of iron atoms, that is, Fe(III)Fe(IV) and Fe(IV)Fe(IV), resonating with the phenoxyl radical(s). The split width of the redox waves ranged from 0.14 to 0.20 eV, which may be a measure of the electronic interaction of the phenolate groups through the Fe2(mu-OMe)2 core.     

Rhodamine B amine as a highly sensitive fluorescence derivatization reagent for saccharides in reversed-phase liquid chromatography

6-Rhodamine B amine functions as a highly sensitive fluorescence derivatization reagent for mono- and oligosaccharides; it reacts with the reducing end of saccharides under acidic conditions. The fluorescent derivatives of five monosaccharides can be separated within 25 min by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with isocratic elution. The detection limits (S/N = 3) for mono-, di-, and oligosaccharides are 7-51, 13, and 9-35 fmol/20 microl injection, which correspond to analyte concentrations of 35-255, 65, 45-175 nM, respectively. We have applied this derivatization method successfully to the analysis of the components of oligosaccharides in glycoproteins (ribonuclease B and fetuin) following their acidic or enzymatic hydrolysis. The results from these analyses are in good agreements with the reported values established previously.     

Screening method for organic aciduria by spectrofluorometric measurement of total dicarboxylic acids in human urine based on intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence derivatization

A simple screening method of organic aciduria by spectrofluorometric measurement of total dicarboxylic acids in human urine is described. This method is based on an intramolecular excimer-forming fluorescence derivatization with a pyrene reagent, 4-(1-pyrene)butanoic acid hydrazide (PBH). Dicarboxylic acids in urine were converted to the corresponding dipyrene-labeled derivatives by reaction with PBH in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide and pyridine, and the derivatives afforded intramolecular excimer fluorescence (420-540 nm) which can clearly be discriminated from the normal fluorescence (360-420 nm) emitted from reagent blanks. The technique is so selective that it permits spectrofluorometric measurement of total amount of dicarboxylic acids by the direct derivatization of diluted urine samples. The same reaction mixture has also served as a liquid chromatographic (LC) sample for the separative determination of individual dicarboxylic acids. The spectrofluorometric data did not contradict with the LC data. These methods were usefully applied to preliminary screening test of glutaric aciduria. In conclusion, the present derivatization method allows rapid and direct determination of total amount of dicarboxylic acids in human urine samples.