New Efficient Synthetic Pathways to Tetrakis{p‐[(diethylphosphono)methyl]}calix[4]arene

Various operating conditions have been applied on tetrakis[p‐(halogenomethyl)]‐ and tetrakis[p‐(aminomethyl)]calix[4]arene derivatives to improve the synthesis of the 5,11,17,23‐tetrakis[(diethylphosphono)methyl]‐25,26,27,28‐tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene. Two new, high yield, synthetic pathways have been selected, involving, for the first one, the 25,26,27,28‐tetrahydroxy‐5,11,17,23‐tetrakis[(trimethylamino)methyl]calix[4]arene, tetraiodide, DMF, and 10 equiv. of triethyl phosphite ((EtO)₃P), and, for the other one, the 5,11,17,23‐tetra(bromomethyl)‐25,26,27,28‐tetrahydroxycalix[4]arene, CH₂Cl₂, and only 4 equiv. of (EtO)₂P.     

Möbius strip versus linear and cyclic polyacenes: a Hückel and semiempirical investigation

The electronic structure of finite and infinite linear, cyclic and M?bius strip polyacenes has been investigated by adopting Hückel and semiempirical schemes. Using the Hückel approach, it turns out that the M?bius belting process modifies the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap in such a way its evolution with chain length is similar to the linear polyacenes rather than their cyclic analogs. These results are corroborated at the Austin model 1 (AM1) level, where the geometry relaxation effects are taken into account. The optimized AM1 structures show that the M?bius defect is localized and extends over a third of the ring. With respect to the Hückel approach, accounting for geometry distortion at the AM1 levels results in an increase in the HOMO–LUMO gap of the M?bius strip relative to the linear and cyclic finite-size structures. On the other hand, when including electron-hole correlation at the configuration interaction singles/Zerner's intermediate neglect of differential overlap level the behavior with system size of the first excitation energy of cyclic and M?bius polyacenes differs from their linear analogs and leads to smaller singlet excitation energies. Received: 20 September 2000 / Accepted: 21 September 2000 / Published online: 28 February 2001     

Design of Photosensitizing Agents for Targeted Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic inactivation of microorganisms has gained substantial attention due to its unique mode of action, in which pathogens are unable to generate resistance, and due to the fact that it can be applied in a minimally invasive manner. In photodynamic therapy (PDT), a non-toxic photosensitizer (PS) is activated by a specific wavelength of light and generates highly cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as superoxide (O²⁻, type-I mechanism) or singlet oxygen (¹O₂*, type-II mechanism). Although it offers many advantages over conventional treatment methods, ROS-mediated microbial killing is often faced with the issues of accessibility, poor selectivity and off-target damage. Thus, several strategies have been employed to develop target-specific antimicrobial PDT (aPDT). This includes conjugation of known PS building-blocks to either non-specific cationic moieties or target-specific antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides, or combining them with targeting nanomaterials. In this review, we summarise these general strategies and related challenges, and highlight recent developments in targeted aPDT.     

A unifying look at the Apostolico–Giancarlo string-matching algorithm

String matching is the problem of finding all the occurrences of a pattern in a text. We present a new method to compute the combinatorial shift function (“matching shift”) of the well-known Boyer–Moore string matching algorithm. This method implies the computation of the length of the longest suffixes of the pattern ending at each position in this pattern. These values constituted an extra-preprocessing for a variant of the Boyer–Moore algorithm designed by Apostolico and Giancarlo. We give here a new presentation of this algorithm that avoids extra preprocessing together with a tight bound of 1.5n character comparisons (where n is the length of the text).     

Verification and validation of impinging round jet simulations using an adaptive FEM

This paper illustrates the use of an adaptive finite element method as a means of achieving verification of codes and simulations of impinging round jets, that is obtaining numerical predictions with controlled accuracy. Validation of these grid‐independent solution is then performed by comparing predictions to measurements. We adopt the standard and accepted definitions of verification and validation (Technical Report AIAA‐G‐077‐1998, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1998; Verification and Validation in Computational Science and Engineering. Hermosa Publishers: Albuquerque, NM, 1998). Mesh adaptation is used to perform the systematic and rigorous grid refinement studies required for both verification and validation in CFD. This ensures that discrepancies observed between predictions and measurements are due to deficiencies in the mathematical model of the flow. Issues in verification and validation are discussed. The paper presents an example of code verification by the method of manufactured solution. Examples of successful and unsuccessful validation for laminar and turbulent impinging jets show that agreement with experiments is achieved only with a good mathematical model of the flow physics combined with accurate numerical solution of the differential equations. The paper emphasizes good CFD practice to systematically achieve verification so that validation studies are always performed on solid grounds. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Site‐ and Enantioselective C−H Oxygenation Catalyzed by a Chiral Manganese Porphyrin Complex with a Remote Binding Site

A chiral manganese porphyrin complex with a two‐point hydrogen‐bonding site was prepared and probed in catalytic C?H oxygenation reactions of 3,4‐dihydroquinolones. The desired oxygenation occurred with perfect site selectivity at the C4 methylene group and with high enantioselectivity in favor of the respective 4S‐configured secondary alcohols (12 examples, 29–97 % conversion, 19–68 % yield, 87–99 % ee). Mechanistic studies support the hypothesis that the reaction proceeds through a rate‐ and selectivity‐determining attack of the reactive manganese oxo complex at the hydrogen‐bound substrate and an oxygen transfer by a rebound mechanism.     

Copolymerization of 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate

Copolymers of 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate, (SEM) were prepared with ethyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, vinylidene chloride, and styrene in 1,2-dimethoxyethane solution with N,N′-azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator. The monomer reactivity ratios with SEM (M₁) were: vinylidene chloride, r₁ = 3.6 ± 0.5, r₂ = 0.22 ± 0.03; ethyl acrylate, r₁ = 3.2 ± 0.6, r₂ = 0.30 ± 0.05; ethyl methacrylate, r₁ = 2.0 ± 0.4, r₂ = 1.0 ± 0.1; styrene, r₁ = 0.6 ± 0.2, r₂ = 0.37 ± 0.03. The values of the copolymerization parameters calculated from the monomer reactivity ratios were e = +0.6 and Q = 1.4. Comparison of the monomer reactivities indicates that SEM is similar to ethyl methacrylate with regard to copolymerization reactivity in 1,2-dimethoxyethane solution. The sodium salt of 2-sulfoethyl methacrylate, SEM^?Na^⊕, was copolymerized with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (M₂) in water solution. Reactivity ratios of r₁ = 0.7 ± 0.1 and r₂ = 1.6 ± 0.1 were obtained, indicating a lower reactivity of SEM^?Na^⊕ in water as compared to SEM in 1,2-dimethoxyethane. This decreased reactivity was attributed to greater ionic repulsion between reacting species in the aqueous medium.     

7-Azabicycloheptane carboxylic acid: a proline replacement in a boroarginine thrombin inhibitor

[formula: see text] The synthesis of thrombin inhibitor 3, which incorporates conformationally constrained 7-azabicycloheptane carboxylic acid (1) as a proline replacement, is described. The inhibition constant (Ki(thrombin) = 2.9 nM) indicates that 1 is a reasonable replacement of proline in the formation of a beta-turn tripeptide mimetic.     

First experimental evidence of potassium ordering in layered k4co7o14

The layered P2-K4Co7O14 oxide has been prepared and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, electrical conductivity, thermopower, and magnetic measurements. The crystal structure of K4Co7O14 (P6(3)/m space group, Z=2, a=7.5171(1) A, and c=12.371(1) A) consists of a stacking of slabs of edge-shared CoO6 octahedra with K+ ions occupying ordered positions in the interslab space, leading to a a0 radical7xa0 radical7 supercell. Potential energy calculations at 0 K are in good agreement with the ordered distribution of potassium ions in the (ab) plane. This oxide is metallic, and the magnetic susceptibility is of Pauli-type, which contrasts with the Curie-Weiss behavior of the homologous NaxCoO2 (x approximately 0.6) oxide with close alkali content. The thermopower at room temperature is about one-third that of polycrystalline Na0.6CoO2.