Synthesis of 3‐(substituted)‐2,4,8,15‐tetroxa‐3‐phosphadispiro[5.2.5]hexadecane‐3‐oxides

Novel 3‐(substituted)‐2,4,8,15‐tetroxa‐3‐phosphadispiro[5.2.5]hexadecane‐3‐oxides (3‐12) have been synthesized by cyclization of 1,5‐dioxaspiro[5.5]undecande‐3,3‐dimethanol (1) with various substituted aryl phosphorus dichloridates (2) in dry toluene‐THF in the presence of triethylamine at 40‐60 ^oC. Their molecular structures were determined by ir, nmr and mass spectral studies and were screened for antifungal activity against Curvularia lunata and Aspergillus niger, and antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Most of them possess significant activity.     

Ferromagnetism in a dinuclear nickel(II) complex containing triethylenetetramine and tricyanomethanide

Triethylenetetramine (L(4)) was used as a tetradentate blocking ligand that, after complexation with Ni(II), leaves two sites ready for ligation with tricyanomethanide. The formed binuclear complex [L(4)Ni(NCC(CN)CN)(2)NiL(4)](ClO(4))(2) exhibits a ferromagnetic coupling with J/hc = +0.15 cm(-1) and g(Ni) = 2.126; below 16 K, a ferromagnetic ordering is evidenced by ac magnetic susceptibility (both in-phase and out-of-phase), magnetization, field-cooled magnetization, and zero-field-cooled magnetization measurements.     

Tailoring approach for exploring electron densities and electrostatic potentials of molecular crystals

Experimental and theoretical studies of electron densities and the corresponding derived entities such as electrostatic potentials have been the primary means of understanding the chemical nature and electronic properties of crystalline substances. Conventional crystal calculation methods such as the embedded cluster models are capable of performing calculations on small and medium-sized molecules, while periodic ab initio methods can treat crystals with up to 200 atoms per unit cell. A linear scaling method, viz. the molecular tailoring approach, has recently been developed for obtaining ab initio quality one-electron properties. In the present study, the molecular tailoring approach is employed to generate electron density, electrostatic potential and interaction density maps with the ibuprofen crystal as a test case. The interaction density and electrostatic potential maps produced in the present work succinctly bring out the actual crystalline environment around a given reference molecule by including the interactions with atoms in its neighborhood. The results obtained from the molecular tailoring approach may thus be expected to enhance our understanding of the environment in the crystalline material with reasonably small computational effort.Contribution to the Jacopo Tomasi Honorary Issue     

Asymmetric synthesis of 2,3-dihydrofurans and of unsaturated bicyclic tetrahydrofurans through alpha-elimination and migratory cyclization of silyloxy alkenyl aminosulfoxonium salts. Generation and intramolecular O,Si-bond insertion of chiral disubstituted beta-silyloxy alkylidene carbenes

Treatment of the bis(allylsulfoximine)titanium complexes derived from the beta-methyl-substituted acyclic allylic sulfoximines 13a and 13b with aldehydes gave with high selectivities the corresponding sulfoximine-substituted homoallylic alcohols which were isolated as the silyl ethers 15a-h. Methylation of sulfoximines 15a-h afforded the aminosulfoxonium salts 5a-h which upon treatment with LiN(H)tBu gave in high yields the enantio- and diastereomerically pure silyl-substituted 2,3-dihydrofurans 4a-h. Treatment of the titanium complexes derived from the cyclic allylic sulfoximines 17a, 17b, and ent-17c with p-MeOC(6)H(4)CHO delivered with high selectivities the corresponding sulfoximine-substituted cyclic homoallylic alcohols which were isolated as the silyl ethers 18a, 18b, and ent-18c, respectively. Methylation of sulfoximines 18a, 18b, and ent-18c furnished the aminosulfoxonium salts 8a, 8b, and ent-8c, respectively, whose treatment with LiN(H)t-Bu gave the enantio- and diastereomerically pure fused bicyclic 2,3-dihydrofurans 6a, 6b, and ent-6c, respectively, in good yields. It is proposed that the 1-alkenyl aminosulfoxonium salts 5a-h, 8a, 8b, and ent-8c react with the base under alpha-elimination and formation of the acyclic and cyclic beta-silyloxy alkylidene carbenes 2a-h, 7a, 7b, and ent-7c, respectively, which then undergo a 1,5-O,Si-bond insertion and 1,2-silyl migration. The cyclic aminosulfoxonium salts 8a, 8b, and ent-8c upon treatment with 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]-7-undecene did not undergo an alpha-elimination but suffered a novel migratory cyclization with formation of the enantio- and diastereomerically pure bicyclic tetrahydrofurans 9a, 9b, and ent-9c, respectively. It is proposed that the 1-alkenyl sulfoxonium salts 8a, 8b, and ent-8c are isomerized to the allylic aminosulfoxonium salts 10a, 10b, and ent-10c, respectively, which then suffer an intramolecular substitution of the (dimethylamino)sulfoxonium group by the silyloxy group followed by a desilylation. The syntheses of the 2,3-dihydrofurans 4a-h, 6a, and 6b and of the tetrahydrofurans 9a and 9b are accompanied by the formation of sulfinamide 16 of >or=98% ee, which can be converted via sulfoxide 28 of >or=98% to the starting sulfoximine 11 of >or=98% ee.     

New intra-intermolecular criss-cross cycloaddition of unsymmetrical allenylazines with alkynes leading to three fused five-membered heterocycles

This report describes a new type of intra-intermolecular criss-cross cycloadditions. Thermal reactions of unsymmetrical allenylazines in the presence of alkynes led to three fused five-membered heterocycles in some cases. In the case of unsymmetrical substituted alkynes, a regioselectivity was observed. The molecular structures of all products are discussed. One X-ray crystal structure is also reported.     

Improving the performance of molecular dynamics simulations on parallel clusters

In this article a procedure is derived to obtain a performance gain for molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on existing parallel clusters. Parallel clusters use a wide array of interconnection technologies to connect multiple processors together, often at different speeds, such as multiple processor computers and networking. It is demonstrated how to configure existing programs for MD simulations to efficiently handle collective communication on parallel clusters with processor interconnections of different speeds.     

A graph-theoretic approach to quantitative structure—activity/reactivity studies

Characterization of molecular species based on the use of suitable graph invariants (graph paths, in particular) can provide a quantitative means of encoding structure; the technique is complementary to commoner approaches to studies of quantitative structure— activity relationships. Graph path encoding is here applied to quantitative studies of relationships between molecular structures and biological activity; the examples are the rates of various substrate reactions with hexoldnase, and the potential opiate-like activity of enkephalin analogs.