Steroidal oligoglycosides from Solanum nigrum

Two new steroidal saponins, named nigrumnins I and II, together with two known saponins were obtained from the whole plant of Solanum nigrum L. On the basis of spectroscopic analysis (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 1H-1H COSY, TOCSY, HMQC, HMBC and FAB-MS), nigrumnin I was established as (25R)-5alpha-spirostan-3beta-ol 3-O-betaD-xylopyranosyl-(1-->3)-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 -->2)]-beta-D- glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1-->2)]-beta-D- galactopyranoside (1), and nigrumnin II was elucidated as (25R)-3beta,17alpha-dihydroxy-5alpha-spirostan-1 2-one 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->3)-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1--> 2)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-[alpha-L-rhamnopyra- nosyl-(1-->2)l-beta-D-galactopyranoside (2).     

Cobalt-catalyzed Heck-type reaction of alkyl halides with styrenes

A cobalt complex, CoCl2[1,6-bis(diphenylphosphino)hexane], catalyzes an alkylation reaction of styrenes in the presence of Me3SiCH2MgCl in ether to yield beta-alkylstyrenes. A variety of alkyl halides including alkyl chlorides can be employed as an alkyl source. A radical mechanism is strongly suggested for this alkylation reaction.     

Optical switching and alignment of antiferroelectric liquid crystals containing an azo group

The optical properties of two kinds of photochromic antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) containing an azo group have been examined. Depending on the substituting group at the chiral centre, these AFLCs showed different photoinduced phase transitions by Ar⁺ laser light irradiation. This phase transition has led to a new form of optical switching controlled by a bias voltage. In addition, it was found that these AFLCs caused an azimuthal photoalignment effect regulated by linearly polarized Ar⁺ laser light irradiation. These phenomena were applied to image storage.     

Cyclically symmetric hyperbolic spatial graphs in 3-manifolds

The aims of this paper is to prove that every closed connected orientable 3-manifold with an orientation-preserving periodic diffeomorphism contains infinitely many, setwise invariant, spatial graphs whose exteriors are hyperbolic 3-manifolds.     

NMR studies of conformations and molecular recognition of pyridinio-appended and nicotinamide-appended β-cyclodextrin

Abstract

The conformations of pyridinio-appended β-cyclodextrin (CDP⁺) and nicotinamide-appended β-cyclodextrin (CDNA⁺) were studied by NMR spectroscopy. The orientations of the pyridine residue of CDP⁺ and the nicotinamide residue of CDNA⁺ were determined by using a combination of NMR spectroscopic techniques. NMR spectra indicate that the shapes of the cavities of CDP⁺ and CDNA⁺ were changed after forming complexes. This change depended on the shape of the guest. CDNA⁺ could separate the ¹H resonances at the Cβ position of racemic tryptophan into two sets of resonances for each enantiomer.     

Drug–tea polyphenol interaction

Propericiazine (PCZ) is an antipsychotic agent used for the treatment and the prevention of relapse of schizophrenia. We found that when an oral solution containing PCZ was mixed with a green tea drink, the residual content of PCZ was reduced by forming an insoluble complex between PCZ and tea polyphenol. In this study, the mechanism underlying the incompatibility of PCZ with green tea polyphenol (GTP) in the solution was clarified by isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC). Both solutions of 27.4 mM PCZ and 2.2 mM (?)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg), which is a main ingredient of GTP, were mixed and then PCZ in the filtrate was reduced to approximately 60 %. According to measurement at 298 K by ITC, PCZ formed an insoluble complex with EGCg at an associate constant (K) of 4.75 × 10² M^?1 exothermically, ΔH = ?40.0 kJ mol^?1. When (?)-epicatechin gallate (ECg) was used as the GTP, PCZ interacted with ECg with K and ΔH values of 3.74 × 10² M^?1 and ?22.1 kJ mol^?1, respectively. On the other hand, little heat of the reaction between PCZ and (?)-epigallocatechin or (?)-epicatechin was observed. The results indicated that the main reason for this incompatibility was the formation of an insoluble complex by PCZ and a gallate-type GTP such as EGCg and ECg in the aqueous solution.