Solid-phase synthesis of aryl-substituted thienoindolizines: sequential Pictet-Spengler, bromination and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions of thiophenes

The solid-phase synthesis of a range of novel heterocyclic scaffolds based on the thiophene ring system, including thienoindolizines and aryl-substituted thiophenes, is presented. Specifically, a sequential methodology for the decoration of thienoindolizine scaffolds has been developed. This method involves a highly efficient and diastereoselective intramolecular Pictet-Spengler reaction, a quantitative and regioselective bromination of the thiophene ring, and a final Suzuki cross-coupling with an arylboronic acid. Crude products were generally obtained in high purities (>90%). In addition, an investigation on the acidic and electronic effects governing the rate of the Pictet-Spengler reactions was performed. Finally, a range of substituted thiophenes was attached to solid supports and subjected to the regioselective bromination and Suzuki cross-coupling reactions, thus providing substituted thiophenes with high purities of crude products.     

The sticking probability of D(2)O-water on ice: Isotope effects and the influence of vibrational excitation

The present study measures the sticking probability of heavy water (D(2)O) on H(2)O- and on D(2)O-ice and probes the influence of selective OD-stretch excitation on D(2)O sticking on these ices. Molecular beam techniques are combined with infrared laser excitation to allow for precise control of incident angle, translational energy, and vibrational state of the incident molecules. For a translational energy of 69 kJ∕mol and large incident angles (θ ≥ 45°), the sticking probability of D(2)O on H(2)O-ice was found to be 1% lower than on D(2)O-ice. OD-stretch excitation by IR laser pumping of the incident D(2)O molecules produces no detectable change of the D(2)O sticking probability (<10(-3)). The results are compared with other gas∕surface systems for which the effect of vibrational excitation on trapping has been probed experimentally.     

Influence of human serum albumin on photodegradation of folic acid in solution

It has been proposed that photodegradation of folates may be the reason for the pigmentation of races living under high fluence rates of ultraviolet radiation. The photodegradation of folic acid (FA) induced by ultraviolet-A (UV-A) radiation, in solution and in the presence of human serum albumin (HSA), was studied with absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. FA photodegradation, with formation of p-aminobenzoyl-l-glutamic acid, 6-formylpterin and pterin-6-carboxylic acid, was found to follow an exponential trend. A scheme of FA photodegradation, which involves photosensitization of FA degradation by its photoproducts, was proposed. The rate of FA photodegradation decreased drastically in the presence of HSA, whereas the spectral characteristics of the photoproducts remained constant. The reduction of the FA photodegradation rate by HSA was accompanied by degradation of tryptophan in HSA. Tryptophan, when added to solutions of FA, had a similar effect as HSA. In solutions of FA and HSA the FA photoproducts cause photodamage mainly to HSA rather than to FA itself. The oxygen dependence of FA photodegradation and the inhibition of this process by sodium azide indicate that singlet oxygen may participate in the photosensitizing activity of FA photoproducts.     

Pharmacogenetics: yeast lead the way

In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Perlstein et al. use genetically diverse strains of yeast to study the genetic basis of differences in cellular responses to small molecules. Their results suggest that drug responses are regulated by a limited number of loci, and that this system can identify clusters of functionally similar molecules.     

Production of Ethanol and Feed by High Dry Matter Hydrolysis and Fermentation of Palm Kernel Press Cake

Palm kernel press cake (PKC) is a residue from palm oil extraction presently only used as a low protein feed supplement. PKC contains 50% fermentable hexose sugars present in the form of glucan and mainly galactomannan. This makes PKC an interesting feedstock for processing into bioethanol or in other biorefinery processes. Using a combination of mannanase, β-mannosidase, and cellulases, it was possible without any pretreatment to hydrolyze PKC at solid concentrations of 35% dry matter with mannose yields up to 88% of theoretical. Fermentation was tested using Saccharomyces cerevisiae in both a separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) setup. The hydrolysates could readily be fermented without addition of nutrients and with average fermentation yields of 0.43?±?0.02 g/g based on consumed mannose and glucose. Employing SSF, final ethanol concentrations of 70 g/kg was achieved in 216 h, corresponding to an ethanol yield of 70% of theoretical or 200 g ethanol/kg PKC. Testing various enzyme mixtures revealed that including cellulases in combination with mannanases significantly improved ethanol yields. Processing PKC to ethanol resulted in a solid residue enriched in protein from 17% to 28%, a 70% increase, thereby potentially making a high-protein containing feed supplement.     

Distinguishability of particles in glass-forming systems

The distinguishability of particles has important implications for calculating the partition function in statistical mechanics. While there are standard formulations for systems of identical particles that are either fully distinguishable or fully indistinguishable, many realistic systems do not fall into either of these limiting cases. In particular, the glass transition involves a continuous transition from an ergodic liquid system of indistinguishable particles to a nonergodic glassy system where the particles become distinguishable. While the question of partial distinguishability of microstates has been treated previously in quantum information theory, this issue has not yet been addressed for a system of classical particles. In this paper, we present a general theoretical formalism for quantifying particle distinguishability in classical systems. This formalism is based on a classical definition of relative entropy, such as applied in quantum information theory. Example calculations for a simple glass-forming system demonstrate the continuous onset of distinguishability as temperature is lowered. We also examine the loss of distinguishability in the limit of long observation time, coinciding with the restoration of ergodicity. We discuss some of the general implications of our work, including the direct connection to topological constraint theory of glass. We also discuss qualitative features of distinguishability as they relate to the Second and Third Laws of thermodynamics.