Highly efficient methods for metacyclophane synthesis

Highly efficient methods for synthesizing metacyclophanes such as 2,6-bridged pyrones and pyridines are described. 4-Hydroxy-2-pyrone derivative 3 bridged at the 3 and 6-positions is readily available. This compound was transformed into 2,6-bridged 4-pyrone 4 on heating in ethanol or in hydrochloric acid. Heating 4 with ammonia or methylamine afforded the corresponding 2,6-bridged 4-pyrone 7 or 8. These pyridones were synthesized directly from 3 by treatment with ammonia or methylamine. These methods have a wide applicability to the bridge length of metacyclophane; compounds with a short bridge (n=8) as well as long bridge (n=18) are synthesized in satisfactory yields.     

Divergent synthesis of the tetracyclic ethers of 6-X-7-6 ring systems

Ladder-shaped polyether natural products show diverse biological activities with extreme potency. As the initial phase of detailed SAR studies of bioactive polyethers, we set out to construct structurally simple mimics. This paper details the divergent synthesis of 6-X-7-6 tetracycles (X=7, 8, or 9) starting from a simple 6-membered ether. Key reactions in the synthesis include (i) the direct formation of an O,S-acetal by the coupling of an alcohol with an α-chlorosulfide, (ii) the construction of a 7-membered ring by radical cyclization, and (iii) cyclization to the 7, 8 or 9-membered ring via a ring-closing metathesis reaction. The neutral reaction conditions of our strategy enable the synthesis of a wide variety of substrates. The results of this study can be applied for the rapid construction of artificial polyether compounds with diversified molecular shapes and sizes.     

Oxidatively robust monophenolate-copper(II) complexes as potential models of galactose oxidase

Cupric complexes of a novel phenanthroline-phenolate ligand have strongly distorted coordination geometries and electrochemical properties conducive to modeling the spectroscopy and reactivity of the enzyme galactose oxidase.     

Determination of selenium in human serum by liquid chromatography/electron capture atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry after acid digestion and derivatization using 2,3-diaminonaphthalene

Analysis of selenium in biological samples is very important and numerous analytical methods for the element have been developed. One of the most convenient and widely used methods for routine determination of serum selenium is a fluorometric method using 2,3-diaminonaphthalene (DAN); however, this method lacks specificity. We observed that 4,5-benzopiazselenol (BPS), a selenium derivative of DAN, is ionized with electron capture in an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) interface, and subsequently established a method for determining total human serum selenium by means of liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry. All pretreatment procedures were carried out in a single test tube to minimize selenium loss. The recovery of organic or inorganic selenium spiked to human serum was 97-103%.The detection limit of BPS was equivalent to 0.2 ng of selenium and the lower quantitative limit of serum selenium was 10 ng mL(-1). The coefficient of variation of standard concentrations in control serum samples was 4.5%. The purity of the observed peak obtained from serum samples was confirmed using the ion cluster technique.     

Medicinal flowers. VI. Absolute stereostructures of two new flavanone glycosides and a phenylbutanoid glycoside from the flowers of Chrysanthemum indicum L.: their inhibitory activities for rat lens aldose reductase

Two new flavanone glycosides, (2S)- and (2R)-eriodictyol 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranosiduronic acids, and a new phenylbutanoid glycoside, (2S, 3S)-1-phenyl-2,3-butanediol 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside, were isolated from the flowers of Chrysanthemum indicum L. cultivated in China together with eight flavonoids. The absolute stereostructures of the new compounds were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. Both of the new flavanone glycosides were found to show inhibitory activity for rat lens aldose reductase.     

Enantiodifferentiating photoaddition of alcohols to 1,1-diphenylpropene in supercritical carbon dioxide: sudden jump of optical yield at the critical density

In the enantiodifferentiating photoaddition of ROH (R = Me, Et, i-Pr) to 1,1-diphenylpropene sensitized by fructosyl 1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylate in supercritical carbon dioxide, the enantiomeric excess of photoadduct increased with increasing bulkiness of the alcohol at all pressures used, with an accompanying sudden jump at the critical density, for which the enhanced clustering of alcohol, particularly in the subcritical pressure region, was revealed to be responsible from the fluorescence spectral examinations.     

Nigellamines A3, A4, A5, and C, new dolabellane-type diterpene alkaloids, with lipid metabolism-promoting activities from the Egyptian medicinal food black cumin

New dolabellane-type diterpene alkaloids, nigellamines A(3), A(4), A(5), and C, were isolated from the methanolic extract of an Egyptian medicinal food, black cumin (the seeds of Nigella sativa). Their absolute configurations were determined on the basis of chemical and physicochemical evidence. Nigellamines were found to lower triglyceride levels in primary cultured mouse hepatocytes, and in particular, the activity of nigellamine A(5) was equivalent to that of the hypolipidemic agent, clofibrate.     

Convergent syntheses of polycyclic ethers. Illustrations of the utility of acetal-linked intermediates

One of the most characteristic and spectacular class of compounds isolated from marine sources is the polycyclic ethers. Following the initial report of the structural determination of brevetoxin B, a variety of novel polycyclic ethers have begun to surface. These natural products include ciguatoxins, gambierol, gambieric acids, yessotoxins and gymnocins, each of which exhibit distinct biological properties such as cytotoxicity and neurotoxicity, as well as antiviral and antifungal activities. Because of these intriguing biological activities and their complex molecular architecture, the total synthesis of these compounds has been pursued by many laboratories over two decades. In particular, the development of novel convergent strategies to assemble the structural fragments is crucial for the successful construction of these nano-scale molecules. This Perspective will focus on a recent convergent methodology using an acetal-linkage as a key motif. Application of this methodology culminated in the total syntheses of gambierol and ciguatoxin CTX3C.