A practical oxidative method for the cleavage of hydrazide N[bond]N bonds

The selective N-oxidation of the most nucleophilic amino nitrogen atom in hydrazides is central to the development of an unprecedented methodology for the cleavage of their N[bond]N bonds under oxidative conditions. Treatment of a series of hydrazides 1-9 with peracids such as magnesium monoperoxyphtalate hexahydrate (MMPP.6 H(2)O) or meta-chloroperbenzoic acid (m-CPBA) afforded the corresponding amides 10-16 in good-to-excellent yields (80-92 %). The extension of the methodology to carbamate-like substrates such as 17 and 18 was also investigated, but in this case the process is synthetically useless in view of the low yields observed of carbamates 19 and 20 (approximately 15 %). Experiments carried out with equivalent amounts of oxidant produced nitrones, such as 26, proceeding from the dialkylamino moiety, and (1)H NMR experiments indicated that this product is formed by fast conversion of the parent hydrazide, without detection of the expected hydrazide N-oxides. In addition, the over oxidation of 26 into nitronate 25 proceeds through an unknown intermediate. This oxidative N[bond]N bond cleavage by peracids is an alternative method for the deamination of hydrazides, and constitutes the only solution compatible with substrates carrying functionalities sensitive to reducing conditions.     

Structure, stability and guest affinity of tris(3-ureidobenzyl)amine capsules in solution

In non-competitive solvents, the tris(3-ureidobenzyl)amines 1 a-c form dimeric assemblies in which guests such as CH(3)CN, CH(3)NO(2), CH(2)Cl(2), CH(3)I, CH(2)BrCl, CH(2)Br(2), CHCl(3) and C(6)H(6) can be encapsulated. Variable temperature (1)H and (1)H,(1)H-ROESY NMR spectroscopy, as well as pulsed-gradient spin-echo (PGSE) diffusion measurements were used to investigate the encapsulation within 1 a1 a (1 a: tris{3-[N'-(4-butylphenyl)ureido]benzyl}amine). Kinetic parameters for the encapsulation of CH(3)NO(2), CH(2)Cl(2) and CH(3)I, both in CDCl(3) and in [D(8)]toluene have been obtained by using magnetisation transfer methods. These data are discussed together with the thermodynamic parameters. The affinity between guest and capsule seems to be dictated mainly by the electronic, size and shape complementarity between cavity and guest. A gating mechanism for guest exchange is proposed.     

Studies on stereoselective [2+2] cycloadditions between N,N-dialkylhydrazones and ketenes

Staudinger-like cycloadditions between chiral, non-racemic N,N-dialkylhydrazones 1 and functionalized ketenes constitute an efficient methodology for the stereoselective construction of the beta-lactam ring. The potential for fine tuning of the dialkylamino auxiliary structure, the availability of a high-yielding deprotection method for the release of the free azetidinones, and the high thermal and chemical stability of hydrazones as N-dialkylamino imines are highlighted as the key elements for the success of the strategy. This last aspect is of particular importance concerning generality: even hydrazones from easily enolizable aldehydes or from formaldehyde reacted to afford the corresponding cycloadducts with high chemical and stereochemical yields. The syntheses of the beta-amino-alpha-hydroxyacids (2R,3S)-phenylisoserine (42) and (2R,3S)-norstatin (45) were accomplished as illustrative examples of the synthetic utility of this procedure. A model system for the cycloaddition of g series auxiliaries was studied by ab initio computational methods. The collected results support a two-step mechanism through zwitterionic intermediates, and explain the observed absolute and relative stereochemistry in terms of the preferred outward cycloaddition to the Re face of the hydrazone.     

Alcoholic Fermentation with Flocculant Saccharomyces cerevisiae in Fed-Batch Process

Studies have been conducted on selecting yeast strains for use in fermentation for ethanol production to improve the performance of industrial plants and decrease production costs. In this paper, we study alcoholic fermentation in a fed-batch process using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain with flocculant characteristics. Central composite design (CCD) was used to determine the optimal combination of the variables involved, with the sucrose concentration of 170 g/L, a cellular concentration in the inoculum of 40 % (v/v), and a filling time of 6 h, which resulted in a 92.20 % yield relative to the theoretical maximum yield, a productivity of 6.01 g/L h and a residual sucrose concentration of 44.33 g/L. With some changes in the process such as recirculation of medium during the fermentation process and increase in cellular concentration in the inoculum after use of the CCD was possible to reduce the residual sucrose concentration to 2.8 g/L in 9 h of fermentation and increase yield and productivity for 92.75 % and 9.26 g/L h, respectively. A model was developed to describe the inhibition of alcoholic fermentation kinetics by the substrate and the product. The maximum specific growth rate was 0.103 h^?1, with K _I and K _s values of 109.86 and 30.24 g/L, respectively. The experimental results from the fed-batch reactor show a good fit with the proposed model, resulting in a maximum growth rate of 0.080 h^?1.     

Multinuclear PGSE diffusion and overhauser NMR studies on a variety of salts in THF solution

(1)H, (19)F, and (7)Li pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) NMR measurements for a series of salts are reported. The (7)Li is shown to complement the (1)H and (19)F measurements; however, the use of higher concentrations (for the less-sensitive (7)Li) can lead to aggregation. For all of the salts discussed {Li(BF(4)); (n-Bu(4)N)(BF(4)), a trinuclear Ru cluster; [Ir(1,5-COD)(4)](BF(4)), where 4 is a chiral P,N ligand; and the crown ether stabilized potassium salt, [K(18-crown-6)(NPh(2))], 6}, the use of THF seems to promote strong ion pairing. In several cases, the degree of ion pairing approaches 100%. In THF solution, the potassium salt, 6, prefers to exist as a more classical ion pair rather than as the pi complex found in the solid state. In some cases, (1)H, (1)H NOESY and (1)H, (19)F HOESY spectra help to pinpoint the cation/anion spatial relationship.     

7Li, 31P, and 1H pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) diffusion NMR spectroscopy and ion pairing: on the temperature dependence of the ion pairing in Li(CPh3), fluorenyllithium, and Li[N(SiMe3)2] amongst other salts

7Li, 31P, and 1H variable-temperature pulsed gradient spin-echo (PGSE) diffusion methods have been used to study ion pairing and aggregation states for a range of lithium salts such as lithium halides, lithium carbanions, and a lithium amide in THF solutions. For trityllithium (2) and fluorenyllithium (9), it is shown that ion pairing is favored at 299 K but the ions are well separated at 155 K. For 2-lithio-1,3-dithiane (13) and lithium hexamethyldisilazane (LiHMDS 16), low-temperature data show that the ions remain together. For the dithio anion 13, a mononuclear species has been established, whereas for the lithium amide 16, the PGSE results allow two different aggregation states to be readily recognized. For the lithium halides LiX (X = Br, Cl, I) in THF, the 7Li PGSE data show that all three salts can be described as well-separated ions at ambient temperature. The solid state structure of trityllithium (2) is described and reveals a solvent-separated ion pair formed by a [Li(thf)4]+ ion and a bare triphenylmethide anion.     

Functional modulation of human delta opioid receptor by neuropeptide FF

Background  

Neuropeptide FF (NPFF) plays a role in physiological pain sensation and opioid analgesia. For example, NPFF potentiates opiate-induced analgesia and the delta opioid receptor antagonist naltrindole inhibits NPFF-induced antinociception. The nature of the interactions between NPFF and opioid receptors seems to be complex and the molecular mechanisms behind the observed physiological effects are not known.     

Continuous two-dimensional field-flow fractionation: a novel technique for continuous separation and collection of macromolecules and particles

Instrumental techniques to analyse macromolecular and particulate materials have undergone rapid development in response to the need for high resolution, precise identification and characterization, and enrichment and collection for further analysis. Continuous two-dimensional field-flow fractionation (2D-FFF), which is described in this article, is a novel technique for separation and collection of macromolecules and particles. 2D-FFF is based on the conventional field-flow fractionation principle but with carrier flow in two-dimensions. This overview discusses the principle of the technique, describes the instrumentation and suggests potential applications and further extensions. An overview of the basic field-flow fractionation principle is presented.     

On the parametrization of self-similar and other fractal sets

We prove for many self-similar, and some more general, sets that if is the Hausdorff dimension of and is Hölder continuous with exponent , then the -dimensional Hausdorff measure of is .

     

On structuring problems of job design met in the development and maintenance of information systems

In the development and maintenance of information systems data processing tasks are assigned either to a computer or to a man. In this paper we consider five decisions made during the development phase. These decisions have an influence on the contents of jobs: 1. distribution of work between man and computer, 2. construction of man-computer interface, 3. grouping tasks into jobs, 4. design of control part of new information system, 5. assignment of people to jobs.During the use of an information system both the person and his job will change. Here various combinations of changes in a person-job pair are classified and analyzed.This research has been supported by the Academy of Finland.