Synthese von enantiomerenreinen Violaxanthinen und verwandten Verbindungen

Syntheses of Enantiomerically Pure Violaxanthins and Related Compounds The epoxides 16 and ent- 16 , prepared by Sharpless-Katsuki oxidation of 15 in excellent yield and very high enantiomeric purity, were used as synthons for the preparation of (+)-(S)-didehydrovomifoliol (45) , (+)-(6S, 7E, 9E)-abscisic ester 46 , (+)-(6S, 7E, 9Z)-abscsic ester 47 , (?)-(3S, 7E, 9E)-xanthoxin (49) , (?)-(3R, 7E, 9E)-xanthoxin (50) , (3S, 5R, 6S, 3′S,5′R, 6′S, all-E)-violaxanthin (1) (3R, 5R,6S,3′R,5′R,6′S, all-E)-violaxanthin (55) and their (9Z) (see 53 , 57 ), (13Z) (see 54 , 58 ), and (15Z) (see 60 ) isomers. The novel violadione ( 61 ) was prepared from 1 by oxidation with DMSO/Ac₂O. By base treatment, 61 was converted into violadienedione (62) , a potential precursor of carotenoids with phenolic end groups.     

Studies on the Biosynthesis of Spirostaphylotrichin A

Incorporation of ¹⁴C-labelled acetate and amino acids as well as of [1-¹³C]-, [2-¹³C]-, and [1,2-¹³C₂] acetate, L -[methyl¹³C] methionine, [2,3-¹³C₂] succinate, and L -[2,3-¹³C₂] aspartate into spirostaphylotrichin A ( 1 ) by Staphylotrichum coccosporum demonstrates that the building blocks of 1 are 5 units of acetate/malonate, 1 unit of methionine, and a C₄-dicarboxylic acid. The latter is most likely aspartate and derived from the citric-acid cycle. Using [2-¹³C, 2-²H₃] acetate as a precursor, the starter unit of the polyketide chain was identified.     

On the sphericity and cubicity of graphs

The sphericity of a graph G is the smallest n such that the vertices in G can be mapped into unit-diameter spheres in n-space in such a way that two vertices are adjacent in G if and only if their assigned spheres intersect. The cubicity of G is defined similarly with unit cubes (edges parallel to the axes) used instead of unitdiameter spheres. In his study of molecular conformation, Havel (Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, 1982) showed that there are finite graphs of sphericity 2 that have arbitrarily large cubicity, but he left open the question of whether there are graphs with sphericity greater than cubicity. It is shown here that such graphs exist for cubicity 2 or 3. The construction used to prove this generalizes to larger values for cubicity, but the proof technique does not. Hence it remains open whether there are graphs with large cubicities whose sphericities exceed their cubicities.     

Diterpenoide Chinomethane,vinyloge Chinone und ein Phyllocladan-Derivat aus Plectranthus purpuratus HARV. (Labiatae)

Diterpenoids from Leaf Glands of Plectranthus purpuratus: p-Quinomethanes, Extended Quinones, p-Acylcatechols and a Novel Phyllocladanon Derivative From the complex mixture of terpenoids from the title plant, the following novel diterpenoids have been isolated: 11-hydroxy-19-(3-methyl-2-butenoyloxy)- and 11-hydroxy-19-(3-methylbutanoyloxy)-5,7,9 (11), 13-abietatetraen-12-one ( 1a / 1b ), 11-hydroxy-19-(3-methyl-2-butenoyloxy)- and 11-hydroxy-19-(3-methylbutanoyl-oxy)-7,9(11), 13-abietatrien-6,12-dione ( 2a / 2b ), 6α, 11-dihydroxy-19-(3-methyl-2-butenoyloxy)- and 6α, 11 -dihydroxy-19-(3-methylbutanoyloxy)-7,9 (11), 13-abieta-trien-12-one ( 3a / 3b ), 11,12-dihydroxy-19-(3-methyl-2-butenoyloxy)- and 11,12-di-hydroxy-19-(3-methylbutanoyloxy)-8,11,13-abietatrien-7-one ( 4a / 4b ), and (16R)-17,19-diacetoxy-16-hydroxy-13β-kauran-3-one (=(16R)-17,19-diacetoxy-16-hydro-xyphyllocladan-3-one; 10 ). Compounds 2 and 3 are derivates of taxodione and taxodone, respectively, 4 is a derivative of cryptojaponol. The structure of 10 is Wised on a single-crystal- X -ray analysis and CD . data.     

The molecular structure of [dimethyl(phenyl)silyl]tris(trimethylsilyl)methane

The structure of the crowded molecule (Me₃Si)₃C(SiMe₂Ph) has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The steric strain manifest itself mainly in lengthening of the Me₃SiC and Me₂PhSiC bonds (average length 1.920(6) $\text{,ac>A}\text{?}$) and closing up of the CSiC angles within the Me₃Si and Me₂PhSi groups (average 105.2(10)°), with correspondingly large C(1)SiC angles (113.5(13)°; C(1) is the central carbon atom).     

A small molecule with osteogenesis-inducing activity in multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells

Purmorphamine, which is a 2,6,9-trisubstituted purine compound, was discovered through cell-based high-throughput screening from a heterocycle combinatorial library. It differentiates multipotent mesenchymal progenitor cells into an osteoblast lineage. It will serve as a unique chemical tool to study the molecular mechanisms of osteogenesis of stem cells and bone development.     

Microstructured cocultures of cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts: a two-dimensional in vitro model of cardiac tissue.

Cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts are essential elements of myocardial tissue structure and function. In vivo, myocytes constitute the majority of cardiac tissue volume, whereas fibroblasts dominate in numbers. In vitro, cardiac cell cultures are usually designed to exclude fibroblasts, which, because of their maintained proliferative potential, tend to overgrow the myocytes. Recent advances in microstructuring of cultures and cell growth on elastic membranes have greatly enhanced in vitro preservation of tissue properties and offer a novel platform technology for producing more in vivo-like models of myocardium. We used microfluidic techniques to grow two-dimensional structured cardiac tissue models, containing both myocytes and fibroblasts, and characterized cell morphology, distribution, and coupling using immunohistochemical techniques. In vitro findings were compared with in vivo ventricular cyto-architecture. Cardiac myocytes and fibroblasts, cultured on intersecting 30-microm-wide collagen tracks, acquire an in vivo-like phenotype. Their spatial arrangement closely resembles that observed in native tissue: Strands of highly aligned myocytes are surrounded by parallel threads of fibroblasts. In this in vitro system, fibroblasts form contacts with other fibroblasts and myocytes, which can support homogeneous and heterogeneous gap junctional coupling, as observed in vivo. We conclude that structured cocultures of cardiomyocytes and fibroblasts mimic in vivo ventricular tissue organization and provide a novel tool for in vitro research into cardiac electromechanical function.     

Reaction of the stable silylene Si[(NCH2But)2C6H4-1,2] with lithium amides

The thermally stable silylene Si[(NCH2But)2C6H4-1,2] 1 undergoes oxidative addition reactions with the lithium amides LiNRR'(R = SiMe3, R' = But; R = SiMe3, R' = C6H3Me2-2,6; R = R' = Me or R = R' = Pri) to afford the new lithium amides Li(THF)2[N(R)Si(SiMe3){(NCH2But)2C6H4-1,2}][R = But2 or R = C6H3Me2-2,6 (3a)] or the new tris(amino)functionalised silyllithiums Li(THF)x[Si{(NCH2But)2C6H4-1,2}NRR'][R = SiMe3, R' = C6H3Me2-2,6, x = 2 (3); R = R'= Me, x = 3 (4) or R = R' = Pri, x = 3 (5)]. Compounds 4 and 5 are stable at ambient temperature but compound 3 is thermally labile and converts into 3a upon heating. The pathway for the formation of 2 and 3 is discussed and the X-ray structures of 2-5 are presented.     

Synthesis of conjugated polyrotaxanes

A series of conjugated polyrotaxane insulated molecular wires are synthesised by aqueous Suzuki polymerisation, using hydrophobic binding to promote threading of the cyclodextrin units. These polyrotaxanes have conjugated polymer cores based on poly(para-phenylene), polyfluorene, and poly(diphenylene-vinylene), threaded through 0.9-1.6 cyclodextrins per repeat unit. Bulky naphthalene-3,6-disulfonate endgroups prevent the macrocycles from slipping off the conjugated polymer chains. Dialysis experiments show that the cyclodextrins become unthreaded only if smaller stoppers are used. MALDI TOF mass spectra detect oligomers with up to ten threaded cyclodextrins, and reveal the presence of some defects that result for oxidative homo-coupling of boronic acids. Weight-average molecular weights were determined by analytical ultracentrifugation, demonstrating that step-growth polymerisation is efficient enough to achieve degrees of polymerisation up to approximately 20 repeat units (84 para-phenylenes). The fluorescence spectra of these polyrotaxanes indicate that the presence of the threaded cyclodextrin macrocycles reduces the flexibility of the conjugated polymer pi-systems. Both the solution and the solid-state photoluminescence quantum yields are enhanced upon threading of the conjugated polyaromatic cores through alpha- or beta-cyclodextrins, and the emission spectra of the polyrotaxanes are blue-shifted compared to the corresponding unthreaded polymers. The greater weight of the 0-0 transition in the emission spectra, as well as the smaller Stokes shift, indicate that the polyrotaxanes are more rigid than the unthreaded polymers.     

Eine einfache chromatographische Methode zur Charakterisierung bitumin?ser Stoffe

Zusammenfassung Die Methode der Ringpapierchromatographie unter Anwendung von UV-Licht als einfachem Hilfsmittel zur Unterscheidung organischen Materials wurde hinsichtlich der Möglichkeit überprüft, zahlenmäßig greifbare Ergebnisse zu erhalten, die eine sichere Klassifizierung und Unterscheidung bituminöser Stoffe ermöglichen. Es wurde gefunden, daß für eine gute Reproduzierbarkeit der Ergebnisse die gleichmäßige Aufgabe der Lösung auf das Papier wesentlich ist. Ein äußerst gleichmäßiger Zufluß, der mit der Sauggeschwindigkeit des Papieres korrespondiert, konnte mit Hilfe eines Mikrodosiergerätes, das von einem Motor gleichmäßig angetrieben wurde, erzielt werden. Die erhaltenen Flächen für die verschiedenen Substanzgruppen stellen ein relatives, gut reproduzierbares Maß für die Zusammensetzung der untersuchten Proben dar.Herrn Prof. Dr. W. Fischer zum 60. Geburtstag gewidmet.