Ring Enlargement of Three-Membered Heterocycles by Treatment with In Situ Formed Tricyanomethane

Although the chemistry of elusive tricyanomethane (cyanoform) has been studied during a period of more than 150 years, this compound has very rarely been utilized in the synthesis or modification of heterocycles. Three-membered heterocycles, such as epoxides, thiirane, aziridines, or 2H-azirines, are now treated with tricyanomethane, which is generated in situ by heating azidomethylidene-malonodinitrile in tetrahydrofuran at 45 °C or by adding sulfuric acid to potassium tricyanomethanide. This leads to ring expansion with formation of 2-(dicyanomethylidene)oxazolidine derivatives or creation of the corresponding thiazolidine, imidazolidine, or imidazoline compounds and opens up a new access to these push–pull-substituted olefinic products. The regio- and stereochemistry of the ring-enlargement processes are discussed, and the proposed reaction mechanisms were confirmed by using ¹⁵N-labeled substrates. It turns out that different mechanisms are operating; however, tricyanomethanide is always acting as a nitrogen-centered nucleophile, which is quite unusual if compared to other reactions of this species.     

Sensor Array Based Determination of Edman Degradated Amino Acids Using Poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)s

A cross-reactive optical sensor array based on poly(p-phenyleneethynylene)s (PPEs) determines Edman degraded amino acids. We report a sensor array composed of three anionic PPEs P1–P3 , and their electrostatic complexes with metal ions (Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺). We recorded distinct fluorescence intensity response patterns as “fingerprints” of this chemical tongue toward standard phenylthiohydantoin (PTH) amino acids—degradation products of the Edman process. These “fingerprints” were converted into canonical scores by linear discrimination analysis (LDA), which differentiates all of the PTH-amino acids. This array discriminates PTH-amino acid residues degraded from an oligopeptide through Edman sequencing. This approach is complementary to chromatography approaches which rely on mass spectrometry; our array offers the advantage of simplicity.     

Visible Light-Gated Organocatalysis Using a RuII-Photocage

The light-gated organocatalysis via the release of 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) by irradiation of the [Ru(bpy)₂(DMAP)₂]²⁺ complex with visible light was investigated. As model reaction the acetylation of benzyl alcohols with acetic anhydride was chosen. The pre-catalyst releases one DMAP molecule on irradiation at wavelengths longer than 455 nm. The photochemical process was characterized by steady-state irradiation and ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. The latter enabled the observation of the ³MLCT state and the spectral features of the penta-coordinated intermediate [Ru(bpy)₂(DMAP)]²⁺. The released DMAP catalyzes the acetylation of a wide range of benzyl alcohols with chemical yields of up to 99 %. Control experiments revealed unequivocally that it is the released DMAP which takes the role of the catalyst.     

Metal-Free Twofold Electrochemical C−H Amination of Activated Arenes: Application to Medicinally Relevant Precursor Synthesis

The efficient production of many medicinally or synthetically important starting materials suffers from wasteful or toxic precursors for the synthesis. In particular, the aromatic non-protected primary amine function represents a versatile synthetic precursor, but its synthesis typically requires toxic oxidizing agents and transition metal catalysts. The twofold electrochemical amination of activated benzene derivatives via Zincke intermediates provides an alternative sustainable strategy for the formation of new C−N bonds of high synthetic value. As a proof of concept, we use our approach to generate a benzoxazinone scaffold that gained attention as a starting structure against castrate-resistant prostate cancer. Further improvement of the structure led to significantly increased cancer cell line toxicity. Thus, exploiting environmentally benign electrooxidation, we present a new versatile and powerful method based on direct C−H activation that is applicable for example the production of medicinally relevant compounds.     

Chemical-Synthesis-Based Approach to Glycoprotein Functions in the Endoplasmic Reticulum

The introduction of Asn-linked glycans to nascent polypeptides occurs in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum of eukaryotic cells. After the removal of specific sugar residues, glycoproteins acquire signals in the glycoprotein quality control (GPQC) system and enter the folding cycle composed of lectin-chaperones calnexin (CNX) and calreticulin (CRT), glucosidase II (G-II), and UDP-Glc:glycoprotein glucosyltransferase (UGGT). G-II initiates glycoproteins’ entry and exit from the cycle, and UGGT serves as the “folding sensor”. This account summarizes our effort to analyze the properties of enzymes and lectins that play important roles in GPQC, especially those involved in the CNX/CRT cycle. To commence our study, general methods for the synthesis of high-mannose-type glycans and glycoproteins were established. Based on these, various substrates to analyze components of the GPQC were created, and properties of CRT, G-II, and UGGT have been clarified.     

Structural Changes Induced by Quinones: High-Resolution Microwave Study of 1,4-Naphthoquinone

1,4-Naphthoquinone (1,4-NQ) is an important product of naphthalene oxidation, and it appears as a motif in many biologically active compounds. We have investigated the structure of 1,4-NQ using chirped-pulse Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy and quantum chemistry calculations. The rotational spectra of the parent species, and its ¹³C and ¹⁸O isotopologues were observed in natural abundance, and their spectroscopic parameters were obtained. This allowed the determination of the substitution r_s, mass-weighted r_m and semi-experimental r_e^SE structures of 1,4-NQ. The obtained structural parameters show that the quinone moiety mainly changes the structure of the benzene ring where it is inserted, modifying the C−C bonds to having predominantly single or double bond character. Furthermore, the molecular electrostatic surface potential reveals that the quinone ring becomes electron deficient while the benzene ring remains a nucleophile. The most electrophilic areas are the hydrogens attached to the double bond in the quinone ring. Knowledge of the nucleophilic and electrophilic areas in 1,4-NQ will help understanding its behaviour interacting with other molecules and guide modifications to tune its properties.     

Synthesis and Antitumor Evaluation of Novel Hybrids of Phenylsulfonylfuroxan and Estradiol Derivatives

Fifteen novel furoxan-based nitric oxide (NO) releasing hybrids of estradiol derivatives were synthesized and evaluated in vitro anti-proliferative activity in MDA-MB-231, A2780, Hela and HUVEC cell lines. Most of them displayed potent anti-proliferative effects. Among the compounds, 4-bromo-3-((phenylsulfonyl)-1,2,5-oxadiazole 2-oxide)-oxy-propoxy-estradiol ( 11 b ) exhibited the best activity with IC₅₀ values of 3.58–0.0008 μM. Preliminary pharmacological studies showed that 11 b induced apoptosis and hardly affected the cell cycle of MDA-MB-231 cell line. NO-releasing capacity and inhibition of ERK/MAPK pathway signaling might explain the potent antineoplastic activity of these compounds. The preliminary structure-activity relationship (SAR) showed that steroidal scaffolds with a linker in 3-position were favorable moieties to evidently increase the bioactivities of these hybrids. Overall, these results implied that 11 b merited to be further investigated as a promising anti-cancer candidate.     

Electrochemical response of ascorbic and uric acids at organoclay film modified glassy carbon electrodes and sensing applications

A naturally occurring Cameroonian smectite clay has been grafted with trimethylpropylammonium groups and the resulting organoclay deposited as thin film onto a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) surface. It was then exploited as a suitable matrix for the accumulation and the electrochemical detection of ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA). Cyclic voltammetry revealed an increase in oxidation peak responses along with a negative shift of the corresponding anodic peak potential for both AA and UA species when using the organoclay coated GCE in comparison with the bare electrode. The electroanalytical response was improved by coating the electrode surface with a first layer of sublimed ferrocene (FC(s)), and then overcoating with the organoclay film to avoid the mediator leaching. The resulting bilayer film exhibited good characteristics such as extended linear range and high sensitivities for AA and UA, in cyclic voltammetry and amperometry. Interestingly, the redox mediator FC(s) was likely to lower overpotentials for AA oxidation (but not for UA), making possible the selective detection of these species in a mixture. The developed method could be used for the determination of AA in a pharmaceutical preparation and for UA in urine.     

MALDI imaging mass spectrometry of lipids by adding lithium salts to the matrix solution

Mass spectrometry imaging of lipids using MALDI–TOF/TOF mass spectrometers is of growing interest for chemical mapping of organic compounds at the surface of tissue sections. Many efforts have been devoted to the best matrix choice and deposition technique. Nevertheless, the identification of lipid species desorbed from tissue sections remains problematic. It is now well-known that protonated, sodium- and potassium-cationized lipids are detected from biological samples, thus complicating the data analysis. A new sample preparation method is proposed, involving the use of lithium salts in the matrix solution in order to simplify the mass spectra with only lithium-cationized molecules instead of a mixture of various cationized species. Five different lithium salts were tested. Among them, lithium trifluoroacetate and lithium iodide merged the different lipid adducts into one single lithium-cationized species. An optimized sample preparation protocol demonstrated that the lithium trifluoroacetate salt slightly increased desorption of phosphatidylcholines. Mass spectrometry images acquired on rat brain tissue sections by adding lithium trifluoroacetate showed the best results in terms of image contrast. Moreover, more structurally relevant fragments were generated by tandem mass spectrometry when analyzing lithium-cationized species.     

Towards new molecular photocatalysts for CO2 reduction: photo-induced electron transfer versus CO dissociation within [Os(NN)(CO)2Cl2] Complexes

Optical excitation in the visible region of trans-(Cl)-[Os(bpy)(CO)(2)Cl(2)] (bpy=2,2'-bipyridine; C1) and trans-(Cl)-[Os(dmbpy)(CO)(2)Cl(2)] (dmbpy=4,4'-dimethyl 2,2'-bipyridine; C2) is known to induce the common CO dissociation reaction. However, the quantum yield of the reactions is less than 0.15, although C1 and C2 display pronounced photoluminescence in the visible region at room temperature with a lifetime of few tens of nanoseconds. Taking into account the characteristics of their emitting state, we have investigated the capability of C1 and C2 to act as a photosensitiser in redox reactions in different solvents (MeCN, PrCN and DMF). The efficient oxidation and reduction of both complexes under continuous irradiation in the presence of a sacrificial electron acceptor or donor is reported here. The photo-induced transformations and the nature of the resulting compounds were analysed by UV/Vis and IR spectroscopies and cyclic voltammetry. Photo-induced oxidation of C1 and C2 leads to the corresponding monocarbonyl oxidised species, whereas photo-induced reduction under argon leads mainly to the formation of the corresponding Os-bonded molecular wires P1 and P2 after exchange of two electrons associated with the loss of two chloro ligands. The chemical yield of the latter reaction (around 65%) becomes quantitative by adding [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) as an external redox photosensitiser. This behaviour has been used to photocatalyse the two electron, two proton conversion of CO(2) to CO. Turnover numbers (TON) of 11.5 and 19.5 have been obtained respectively for C1 and C2 after 4.5 h of irradiation under CO(2) in DMF with triethanolamine as the electron donor. TON can be slightly increased by adding [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) to the solution.