Stereo‐ and Regioselective Synthesis of Tricyclic Spirolactones by Diastereoisomeric Differentiation of a Collective Key Precursor

A general, parallel, and collective synthesis of 5/5/5‐ and 5/5/6‐ring fusion topologies of tricyclic spiranoid lactones through the controlled cyclizations of easily accessible, common key precursors is described. The rapid composition of key cycloalkyl methylene precursors yielded an assembly of bicyclic diastereoisomeric iodolactones, which were individually converted into a wide range of tricyclic, angularly fused spiranoid lactones in a regioselective and stereodirected fashion through the diastereoisomeric differentiation of a collective key precursor. The critical stereochemical assignment of the bicyclic starting materials, as well as the tricyclic targets, was confirmed by X‐ray crystal structure determination.     

Retention of nisin activity at elevated pH in an organic acid complex and gold nanoparticle composite

Biocompatible organic acids and citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles were interacted with nisin to generate robust antimicrobial agents, which display archetypical nisin activity even at elevated pH.     

Theoretical analysis of photoinduced H-atom elimination in thiophenol

The photoinduced hydrogen elimination reaction in thiophenol via the conical intersections of the dissociative (1)πσ? excited state with the bound (1)ππ? excited state and the electronic ground state has been investigated with ab initio electronic-structure calculations and time-dependent quantum wave-packet calculations. A screening of the coupling constants of the symmetry-allowed coupling modes at the (1)ππ?-(1)πσ? and (1)πσ?-S(0) conical intersection shows that the SH torsional mode is by far the most important coupling mode at both conical intersections. A model including three intersecting potential-energy surfaces (S(0), (1)ππ?, (1)πσ?) and two nuclear degrees of freedom (SH stretch and SH torsion) has been constructed on the basis of ab initio complete-active-space self-consistent field and multireference second-order perturbation theory calculations. The nonadiabatic quantum wave-packet dynamics initiated by optical excitation of the (1)ππ? and (1)πσ? states has been explored for this three-state two-coordinate model. The photodissociation dynamics is characterized in terms of snapshots of time-dependent wave packets, time-dependent electronic population probabilities, and the branching ratio of the (2)σ/(2)π electronic states of the thiophenoxyl radical. The dependence of the timescale of the photodissociation process and the branching ratio on the initial excitation of the SH stretching and SH torsional vibrations has been analyzed. It is shown that the node structure, which is imposed on the nuclear wave packets by the initial vibrational preparation as well as by the transitions through the conical intersections, has a profound effect on the photodissociation dynamics. The effect of additional weak coupling modes of CC twist (ν(16a)) and ring-distortion (ν(16b)) character has been investigated with three-dimensional and four-dimensional time-dependent wave-packet calculations, and has been found to be minor.     

Simple and one-pot protocol for synthesis of indene-spiro-oxindoles involving tandem Prins and Friedel-Crafts reactions

[reaction: see text] A simple and one-pot protocol for the synthesis of indene-spiro-oxindole derivatives via TiCl4-mediated reaction between 1,1-diarylethylenes and isatin derivatives involving construction of two carbon-carbon bonds through tandem Prins and intramolecular Friedel-Crafts (PFC) reactions has been described. A plausible mechanism for this transformation is also presented.     

Conformationally rigid aromatic amino acids as potential building blocks for abiotic foldamers

This communication describes the development of conformationally constrained unnatural aromatic amino acids, constructed on rigid backbone wherein the carboxyl and amino groups project in two dimensions (planes) on the aromatic framework. Such a feature offers the possibility of design and development of conformationally ordered synthetic oligomers with intriguing structural architectures distinct from those classically observed. Furthermore, such amino acids will have the potential to extend the conformational space available for foldamer design with diverse backbone conformation and structural architectures.     

Reactions of titanium(IV) isopropoxide with aliphatic and aromatic hydroxy esters,part I. 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-coordinate titanium(IV) complexes

Summary Reactions of titanium(IV) isopropoxide with ethyl 1-hydroxycyclohexylacetate, ethyl 2-hydroxy-2-arylpropionate, ethyl 2-hydroxy-2-arylbutyrate and ethyl 2-hydroxy-2-arylhydrocinnamate have been studied in dry benzene in different molar ratios under strictly anhydrous conditions. The Ti(OPr-i)₄-_nL_n type compounds, where L = hydroxy ester and n = 1 to 4, have been isolated and characterised by elemental analysis, molecular weight, i.r. and n.m.r. spectral studies. These products may be distilled unchanged under reduced pressure.Reprints of this are not available.     

Differentiation of electrophilic and ambiphilic carbenes

Comparative selectivities toward alkenes of CH₃CCl, CCl₂, and CH₃OCCl establish the former two carbenes as electrophiles; the latter is an ambiphile.     

Simple and one-pot synthesis of tri and tetracyclic frameworks containing [1,8]naphthyridin-2-one moiety from the Baylis-Hillman adducts

A facile synthesis of tri and tetracyclic frameworks containing [1,8]naphthyridin-2-one skeleton from the Baylis-Hillman alcohols via the Johnson-Claisen rearrangement, followed by the treatment with Fe/AcOH in simple one-pot multi-step process is described.