A convenient synthesis of phenols

Abstract

Anilines are rapidly, often within 60?minutes, converted into the corresponding phenols in up to 87% isolated yield. The presented experimentally simple protocol display broad compatibility with a variety of functional groups, and in particular, well suited for the preparation of methyl-substituted phenols. Such phenols are not easily available by other synthetic approaches. The formation of phenolic radical coupling products was not observed even for activated anilines using this open flask method.     

Omnidirectional reflector using nanoporous SiO2 as a low-refractive-index material

Triple-layer omnidirectional reflectors (ODRs) consisting of a semiconductor, a quarter-wavelength transparent dielectric layer, and a metal have high reflectivities for all angles of incidence. Internal ODRs (ambient material's refractive index n > 1.0) are demonstrated that incorporate nanoporous SiO2, a low-refractive-index material (n = 1.23), as well as dense SiO2 (n = 1.46). GaP and Ag serve as the semiconductor and the metal layer, respectively. Reflectivity measurements, including angular dependence, are presented. Calculated angle-integrated TE and TM reflectivities for ODRs employing nanoporous SiO2 are R(int)/TE = 99.9% and R(int)/TM = 98.9%, respectively, indicating the high potential of the ODRs for low-loss waveguide structures.     

A practical synthesis of gramicidin s and sugar amino Acid containing analogues

A practical gram-scale and high-yielding synthesis of the antimicrobial peptide gramicidin S is presented. An Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis protocol is employed for the generation of the linear decapeptide precursor, which is cyclized in solution to afford the target compound. The versatility of our method is demonstrated by the construction of eight gramicidin S analogues (15a-h) having nonproteinogenic sugar amino acid residues (4-7) incorporated in the turn regions.     

Active site structure and redox processes of cytochrome c oxidase immobilised in a novel biomimetic lipid membrane on an electrode

Membrane-bound cytochrome c oxidase was attached to an electrode via a His-tag linker and studied by surface enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy, demonstrating intact redox site structures and electron transfer between the electrode and the immobilized enzyme.     

Synthesis of bridged sugar amino acids: a new entry into conformationally locked δ- and ε-amino acids

The synthesis of three methylene bridged sugar amino acids is described. Key transformations in the synthetic strategy are a CO-insertion on fully protected ribose, an aldol condensation with formaldehyde and an oxetane forming cyclisation step. A novel Leu-enkephalin analogue containing the δ-SAA 1 was prepared using standard solution phase peptide chemistry.