Flavylium Salts: A Blooming Core for Bioinspired Ionic Liquid Crystals

Thermotropic ionic liquid crystals based on the flavylium scaffold have been synthesized and studied for their structure-properties relationship for the first time. The mesogens were probed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Low numbers of alkoxy side chains resulted in smectic (SmA) and lamello-columnar (Lam_Col) phases, whereas higher substituted flavylium salts showed Col_ro as well as ordered and disordered columnar (Col_ho, Col_hd) mesophases. Mesophase width ranged from 13 K to 220 K, giving access to room temperature liquid crystals. The optical properties of the synthesized compounds were probed towards absorption and emission properties. Strong absorption with maxima between 444 and 507 nm was observed, and some chromophores were highly emissive with quantum yields up to 99 %. Ultimately, mesogenic and dye properties were examined by temperature-dependent emissive experiments in the solid state.     

A synthesis of (+/-)-sparteine

In a synthesis of racemic sparteine, Diels-Alder reaction between dimethyl bromomesaconate 14 and dicyclopentenyl 4, followed by cyclopropane formation, set up the stereochemistry at C-1 and C-5 as S and R, respectively, in a meso intermediate 8. The stereochemistry at C-2 and C-4 was then secured by a moderately diastereoselective protonation of the bis-enolate 17 derived from the diester 8 by reductive cleavage with lithium in liquid ammonia. The C=C in the racemic diester 19 was ozonolysed and the diketone converted by Beckmann rearrangement into the bis-lactam . Reduction of the bis-lactam with lithium aluminium hydride and intramolecular nucleophilic displacement gave racemic sparteine 1. Some ideas for making this synthesis amenable to a synthesis of enantiomerically enriched sparteine are presented.     

Oxidation‐Triggered Ring‐Opening Metathesis Polymerization

Eight new N‐Hoveyda‐type complexes were synthesized in yields of 67–92 % through reaction of [RuCl₂(NHC)(Ind)(py)] (NHC=1,3‐bis(2,4,6‐trimethylphenylimidazolin)‐2‐ylidene (SIMes) or 1,3‐bis(2,6‐diisopropylphenylimidazolin)‐2‐ylidene (SIPr), Ind=3‐phenylindenylid‐1‐ene, py=pyridine) with various 1‐ or 1,2‐substituted ferrocene compounds with vinyl and amine or imine substituents. The redox potentials of the respective complexes were determined; in all complexes an iron‐centered oxidation reaction occurs at potentials close to E=+0.5 V. The crystal structures of the reduced and of the respective oxidized Hoveyda‐type complexes were determined and show that the oxidation of the ferrocene unit has little effect on the ruthenium environment. Two of the eight new complexes were found to be switchable catalysts, in that the reduced form is inactive in the ring‐opening metathesis polymerization of cis‐cyclooctene (COE), whereas the oxidized complexes produce polyCOE. The other complexes are not switchable catalysts and are either inactive or active in both reduced and oxidized states.     

Mass spectrometric isotopic and trace analysis of187Os

The application of mass spectrometric methods in the determination of isotopic abundance and of trace elements in highly enriched¹⁸⁷Os is described. The capability of ICP-MS in comparison with solid-state mass spectrometric techniques (SIMS, SNMS and GDMS) for the precise isotopic analysis of highly-enriched osmium has been investigated. The formation of cluster ions in several plasma types has been measured, and the problems of possible interferences from molecular and cluster ions is discussed.     

Sodium mycophenolate

The title compound, sodium 6‐(1,3‐di­hydro‐4‐hydroxy‐6‐methoxy‐7‐methyl‐3‐oxoisobenzo­furan‐5‐yl)‐4‐methyl­hex‐4‐enoate, Na⁺·C₁₇H₁₉O₆^?, is the sodium salt of the natural immunosuppressant compound mycophenolic acid. It consists of a phthalide moiety carrying four different substituents on the aromatic ring. The anion has no intramolecular hydrogen bonds, but a very strong intermolecular hydrogen bond links the phenolic hydroxy group to the carboxyl group of a neighbouring anion found in the same layer. Within a distance of 2.71 Å, the Na⁺ ion is surrounded by five O atoms from four different anions, forming a distorted square pyramid. This Na—O network forms an infinite two‐dimensional system running parallel to the bc plane.     

Indirect detection of photosensitizer ex vivo

Photodynamic therapy induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within tissues exposed to laser light after administration of a sensitizer. In the context of continuing clinical and commercial development of chemicals with sensitizing properties, a minimally invasive assay is needed to determine the tissue kinetics of fluorescent or non-fluorescent photoreactive drugs. The level of ROS was determined ex vivo from 1 mm3 biopsy samples using 2'-7' dichlorofluorescin diacetate (DCFH-DA), a fluorescent probe which was converted into highly fluorescent dichlorofluorescein (DCF) in the presence of ROS. This assay was tested on meta(tetrahydroxyphenyl)chlorin (m-THPC, FOSCAN), a powerful and fluorescent sensitizer, and bacteriochlorophyll derivative WST09 (TOOKAD), a near-infrared absorbing sensitizer that is only slightly fluorescent. In conjunction with the ROS assay, the tissue accumulation of m-THPC was determined on biopsy samples using an optic fibre spectrofluorometer (OFS). DCF fluorescence was proportional to the level of oxidation induced by horseradish peroxidase used as a control and to the concentration (range: 0-5 microg x ml(-1)) of both selected photosensitizers irradiated in a tube together with DCFH. Regardless of the organ studied, an excellent correlation was found between fluorescence measurement by OFS and ROS determination for m-THPC. m-THPC (2 mg x kg(-1) iv) accumulation in tumour tissues was best after 48 h, and the best signal was obtained in liver. With non-fluorescent WST09 (2 mg x kg(-1)), ROS determination showed the best tumour uptake 48 h after injection, with a tumour/muscle ratio of 5.4. The ROS assay appears to be feasible for determining sensitizer concentration in regular grip biopsy tissue samples.     

Synthese und Kristallstruktur des ersten Oxonitridoborates — Sr3[B3O3N3]

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of the First Oxonitridoborate — Sr₃[B₃O₃N₃] The cyclotri(oxonitridoborate) Sr₃[B₃O₃N₃] was synthesized at 1450 °C as coarsely crystalline colourless crystals by the reaction of SrCO₃ with poly(boron amide imide) using a radiofrequency furnace. The structure was solved by single‐crystal X‐ray diffractometry (Sr₃[B₃O₃N₃], Z = 4, P2₁/n, a = 663.16(2), b = 786.06(2), c = 1175.90(3) pm, η = 92.393(1)°, R1= 0.0441, wR2 = 0.1075, 1081 independent reflections, 110 refined parameters). Besides Sr²⁺ there are hitherto unknown cyclic [B₃O₃N₃]^6— ions (B—N 143.7(10) — 149.1(9) pm, B—O 140.5(8) — 141.4(8) pm).