13,14-Seco-steroids: A New Type of Modified Steroids Containing a Nine-Membered Ring

Oxidations of 14α-hydroxy-5α-cholestan-3β-yl acetate ( 5 ) with lead tetraacetate under thermal or photolytic conditions or in the presence of iodine proceed mainly by fragmentation of the C(13)−C(14) bond to give as the primary products the 13,18-didehydro-13,14-seco derivative 6 and the (E )-Δ¹²-13,14-seco ketone 11 , respectively. Further transformations of these compounds under conditions of their formation afforded, in addition, the acetoxy derivatives 7 – 9 (from 6 ), and the D-homo-C-nor compound 12 and (12R,13R)-epoxide 13 (from 11 ). Unexpectedly, the photolytic lead-tetraacetate oxidation of 5 resulted partly (to ca. 20%) in a reversible fragmentation involving scission and recombination of the C(8)−C(14) bond followed by formation of the 14β,22-ether 10 . Possible mechanisms for the observed transformations are discussed.     

Supercritical fluid chromatography of carbohydrates

Supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) is a relatively new technique applied to polar solutes such as carbohydrates about 10 years ago. The developments in the SFC of carbohydrates are summarized and a comparison between capillary and packed column SFC is presented. High-efficiency capillary columns are suitable only for derivatized carbohydrates since various packed columns are well adapted for non derivatized mono-, di- and trisaccharides and provide complementary selectivities.     

Intrinsic and Intramolecular Lipophilicity Effects in O-Glucuronides

In this study, we compared the lipophilicity of O-glucuronides and their aglycones. Distribution coefficients (log D) and P values of neutral species (log P) were determined by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) in octanol/buffer systems. Two-phase potentiometry was also used to measure the log P value of some lipophilic solutes. The experimentally determined global influence of glucuronidation on lipophilicity, obtained as the difference (decrement) log P_{(glucuronide)} ? log P_(aglycone), was found to be ?1.30 ± 0.16 (n = 4) for glucuronides of alcohols (methyl, menthyl, neomenthyl, and chloramphenicol O-glucuronide). The mean decrement was ?2.06 ± 0.31 (n = 9) for glucuronides of phenols (phenyl, p-nitrophenyl, 1-naphthyl, 6-bromo-2-naphthyl, 4-methylumbelliferyl, 3-coumarinyl, phenolphthalein, 4′-benzophenonyl O-glucuronide, and diflunisal phenolic glucuronide). For the acylglucuronide of diflunisal and its rearrangement isomers, the mean decrement was ?1.80 ± 0.08 (n = 4; range ?1.7 to ?1.9). Differences in through-bond proximity effects as parametrized in the CLOGP algorithm seem to account for much of this difference. Conformational factors may also play a role, although it appears modest and unassessable for the glucuronides investigated here. The results imply that in vivo glucuronidation should have a stronger influence on the excretion of phenols than on that of alcohols.     

Electron spin resonance detection of radiosterilization of pharmaceuticals: application to four nitrofurans

The detection and dosimetry of radiosterilization of pharmaceuticals is a growing concern to numerous government regulatory agencies worldwide. In the absence of suitable detection methods, attention was focused on electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry. This paper reports experimental data on ESR dosimetry of irradiated nitrofurans (nitrofurantoin, nifuroxazide, nifurzide and nifurtoinol). Whereas the ESR spectrum of a non-irradiated sample shows no signal, a signal, that is dependent on the irradiation dose is observed with irradiated samples. The number of free radicals was calculated by comparing the second integral from radiosterilized samples and a Bruker strong pitch reference; the values were in the range 1.1 x 10(18)-1.5 x 10(19) radicals mol-1 (G = 0.003-0.03). In addition to qualitative detection, ESR spectrometry can be used for dose determination. When a bi-exponential function is applied to the variation of the peak-to-peak amplitude versus dose, the function correlates well with the data. However, an exponential function, easier to use than a bi-exponential function, will probably be sufficient for dose determination by retrospective dosimetry. Decay of radicals upon storage was modelled using a bi-exponential function. From this, the time limit from the irradiation (25 kGy) for identification of irradiated nitrofurans by ESR can be evaluated. With regard to the commercial aspects of drugs, radicals should be detected up to 2 years after irradiation. The kinetic decrease makes discrimination between irradiated and non-irradiated nitrofurans possible even after storage for up to 2 years, except for nifurtoinol.     

Effect of polymerization of synthetic glycolipids on their supramolecular assemblies

Sugar-derived surfactants bearing a polymerizable acryloyl moiety on one of the branches of the double-chain hydrophobic tail were prepared. The non–ionic hydrophilic head and the biantennary hydrophobic tail were built on, respectively, an aspartic acid and a tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane core. Ultraviolet irradiation of aqueous dispersions of these surfactants above their transition phase temperature (T_c) was achieved. The morphology of self-assemblies produced in such a way were investigated by transmission electron microscopy. TEM photographs revealed that irradiation leads to the formation of unilamellar vesicles. Neither fibers nor tubules were detected in contrast to what was observed before polymerization.     

Complexation dans le méthanol anhydre de Cu (II) et Zn (II) par des ligands diaza-polyoxamacrocycliques

Complexation in anhydrous methanol of Cu (II) and Zn (II) with diaza-polyoxamacrocyclic ligands Protonation of five diaza-polyoxamacrocyclic ligands, (L = [2.1], [2.2], [2.1.1.], [2.2.1], [2.2.2]), and their complexing properties towards Cu²⁺ and Zn²⁺ cations have been studied in anhydrous methanolic solutions. Potentiometric measurements have been carried out at 25°, using 5 · 10^?2MEt₄N⁺ClO as support-electrolyte, in order to determine the nature of the species formed upon complexation and their stability constants. The results were confirmed by spectrophotometry, for the cupric complexes of [2.1] and [2.2.2], and the electronic spectra of the different complexes were calculated. Comparison between complexation in aqueous and methanolic solutions have been made: as in water, ML²⁺ species and sometimes protonated MHL³⁺ species, with higher stability constants, are present in methanol; but the main difference is the formation of dinuclear complexes M₂L⁴⁺, between Cu²⁺ and all ligands except [2.1]. In these complexes the Cu²⁺ cations cannot be both ‘encaged’ in the ligand cavity because of its small size. The different possible structures are discussed in terms of the stability constants values. The protonation constants values and the existence of the binuclear complexes may indicate a possible conformational change in the complexing ligand on changing the solvent from water to methanol.