Novel chiral cyclic polysulfides with a biphenyl backbone: investigation of atropisomerism and pentathiepin ring inversion

Novel axially chiral benzopolysulfides were synthesized on biaryls by sulfurization of dithiastannoles. Pentathiepin, trithiole, and trithiole 2-oxide rings were observed as single isomer on 1,1′-biaryls. The rotational energy barrier of chiral axis was increased by incorporation of a methyl group at ortho-position. In that case, both trithiole oxide and pentathiepin rings appeared as diastereomer. ortho-Tolyl functionality was also replaced by naphthyl moiety to create more rotational hindrance. Chiral axis was incorporated at the neighborhood of polysulfide functionality by Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction. Calculated rotational energy barriers were very much consistent with experimental observations to show atropisomerism. Energy barrier for the inversion of pentathiepin ring was experimentally determined by variable temperature ¹H NMR. The kinetic data suggested that pentathiepin ring inversion was prompt in solution. Insufficient rotational energy barriers of chiral axis and pentathiepin ring inversion make substantially impossible to separate optically pure diastereomer even by chiral chromatography [Preliminary report: Sato, R.; Ohta, H.; Yamamoto T.; Nakajo, S.; Ogawa, S.; Alam, A. Tetrahedron Lett.2007, 48, 4991-4994.].     

Degradation issues of polymer materials used in railway field

Polymer materials used in railway field are degraded by environmental factors such as thermal, oxidative, photolytic, hydrolytic, and mechanical. The expected service life of the polymer materials used in railway field is approximately 20 years that is relatively long period for the polymer material; therefore, respective degradation factors should be well considered. Some of the degradation conditions indicate similar mechanism. The oxidative reaction was seen in every degradation conditions under air atmosphere. The hydrolytic reaction was mainly observed in chemical and biological degradations. The degradation behavior of the polymer material was analyzed by various methods. FTIR, thermal analysis (TG, DSC), and molecular weight determination were mainly applied for its purpose. However, the degradation mechanism of practical products made of polymer material was insufficiently studied and the exchange criteria of the products depended on the visual inspection without the suitable degradation analysis not only in the railway field but also in other commercial and industrial fields. In addition, most of the methods to analyze degradation of polymer material are performed on the standard specimen forms. For the installed product, some kinds of damage are generated through the sample collection process; therefore, the damaged products have to be exchanged for brand new ones or repaired totally to be used for more period. Moreover, it is hard to suspend the railway service for the degradation analysis of polymer products. From these backgrounds, the prospect of degradation analysis related to polymer materials used in railway field was proposed.     

Photoionization cross sections of H2(+) and H2 with complex Gaussian-type basis functions optimized for the frequency-dependent polarizabilities

Within the framework of the complex basis function method, the photoionization cross sections of H(2)(+) and H(2) were calculated based on the variational principle for the frequency-dependent polarizabilities. In these calculations, complex orbital exponents of Gaussian-type basis functions for the final state continuum wavefunctions were fully optimized for each photon energy with the numerical Newton-Raphson method. In most cases, the use of only one or two complex Gaussian-type basis functions was enough to obtain excellent agreement with previous high precision calculations and available experimental results. However, there were a few cases, in which the use of complex basis functions having various angular momentum quantum numbers was crucial to obtain the accurate results. The behavior of the complex orbital exponents as a function of photon energy was discussed in relation to the scaling relation and the effective charge for photoelectron. The success of this method implies the effectiveness of the optimization of orbital exponents to reduce the number of basis functions and shows the possibility to calculate photoionization cross sections of general molecules using only Gaussian-type basis functions.     

Stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for trace analysis of triclosan in water sample

A simple and highly sensitive method called stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) and thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which is used for the determination of trace amounts of 5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol (triclosan) in river water samples, is described. A stir bar coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is added to a 10mL water sample and stirring is carried out for 120min at room temperature (25 degrees C) in a vial. Then, the PDMS stir bar is subjected to TD-GC-MS. The detection limit of triclosan is 5ngL(-1) (ppt). The method shows linearity over the calibration range (0.02-20mugL(-1)) and the correlation coefficient is higher than 0.997 for triclosan standard solution. The recovery of triclosan in river water samples ranges from 91.9 to 108.3% (RSD: 4.0-7.0%). This simple, accurate, sensitive, and selective analytical method may be used in the determination of trace amounts of triclosan in river water samples.     

Mercury speciation and analysis in drinking water by stir bar sorptive extraction with in situ propyl derivatization and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A method for mercury analysis and speciation in drinking water was developed, which involved stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with in situ propyl derivatization and thermal desorption (TD)-GC-MS. Ten millilitre of tap water or bottled water was used. After a stir bar, pH adjustment agent and derivatization reagent were added, SBSE was performed. Then, the stir bar was subjected to TD-GC-MS. The detection limits were 0.01 ng mL(-1) (ethylmercury; EtHg), 0.02 ng mL(-1) (methylmercury; MeHg), and 0.2 ng mL(-1) (Hg(II) and diethylmercury (DiEtHg)). The method showed good linearity and correlation coefficients. The average recoveries of mercury species (n=5) in water samples spiked with 0.5, 2.0, and 6.0 ng mL(-1) mercury species were 93.1-131.1% (RSD<11.5%), 90.1-106.4% (RSD<7.8%), and 94.2-109.6% (RSD<8.8%), respectively. The method enables the precise determination of standards and can be applied to the determination of mercury species in water samples.     

Architecture of hyperbranched polymers consisting of a stearyl methacrylate sequence via a living radical copolymerization

The living radical photocopolymerization of 2-(N,N-diethyldithiocarbamyl)ethyl methacrylate (DCEM) as inimer and stearyl methacrylate (STM) as comonomer was carried out under UV irradiation. According to this method, we synthesized hyperbranched polymers (HP) consisting of a STM sequence having a long alkyl side chain. The gel permeation chromatography distribution of hyperbranched polymers had a unimodal pattern. The reactivity ratios (r(1)=0.79 and r(2)=0.81) were estimated by the Kelen-Tüd?s method (DCEM: [M](1) and STM: [M](2)). These values indicated that the two monomers showed almost equal reactivity toward propagating radical species. The radius of gyration (R(g)) and the hydrodynamic radius (R(h)) of copolymers were determined by static and dynamic light scattering (SLS and DLS), and the values of R(g)/R(h) changed from 0.79 to 1.59 with an increment of the feed amount of STM. These results indicated that the copolymer structures changed from hard spheres to loose branched molecules in solution.     

Simultaneous analysis of benzophenone sunscreen compounds in water sample by stir bar sorptive extraction with in situ derivatization and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A method for the simultaneous measurement of benzophenone (BP) sunscreen compounds, its derivatives 2,4-dihydroxybenzophenone (BP-1), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (BP-3), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxy-4'-methylbenzophenone (BP-10), 2-hydroxybenzophenone (2OH-BP), 3-hydroxybenzophenone (3OH-BP) and 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4OH-BP), in water samples was developed using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with in situ derivatization followed by thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The detection limit is 0.5-2 ng L(-1) (ppt) for the seven BPs. The method shows good linearity and the correlation coefficients are equal to or higher than 0.990 for all the analyte. The average recoveries of BPs range from 102.0 to 128.1% (RSD<15.4%, n=6). Trace amounts of BPs in river water samples were determined by the present method.     

Azacalix[7]arene heptamethyl ether: preparation, nanochannel crystal structure, and selective adsorption of carbon dioxide

To investigate the solid-state complexation of nitrogen-bridged calixarene analogues, azacalix[7]arene heptamethyl ether 1 has been prepared by applying a "5 + 2"-fragment coupling approach using Buchwald-Hartwig aryl amination reaction aided by our previously devised temporal N-silylation protocol. X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that azacalix[7]arene 1 adopted a highly distorted 1,2-alternate conformation in the solid state as a result of intramolecular NH/O hydrogen bonding interactions and steric repulsion between the methoxy groups. In the crystal, molecules of 1 are mutually interacted by intermolecular NH/O and CH/pi interactions to establish one-dimensional (1D) hexane-filled nanochannel crystal architecture. Similarly to our recently reported azacalix[6]arene 2, the desolvated crystalline powder material of 1 was capable of selectively and rapidly adsorbing CO2 among the four main components of the atmosphere. The adsorption capacity of 1 for CO2 nearly doubled as compared to that of 2 because of the formation of the 1D nanochannel with almost twice the volume of the latter.     

Synthesis of caprazamycin analogues and their structure--activity relationship for antibacterial activity

Synthesis of palmitoyl caprazol 7, which possesses a simple fatty acyl side chain at the 3' '-position of the diazepanone moiety, was carried out and their antibacterial activity was evaluated. The key elements of our approach include the improved synthesis of the key 5'-beta-O-aminoribosyl-glycyluridine derivative, installation of the palmitoyl side chain to the cyclization precursor, and the construction of the diazepanone by an intramolecular reductive amination. The second generation synthesis of (+)-caprazol was also established. Palmitoyl caprazol 7 exhibited antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium smegmatis ATCC607 (MIC = 6.25 microg/mL) with potency similar to that of the caprazamycins (CPZs). Palmitoyl caprazol 7 and N6'-desmethyl palmitoyl caprazol 28 also exhibited antibacterial activity against drug-resistant bacteria including methyciline-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) strains (MIC = 3.13-12.5 microg/mL).