Immunosuppressive ent‐Kaurene Diterpenoids from Isodon serra

Three new enmein‐type ent‐kaurenoids, i.e., the two pairs 1 and 2 of 20‐epimers and the (20R)‐isomer 3 , besides the seven known diterpenoids 4 – 10 , were isolated from the aerial parts of Isodon serra. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques and X‐ray diffraction. The immunosuppressive effect for T‐lymphocytes proliferation induced by Con A in BALB/c mouse was evaluated for the isolates 1 – 10 . They all displayed a remarkable inhibitory effect, with multi‐glycosides of Tripterygium wilfordii as positive reference substance (Table 3).     

Structure‐Dependent Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Fullerodendrimers with Light‐Harvesting Oligophenylenevinylene Terminals

Oligophenylenevinylene (OPV)‐terminated phenylenevinylene dendrons G1 – G4 with one, two, four, and eight “side‐arms”, respectively, were prepared and attached to C₆₀ by a 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides generated in situ from dendritic aldehydes and N‐methylglycine. The relative electronic absorption of the OPV moiety increases progressively along the fullerodendrimer family C₆₀G1 – C₆₀G4 , reaching a 99:1 ratio for C₆₀G4 (antenna effect). UV/Vis and near‐IR luminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy was used to elucidate photoinduced energy and electron transfer in C₆₀G1 – C₆₀G4 as a function of OPV moiety size and solvent polarity (toluene, dichloromethane, benzonitrile), taking into account the fact that the free‐energy change for electron transfer is the same along the series owing to the invariability of the donor–acceptor couple. Regardless of solvent, all the fullerodendrimers exhibit ultrafast OPV→C₆₀ singlet energy transfer. In CH₂Cl₂, the OPV→C₆₀ electron transfer from the lowest fullerene singlet level (¹C₆₀*) is slightly exergonic (ΔG_CS≈0.07 eV), but is observed, to an increasing extent, only in the largest systems C₆₀G2 – C₆₀G4 with lower activation barriers for electron transfer. This effect has been related to a decrease of the reorganization energy upon enlargement of the molecular architecture. Structural factors are also at the origin of an unprecedented OPV→C₆₀ electron transfer observed for C₆₀G3 and C₆₀G4 in apolar toluene, whereas in benzonitrile, electron transfer occurs in all cases. Monitoring of the lowest fullerene triplet state by sensitized singlet oxygen luminescence and transient absorption spectroscopy shows that this level is populated through intersystem crossing and is not involved in photoinduced electron transfer.     

A zwitterion of 1,5‐bis­(2‐hydroxy­benzamido)‐3‐aza­pentane: a two‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonding network involving dimers

The title compound, 2‐{N‐[2‐(2‐hydroxy­benzamido)ethyl­ammonio­ethyl]amino­carbon­yl}phenolate, C₁₈H₂₁N₃O₄, crystallizes in a zwitterionic form as a result of inter­molecular proton transfer and possesses a negatively charged phenolate group and a protonated amino group. The 2‐hydroxy­benzamide and 2‐(amino­carbonyl)­phenolate moieties attached to the two ends of the C—C—N—C—C backbone adopt a cis conformation in relation to this backbone. All N‐ and O‐bound H atoms are involved in hydrogen‐bond formation; the zwitterions are first linked into head‐to‐tail dimers, which are further organized into a two‐dimensional network parallel to the crystallographic bc plane.     

Synthesis of 2‐Dihydrooxadiazolinyl Chromones

Reactions of the substituted 2‐formyl chromones with aroylhydrazines gave corresponding 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones. Then 2‐(3′‐acetyl‐5′‐aryl‐2′,3′‐dihydro‐1′,3′,4′‐oxadiazol‐2′‐yl) chromones were prepared by these 2‐(aroylhydrazonomethylidyne) chromones under refluxing with Ac₂O. All target compounds were characterized through elemental analysis and IR, ¹H NMR, MS.     

Polyvinyl pyridines as flocculating agents

Summary High molecular weight poly 2- and 4-vinyl pyridines were synthesized by ionic polymerisation and their flocculation efficiency tested against kaolin and silica dispersions at pH 3. Low additions of the polymers, around 3 parts per 10₃ parts solid, destabilize the dispersions and clarify silica dispersions to a remarkable extent; however, over-addition of polymer leads to partial restabilization. The flocculation efficiency improves with increase of solids content, especially with clay dispersions. Flocculation efficiency increases with polymer molecular weight, especially over the lower part of the range covered, but is relatively independent of pH in the range 2–4. Quaternization of poly(4-vinyl pyridine) with bromobutane produces a good flocculant for aqueous silica dispersions in which the degree of restabilization on over-dosing depends on the KCI content. TheN-oxide derivatives of the vinyl pyridine polymers do not affect the colloidal stability of silica dispersions. The observations are interpreted in terms of bridging flocculation by the cationic polymer molecules between anionic surface sites on the solid particles.     

The enthalpy of formation of magnesium sulfate ion pairs

The enthalpies of dilution of lithium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium chloride and sulfate solutions in the range 0.1 to 1.0 m have been measured at 30°C with a microcalorimeter. The relative apparent enthalpies φ_L of these solutions have been determined with the aid of an extended form of the Debye-Hückel limiting law $$\phi _L = S_H I^{1/2} [1/(1 + I^{1/2} ) - (\sigma /3)] + {\rm B}{\rm I} + CI^{3/2} $$ whereS _H is the limiting-law slope, σ = 3/I^3/2 × [(1+I^1/2 ? 1/(1+I^1/2 ? 2 ln (2+I^1/2)], andB andC are empirical constants. This equation fits the experimental results to within a standard deviation of 2 cal-mole^?1 for all the salts. The measured φ_L for the MgSO₄ solutions were compared to those calculated using the additivity principle, φ_L(MgCl₂) + φ_L(Na₂SO₄) ? 2φ_L(NaCl), and the extended Debye-Hückel equation. The results of this comparison have been used to calculate the ΔH _A ^o for the formation of MgSO ₄ ⁰ . A value of ΔH _A ^o = 1.15 to 1.36 was obtained, depending upon the φ_L estimates for the free ions Mg²⁺ and SO ₄ ^2? . The results are briefly discussed and compared to the results obtained by other workers.     

An in vitro Study on Transition from NO-Hemoglobin to Methemoglobin： Oxygen Effect

The nitrosyl-hemoglobin (HbNO) is the carrier of nitric oxide (NO) which is the important messenger molecule displaying multiple physiologic and pathophysiologic roles. However it is still not clear for the fate of HbNO molecules during the venous-arterial transit. In this letter, the HbNO transition in vitro was studied by using the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra. It was found that HbNO molecules were stable when oxygen did not exist in the system but not stable in aerobic conditions. The absorption spectra further revealed that the methemoglobin (metHb) was the product of HbNO in aerobic environment, showing that the HbNO changed to metHb when there were enough oxygen molecules in the system.     

New Nitrogenous Bisabolene‐Type Sesquiterpenes from a Hainan Sponge Axinyssa aff. variabilis

Two new uncommon nitrogenous sesquiterpenes, 11‐ethoxy‐3‐formamidotheonellin ( 1 ) and 7‐ethoxy‐3‐formamidobisabolane‐8,10‐diene ( 2 ), together with two known related sesquiterpenes, 3‐formamidotheonellin (=theonellin formamide; 3 ) and theonellin isothiocyanate ( 4 ), were isolated from the Hainan sponge Axinyssa aff. variabilis. Their structures were determined on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis and by comparison of their NMR data with those of known compounds.