Cobalt-catalyzed regioselective carbocyclization reaction of o-iodophenyl ketones and aldehydes with alkynes, acrylates, and acrylonitrile: a facile route to indenols and indenes

An efficient cobalt-catalyzed carbocylization for the synthesis of indenols and indenes and a new method for reductive decyanation are described. 2-Iodophenyl ketones and aldehydes 1a-g undergo carbocyclization with various disubstituted alkynes 2a-k in the presence of Co(dppe)I(2) and zinc powder in acetonitrile at 80 degrees C for 3 h to afford the corresponding indenol derivatives 3a-s and4a-m in good to excellent yields. For some unsymmetrical alkynes, the carbocyclization was remarkably regioselective, affording a single regioisomer. The cobalt-catalyzed carbocyclization reaction was successfully extended to the synthesis of indene derivatives. Thus, the reaction of 2-iodophenyl ketones and aldehydes (1) with acrylates H(2)C=CHCO(2)R (7a-d) and acrylonitrile H(2)C=CHCN (7e) proceeds smoothly in the presence of Co(dppe)Cl(2)/dppe and zinc powder in acetonitrile at 80 degrees C for 24 h to afford the corresponding indenes 8a-k and 9a-c in moderate to good yields. Interestingly, when 7e was employed for the carbocylization, reductive decyanation also occurred to give an indene derivative without the cyano functionality. A possible mechanism for this cobalt-catalyzed carbocyclization reaction is also proposed.     

Fe-exchanged montmorillonite K10--the first heterogeneous catalyst for acylation of sulfonamides with carboxylic acid anhydrides

Fe-exchanged montmorillonite K10 catalyzes a highly efficient reaction between sterically and electronically diverse sulfonamides and carboxylic acid anhydrides to furnish N-acylsulfonamides in excellent yield and high selectivity. The catalyst can also be reused several times.     

Stereodivergent total asymmetric synthesis of polyhydroxylated pyrrolidines via tandem allylic epoxidation and intramolecular cyclization reactions

Epoxidation of the allylic alcohols 10 and 11 using the VO(acac)₂/t-BuOOH system followed by an intramolecular 5-exo cyclization of the resulting δ-epoxycarbamates 12, 13, 18, and 19 has been shown to provide a general and efficient solution for the asymmetric synthesis of polyhydroxy pyrrolidines. The requisite vicinal amino alcohol functionality was enantio-/regio-selectively installed by the Os-catalyzed asymmetric aminohydroxylation reaction of the designed achiral olefin 6.     

Studies in oxidation-reduction reactions: Oxidation with chloramine-b indirect determinations

Chloramine-B has been used as an oxidizing agent in hydrochloric acid medium for the indirect volumetric estimations of hydrogen peroxide, lead dioxide, manganese dioxide, selenium dioxide, sodium formate, sodium sulphide, sodium metavanadate, potassium iodate and copper sulphate using iodine monochloride as a catalyst and pre-oxidiser. Chloroform is used as an indicator. It is coloured pink owing to the liberation of iodine during the titration and becomes light pale yellow at the end-point because of the formation of iodine monochloride.     

Addressing the metabolic activation potential of new leads in drug discovery: a case study using ion trap mass spectrometry and tritium labeling techniques

Metabolic activation of drug candidates to electrophilic reactive metabolites that can covalently modify cellular macromolecules may result in acute and/or idiosyncratic immune system-mediated toxicities in humans. This presents a significant potential liability for the future development of these compounds as safe therapeutic agents. We present here an example of an approach where sites of metabolic activation within a new drug candidate series were rapidly identified using online liquid chromatography/multi-stage mass spectrometry on an ion trap mass spectrometer. This was accomplished by trapping the reactive intermediates formed upon incubation of compounds with rat and human liver microsomes as their corresponding glutathione conjugates and mass spectral characterization of these thiol adducts. Based on the structures of the GSH adducts identified, potential sites and mechanisms of bioactivation within the chemical structure were proposed. These metabolism studies were interfaced with iterative structural modifications of the chemical series in order to block these bioactivation sites within the molecule. This strategy led to a significant reduction in the propensity of the compounds to undergo metabolic activation as evidenced by reductions in the irreversible binding of radioactivity to liver microsomal material upon incubation of tritium-labeled compounds with this in vitro system. With the efficiency and throughput achievable with such an approach, it appears feasible to identify and address the metabolic activation potential of new drug leads during routine metabolite identification studies in an early drug discovery setting.     

Synthetic reactions catalyzed by immobilized lipase from oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)

Lipase from rape (Brassica napus L., immobilized onto celite, catalyzes esterification and transesterification reactions in hexane. The activity of the lipase is stimulated up to 35 fold by the addition of water (1.3% w/v). The activity of the lipase in hydrolysis is about 8 times higher than in the esterification reactions in hexane. Interesteri-fication reactions between mono- and diacylglycerols and transesterification reactions of mono- and diacylglycerols with alcohols were also catalyzed at relatively high rates but transesterification/esterification of these acylglycerols with fatty acids was comparatively slow. In transesterification reactions, triacylglycerols reacted rather slowly.     

Structure, reactivity and aromaticity of acenes and their BN analogues: a density functional and electrostatic investigation

Density functional calculations have been carried out on a series of linearly annelated acenes and their BN analogues. Even though borazine shows aromatic and reactivity behavior parallel with that of benzene, its condensed derivatives show patterns different from those of their hydrocarbon analogues. Nucleus independent chemical shift (NICS) values in acenes suggest that the aromaticity of the inner rings is more than that of benzene, whereas in BN-acenes there is no substantial change in the aromaticity of the individual rings. Molecular electrostatic potential (MESP) is employed to obtain further insights into the bonding and reactivity trends for these systems. The MESP topography patterns of acenes and BN-acenes are substantially different, with BN-acenes showing more localized pi electron features compared to those of acenes. The MESP values at the critical points (CPs) indicate overall lowering of aromaticity in these annelated systems. However, this change is gradual among the BN-acenes.     

Synthesis of phthalide derivatives using nickel-catalyzed cyclization of o-haloesters with aldehydes

The reaction of o-bromobenzoate (1 b) with benzaldehyde (2 a) in the presence of [NiBr(2)(dppe)] (dppe=1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane) and zinc powder in THF (24 hours, reflux temperature), afforded 3-phenyl-3H-isobenzofuran-1-one (3 a) in an 86 % yield. Similarly, o-iodobenzoate reacts with 2 a to give 3 a, but in a lower yield (50 %). A series of substituted aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes (2 b, 4-MeC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 c, 4-MeOC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 d, 3-MeOC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 e, 2-MeOC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 f, 4-CNC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 g, 4-(Me)(3)CC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 h, 4-C(6)H(5)C(6)H(4)CHO; 2 i, 4-ClC(6)H(4)CHO; 2 j, 4-CF(3)C(6)H(4)CHO; 2 k, CH(3)(CH(2))(5)CHO; 2 l, CH(3)(CH(2))(2)CHO) also underwent cyclization with o-bromobenzoate (1 b) producing the corresponding phthalide derivatives in moderate to excellent yields and with high chemoselectivity. Like 1 b, methyl 2-bromo-4,5-dimethoxybenzoate (1 c) reacts with tolualdehyde (2 b) to give the corresponding substituted phthalide 3 m in a 71 % yield. The methodology can be further applied to the synthesis of six-membered lactones. The reaction of methyl 2-(2-bromophenyl)acetate (1 d) with benzaldehyde under similar reaction conditions afforded six-membered lactone 3 o in a 68 % yield. A possible catalytic mechanism for this cyclization is also proposed.     

A simple, rapid and efficient protocol for the synthesis of methylthiomethyl esters under Swern oxidation conditions

A rapid, mild and high yielding method for the synthesis of methylthiomethyl esters is reported from the corresponding aliphatic, aromatic and unsaturated carboxylic acids under Swern oxidation conditions using dimethylsulfoxide, oxalyl chloride and triethylamine at low temperature.     

Probing metabolic alterations in breast cancer in response to molecular inhibitors with Raman spectroscopy and validated with mass spectrometry

Rapid and accurate response to targeted therapies is critical to differentiate tumors that are resistant to treatment early in the regimen. In this work, we demonstrate a rapid, noninvasive, and label-free approach to evaluate treatment response to molecular inhibitors in breast cancer (BC) cells with Raman spectroscopy (RS). Metabolic reprogramming in BC was probed with RS and multivariate analysis was applied to classify the cells into responsive or nonresponsive groups as a function of drug dosage, drug type, and cell type. Metabolites identified with RS were then validated with mass spectrometry (MS). We treated triple-negative BC cells with Trametinib, an inhibitor of the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. Changes measured with both RS and MS corresponding to membrane phospholipids, amino acids, lipids and fatty acids indicated that these BC cells were responsive to treatment. Comparatively, minimal metabolic changes were observed post-treatment with Alpelisib, an inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, indicating treatment resistance. These findings were corroborated with cell viability assay and immunoblotting. We also showed estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 cells were nonresponsive to Trametinib with minimal metabolic and viability changes. Our findings support that oncometabolites identified with RS will ultimately enable rapid drug screening in patients ensuring patients receive the most effective treatment at the earliest time point.

Rapid and accurate response to targeted therapies is critical to differentiate tumors that are resistant to treatment early in the regimen.