One pot synthesis using supported reagents system KSCN/SiO2-RNH3OAc/Al2O3: synthesis of 2-aminothiazoles and N-allylthioureas

A simple and efficient method has been developed for the synthesis of 2-aminothiazoles and N-allylthioureas from commercially available materials in one pot by using a supported reagents system, KSCN/SiO₂-RNH₃OAc/Al₂O₃, in which α-halo ketone reacts first KSCN/SiO₂ and the product, α-thiocyanatoketone, reacts with RNH₃OAc/Al₂O₃ to give the final product, 2-aminothiazoles, in good yield and allyl bromide reacts with KSCN/SiO₂ and the product, allyl isothiocyanate, reacts with RNH₃OAc/Al₂O₃ to give N-allylthiourea.     

Acid-catalyzed reaction behavior of 1-silylcyclopropylmethanols

Treatment of 1-silylcyclopropylmethanols with TsOH in methanol gives different homoallyl ethers depending upon the configuration of substituents on cyclopropane ring and the kinds of substituents on carbinyl carbon. Especially, the reaction of cyclopropylmethanols having no substituents on the same side with silyl group on cyclopropane ring proceeds to give the corresponding E-homoallyl ethers with high stereoselectivity. The following protiodesilylation of resulting homoallyl ethers proceeds with retention of configuration.     

2H Natural-abundance MAS NMR spectroscopy: an alternative approach to obtain 1H chemical shifts in solids

(2)H NMR was examined as an approach to determine (1)H chemical shifts in solids. For high-resolution observation, the line width due to (2)H quadrupole interaction and chemical-shift anisotropy was removed by magic-angle spinning and that due to (1)H-(2)H dipolar interactions by (1)H decoupling. Further, we showed that the sensitivity can be enhanced by applying (1)H to (2)H cross polarization and by adding spinning-sideband spectra. These make it possible to obtain (2)H natural-abundance MAS spectra revealing highly resolved (2)H signals. The second-order quadrupole effects of (2)H are also examined.     

Novel method for evaluation of chemicals based on ligand-dependent recruitment of GFP labeled coactivator to estrogen receptor displayed on bacterial magnetic particles

We established a novel method to evaluate endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) by assembling the estrogen receptor-ligand binding domain (ERLBD) and GFP labeled coactivator on magnetic nanoparticles. EDC can promote or inhibit coactivator recruitment to the ligand-ERLBD complex. ERLBD was displayed on the surface of nano-sized bacterial magnetic particles (BacMPs) produced by the magnetic bacterium, Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1. Our method resulted in 38 molecules of ERLBD molecules on a BacMPs with diameter of 75 nm. Furthermore, ligand-dependent recruitment assays of GFP labeled coactivator to ERLBD-BacMPs was performed by measuring the fluorescence intensity. 17β-estradiol (E2), estriol, diethylstilbestrol, zeralenone (full agonist), octylphenol (partial agonist) and ICI 182,780 (antagonist) were evaluated by this method. Full agonists tested showed increased fluorescence with increasing agonist concentration. Octylphenol had lower fluorescence intensity than E2. ICI 182,780 did not produce any fluorescence. The method developed in this study can evaluate the estrogenic potential of chemicals by discriminating whether they are an ER full agonist, partial agonist, or antagonist. Finally, this method is amenable adaptation into a high throughput format by using automated magnetic separation.     

Decarboxylation of crystalline 2-carboxy-3-hydroxy-dibenzo [a,c] tropone followed by solid-state crystallization

Thermal decarboxylation of 2-carboxy-3-hydroxydibenzo[a,c]tropone (1) in a crystalline environment produces 3-hydroxydibenzo [a,c]tropone (2) accompanied by disordering of the crystalline lattice. Spectroscopic data on the decarboxylated solid suggest that 2 does not form intermolecular hydrogen bonds under the influence of the structure of the mother crystal of 1. Upon annealing, crystallization of 2 takes place and the crystal structure eventually becomes identical to that of the crystal obtained by recrystallization from ethanol. The process of crystallization of 2 is discussed in terms of the crystal structures of both the starting compound 1 and the decarboxylated product 2.     

Suppression of the bitterness of enteral nutrients using increased particle sizes of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and various flavours: a taste sensor study

An improved formulation of the enteral nutrient Aminoleban EN (Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan), has been commercially available since Spring 2004. Like the previous formulation, the improved product contains branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) L-isoleucine (L-Ile), L-leucine (L-Leu), and L-valine (L-Val), but the average particle size of these amino acids has been increased to 180 to 250 microm in the improved formulation, compared with 40 to 90 microm in the old product. The improved formulation has a significantly lower bitterness intensity score than the older formulation, as evaluated both in human gustatory tests and using the artificial taste sensor. We propose that this improved taste masking is due to the larger particle size of the BCAA crystals, due to which their release rates are reduced. The addition of improved flavours has also helped to reduce the bitterness of the improved Aminoleban EN formulation significantly. Analysis of the taste sensor data suggests that the sourness and sweetness of the added flavours were critical in diminishing the bitterness of Aminoleban EN.     

Detection of specific noncovalent interaction of peptide with DNA by MALDI-TOF

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry was used to obtain spectra of peptide-DNA complexes formed by basic domain (BD15) of c-Fos protein and DNA AP-1 site (5'-TGAGTCA-3'). The noncovalent interaction between single stranded DNA and BD15 was observed and confirmed to be an ionic one between the negatively charged sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA and positively charged side chains of Arg- and lys-rich peptides as demonstrated by Vertes and coworkers and Woods and coworkers. But the specific noncovalent interaction between DNA AP-1 site and the dimer of BD15 was firstly detected in this paper. Various different sequence DNAs were studied and it was found that this interaction is a sequence-specific one, and AP-1 site was essential for this interaction. This specific interaction depends on the matrix. It was only observed in the ATT matrix and not in the other two matrixes (CHCA and DHBA).     

Solid-phase extraction element based on epoxy polymer monolith for determination of polar organic compounds in aqueous media

A solid-phase extraction element based on epoxy polymer monolith was fabricated for sorptive enrichment of polar compounds from liquid and gaseous samples. After ultrasonication of the element in an aqueous solution for a given period of time, the thermal desorption (TD) using a pyrolyzer with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), in which TD temperature was programmed from 50 to 250 °C for the analytes absorbed in the element, was used to evaluate the element for basic extraction performance using the aqueous standard mixtures consisting of compounds having varied polarities such as hexanol, isoamyl acetate, linalool, furfural and decanoic acid, in concentrations ranging from 10 μg/L to 1 mg/L. Excellent linear relationships were observed for all compounds in the standard mixture, except decanoic acid. In the extraction of beverages such as red wine, the extraction element showed stronger adsorption characteristics for polar compounds such as alcohols and acids than a non-polar polydimethylsiloxane-based element. This feature is derived from the main polymer structure along with hydroxyl and amino groups present in the epoxy-based monolith polymer matrix.     

Chiral porphyrin dimer with a macrocyclic cavity for intercalation of aromatic guests

Chiral diporphyrin receptor 1, which has a macrocyclic cavity to sandwich aromatic guest molecules via double π-π stacking interactions, enabled the naked-eye detection of an aromatic explosive as well as chiral discrimination in NMR.     

Mixed-valence state of a pyrazine-bridged dimer of oxocarboxylatotriruthenium complexes with a nitrosyl ligand

Three new pyrazine-bridged dimers of oxoacetatotriruthenium with an NO ligand are synthesized. These complexes show two types of stable mixed-valence states. The ν(NO) stretches for five oxidation states were obtained, and the intramolecular electron-transfer rate within the mixed-valence state is evaluated from the IR spectral line-shape simulation based on Bloch-type analysis, which is the first application of this method to a spectator ligand of NO.