Plaunol A and B,new anti-ulcer diterpenelactones from Crotonsublyratus

Two new diterpenelactones named plaunol A ($\text{2}$) and B ($\text{3}$) exhibiting anti-Shay ulcer activity were isolated from Thai medicinal plant, $\text{Croton}$$\text{sublyratus}$. Structure of $\text{2}$ was determined by X-ray analysis of its $\text{p}$-bromobenzoate and structure of $\text{3}$ was deduced from the results of chemical correlation and the spectral data.     

An efficient 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition between aromatic selenoaldehydes and nitrile oxides or nitrile imines: an easy access to selenium-containing five-membered heterocyclic ring system

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition between aromatic selenoaldehydes, generated by thermal retro Diels-Alder reaction of anthracene cycloadducts, and nitrile oxides or nitrile imines proceeded efficiently to give the corresponding [3+2] cycloadducts as a single isomer in good yields, being 1,4,2-oxaselenazoles or 1,3,4-selenadiazoles, respectively.     

"Chiral perturbation factor" approach reveals importance of entropy term in stereocontrol of the 2,4-pentanediol-tethered reaction

The stereocontrol mechanism of the 2,4-pentanediol (PD)-tethered reaction was studied in detail using a reaction system consisting of phenyl and rhodium carbenoid moieties. Different tethers were examined to analyze the effects of the methyl groups on the PD tether. Among the reactions with these tethers, the PD tether achieves an unmeasurably high stereoselectivity in a diastereomeric ratio of >500. Another tether showing a high but measurable stereoselectivity in a ratio of 41 is mostly controlled by the entropy term. To clarify the role of the methyl groups on the chiral tethers, which are the origin of the stereocontrol, the "chiral perturbation factor" is introduced. This parameter is defined as the rate of a chiral reaction relative to that of an achiral reference reaction. By analyzing the temperature dependence of the chiral perturbation factors for different chiral-tethered reactions, high potentials of the PD-tethered reaction in its stereocontrol are concluded to be due to the entropy term.     

Propylene carbonate as a solvent for salting-out extraction and subsequent differential pulse polarography

Summary Selective and sensitive procedures are described for the direct differential pulse polarographic determination of antimony(III), indium(III) and cadmium(II) in propylene carbonate. This method was based on the salting-out extraction of their halide complexes into the solvent from acidic aqueous media. The extracted Sb(III), In(III) and Cd(II) complexes exhibit sharp differential pulse polarographic peaks at –0.21 V, –0.63 V and –0.72 V vs. SCE in salted-out propylene carbonate phases respectively. The lower limits of determination are 5.0g for Sb(III), 0.6g for In(III), and 0.2g for Cd(II) in 10 ml of the organic phase. A number of foreign ions are eliminated through both processes of solvent extraction and polarography using propylene carbonate.

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Propylencarbonat als Lösungsmittel für die Fällungs-Extraktion und die nachfolgende Differential-Puls-Polarographie

Zusammenfassung Selektive und empfindliche Verfahren für die direkte Bestimmung von Sb(III), In(III) und Cd(II) in Propylencarbonat mit Hilfe der Differential-Puls-Polarographie wurden beschrieben. Die vorliegende Methode beruht auf der Fällungs-Extraktion der Halogenid-Komplexe aus wäßrig-saurem Medium in das Lösungsmittel. Die extrahierten Komplexe des Sb(III), In(III) und Cd(II) ergeben scharfe Peaks bei –0,21 V, –0,63 V und –0,72 V gegen die Kalomelelektrode in den betreffenden Propylencarbonat-Phasen. Die unteren Grenzen der Bestimmungen liegen bei 5,0g Sb, 0,6g In bzw. 0,2g Cd in 10 ml organischer Phase. Eine Anzahl Fremdionen wird durch die beiden Prozesse der Extraktion und der Polarographie in Propylencarbonat ausgeschaltet.

     

Broad spectrum and mode of action of an antibiotic produced byScytonema sp. TISTR 8208 in a seaweed-type bioreactor

A photobioreactor was constructed using anchored polyurethane foam strips (1 x 1 x 40 cm) fixed onto a stainless-steel ring to prevent flotation, as a biomass support material (BSM). This type of reactor was named a seaweed-type bioreactor. A filamentous cyanobacterium, Scytonema sp. TISTR 8208, which produces a novel cyclic dodecapeptide antibiotic, was immobilized in seaweed-type photobioreactor and cultivated with air containing 5% CO₂ sparged at a gas flow rate of 250 mL/min under illumination at a light intensity of 200 μmol photon m^-2s^-1. The antibiotic produced in the seaweed-type photobioreactor was purified by HPLC and examined regarding its spectrum and mode of action. The antibiotic effectively inhibited the growth of Gram-positive bacteria, pathogenic yeasts, and filamentous fungi, but it had only a weak effect on Gram-negative bacteria. Scanning electron micrograph analysis showed that the most characteristic change was swelling of the cells after exposure to the antibiotic. The antibiotic seems to alter the conformation of the microbial cell membrane, thereby changing its permeability, leading to osmotic shock.     

Small angle X-ray scattering from lamellar phase for β-3,7-dimethyloctylglucoside/water system: comparison with β-n-alkylglucosides

Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is measured for the lamellar phase in aqueous systems of 1-o-β-3,7-dimethyoctyl-D-glucopyranoside (β-Glc(Ger)), which has recently been prepared by us, 1-o-β-decyl-D-glucopyranoside (β-GlcC₁₀), and 1-o-β-octyl-D-glucopyranoside (β-GlcC₈). The repeat distance d obtained from the position of the diffraction peak does not follow the swelling law d = 2δ_hc/_hc, where δ_hc and _hc are the thickness and the volume fraction of the hydrophobic layer, respectively. This may result from the fact that δ_hc increases and, equivalently, the surface area per surfactant molecule (a_s) decreases with increasing concentration. So we calculate δ_hc and a_s from the observed d value at each concentration using the above swelling law. The half-thickness δ_hc increases in the order β-GlcC₈ < β-Glc(Ger) < β-GlcC₁₀ at a fixed concentration. On the other hand, the data on a_s for β-GlcC₁₀ and β-GlcC₈ lie on the same line and the data for β-Glc(Ger) lies above this line. These results suggest that the cross-sectional area of the geranyl chain is larger than that of the glucose headgroup. Existence of water filled defects in bilayer sheets is also discussed based on the SAXS pattern and the concentration dependence of d.     

An ore-type condition for the existence ofk-factors in graphs

Letk be a positive integer, and letG be a graph of ordern withn 4k – 5,kn even and minimum degree at leastk. We prove that if the degree sum of each pair of nonadjacent vertices is at leastn, thenG has ak-factor.     

Highly sensitive chiral shift reagent bearing two zinc porphyrins

A new type of chiral receptor (R,R)- or (S,S)-1b with C(2) symmetry was synthesized. An induced-fit type of binding behavior of 1b for diamines was revealed by CD spectroscopy. NMR studies demonstrated that 1b can function as a highly sensitive chiral shift reagent for the determination of the enantiomeric purity of chiral diamines, aziridine, and isoxazoline at the microgram level. [structure: see text]     

Preparation of dehydrated powder of hemoglobin vesicles

The carbonyl hemoglobin (CO-Hb), which was used to prevent denaturation (metHb) during the preparation of samples, was encapsulated into lipid vesicles constituted from unsaturated phospholipid, cholesterol and unsaturated fatty acid. Unsaturated components were polymerized by γ-irradiation to enhance the stability of bilayer membrane. An aqueous dispersion of resulting Hb vesicles was freeze-dried in the presence of saccharides (50–200 mM) to obtain a dehydrated powder of Hb vesicles. Change in the vesicle size, the leakage of encapsulated Hb and the oxidation of Hb to metHb were not observed. Therefore, the long-term storage of Hb vesicles can be realized as a dry powder.     

Cloning, sequencing, and functional analysis of the biosynthetic gene cluster of macrolactam antibiotic vicenistatin in Streptomyces halstedii

Vicenistatin, an antitumor antibiotic isolated from Streptomyces halstedii, is a unique 20-membered macrocyclic lactam with a novel aminosugar vicenisamine. The vicenistatin biosynthetic gene cluster (vin) spanning approximately 64 kbp was cloned and sequenced. The cluster contains putative genes for the aglycon biosynthesis including four modular polyketide synthases (PKSs), glutamate mutase, acyl CoA-ligase, and AMP-ligase. Also found in the cluster are genes of NDP-hexose 4,6-dehydratase and aminotransferase for vicenisamine biosynthesis. For the functional confirmation of the cluster, a putative glycosyltransferase gene product, VinC, was heterologously expressed, and the vicenisamine transfer reaction to the aglycon was chemically proved. A unique feature of the vicenistatin PKS is that the loading module contains only an acyl carrier protein domain, in contrast to other known PKS-loading modules containing certain activation domains. Activation of the starter acyl group by separate polypeptides is postulated as well.