Synthesis of β‐Methoxyacrylate Natural Products Based on Box‐PdII‐Catalyzed Intermolecular Methoxycarbonylation of Alkynoles

Bis(oxazoline)‐palladium(II) catalyzed carbonylation of homopropargyl alcohols afforded acyclic methoxyacrylate 2 and 6‐membered lactone 3a , 3b , 3d , 3e , 3f , 3g , 3h , 3i , 3j , 3k in good combined yield. In the case of propargyl alcohols, 5‐membered lactones 3p , 3q , 16 were obtained in moderate yields. The one‐pot synthesis of kawa lactones 3a , 3r , 3s and formal synthesis of dihydroxycystothiazole A and dihydroxycystothiazole C are presented. To elucidate the stereochemistry of (+)‐annularin G and (?)‐annularin H, the first asymmetric syntheses of these natural products were achieved.     

Biobased myo-inositol as nucleator and stabilizer for poly(lactic acid)

myo-Inositol made from a biomass feedstock was used as an additive for poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) which was also made from biomass feedstock. The crystallization and stabilization of PLLA by the addition of myo-inositol were evaluated by the melt injection molding process. While the isothermal crystallization of PLLA at 100 °C had finished over 14 min after melting, that of PLLA with 5 wt% myo-inositol finished within 2 min. The crystal growth of PLLA started when the myo-Inositol crystal was added, and the crystallization was promoted. Furthermore, the molecular weight of PLLA with myo-inositol did not decrease during the melt-mixed at 200 °C, different from that of PLLA without the myo-inositol. myo-Inositol prevented the degradation of PLLA during the thermal melting process. The biomass carbon ratio measured by the accelerator mass spectroscopy method showed that the PLLA with 5 wt% myo-inositol was a fully biobased material. It was demonstrated that myo-inositol was a multi-functional biobased additive for the modification of PLLA without decreasing its mechanical properties.     

Unexpectedly stable artificial duplex from flexible acyclic threoninol

A new foldamer, acyclic threoninol nucleic acid (aTNA), has been synthesized by tethering each of the genetic nucleobases A, G, C, and T to d-threoninol molecules, which were then incorporated as building blocks into a scaffold bearing phosphodiester linkages. We found that with its fully complementary strand in an antiparallel fashion, the aTNA oligomer forms an exceptionally stable duplex that is far more stable than corresponding DNA or RNA duplexes, even though single-stranded aTNA is rather flexible and thus does not take a preorganized structure.     

Iron(III)-catalyzed hydroarylation of propiolic acid with activated arenes

FeCl₃/AgOTf-catalyzed hydroarylation of propiolic acid with electron-rich arenes such as mesitylene, tetramethylbenzene, and pentamethylbenzene in trifluoroacetic acid proceeded to give 3-arylpropenoic acids in moderate to high yields. The same reactions with anisole and 1,4-dimethoxybenzene afforded double hydroarylation products, 3,3-diarylpropionic acids.     

Evaluation of thermodynamic and kinetic stability of CuAlO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and CuGaO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Thermodynamic and kinetic stabilities of CuAlO₂ and CuGaO₂ have been evaluated by using thermogravimetry and thermodynamic calculations. It has been revealed that CuAlO₂ and CuGaO₂ are not thermodynamically stable in air below 800 °C and 1,200 °C, respectively, and that the oxidation reaction, 4CuMO₂ + O₂ → 2CuO + 2CuM₂O₄ (M = Al, Ga), should occur if the reaction kinetics are high enough. However, rate constants and activation energies indicated slow kinetics of the oxidation reaction, showing kinetic stability of CuMO₂ even under some thermodynamically unstable temperatures and atmospheres. It was also concluded that CuAlO₂ showed higher thermodynamic and kinetic stability than CuGaO₂.     

Specifications of a neutron exposure accelerator system for biological effects experiments (NASBEE) in NIRS

We developed a neutron irradiation facility, neutron exposure accelerator system for biological effect experiments (NASBEE) for biological studies in National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan. Irradiation field of 2 MeV average neutrons generated by a Be(d–n)B reaction is established. Dose uniformity of 240 mm in diameter irradiation field is producible within ±2.5% with a dose rate of 0.87 Gy/h at sample target distance of 1170 mm. Two irradiation rooms, a specific pathogen-free (SPF) conditioned one and a conventional, are now available. Irradiation protocols for in vitro experiments are now established and demonstrated by obtaining a relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of cell inactivation measured to be 3.54 with 10% survival dose (D₁₀).     

Ring‐Opening Reactions of 3‐Aryl‐1‐benzylaziridine‐2‐carboxylates and Application to the Asymmetric Synthesis of an Amphetamine‐Type Compound

Nucleophilic ring‐opening reactions of 3‐aryl‐1‐benzylaziridine‐2‐carboxylates were examined by using O‐nucleophiles and aromatic C‐nucleophiles. The stereospecificity was found to depend on substrates and conditions used. Configuration inversion at C(3) was observed with O‐nucleophiles as a major reaction path in the ring‐opening reactions of aziridines carrying an electron‐poor aromatic moiety, whereas mixtures containing preferentially the syn‐diastereoisomer were generally obtained when electron‐rich aziridines were used (Tables 1–3). In the reactions of electron‐rich aziridines with C‐nucleophiles, S_N2 reactions yielding anti‐type products were observed (Table 4). Reductive ring‐opening reaction by catalytic hydrogenation of (+)‐trans‐(2S,3R)‐3‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)aziridine‐2‐carboxylate (+)‐trans‐ 3c afforded the corresponding α‐amino acid derivative, which was smoothly transformed into (+)‐tert‐butyl [(1R)‐2‐(1,3‐benzodioxol‐5‐yl)‐1‐methylethyl]carbamate((+)‐ 14 ) with high retention of optical purity (Scheme 6).     

Facile Synthesis and Palladium‐Catalyzed Cross‐Coupling Reactions of 2,3‐Bis(pinacolatoboryl)‐1,3‐butadiene

Treatment of 1,1‐bis(pinacolatoboryl)ethene with an excess of 1‐bromo‐1‐lithioethene gave 2,3‐bis(pinacolatoboryl)‐1,3‐butadiene in high yield. Palladium‐catalyzed cross‐coupling of the resulting diborylbutadiene with aryl iodides took place smoothly in the presence of a catalytic amount of Pd(OAc)₂/PPh₃ and aqueous KOH to give 2,3‐diaryl‐1,3‐butadienes in good yields. The coupling reaction with commercially available 4‐acetoxyphenylmethyl chloride under the same conditions followed by hydrolysis of the acetyl groups gave anolignan B in a one‐pot manner. A variety of [3]‐ to [6]dendralenes were synthesized by palladium‐catalyzed coupling of the diene or 1,1‐bis(pinacolato)borylethene with alkenyl or dienyl halides, respectively, in good yields.