1,1′-Bis(phosphoranylidenamino)ferrocene palladium(II) complexes: An unusual case of dative Fe → Pd bonding

Subtle differences in the electron-richness of nitrogen atoms in 1,1′-bis(phosphoranylidenamino)ferrocenes can change the coordination geometry of their palladium(II) complexes from cis to trans. Trans complexation results in concomitant formation of a relatively short dative Fe-Pd bond of 2.67 Å.     

Chemical confirmation of a pentavalent phosphorane in complex with beta-phosphoglucomutase

This communication reports the X-ray crystal structure of the alpha-d-galactose-1-phosphate complex with that of Lactococcus lactis beta-phosphoglucomutase (beta-PGM) crystallized in the presence of Mg2+ cofactor and the enzyme-to-phosphorus ratio determined by protein and phosphate analyses of the crystalline complex. The 1:1 ratio determined for this complex was compared to the 1:2 ratio determined for the crystals of beta-PGM grown in the presence of substrate and Mg2+ cofactor. This result verifies the published structure assignment of this latter complex as the phosphorane adduct formed by covalent bonding between the active site Asp8 carboxylate to the C(1)phosphorus of the beta-glucose 1,6-bisphosphate ligand and rules out the proposal of a beta-PGM-glucose-6-phosphate-1-MgF3- complex.     

Exploring the scope of the 29G12 antibody catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction

[Chemical reaction: See text] 29G12 is a murine monoclonal antibody programmed to catalyze the regio- and enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between 4-acetamidobenzonitrile N-oxide 1a and N,N-dimethylacrylamide 2a (Toker, J. D.; Wentworth, P., Jr.; Hu, Y.; Houk, K. N.; Janda, K. D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 3244). Given the unique nature of 29G12 as a protein biocatalyst for this chemical reaction, we have investigated both the substrate specificity and mechanistic parameters of the 29G12-catalyzed process. These studies have shown that while 29G12 is specific for its dipole substrate 1a, the antibody is highly promiscuous with respect to the dipolarophiles it can process. 29G12 accepts a bulky hydrophobic dipolarophile cosubstrate, with rates of product formation up to 70-fold faster than with the original substrate 2a. In all cases, the respective isoxazoline products are produced with exquisite regio- and stereochemical control (78-98% ee). Comparison between the steady-state kinetic parameters from the 29G12-catalyzed reaction of 1a with the most efficient versus the original dipolarophile cosubstrate (2m and 2a, respectively), reveals that while the effective molarities (EM)s are almost identical (EM(2m)) 26 M; EM((2a)) 23 M), the affinity of 29G12 for the larger dipolarophile 2m is more than 1 order of magnitude higher than for 2a [Km(2m) 0.44 +/- 0.04 mM; Km(2a) 5.8 +/- 0.4 mM]. Furthermore, when 2m is the cosubstrate, the affinity of 29G12 for its dipole 1a is also greatly improved [Km(1a) 0.82 +/- 0.1 mM compared to Km(1a) 3.4 +/- 0.4 mM when 2a is the cosubstrate]. An analysis of the temperature dependence of the 29G12-catalyzed reaction between 1a and 2m reveals that catalysis is achieved via a decrease in enthalpy of activation (DeltaDeltaH 4.4 kcal mol(-1)) and involves a large increase in the entropy of activation (DeltaDeltaS 10.4 eu). The improved affinity of 29G12 for the nitrile oxide 1a in the presence of 2m, coupled with the increase in DeltaDeltaS during the 29G12-catalyzed reaction between 1a and 2m supports the notion of a structural reorganization of the active site to facilitate this antibody-catalyzed reaction.     

Efficient solid-phase synthesis of sulfahydantoins

A novel solid-phase strategy allows the efficient preparation of "traceless" sulfahydantoins. A total of 28 derivatives, with crude purity generally higher than 85%, were prepared by parallel synthesis. Through reductive alkylations, Mitsunobu reactions, and sulfamoylation reactions on oxime resin, the synthetic strategy affords sulfahydantoin derivatives selectively substituted at N(2), N(5) and N(2), N(5) positions, although yields of disubstituted compounds are lower. The mild reaction conditions involved lead to sulfahydantoins without racemization.     

Parallel solid-phase synthesis and structural characterization of a library of highly substituted chiral 1,3-oxazolidines

The rapid parallel synthesis and characterization of diverse chirally defined 1,3-oxazolidines is reported. Three diversity elements were incorporated in a 6 x 4 x 4 block approach to generate a 96-member 1,3-oxazolidine library. The synthetic route involved initial attachment of six nonracemic phenylglycidols, (2S,3S)1A-C and (2R,3R)-2A-C, to 2% cross-linked polystyrene resin via a chlorodiethylsilane linker (PS-DES), followed by regio- and stereoselective oxirane ring opening with four primary amines (3a-d). The key condensation reaction between the resulting polymer-bound beta-amino alcohols and four aldehydes (4a-d) was found to occur optimally in warm benzene (60 degrees C) in the presence of anhydrous magnesium sulfate. Cleavage of the oxazolidines from the resin support was achieved with TBAF to give the individual members (2R,4R,5R)-5Aaa-Cdd and (2S,4S,5S)-6Aaa-Cdd in good to excellent yields (51-99%) based on mass recovery. Purities of all these crude products was generally >85% (as measured by LCMS). 1H, 13C NMR, and 1D difference nOe of the library members confirmed the structural and stereochemical integrity of the substituents around the 1,3-oxazolidine core. The asymmetric induction at C-2 (cis or trans to the C-4 substituent) ratio ranged from 4 to I to 49 to 1 across the library. This report highlights the versatility of the 1,3-oxazolidine heterocycle as a scaffold for concise parallel library construction and opens the way for high-throughput screening of such compounds in the biological sphere.     

A new fluorogenic transformation: development of an optical probe for coenzyme Q

[reaction: see text] A new fluorogenic transformation based on a quinone reduction/lactonization sequence has been developed and evaluated as a tool for probing redox phenomena in a biochemical context. The probe presented herein is an irreversible redox probe and is reduced selectively by biologically relevant quinols such as ubiquinol but is inert to reduced nicotinamides (e.g., NADH). The ensuing cyclization is fast and quantitative and provides a measurable optical response.     

Exploring the Chemistry of Non-sticky Sugars: Synthesis of Polyfluorinated Carbohydrate Analogues of d-Allopyranose

There is a growing interest in the preparation of polyfluorinated carbohydrates. A limited number of fluorohexopyranosides have been used in biological investigations because of the synthetic challenge they present. Hence, we report the synthesis of fluorinated homodimer, fluorodisaccharides, C-terminal fluoroglycopeptides, lipoic acid fluoroglycoconjugate and trifluoroallopyranoside derivatives functionalized at C-6. Our strategy uses levoglucosan as inexpensive starting material and facilitates an approach to complex carbohydrate analogues with multiple C−F bonds. The challenge of our synthetic route centered around an efficient preparation of crucial 1,6-anhydro-2,4-dideoxy-difluoroglucopyranose and focused on achieving a difficult glycosylation of the trifluoroallopyranose donor. The results clearly highlight challenges related to the preparation of polyhalogenated complex organic molecules and pave the way to access novel medically relevant tools.     

Doubly photoresponsive and water‐soluble block copolymers: Synthesis and thermosensitivity

We report the synthesis and investigation of a new type of photoresponsive block copolymers (BCPs). They were designed to comprise two water‐soluble polymers containing two different photoisomerizable moieties (either azobenzene and spiropyran or two different azobenzenes), with the two constituting blocks that, when separated, exhibit a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) in water and can shift their LCST in opposite directions upon photoisomerization (decrease of LCST for one polymer and increase for the other). A variety of such doubly photoresponsive BCPs were synthesized using either azobenzene‐ or spiropyran‐containing poly(N,N‐dimethylacrylamide) (PDMA), poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and poly[methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate] (PDEGMMA). Their thermal phase transition behaviors in aqueous solution before and after simultaneous photoreactions on the two blocks were investigated in comparison with their constituting blocks, by means of solution transmittance (turbidity) and variable‐temperature ¹H NMR measurements. The results show that BCPs displayed a single LCST whose shift upon two photoisomerizations appeared to be determined by the competing and opposing photoinduced effects on the two blocks. Moreover, optically controlling the relative photoisomerization degrees of trans azobenzene‐to‐cis azobenzene and spiropyran‐to‐merocyanine could be used to tune the LCST of BCP solution. This study demonstrates the potential of exploring a more complex photoreaction scheme to optically control the solution properties of water‐soluble thermosensitive BCPs. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 48: 4055–4066, 2010     

Selection of kernel functions used in a new constitutive equation for viscoelastic fluids

A selection of kernel functions is given to be used in a new integral constitutive equation proposed by Piau whereby the deviatoric stress is calculated from the integral of the history of the past intrinsic rate of rotation and rate of deformation tensors through a representation theorem. Piau has demonstrated the objectivity of a frame moving with a given particle whose axis are directed along the eigenvectors of the rate of deformation tensor. The use of such a framework provides a new approach in the attempt to reduce the computational difficulties associated with conventional constitutive equations written in co-deformational or co-rotational reference frames.The shear and primary normal-stress material functions and the extensional (elongational) stress growth function are defined for the proposed integral constitutive equation. These material functions are used to calculate the kernel functions using steady state, stress relaxation and stress growth data of Attané in simple shear flow for monodisperse polystyrene solutions. The shear and extensional stress growth data of Meissner for a polyethylene melt are also used to show the flexibility of the rheological model.The material functions are first written in terms of five monotonically decreasing functions of the time lag between the past and the present time. Then kernel functions are chosen such that when substituted in the new integral constitutive equation they yield the functions used to describe the data. A further condition imposed on the normalized kernel functions is that they be decreasing functions of time lag.