Synthesis of methoxy-substituted phenols by peracid oxidation of the aromatic ring

[reaction: see text] A novel benign protocol for the preparation of hydroxy-methoxybenzene derivatives is disclosed. By utilizing this protocol, activated aromatic compounds such as 1,3-dimethoxy-2-methyl-benzene and 1-(2,6-dimethoxyphenyl)ethanone are smoothly converted to the corresponding monohydroxylated compound. The reaction can be considered to be a normal aromatic electrophilic substitution reaction, and the regioselectivity for the reaction thus follows the similar rules as for electrophilic substitutions. The protocol is composed by benign reagents, namely, hydogenperoxide, acetic acid, and p-toluene sulfonic acid, which lead to the production of ethaneperoxoic acid in situ. The ethaneperoxoic acid operates as the hydroxylating reagent. The hydroxylation reaction is completed within a short period and requires moreover only mild experimental conditions, which make this novel protocol a green, cheap, and rapid process leading to hydroxy-methoxybenzene derivatives. The proposed reaction mechanism is supported by density functional theory and NMR spectroscopy experiments. The mechanism is constituted by two discrete steps: (a) addition of OH+ to the most nucleophilic carbon atom of the aromatic ring, which is the rate-determining step, and (b) the loss of the proton from the aromatic ring.     

The role of intermediate chain migration in propene polymerization using substituted {iPr(CpFlu)}ZrCl2/MAO catalysts

Comparison of pentad distributions obtained from NMR spectra and from a molecular mechanics‐based modeling approach is performed for the catalysts {ⁱPr(3‐X‐CpFlu)}ZrCl₂ (X = H, Me, Et, ⁱPr, ^tBu) at a range of different temperatures. In order to model the temperature dependency of the pentad distributions the variation in steric influence along with the change of the rotational energy level for catalysts with substituents displaying relatively low barriers to rotation is treated approximately by calculating energy profiles of 360° rotation of the alkyl groups. The temperature at which intermediate chain migration (back‐skip) or chain epimerization starts to be important seems to be rather constant (30–50°C) among the five catalysts. Even in the case of X = ^tBu, back‐skip seems to be unimportant for explaining the formation of isotactic polymer at room temperature.     

Elliptic difference equations and interior regularity

Summary Letu be a solution of an elliptic differential equation and letu _h be a solution of a corresponding elliptic difference equation. It is proved that ifu _h converges tou at a certain rate as the mesh-widthh tends to zero, then the appropriate difference quotient ofu h converges to the corresponding derivative ofu at the same rate whenh tends to zero.     

M?ssbauer spectroscopy for heavy elements: a relativistic benchmark study of mercury

The electrostatic contribution to the M?ssbauer isomer shift of mercury for the series HgF _n (n?=?1,?2,?4) with respect to the neutral atom has been investigated in the framework of four- and two-component relativistic theory. Replacing the integration of the electron density over the nuclear volume by the contact density (that is, the electron density at the nucleus) leads to a 10% overestimation of the isomer shift. The systematic nature of this error suggests that it can be incorporated into a correction factor, thus justifying the use of the contact density for the calculation of the M?ssbauer isomer shift. The performance of a large selection of density functionals for the calculation of contact densities has been assessed by comparing with finite-field four-component relativistic coupled-cluster with single and double and perturbative triple excitations [CCSD(T)] calculations. For the absolute contact density of the mercury atom, the Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations are in error by about 0.5%, a result that must be judged against the observation that the change in contact density along the series HgF _n (n?=?1,?2,?4), relevant for the isomer shift, is on the order of 50?ppm with respect to absolute densities. Contrary to previous studies of the ⁵⁷Fe isomer shift (F Neese, Inorg Chim Acta 332:181, 2002), for mercury, DFT is not able to reproduce the trends in the isomer shift provided by reference data, in our case CCSD(T) calculations, notably the non-monotonous decrease in the contact density along the series HgF _n (n?=?1,?2,?4). Projection analysis shows the expected reduction of the 6s _1/2 population at the mercury center with an increasing number of ligands, but also brings into light an opposing effect, namely the increasing polarization of the 6s _1/2 orbital due to increasing effective charge of the mercury atom, which explains the non-monotonous behavior of the contact density along the series. The same analysis shows increasing covalent contributions to bonding along the series with the effective charge of the mercury atom reaching a maximum of around +2 for HgF₄ at the DFT level, far from the formal charge +4 suggested by the oxidation state of this recently observed species. Whereas the geometries for the linear HgF₂ and square-planar HgF₄ molecules were taken from previous computational studies, we optimized the equilibrium distance of HgF at the four-component Fock-space CCSD/aug-cc-pVQZ level, giving spectroscopic constants r _e = 2.007 ? and ?? _e = 513.5?cm^?1.     

Synthesis of methyl (5Z,8Z,10E,12E,14Z)-eicosapentaenoate

The first total synthesis of methyl (5Z,8Z,10E,12E,14Z)-eicosapentaenoate has been achieved in seven steps and in 16% overall yield. The synthesis confirmed the assigned structure of this polyunsaturated natural product.     

Langmuir films of naphthenic acids at different pH and electrolyte concentrations

Langmuir films of naphthenic acids at different pH and electrolyte concentrations are reported. The polydisperse naphthenic acids were commercially available, while two single-component naphthenic acids [5#(H)-cholanoic acid and 1-naphthalenepentanoic acid, decahydro- (9CI)] were synthesized. 1-naphthalenepentanoic acid, decahydro- is too water-soluble to form stable monolayers. 5#(H)-Cholanoic acid and Fluka naphthenic acid form stable films when cations are present in the aqueous subphase. At lower pH the cations are less influential since the naphthenic acids are not protolysed and metal naphthenates cannot be formed. pK_a^s for 5#(H)-cholanoic acid is determined to 5.65. The micellisation of the naphthenates at high pH is described.     

Computational science in the eighteenth century. Test cases for the methods of Newton,Raphson, and Halley: 1685 to 1745

Numerical Algorithms - This is an overview of examples and problems posed in the late 1600s up to the mid 1700s for the purpose of testing or explaining the two different implementations of the...     

A Facile Formal Synthesis of Volicitin

A short and concise synthesis of volicitin is presented. The synthesis is based on repeated chemoselective copper salt cross coupling reactions of alkynes and propargylic halides.     

DISTRIBUTION OF 5-AMINOLEVULINIC ACID-INDUCED PORPHYRINS IN NODULOULCERATIVE BASAL CELL CARCINOMA

Abstract— Microscopic fluorescence photometry incorporating a light-sensitive thermo-electrically cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was employed to investigate the fluorescence distribution of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-induced porphyrins in 22 patients with a total number of 52 noduloul-cerative basal cell carcinomas (BCC) after topical ALA application with or without dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or after intravenous administration of ALA. Both localization patterns and amounts of ALA-induced porphyrins in the BCC were studied. The ALA-induced porphyrins were localized only in the superficial layers of the noduloulcerative BCC lesions after topical application of 20% ALA alone for 3 h. However, both the penetration of ALA into deep lesions and the production of the ALA-induced porphyrin fluorescence were increased after topical administration of 20% ALA and 20% DMSO/4% EDTA for 3 h. Prior treatment with 99% DMSO for 15 min further enhanced the ALA penetration into the BCC lesions after topical application of the ALA/DMSO/EDTA mixture and produced more ALA-induced porphyrins by a factor of about three compared with those treated with ALA alone. The penetration of ALA into the deep BCC lesions could also be increased by prolonging the time of topical application of 20% ALA/4% EDTA to 29–48 h (without DMSO). Intravenous injection of ALA led to a more homogeneous distribution of the ALA-derived porphyrins in the whole noduloulcerative BCC lesions.     

SITES OF PHOTODYNAMICALLY INDUCED DNA REPAIR IN HUMAN CELLS

Abstract Human REH cells were incubated with the photosensitizers meso -tetra(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin (TSPP=TPPS₄) or meso -tetra(3-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin (3-THPP). The relatively hydrophilic TSPP was partly found in the cytoplasm and partly in the nuclei, whereas the lipophilic 3-THPP was found apparently in membranes and not inside the nuclei. After illumination, sites of DNA repair were labeled by means of a monoclonal antibody against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) bound in the nuclei. The amount of bound PCNA in non-S-phase cells was proportional to the light dose. The bound PCNA was homogeneously distributed in the nuclei 0.5 h after photodynamic treatment (PDT) with TSPP. In contrast, for cells given PDT with 3-THPP, the periphery of the nuclei was selectively labeled, indicating that the initial DNA damage was localized close to the sensitizer at the nuclear membrane.