Artocarpol A,a Novel Constituent with Potent Anti‐inflammatory Effect,Isolated from Artocarpus rigida

A novel phenolic compound, artocarpol A ( 1 ), was isolated from the root bark of Artocarpus rigida and its structure determined by spectroscopic methods and by comparison with its diacetate derivative. Compound 1 strongly inhibited superoxide formation in phorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate (PMA) stimulated rat neutrophils in a concentration‐dependent manner with an IC₅₀ value of 13.7±0.7 μM . Compound 1 also showed a significant inhibitory effect on tumor necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) formation in lipopolysaccharide(LPS)‐stimulated RAW 264.7 cells.     

Fluorescence and aggregation behavior of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers peripherally modified with aromatic chromophores: the effect of dendritic architectures

PAMAM dendrimers of the zeroth to fifth generation (G0-5) have been peripherally modified with phenyl, naphthyl, pyrenyl, and dansyl chromophores. Their fluorescence behaviors are strongly affected by the dendritic architectures at different generations. These dendrimers modified with hydrophobic chromphores can self-organize into vesicular aggregates at the low generations G0-3 in water. The size and aggregation number of these vesicles decrease with increasing generation from G0 to G3. Critical aggregation concentration determined by fluorescence spectroscopy reveals that these aggregates can be favorably formed in the order of G3 > G2 > G1. In contrast to the vesicles made from traditional amphiphilic compounds, these dendrimer-based vesicles are very adhesive due to the H-bonding interaction and entanglement of dendritic branches located in the outer layer. A large number of multivesicle assemblies, i.e., "twins" and "quins" consisting of two and five vesicles, were clearly identifiable with transmission electron (TEM) and atomic force microscopy. For the dendrimers with peripheral pyrenyl chromophores, triangle-like vesicles were observed in water. The hydrophobic interphase thickness of the vesicular bilayer is ca. 2.0-3.2 nm determined by fluorescence resonance energy transfer methods, which agrees well with the thickness directly observed with TEM.     

Controlled Reduction of Carboxamides to Alcohols or Amines by Zinc Hydrides

New protocols for controlled reduction of carboxamides to either alcohols or amines were established using a combination of sodium hydride (NaH) and zinc halides (ZnX₂). Use of a different halide on ZnX₂ dictates the selectivity, wherein the NaH‐ZnI₂ system delivers alcohols and NaH‐ZnCl₂ gives amines. Extensive mechanistic studies by experimental and theoretical approaches imply that polymeric zinc hydride (ZnH₂)_∞ is responsible for alcohol formation, whereas dimeric zinc chloride hydride (H?Zn?Cl)₂ is the key species for the production of amines.     

Fabrication of Nano Flower‐shaped Platinum on Glassy Carbon Electrode as a Sensitive Sensor for Lead Electrochemical Analysis

Platinum nanoflowers modified glassy carbon electrodes (PtNFs/GCE) was fabricated simply for lead determination in water samples. The modified electrodes were prepared by electrodeposition in hexachloroplatinic acid solution at constant potential. The influence of deposition time and potential on surface morphology, chemical composition, electrochemical properties of electrode were investigated. At ?0.2 V of potential and 150 s of deposition duration, platinum developed as nanoflower shape and scattered densely all over the glassy carbon surface, producing the largest electrochemically active surface areas. The highest differential pulse stripping voltammetry (DPSV) signal of lead was obtained by using the prepared electrode. Under optimized experimental condition of electrolyte, accumulation potential and time, the peak current was found to be linear proportion to lead concentration in range of 1 to 100 μg L^?1 (slope=0.371) with a limit of detection of 0.398 μg L^?1. The method has good repeatability and reproducibility with relative standard deviations of 1.47 % and 4.83 %, respectively. The modified PtNFs/GCE also demonstrated an excellent long‐term stability with only 9 % decrease in Pb peak current over 30 days. Moreover, the performance of the modified PtNFs/GCE in determination of Pb(II) in two industrial wastewaters was good agreement with data obtained by a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) method.     

A new organic far-red mechanofluorochromic compound derived from cyano-substituted diarylethene

A new cyano-substituted diarylethene derivative (R-NH₂) with reversible far-red mechanofluorochromic property was synthesized and confirmed by standard spectroscopic methods. To the best of our knowledge, the 684 nm red-shifted wavelength of the ground R-NH₂ is the longest wavelength that has appeared in the literature. The mechanofluorochromic mechanism was investigated by small and wide-angle X-ray scattering and was ascribed to the destruction of crystalline structure. More in-depth study by infrared spectra and time-resolved emission-decay behaviors showed that the changes of C–H out-of-plane bending vibrations in aryl group of the compound and the obvious increase of fluorescence lifetime might be the fundamental reasons. The synthetic strategy reported here can be extended to prepare more and more long-wavelength emission mechanofluorochromic materials, which can broaden the scope of application of such materials and for thoroughly understanding the mechanofluorochromic mechanism.     

N-(Benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-vinylglycike Methyl Ester from L-Methionine Methyl Ester Hydrochloride

A reproducible, large scale and practical synthesis of N-(benzyloxycarbonyl)-L-vinylglycine methyl ester starting from L-methionine methyl ester hydrochloride is described.     

Palladium-catalyzed vinylation of cyclohexenes using a directing-group strategy

Palladium-promoted vinylation of cyclohexenes via employment of a directing-group strategy to yield the coupled vinyl cyclohexenes with excellent regio- and stereoselectivity was studied. Typically, reaction of 2-(cyclohex-2-en-1-yl)-N-tosylacetamide ( 1a ) with (Z)-styryl bromides ( 2 ) gave cis-2-[(E)-styryl]cyclopent-3-en-1-yl-N-tosylacetamides in good to excellent yields. It is noticed that (Z)-styryl moiety was inverted into (E)-form in products. Unfortunately, (E)-styryl bromide substrates were not suitable for this reaction under the condition investigated. Further studies on norbornene system, we found that palladium-catalyzed reaction of endo-N-tosylbicyclo[2.2.1]hept-5-ene-2-carboxamide ( 6 ) with styryl bromides gave the Aza-Heck type products.