Flow-injection photometric determination of manganese(II) based on its catalysis of the periodate oxidation of N,N'-bis(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)tolidine

A novel flow-injection spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of manganese(II) at sub-nanogram/ml levels. The method is based on its catalytic effect on the oxidation of N,N′-bis(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)tolidine (HSPT) by periodate. The catalytic effect of manganese(II) was enhanced by the presence of 2,2′-bipyridine as an activator. By monitoring the change in absorbance of the oxidation product of HSPT at 670 nm, manganese(II) ranging 0.02-3.0 ng ml⁻¹ could be determined with the relative standard deviations of less than 2%. The interfering ions were effectively suppressed by the addition of 2,2′-iminodiethanol and citric acid. The proposed method is directly applicable to the determination of manganese in lake and river water samples.     

Synthesis of novel polysilylenes bearing phenol groups directly bonded to Si?Si main chains for preparing Langmuir–blodgett thin films

Polysilylenes with a phenol group directly bonded to the main chain Si atom were prepared by polymerizing dichlorosilane monomers bearing phenol groups protected by t-butyldimethylsilyl ether, followed by deprotecting the silyl ether. These amphiphilic polysilanes were applied to provide oriented thin films by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Stable monolayers were not obtained for polysilylenes having only alkyl and aryl substituents. However, all the polysilylenes with phenol moieties provided monolayers on a water surface. These polysilylene monolayers were transferred to hydrophobic substrates by applying the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Among these polysilylenes, only poly(n-butyl-3-hydroxyphenylsilylene) provided multilayers in which the Si? Si main chains oriented in the dipping direction. The orientation was determined by polarized UV absorption. The orientation ratio reached 0.45. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Enzymatic and chemical stability of 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydropyrimidine nucleosides: potential anti-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome agents

The enzymatic and chemical stability of three 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydropyrimidine nucleosides has been studied. Chemical degradtion of the analogues was measured in the pH range of 1.0-9.0. 2',3'-Dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrocytidine (DDCN) degraded rapidly under acidic conditions, but the chemical stability was greater under basic conditions. The chemical degradation of 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrouridine (DDUN) and 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrothymidine (DDTN) was not pH dependent and was faster than that of cytarabine. Enzymatic degradation of DDCN, DDUN and DDTN was not observed in human plasma, though cytarabine was degraded enzymatically under the same conditions. DDCN was also not degraded in the presence of mouse kidney cytidine deaminase.     

Synthetic inhibitors of proline-rich ligand-mediated protein-protein interaction: potent analogs of UCS15A

The proline-rich motif in proteins is known to function as a ligand sequence that binds to protein modules such as SH3, WW, and several other protein interaction domains. These proline-rich ligand-mediated protein-protein interactions (abbreviated PLPI) are important in many signaling pathways that are involved in various diseases. Our previous studies showed that UCS15A, produced by Streptomyces species, inhibited PLPI. Here we report on synthetic analogs of UCS15A that show more potent activity than UCS15A in inhibiting PLPI. A synthetic analog, compound 2c, blocked in vitro PLPI of Sam68-Fyn-SH3 as well as in vivo PLPI of Grb2-Sam68 and Grb2-Sos1. Activation of MEK was also inhibited by compound 2c. Unlike UCS15A, compound 2c was an order of magnitude less cytotoxic and did not cause morphological changes in treated cells.     

Renin inhibitors. II. Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of N-terminus modified inhibitors containing a homostatine analogue.

The synthesis and structure-activity relationships of N-terminus modified renin inhibitors containing the homostatin analogue, (2RS,4S,5S)-5-amino-2-ethyl-4-hydroxy-7-methyloctanoic acid, are described. The compounds having a 3-alkyl (or aryl)sulfonylpropionyl residue at the N-terminus are found to be potent inhibitors which contain two amino acids. (2RS,4S,5S)-N-Isobutyl-5-[N-[(2S)-3-ethylsulfonyl-2-(1- naphthylmethyl)propionyl]-L-norleucyl]-amino-2-ethyl-4-hydroxy-7- methyloctanamide (20) has an IC50 of 0.5 nM against human plasma renin and the oral bioavailability of 20 is 0.73% in rats. Interaction between renin and the N-terminus of 1 and 20 is discussed in molecular modeling studies.     

Neutron activation analysis of ivory of African elephants

Instrumental neutron activation analysis was applied to 80 samples from various African countries and 81 samples from the Kruger National Park in the Republic of South Africa. Twelve elements such as Br, Ca, Cl, Co, Cs, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Sc, Sr, and Zn, were determined in all samples. The factor scores of each sample were calculated from those elemental concentrations for the first and second factors to clarify the differences of samples from various African countries with those from Kruger Park. The results were compared with those by stable isotope analysis (¹³C and¹⁵N).     

Synthesis and bioactivity of propranolol analogues with a rigid skeleton. I

The synthesis of two kinds of propranolol analogues, A and B, with a rigid skeleton was investigated. The compounds were designed to help identify the conformation involved in beta-adrenergic receptor-propranolol interaction. The key intermediate, 2-hydroxy.2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,8-bc]pyran (5), was obtained starting from acenaphthenone (1). On sequential dehydration, hydroboration, and oxidation, 5 gave 2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,8-bc]pyran-3-one (8), which was converted to compound A. Compound 5 was also derived to 2-formyl-2,3-dihydronaphtho[1,8-bc]pyran (13) via the 2-vinyl compound (12). Condensation of nitromethane with 13 followed by reduction and alkylation produced the desired compound B. The beta-blocking activities of A and B were examined.