Oxidation mechanism of phenols by dicopper-dioxygen (Cu(2)/O(2)) complexes

The first systematic studies on the oxidation of neutral phenols (ArOH) by the mu-eta(2):eta(2)-peroxo)dicopper(II) complex (A) and the bis(mu-oxo)dicopper(III) complex (B) supported by the 2-(2-pyridyl)ethylamine tridentate and didentate ligands L(Py2) and L(Py1), respectively, have been carried out in order to get insight into the phenolic O-H bond activation mechanism by metal-oxo species. In both cases (A and B), the C-C coupling dimer was obtained as a solely isolable product in approximately 50% yield base on the dicopper-dioxygen (Cu(2)/O(2)) complexes, suggesting that both A and B act as electron-transfer oxidants for the phenol oxidation. The rate-dependence in the oxidation of phenols by the Cu(2)/O(2) complexes on the one-electron oxidation potentials of the phenol substrates as well as the kinetic deuterium isotope effects obtained using ArOD have indicated that the reaction involves a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism. The reactivity of phenols for net hydrogen atom transfer reactions to cumylperoxyl radical (C) has also been investigated to demonstrate that the rate-dependence of the reaction on the one-electron oxidation potentials of the phenols is significantly smaller than that of the reaction with the Cu(2)O(2) complexes, indicative of the direct hydrogen atom transfer mechanism (HAT). Thus, the results unambiguously confirmed that the oxidation of phenols by the Cu(2)O(2) complex proceeds via the PCET mechanism rather than the HAT mechanism involved in the cumylperoxyl radical system. The reactivity difference between A and B has also been discussed by taking account of the existed fast equilibrium between A and B.     

C-S bond formation reaction between a phenolate and disulfide-bridged dicopper(I) complexes

A novel C-S bond formation reaction took place, when a lithium phenolate derivative was treated with a disulfide-bridged dicopper(I) complex or a bis(micro-thiolato)dicopper(II) complex under very mild conditions. The reaction has been suggested to proceed via a disulfide-bridged (micro-phenoxo)dicopper(I) complex as the common reaction intermediate. Copper(II) complexes of the modified ligands containing a thioether group (products of the C-S bond formation reaction) have been isolated and structurally characterized by X-ray analysis as model compounds of the active site of galactose oxidase. Mechanism of the C-S bond formation reaction is also discussed in relation to the biosynthetic mechanism of the organic cofactor Tyr-Cys of galactose oxidase.     

Synthesis and In Vitro Biological Evaluation of Psoralen‐Linked Fullerenes

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a widely used medicinal treatment for the cancer therapy that utilizes the combination of a photosensitizer (PS) and light irradiation. In this study, we synthesized two novel C₆₀ fullerene derivatives, compounds 1 and 2 , with a psoralen moiety that can covalently bind to DNA molecules via cross‐linking to pyrimidine under photoirradiation. Along with several fullerene derivatives, the biological properties of several novel compounds have been evaluated. Compounds 1 and 2 , which have been shown to induce the production of hydroxyl radicals using several ROS detecting reagents, induced DNA strand breaks with relatively weak activities in the in vitro detection system using a supercoiled plasmid. However, the psoralen‐bound fullerene with carboxyl groups ( 2 ) only showed genotoxicity in the genotoxicity assay system of the umu test. Compound 2 was also seen to have cytotoxic activities in several cancer cell lines at higher doses compared to water‐soluble fullerenes.     

A new general method for synthesis of ketene dithioacetal

Dithioacetals ($\text{1}$) were treated with n-butyllithium and 2,2′-dipyridyl disulfide to give ketene dithioacetals ($\text{3}$) in high yields, which constituted a new efficient synthetic method for the latter compounds.     

Enantioselective microbial hydroxylation of bicyclo(2.2.1)heptane carbon skeleton

Bicyclo(2.2.1)heptane-7-carboxylic acid ($\text{9}$) and methyl bicyclo(2.2.1)hept-2-ene-7-$\text{syn}$-carboxylate ($\text{5}$) were microbiologically hydroxylated to give (1$\text{R}$)-2-hydroxy derivatives.     

Cholestane glycosides from Solanum abutiloides. III

Four new cholestane glycosides, named abutilosides D (1), E (2), F (3) and G (4), were isolated from the fresh roots of Solanum abutiloides. By chemical and spectroscopic evidence, their structures were elucidated as 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl 3beta,16alpha,26-trihydroxy-5alpha-cholestan-22-one 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D- glucopyranoside and its desxylosyl compound (1 and 3, respectively), 26-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl 3beta,16alpha,26-trihydroxycholest-5-en-22-one 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1-->4)-beta-D- glucopyranoside and its desxylosyl compound (2 and 4, respectively). These compounds were regarded as precursors of a dormantinone type compound on a hypothetical pathway of steroid biogenesis.     

Multichain copoly(α-amino acid). II. Preparation and properties of multi-Nϵ-poly(γ-benzyl-L-glutamyl)copoly(L-lysine γ-methyl-L-glutamate)

A number of multi-N^?-poly(γ-benzyl-L -glutamyl)copoly(L -lysine γ-methyl-L -glutamate)s with branches having various degrees of polymerization and with various intervals of the grafting sites in the core molecule were prepared in N,N-dimethylformamide containing dimethyl sulfoxide by the reaction of N-carboxy anhydride of γ-benzyl L -glutamate with random copoly(L -lysine γ-methyl-L -glutamate)s of different composition with various anhydride-initiator ratios. The relationship between the intrinsic viscosity measured in a coil solvent, dichloroacetic acid (DCA), and the number-average molecular weight determined by osmometry was found to be expressed by the Mark–Houwink–Sakurada equation for the multichain copoly(α-amino acid)s which were made from the same polymeric initiator. The observed α values of the multichain copoly(α-amino acid)s in the equation were lower than that of linear poly(γ-benzyl-L -glutamate). The solvent induced helix–coil transition of the multichain copolymer was investigated in the chloroform?DCA system by the ORD technique. Two kinds of transition regions were clearly distinguished: The α-helices of the core molecules underwent the transition at lower DCA concentration and those of the branch chains at higher DCA concentration. The reduced viscosity of the multichain copoly-(α-amino acid) increased slightly between the two transition regions, in contrast to the large decrease in the reduced viscosity of linear poly(γ-benzyl-L -glutamate) during the helix–coil transition.