Carbon-13 NMR spectra of retinal1 and its related compounds

Carbon-13 NMR spectra of all-trans retinal₁ and vitamin A₁ were measured by the pulse Fourier transform method in CCl₄. All peaks in these spectra were assigned from considerations of chemical shifts, half proton-decoupled spectra, spin-lattice relaxation times and induced chemical shift by the addition of shift reagent. The carbon-13 NMR spectrum was also measured for all-trans retinal₁ which had been exposed to the sunlight for three hours, and the induced isomer was proposed to be 11-s-cis retinal₁.     

POSSIBLE ROLE OF METALLOTHIONEIN IN THE CELLULAR DEFENSE MECHANISM AGAINST UVB IRRADIATION IN NEONATAL HUMAN SKIN FIBROBLASTS

Abstract: The role of metallothionein (MT) in protecting skin cells against UVB irradiation was investigated. Fibroblast strains from normal adult (HS-K) and neonatal (NB1RGB) human skins as well as keratinocyte strains from human skin (SV40-HSK) and newborn Balb/c mouse skin (Pam 212) were exposed to UVB irradiation.
The sensitivity of HS-K and NB1RGB cells to UVB irradiation was similar; those of SV40-HSK and Pam 212 cells were two- and six-fold as sensitive to UVB irradiation as HS-K cells, respectively. The HS-K cells contained the greatest cellular reduced form of glutathione (GSH) levels compared to the three other skin cells: the levels were 13-, 7- and 6-fold of those in NB1RGB, SV40-HSK and Pam 212 cells, respectively. These results indicated that the sensitivity of skin cells to UVB irradiation was not always associated with their endogenous GSH levels. In particular, despite the fact that NB1RGB cells contained a relatively small amount of GSH, they were less sensitive to UVB irradiation.
NB1RGB cells contained 4–30 times more MT than those in other skin cells examined. The sulfhydryl residues of MT molecules in the NB1RGB cells were estimated to be mostly unoccupied by metals, suggesting they act in a similar way to those of GSH. Moreover, NB1RGB cells in which the MT content was elevated by dexamethasone (1 μ M ) or Zn²⁺ (7 μg/mL) treatment were more resistant to UVB irradiation than nontreated ones.
These results suggest that, at least in neonatal human skin fibroblasts, MT may play a role in protection against UVB irradiation.     

Synthetic studies on quassinoids: a stereoselective construction of the picrasane skeleton

12β-Hydroxypicrasan-3-one, a compound having the correct relative stereochemistry of all the six ring-juncture chiral centers of the picrasane skeleton, was synthesized from a known tricyclic compound, using the orthoester Claisen rearrangement and lead tetraacetate oxidation as key reactions.     

Phenylselenenyl chloride in acetonitrile-water : A highly convenient reagent for hydroxyselenation of olefins and preparation of cyclic ethers from dienes

The reaction of phenylselenenyl chloride with olefins in aqueous acetonitrile affords β-hydroxyalkyl phenyl selenides in excellent yields, providing the most convenient method for hydroxyselenation of olefins so far reported. When the reaction was applied to conjugated dienes, monohydroxyselenated products were obtained in good to excellent yields. From non-conjugated dienes, on the other hand, cyclic ethers containing two phenylseleno groups were produced in good to excellent yields, the first step of this reaction being the hydroxyselenation of one double bond.     

Preparation of 19,19,19-trifluororetinal(9-trifluoromethylretinal)

Synthetic work of all-trans-19,19,19-trifluororetinal (7E,9Z,11E,13E) is described.     

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics in field theory: Transport coefficients

Transport coefficients are expressed by real time correlation functions of energy-momentum tensor in the linear response approximation. We establish field theoretical method to compute them in perturbation theory, which is demonstrated in λ?⁴ theory.     

PMDR studies in heavy atom containing hosts; naphthalene and quinoxaline in 1,4-dibromobenzene

PMDR studies of naphthalene and quinoxaline were made in 1,4-dibromobenzene host. Striking effects of external heavy atom perturbation on each individual decay rate, spin polarization in the process of triplet state energy transfer and the enhancement of PMDR signals were studied and a preliminary discussion of the results is given.     

Cycloaddition of oxetane and carbon dioxide catalyzed by tetraphenylstibonium iodide

Trimethylene carbonate was readily obtained in the reaction of oxetane and carbon dioxide in the presence of tetraphenylstibonium iodide.