Kunzeanones A, B, and C: novel alkylated phloroglucinol metabolites from Kunzea ambigua

Three new metabolites, kunzeanones A (1), B (2), and C (3), along with three known compounds, cryptostrobin (4), (+)-spathulenol (5), and (−)-globulol (6), were isolated from the non-polar fraction of the dried leaves of Kunzea ambigua (Myrtaceae), which shows ichthyotoxicity toward a small fish, medaka. The structures of these new compounds were elucidated as condensates of alkylated phloroglucinol with methylflavanone and germacrane-type sesquiterpene, respectively, on the basis of spectral analyses including 1-D and 2-D NMR spectra. The stereochemistries of kunzeanones A and B were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. A sesquiterpene, (+)-spathulenol (5), among the isolates was characterized as the ichthyotoxic principle of the extract.     

KINETICS AND MECHANISM OF PHOTOCYCLOADDITION OF DEOXYURIDINES TO 2,3-DIMETHYL-2-BUTENE

The mechanism of photocycloaddition of 2′-deoxyuridine (1a) and thymidine (1b) to 2,3-dimethyl-2-butene (Bu) in acetonitrile by UV irradiation has been studied. The reciprocal quantum yield for the cycloaddition increased linearly with reciprocal concentrations of Bu in acetonitrile to give limiting quantum yields at infinite concentration of Bu as 0.030 and 0.0096 for 1a and 1b , respectively. This shows that the cycloaddition proceeds in a two-step mechanism between the triplet state of 1 and Bu through biradical intermediates. Addition of cis-1,3-pentadiene quenched the reaction obeying the Stern–Volmer equation. The above quenching experiments and laser transient spectroscopy revealed that the triplet state of 1a reacts with Bu with much larger rate constant (1.3–1.6 × 10⁹ M^?1 s^?1) than that of 1b (4–5 × 10⁷ M^?1 s^?1) reflecting larger steric hindrance exerted in the reaction of 1b than that of 1a .     

The first total synthesis of concanamycin f (concanolide a)

A highly stereoselective total synthesis of the macrolide antibiotic concanamycin F (1), a specific and potent inhibitor of vacuolar H(+)-ATPase, has been achieved by a convergent route involving the synthesis and coupling of its 18-membered tetraenic lactone and beta-hydroxyl hemiacetal side chain subunits. The C1-C19 18-membered lactone aldehyde 4 was synthesized through the intermolecular Stille coupling of the C5-C13 vinyl iodide 24 and the C14-C19 vinyl stannane 25, followed by construction of the C1-C4 diene and macrolactonization. Synthesis of 4 via a second convergent route including the esterification of the C1-C13 vinyl iodide 45 and the C14-C19 vinyl stannane 47 followed by the intramolecular Stille coupling was also realized. The highly stereoselective aldol coupling of 4 and the C20-C28 ethyl ketone 5 followed by desilylation provided 1 which was identical with natural concanamycin F.     

Palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of ethynylstibanes with organic halides

The reaction of ethynylstibanes (1a-g) with vinyl halides or triflate in the presence of a palladium catalyst led to the formation of cross-coupling products (5a-g, 10-12) in good to moderate yield, along with homo-coupling products (6a-g). A similar reaction of ethynyldiphenylstibane (1a) with aryl iodides (13a-i) also gave cross-coupling products (14a-i), although the yields were relatively low. The yields of the cross-coupling products were highly dependent on the nature of the solvent employed, and good results were obtained when the reaction was carried out in HMPA or amines such as diethylamine and morpholine. The results imply that HMPA and amine used as solvents facilitate transmetallation of the ethynyl group on 1 to the palladium by intermolecular coordination between antimony and oxygen (for HMPA) or nitrogen (for amine).     

Penning ionization electron spectroscopy of C6H6 by collision with He*(2 3 S) metastable atoms and classical trajectory calculations: optimization of ab initio model potentials

The potential energy surface of benzene (C(6)H(6)) with a He*(2(3)S) atom was obtained by comparison of experimental data in collision-energy-resolved two-dimensional Penning ionization electron spectroscopy with classical trajectory calculations. The ab initio model interaction potentials for C(6)H(6)+He*(2(3)S) were successfully optimized by the overlap expansion method; the model potentials were effectively modified by correction terms proportional to the overlap integrals between orbitals of the interacting system, C(6)H(6) and He*(2(3)S). Classical trajectory calculations with optimized potentials gave excellent agreement with the observed collision-energy dependence of partial ionization cross sections. Important contributions to corrections were found to be due to interactions between unoccupied molecular orbitals and the He*2s orbital. A C(6)H(6) molecule attracts a He*(2(3)S) atom widely at the region where pi electrons distribute, and the interaction of -80 meV (ca. -1.8 kcal/mol) just cover the carbon hexagon. The binding energy of a C(6)H(6) molecule and a He* atom was 107 meV at a distance of 2.40 A on the sixfold axis from the center of a C(6)H(6) molecule, which is similar to that of C(6)H(6)+Li and is much larger than those of the C(6)H(6)+[He,Ne,Ar] systems.     

Reversible electro-optical switching of a memory type PDLC using two-frequency-addressing liquid crystals

Abstract

A memory type PDLC has been prepared by sandwiching a mixture of two-frequency-addressing liquid crystals and acrylate monomers with a hydoroxy group between two glass substrates with ITO electrodes followed by UV irradiation. This PDLC can be electrically switched between a transparent state and a light scattering state, which are maintained over several months without electric fields.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Electronic Structures of Porphyrins Fused with Polycyclic Aromatic Ring Systems

A series of porphyrins fused with acenaphthylene, phenanthroline, and benzofluoranthene polycyclic aromatic rings were prepared by means of a 3+1 porphyrin synthesis approach and subsequent retro‐Diels–Alder reaction of bicyclo[2.2.2]octadiene‐fused precursors. Analysis of the magnetic circular dichroism spectra and the results of time‐dependent DFT calculations are used to identify the reasons for the trends observed in the wavelengths and relative intensities of the Q bands of the products. Michl's perimeter model is used as a conceptual framework to explain the changes in the relative energies of the frontier π‐molecular orbitals.     

Single-Round DNA Aptamer Selection by Combined Use of Capillary Electrophoresis and Next Generation Sequencing: An Aptaomics Approach for Identifying Unique Functional Protein-Binding DNA Aptamers

In DNA aptamer selection, existing methods do not discriminate aptamer sequences based on their binding affinity and function and the reproducibility of the selection is often poor, even for the selection of well-known aptamers like those that bind the commonly used model protein thrombin. In the present study, a novel single-round selection method (SR-CE selection) was developed by combining capillary electrophoresis (CE) with next generation sequencing. Using SR-CE selection, a successful semi-quantitative and semi-comprehensive aptamer selection for thrombin was demonstrated with high reproducibility for the first time. Selection rules based on dissociation equilibria and kinetics were devised to obtain families of analogous sequences. Selected sequences of the same family were shown to bind thrombin with high affinity. Furthermore, data acquired from SR-CE selection was mined by creating sub-libraries that were categorized by the functionality of the aptamers (e. g., pre-organized aptamers versus structure-induced aptamers). Using this approach, a novel fluorescent molecular recognition sensor for thrombin with nanomolar detection limits was discovered. Thus, in this proof-of-concept report, we have demonstrated the potential of a “DNA Aptaomics” approach to systematically design functional aptamers as well as to obtain high affinity aptamers.