Amphiphilic block and statistical copolymers with pendant glucose residues: Controlled synthesis by living cationic polymerization and the effect of copolymer architecture on their properties

Amphiphilic block and statistical copolymers of vinyl ethers (VEs) with pendant glucose residues were synthesized by the living cationic polymerization of isobutyl VE (IBVE) and a VE carrying 1,2:5,6‐di‐O‐isopropylidene‐D ‐glucose (IpGlcVE), followed by deprotection. The block copolymer was prepared by a two‐stage sequential block copolymerization, whereas the statistical copolymer was obtained by the copolymerization of a mixture of the two monomers. The monomer reactivity ratios estimated with the statistical copolymerization were r₁ (IBVE) = 1.65 and r₂ (IpGlcVE) = 1.15. The obtained statistical copolymers were nearly uniform with the comonomer composition along the main chain. Both the block and statistical copolymers had narrow molecular weight distributions (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight ∼ 1.1). Gel permeation chromatography, static light scattering, and spin–lattice relaxation time measurements in a selective solvent revealed that the block copolymer formed multimolecular micelles, possibly with a hydrophobic poly(IBVE) core and a glucose‐carrying poly(VE) shell, whereas the statistical copolymer with nearly the same molecular weight and segment composition was molecularly dispersed in solution. The surface properties of the solvent‐cast films of the block and statistical copolymer were also investigated with the contact‐angle measurement. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 459–467, 2001     

Chemical synthesis of poly‐γ‐glutamic acid by polycondensation of γ‐glutamic acid dimer: Synthesis and reaction of poly‐γ‐glutamic acid methyl ester

α‐Methyl glutamic acid (L ‐L )‐, (L ‐D )‐, (D ‐L )‐, and (D ‐D )‐γ‐dimers were synthesized from L ‐ and D ‐glutamic acids, and the obtained dimers were subjected to polycondensation with 1‐(3‐dimethylaminopropyl)‐3‐ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride and 1‐hydroxybenzotriazole hydrate as condensation reagents. Poly‐γ‐glutamic acid (γ‐PGA) methyl ester with the number‐average molecular weights of 5000∼20,000 were obtained by polycondensation in N,N‐dimethylformamide in 44∼91% yields. The polycondensation of (L ‐L )‐ and (D ‐D )‐dimers afforded the polymers with much larger |[α]_D | compared with the corresponding dimers. The polymer could be transformed into γ‐PGA by alkaline hydrolysis or transesterification into α‐benzyl ester followed by hydrogenation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 39: 732–741, 2001     

Substituent effect on the cationic ring‐opening polymerization of acyloxymethyl five‐member cyclic dithiocarbonates

Five‐member cyclic dithiocarbonates were synthesized by the reactions of carbon disulfide with benzoic, p‐anisic, p‐chlorobenzoic, 1‐naphthalenecarboxylic, p‐nitrobenzoic, and p‐(tert‐butyl)benzoic glycidyl esters, and their cationic ring‐opening polymerizations were carried out with methyl trifluoromethane sulfonate and trifluoromethane sulfonic acid as initiators at room temperature to 80 °C. Polymers with number‐average molecular weights of 3400–24,900 were obtained in high yields, and their structures were estimated by NMR and IR spectroscopy. The monomers showed a clear difference in the polymerization rate according to the substituents. The rate of polymerization decreased in the order of p‐chlorobenzoic ≥ benzoic > 1‐naphthalenecarboxylic > p‐nitro‐benzoic > p‐tert‐butylbenzoic > p‐anisic. The data of the reaction kinetics, NMR studies, and molecular orbital calculations proved a plausible mechanism involving the participation of p‐substituted benzoyloxymethyl groups to stabilize the cationic propagating end. The polymers showed decomposition temperatures with 5% weight loss ranging from 200 to 260 °C. No glass‐transition temperatures for the polymers were observed below 200 °C by differential scanning calorimetry. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3967–3980, 2001     

Equilibrium polymerization behavior in the cationic single ring‐opening polymerization of bicyclo orthoesters

The synthesis and cationic polymerization of the following bicyclo orthoesters were examined: 4‐ethyl‐2,6,7‐trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, 1,4‐diethyl‐2,6,7‐trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, 4‐ethyl‐1‐phenyl‐2,6,7‐trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, 4‐ethyl‐1‐(4‐methoxyphenyl)‐2,6,7‐trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, and 4‐ethyl‐1‐(4‐nitrophenyl)‐2,6,7‐ trioxabicyclo[2.2.2]octane. All the monomers underwent equilibrium polymerization, which was confirmed by the relationships between the polymerization temperature and monomer conversion. The obtained polymers afforded the original monomers via an acid‐catalyst treatment with a low reagent concentration in CH₂Cl₂ at 20 °C. The equilibrium monomer concentration was constant, regardless of the initial reagent concentration, in both polymerization and depolymerization. The bicyclo orthoesters with a bulky and electron‐withdrawing substituent showed a larger equilibrium monomer concentration. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 3159–3167, 2001     

Isotachophoretic determination of mobility and pKa by means of computer simulation : V. Evaluation of mo and pKa of twenty-eight dipeptides and assessment of separability

Isotachophoretic qualitative indices, R_E, for twenty-eight dipeptides were measured in the range pH 7.4–9.6. The absolute mobility, m_o, and pK_a values were evaluated by the use of the least-squares method, utilizing a simulation of the isotachophoretic steady state. The m_o values were newly evaluated and the pK_a values were in good agreement with literature values. By comparison of the evaluated m_o and pK_a values of the dipeptides with those of the constituent amino acids, simple relationships were found which may be used to estimate the m_o and pK_a values of other dipeptides. The separability of the dipeptides was also evaluated by considering the differences between their simulated effective mobilities. It is concluded that isotachophoresis is very convenient for the separation of dipeptides and their constituent amino acids.     

Addition of dihalocarbenes to 3H-1,5-benzodiazepines. Synthesis of 2H-bisazirino[1,2-a:2′,1′-d][1,5]benzodiazepines

Addition of dihalocarbenes, generated from haloforms using a phase transfer catalyst, to 3H-1,5-benzodi-azepines gave 2H-Bisazirino[1,2-a:2′,1′-d][1,5]benzodiazepines, a new ring system.     

Cationic ring-opening transfer polymerization of spiro ortho esters initiated by carbon black

The ring-opening transfer polymerization of spiro ortho esters (SOE) initiated by carbon black was investigated. In the absence of carbon black, no polymerization occurred at all. In the presence of channel black containing carboxyl group, the ring-opening transfer polymerization of SOE was initiated at 50-70°C. to give polyether ester, namely alternating copolymer of epoxide and lactone. The rate of polymerization of 1,4,6-trioxaspiro[4.4]nonane and 1,4,6-trioxaspiro[4.5]decane was considerably small compared with that of 1,4,6-trioxaspiro[4.6]undecane. The activation energy of the polymerization of 2-chloromethyl-1,4,6-trioxaspiro[4.6]undecane was estimated to be 6.0 kcal/mol. The initiating activity of carbon black increased with an increase in carboxyl group content of carbon black. Furnace black that contained no carboxyl group was unable to initiate the polymerization. Furthermore, the carbon black lost the initiating ability of the polymerization upon the blocking of carboxyl group on the surface by the treatment with potassium hydroxide or diazomethane. Based on these results, it was concluded that carboxyl group on carbon black plays an important role in the initiation. During the polymerization, a part of the polymer formed was grafted onto carbon black: the grafting ratio was 10–30%. The mechanisms of initiation and grafting were discussed.     

Total synthesis of mycestericin A

The first total synthesis of mycestericin A (1) starting from tartrates is described. The Overman rearrangement of an allylic trichloroacetimidate generated a tetra-substituted carbon with nitrogen, and subsequent stereoselective transformations afforded the highly functionalized vinyl iodide. The cross-coupling of the vinyl iodide with a chiral organozinc species under Negishi conditions, followed by deprotection, completed the total synthesis of 1.     

Development of SI-traceable C-peptide certified reference material NMIJ CRM 6901-a using isotope-dilution mass spectrometry-based amino acid analyses

A certified reference material (CRM) is a higher-order calibration material used to enable a traceable analysis. This paper describes the development of a C-peptide CRM (NMIJ CRM 6901-a) by the National Metrology Institute of Japan using two independent methods for amino acid analysis based on isotope-dilution mass spectrometry. C-peptide is a 31-mer peptide that is utilized for the evaluation of β-cell function in the pancreas in clinical testing. This CRM is a lyophilized synthetic peptide having the human C-peptide sequence, and contains deamidated and pyroglutamylated forms of C-peptide. By adding water (1.00 ± 0.01) g into the vial containing the CRM, the C-peptide solution in 10 mM phosphate buffer saline (pH 6.6) is reconstituted. We assigned two certified values that represent the concentrations of total C-peptide (mixture of C-peptide, deamidated C-peptide, and pyroglutamylated C-peptide) and C-peptide. The certified concentration of total C-peptide was determined by two amino acid analyses using pre-column derivatization liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and hydrophilic chromatography-mass spectrometry following acid hydrolysis. The certified concentration of C-peptide was determined by multiplying the concentration of total C-peptide by the ratio of the relative area of C-peptide to that of the total C-peptide measured by liquid chromatography. The certified value of C-peptide (80.7 ± 5.0) mg/L represents the concentration of the specific entity of C-peptide; on the other hand, the certified value of total C-peptide, (81.7 ± 5.1) mg/L can be used for analyses that does not differentiate deamidated and pyroglutamylated C-peptide from C-peptide itself, such as amino acid analyses and immunochemical assays.