Selenium-catalyzed oxidations with aqueous hydrogen peroxide. 2. Baeyer-Villiger reactions in homogeneous solution

Several diselenides were tested for catalytic activity in Baeyer-Villiger reactions with 60% aqueous hydrogen peroxide. Bis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl] diselenide forms the corresponding 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzene seleninic acid in situ, which is a highly reactive and selective catalyst for the oxidation of carbonyl compounds in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol, 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol, or dichloromethane.     

Synthesis of all low-energy stereoisomers of the tris(pyrrolidinoindoline) alkaloid hodgkinsine and preliminary assessment of their antinociceptive activity

The previously unknown stereoisomers 3, 4, ent-1, and ent-4 of the tris(pyrrolidinoindoline) alkaloids hodgkinsine (1) and hodgkinsine B (2) were prepared by stereocontrolled total synthesis. In each synthesis, a catalyst-controlled intramolecular Heck reaction was the key step in appending a third cis-pyrrolidinoindoline ring to a hexacyclic chimonanthine precursor. Results of the preliminary evaluation of these hodgkinsine stereoisomers in the tail flick and capsaicin pain models are reported.     

Visualizing and understanding l'hopital's rule‡

This article uses dynamic software in Excel to demonstrate several ways in which graphical and numerical approaches can be introduced both to enhance student understanding of l'Hopital's Rule and to explain why the Rule actually works to give the ‘right’ answers. One of the approaches used is to visualize what is happening by examining the limits with both l'Hopital's Rule and the associated Taylor approximation to the function. The dynamic software allows students to experiment with the ideas.     

Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis of Carboxylic Amides: Nitrogen Nucleophiles as Acyl Acceptor

 The lipase-catalyzed aminolysis of carboxylic esters is a fairly general reaction that has been performed with a wide range of esters and amines, generally in anhydrous organic media to avoid undesirable hydrolysis of the ester. Alternatively, carboxylic amides can be synthesized by lipase mediated condensation of carboxylic acids and amines if an excess of either reactant is avoided. Chiral carboxylic esters have been resolved by lipase-catalyzed aminolysis. In the majority of these resolutions, Candida antarctica lipase B has been employed as the catalyst. A range of chiral amines has been resolved by lipase mediated acylation, using mainly the lipases from C. antarctica (B type) and Pseudomonas species. The enantiorecognition was frequently found to depend critically on the acylating agent and the reaction medium.     

Cellular and Molecular Engineering of Glycan Sialylation in Heterologous Systems

Glycans have been shown to play a key role in many biological processes, such as signal transduction, immunogenicity, and disease progression. Among the various glycosylation modifications found on cell surfaces and in biomolecules, sialylation is especially important, because sialic acids are typically found at the terminus of glycans and have unique negatively charged moieties associated with cellular and molecular interactions. Sialic acids are also crucial for glycosylated biopharmaceutics, where they promote stability and activity. In this regard, heterogenous sialylation may produce variability in efficacy and limit therapeutic applications. Homogenous sialylation may be achieved through cellular and molecular engineering, both of which have gained traction in recent years. In this paper, we describe the engineering of intracellular glycosylation pathways through targeted disruption and the introduction of carbohydrate active enzyme genes. The focus of this review is on sialic acid-related genes and efforts to achieve homogenous, humanlike sialylation in model hosts. We also discuss the molecular engineering of sialyltransferases and their application in chemoenzymatic sialylation and sialic acid visualization on cell surfaces. The integration of these complementary engineering strategies will be useful for glycoscience to explore the biological significance of sialic acids on cell surfaces as well as the future development of advanced biopharmaceuticals.