Regio- and Enantioselective Substitution of Acyclic Allylic Sulfoximines with Butylcopper in the Presence of Lithium Iodide and Boron Trifluoride

Enantiomerically pure N-methyl-, N-benzyl-, and N-(methoxyethyl)-S-(phenyl)cinnamylsulfoximines as well as the corresponding crotylsulfoximines have been prepared from N-methyl-, N-benzyl-, and N-(methoxyethyl)-S-(lithiomethyl)sulfoximines and carbonyl compounds by an addition-elimination-isomerization reaction sequence. Under basic conditions, complete isomerization of the vinylic sulfoximines, obtained as intermediates, to the corresponding allylic sulfoximines takes place. Chromatographically separable mixtures of (E) and (Z) allylic sulfoximines were isolated in the case of beta,gamma-disubstituted allylic sulfoximines. The (E/Z) ratio depends on the nature of the substituents in the beta- and gamma-positions, and the equilibrium amount of the (Z) isomer varies from 68% to nil. The allylic N-methylsulfoximines do not racemize thermally, and their rearrangement to the corresponding allylic sulfinamides is negligible. Upon prolonged treatment with boron trifluoride at low temperatures allylic N-methylsulfoximines are recovered unchanged. The crystal structure of S-(3,4-dihydronaphthalen-2-ylmethyl)-N-methyl-S-phenylsulfoximine was determined. Reaction of the allylic sulfoximines with butylcopper in the presence of lithium iodide and boron trifluoride leads with very high gamma-selectivities and moderate to high enantioselectivities to the corresponding chiral alkenes. Their configuration was determined by chemical correlation through ozonolysis to the corresponding carbonyl compounds. The asymmetric induction exerted by the chiral N-methyl-S-phenylsulfoximine group strongly depends on the double bond configuration and the substituents in the beta- and gamma-positions. The (E) allylic sulfoximines are substituted with low to moderate enantioselectivities (2-66%), whereas the (Z) allylic sulfoximines react with much higher enantioselectivities (69-92%). Interestingly, substitution of the beta-methyl-gamma-phenyl-substituted (Z) allylic sulfoximine and its beta-phenyl-gamma-methyl isomer proceeded with almost the same degree of asymmetric induction but with the opposite sense. Replacement of the N-methyl group by a benzyl or a methoxyethyl group has no significant influence on the regio- and enantioselectivity of the substitution.     

Transition metal complexes in organic synthesis. Part 68: Iron-mediated total synthesis of mukonine and mukonidine by oxidative cyclization with air as the oxidizing agent

The oxidative cyclization of 5-(2-amino-5-methoxycarbonylphenyl)-substituted tricarbonyl[η⁴-cyclohexa-1,3-diene]iron complexes by air in protic medium provides the corresponding tricarbonyl[η⁴-4a,9a-dihydro-9H-carbazole]iron complexes. This procedure is applied to the total synthesis of the 3-methoxycarbonylcarbazole alkaloids mukonine and mukonidine.     

The computer program LUDI: A new method for the de novo design of enzyme inhibitors

Summary A new computer program is described, which positions small molecules into clefts of protein structures (e.g. an active site of an enzyme) in such a way that hydrogen bonds can be formed with the enzyme and hydrophobic pockets are filled with hydrophobic groups. The program works in three steps. First it calculates interaction sites, which are discrete positions in space suitable to form hydrogen bonds or to fill a hydrophobic pocket. The interaction sites are derived from distributions of nonbonded contacts generated by a search through the Cambridge Structural Database. An alternative route to generate the interaction sites is the use of rules. The second step is the fit of molecular fragments onto the interaction sites. Currently we use a library of 600 fragments for the fitting. The final step in the present program is the connection of some or all of the fitted fragments to a single molecule. This is done by bridge fragments. Applications are presented for the crystal packing of benzoic acid and the enzymes dihydrofolate reductase and trypsin.     

Laser-excited molecular flourescence spectrometry for the determination of traces of nonmetals : Part 1. determination of traces of fluoride,chloride and bromide based on diatomic molecules in a graphite furnace

For the determination of flouride, chloride and bromide, a suitable metal ion is added in a modified graphite tube atomizer. After drying and ashing, the substances are vaporized and diatomic molecules between the metal and nonmetal are formed. These molecules are excited by a pulsed dye laser and the resulting fluorescence is measured. At constant metal concentration, the fluorescence is proportional to the halide concentration. The diatomic molecules used are MgF, InCl and AlBr. The detection limits are 11 pg of fluoride, 15 pg of chloride and 70 pg of bromide in the 10-μl injections, corresponding to 6 x 10^?8 mol l^?1 fluoride, 4 x 10^?8 mol l^?1 chloride and 9 x 10^?8 mol l^?1 bromides.     

Immobilization and Characterization of <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. gracilis</Emphasis> Extract with Enriched Laminaribiose Phosphorylase Activity for Bienzymatic Production of Laminaribiose

Immobilization methods and carriers were screened for immobilization of Euglena gracilis extract with laminaribiose phosphorylase activity. The extract was successfully immobilized on three different carriers via covalent linkage. Suitable immobilization carriers were Sepabeads EC-EP/S and ECR 8209M with epoxy groups and ECR 8309M with amino groups as functional units. Immobilization on Sepabeads EC-EP/S resulted in highest retained activity (65%). The immobilizates were characterized for pH, temperature, and buffer molarity preferences. The immobilized enzyme lost 48% of its activity when used seven times. Together with sucrose phosphorylase, laminaribiose phosphorylase was successfully applied for bienzymatic production of laminaribiose from sucrose and glucose with a final laminaribiose concentration of 14.3 ± 2.1 g/L (20% yield).     

A Novel Method for the Demetalation of Tricarbonyliron–Diene Complexes by a Photolytically Induced Ligand Exchange Reaction with Acetonitrile

The photochemical exchange of all three carbonyl ligands with acetonitrile converts tricarbonyliron–diene complexes into the very labile triacetonitrile-iron–diene complexes. These easily demetalate in high yields to the corresponding free ligands on injection of air at −30°C [Eq. (1)]. The novel demetalation procedure is applied to the tricarbonyliron complexes of cyclopentadienones, cyclohexa-1,3-dienes, and buta-1,3-dienes.     

Species-specific isotope-ratio measurements of volatile tin and antimony compounds using capillary GC–ICP–time-of-flight MS

The analytical performance of an axial inductively-coupled-plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometer (ICP–TOFMS) as a detector for fast transient chromatographic signals resulting from the coupling to capillary gas chromatography (CGC) was investigated. A cryotrapping GC–ICP–TOFMS method for the determination of volatile metal(loid) compounds (VOMs) in gases was used and the suitability of the TOF mass analyzer for multi-elemental speciation analysis and multi-isotope ratio determinations was studied in terms of accuracy and precision. Isotope ratios ¹¹⁸Sn/¹²⁰Sn and ¹²¹Sb/¹²³Sb have been determined in in-house gas standard atmospheres in Tedlar bags at two different levels (100 pg and 1 ng) for different elemental species (SnH₄, MeSnH₃, Me₂SnH₂, Me₃SnH, BuSnH₃, SbH₃, and MeSbH₂). A limitation arising from counting statistics in both detection modes could be shown. A solution containing rhodium (10 ng mL^–1) and cadmium (40 ng mL^–1) was introduced simultaneously to the GC outlet. Rhodium acts as a continuous internal standard and Cd is used for mass-bias correction (by measuring the ¹¹¹Cd/¹¹³Cd ratio). The detection system in both pulse counting and analog mode was examined. The best attainable precision was established for Me₂SnH₂ (analog mode, 12 replicates, 1 ng, RSD 0.34%, accuracy 0.31%) whereas most other species ranged between 0.4 and 0.5% RSD if higher concentrations were used. The limitations of the pulse counting system are clearly seen, with peak heights of more than 2000 counts reaching saturation (for an integration time of 100 ms), which reduces the accuracy of isotope ratio determinations. A dozen VOM could be detected in an aged landfill gas sample; several unidentified Sn compounds were present. Although their isotope ratios are within the confidence value of the standards, it is not yet clear if the acquired precision is good enough to identify isotopic fractionation of metal(loid)s through biovolatilization processes. With the precision achieved, the combination of cryotrapping GC and ICP–TOFMS is a powerful tool for monitoring volatile multi-element species in multi-tracer experiments and isotope dilution methodology. Received: 23 November 2000 / Revised: 19 February 2001 / Accepted: 24 February 2001     

Antibakterielle wirkstoffe. VIII . Die aminomethinylierung in der reihe der aminothiazole

The three-component reaction comprising the interaction of 2-amino-4-antipyrinyl-5-ethylthiazole (1) with s-triazine (2) and pyrrolidine leads to 4-anitpyrinyl-5-ethyl-2-[(4-pyrrolidinyl)methyleneamino]thiazole (5). Structure 5 is supported by ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy.     

Internally contracted multiconfiguration-reference configuration interaction calculations for excited states

Summary The calculation of electronically excited states with the internally contracted multiconfiguration-reference configuration interaction (CMRCI) method is discussed. A straightforward method, in which contracted functions for all states are included in the basis, is shown to be very accurate and stable even in cases of narrow avoided crossings. However, the expense strongly increases with the number of states. A new method is proposed, which employs different contracted basis sets for each state, and in which eigensolutions of the Hamiltonian are found using an approximate projection operator technique. The computational effort for this method scales only linearly with the number of states. The two methods are compared for various applications.Dedicated in honor of Prof. Klaus Ruedenberg