Regioselective Oxidative Ring Opening of Cyclopropyl Silyl Ethers: A Quantum Chemical Study

In contrast to the structurally and configurationally stable alkyl‐ or aryl‐substituted cyclopropyl radical cations, cyclopropyl silyl ethers undergo spontaneous ring opening upon oxidation whereby the endocyclic C? C(O‐TMS) bond is cleaved with remarkable selectivity. DFT calculations on 1‐trimethylsilyloxybicyclo[4.1.0]heptane show that this selectivity arises from the topology of the potential surface of the corresponding radical cation which is initially generated in a very steep region of the potential surface from where the steepest descent leads to cleavage of the endocyclic rather than the lateral C? C(OTMS) bond. Cleavage of the lateral bond leads to interesting conformational changes which are explored in detail.     

Polysulfonylamine. XLI. Ein Silber(I)-Hydrat ungewöhnlicher Zusammensetzung: Röntgenstrukturanalytische und thermochemische Charakterisierung von Tetrakis(dimesylamido)aquatetrasilber(I) [Ag4(N(SO2CH3)2}4(H2O)]

Polysulfonyl Amines. XLI. A Silver(I) Hydrate with an Unusual Composition: Characterization of Tetrakis(dimesylamido)aquatetrasilver(I) [Ag₄(N)SO₂CH₃)₂}₄(H₂O)] by X-Ray Diffraction and Thermal Analysis The title compound is obtained by crystallizing AgN(SO₂CH₃)₂ from water at room temperature. Crystallographic data (at ?95°C): Triclinic space group P1 , a = 864.6(4), b = 1 211.2(5), c = 1 399.1(5) pm, α = 90.97(3), β = 90.90(3), γ = 98.25(4)°, V = 1.4496 nm³, Z = 2, D_x = 2.608 Mg m^?3. The four independent silver atoms and the water molecule form zigzag chains Ag(1)-Ag(2)-(μ-H₂O)-Ag(3) …? Ag(4) …? Ag(1′) with distances Ag(1)-Ag(2) 309.7, Ag(2)-O(w) 241.8, O(w)-Ag(3) 241.4, Ag(3) …? Ag(4) 342.9, Ag(4) …? Ag(1′) 361.4 pm. The catenated silver atoms are further connected by the dimesylamide anions acting as tridentate bridging (α-O, N, ω-O)-ligands. The resulting strands are interconnected into layers through one O(S)-Ag′ contact (247 pm) and one hydrogen bond O(w)-H(l) …? O′(S) per repeating unit. Between the layers, a weak O(S) …? Ag″ interaction (271 ptn) and a hydrogen bond O(w)-H(2) …? O(S) per repeating unit are observed. The silver atoms Ag(l) to Ag(4) display the coordination numbers 5 [NO,Ag(2), distorted trigonal bipyramid], 5[NO₂,O(w)Ag(I), distorted trigonal bipyramid], 5[O₄,O(w), trigonal bipyramid], and 2 + 1 (N₂, li-near; plus a secondary Ag …? 0 contact). The dehydration of the title compound and a solid-solid phase transformation in anhydrous AgN(SO₂CH₃)₂, were quantitatively investigated by thermoconductometry and time- and temperature-resolved X-ray diffractometry (TXRD).     

Software tool for mining liquid chromatography/multi‐stage mass spectrometry data for comprehensive glycerophospholipid profiling

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) has emerged as an indispensable tool in the field of lipidomics. Despite the growing interest in lipid analysis, there are only a few software tools available for data evaluation, as compared for example to proteomics applications. This makes comprehensive lipid analysis a complex challenge. Thus, a computational tool for harnessing the raw data from liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) experiments was developed in this study and is available from the authors on request. The Profiler‐Merger‐Viewer tool is a software package for automatic processing of raw‐data from data‐dependent experiments, measured by high‐performance liquid chromatography hyphenated to electrospray ionization hybrid linear ion trap Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTICR‐MS and Orbitrap) in single and multi‐stage mode. The software contains three parts: processing of the raw data by Profiler for lipid identification, summarizing of replicate measurements by Merger and visualization of all relevant data (chromatograms as well as mass spectra) for validation of the results by Viewer. The tool is easily accessible, since it is implemented in Java and uses Microsoft Excel (XLS) as output format. The motivation was to develop a tool which supports and accelerates the manual data evaluation (identification and relative quantification) significantly but does not make a complete data analysis within a black‐box system. The software's mode of operation, usage and options will be demonstrated on the basis of a lipid extract of baker's yeast (S. cerevisiae). In this study, we focused on three important representatives of lipids: glycerophospholipids, lyso‐glycerophospholipids and free fatty acids. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stochastic quantum molecular dynamics for finite and extended systems

We present a detailed account of the technical aspects of stochastic quantum molecular dynamics, an approach introduced recently by the authors [H. Appel, M. Di Ventra, Phys. Rev. B 80 (2009) 212303] to describe coupled electron-ion dynamics in open quantum systems. As example applications of the method we consider both finite systems with and without ionic motion, as well as describe its applicability to extended systems in the limit of classical ions. The latter formulation allows the study of important phenomena such as decoherence and energy relaxation in bulk systems and surfaces in the presence of time-dependent fields.     

Copolymerization of ε‐caprolactone and glycolide—A comparison of bismuth(III) hexanoate and tin(II) octanoate as initiators

ε‐Caprolactone and glycolide were copolymerized in bulk either with tin(II) 2‐ethylhexanoate (SnOct₂) or with bismuth(III) n‐hexanoate (BiHex₃) as initiators and with tetra(ethylene glycol) as a coinitiator. The temperature was varied from 100 to 160 °C. The sequences were characterized with ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Surprisingly, it was found that higher temperatures favored the formation of alternating sequences. Furthermore, the content of alternating dyads was significantly higher when BiHex₃ was used instead of SnOct₂. An increase in reaction time caused partial randomization of the sequences regardless of the initiator. Size exclusion chromatography measurements in chloroform yielded number‐average molecular weights in agreement with the feed ratios. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 3268–3277, 2005     

Production of the Bengamide Class of Marine Natural Products in Myxobacteria: Biosynthesis and Structure–Activity Relationships

The bengamides, sponge‐derived natural products that have been characterized as inhibitors of methionine aminopeptidases (MetAPs), have been intensively investigated as anticancer compounds. We embarked on a multidisciplinary project to supply bengamides by fermentation of the terrestrial myxobacterium M. virescens, decipher their biosynthesis, and optimize their properties as drug leads. The characterization of the biosynthetic pathway revealed that bacterial resistance to bengamides is conferred by Leu 154 of the myxobacterial MetAP protein, and enabled transfer of the entire gene cluster into the more suitable production host M. xanthus DK1622. A combination of semisynthesis of microbially derived bengamides and total synthesis resulted in an optimized derivative that combined high cellular potency in the nanomolar range with high metabolic stability, which translated to an improved half‐life in mice and antitumor efficacy in a melanoma mouse model.