Copper-catalyzed reaction of alkyl halides with cyclopentadienylmagnesium reagent

Treatment of alkyl halides, including tertiary alkyl bromides, with cyclopentadienylmagnesium bromide in the presence of a catalytic amount of copper(II) triflate yielded the corresponding cyclopentadienylated products in high yields. The following hydrogenation of the products provided alkyl-substituted cyclopentanes.     

Molecular Design for Reversing the Photoswitching Mode of Turning ON and OFF DNA Hybridization

A new photoswitch for DNA hybridization involving para‐substituted azobenzenes (such as isopropyl‐ or tert‐butyl‐substituted derivatives) with L ‐threoninol as a linker was synthesized. Irradiation of the modified DNA with visible light led to dissociation of the duplex owing to the destabilization effect of the bulky substituent on the trans‐azobenzene. In contrast, trans‐to‐cis isomerization (UV light irradiation) facilitated duplex formation. The direction of this photoswitching mode was entirely reversed relative to the previous system with an unmodified azobenzene on D ‐threoninol whose trans form turned on the hybridization, and cis form turned it off. Such reversed and reversible photoswitching of DNA hybridization was directly demonstrated by using fluorophore‐ and quencher‐attached oligonucleotides. Furthermore, it was revealed that the cis‐to‐trans thermal isomerization was greatly suppressed in the presence of the complementary strand owing to the formation of the more‐stable duplex in the cis form.     

Double nitro-Mannich reaction utilizing in situ generated N-trimethylsilylaldimines: novel four-component one-pot synthesis of nitroimines

Four-component synthesis of nitroimine derivatives (3) via double nitro-Mannich reaction was carried out in which nitroalkane, two moles of aldehyde, and lithium hexamethyldisilazide (LHMDS) were coupled in one-pot. In situ generated N-trimethylsilylaldimine was reacted with nitroalkane dianion followed by the second addition of the resulting nitrogen anion to the aldimine and the subsequent elimination of bistrimethylsilylamine furnished nitoroimine. The reaction was proceeded with erythro selectivity.     

Enantioselective synthesis of phomallenic acid C, an inhibitor of FAS II pathway

Enantioselective synthesis of phomallenic acid C, an inhibitor of bacterial FAS II pathway, was successful. Allenyldiyne structure was constructed by a direct anti-S_N2′ coupling of propargyl mesylate with diynylindium in the presence of palladium catalyst. Enantiomeric purity was determined by Ohrui-Akasaka method to be 83%ee.     

Estimation of single-nucleotide polymorphism allele frequency by alternately binding probe competitive polymerase chain reaction

A modified solvent microextraction with back extraction method (SME/BE) combined with high performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection (HPLC-FD) was developed for the determination of citalopram in human plasma. Extraction process was performed in a home-made total glass vial without using a teflon ring, usually employed in SME/BE. Citalopram was first extracted from 0.5 mL of plasma, modified with sodium hydroxide, into hexane. Back extraction step was then performed into 5.2 μL of 45 mM ammonium formate solution (pH 4) using a GC microsyringe. The extract was subsequently transferred into a liner-like vial and then injected into the HPLC system. An enrichment factor of 150 along with a good sample clean-up was obtained. The calibration curve showed linearity in the range of 1.0–130.0 ng mL⁻¹ with regression coefficient corresponding to 0.992. This range covers therapeutic window and even lower amounts which is important in pharmacokinetic studies. Limits of detection and quantification, based on a signal to noise ratio (S/N) of 3 and 10, were 0.3 and 0.8 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The method was also applied for the determination of citalopram in plasma samples after oral administration of 40 mg single dose of citalopram.     

N-heterocyclic carbene ligands in cobalt-catalyzed sequential cyclization/cross-coupling reactions of 6-halo-1-hexene derivatives with Grignard reagents

[reaction: see text] N-Heterocyclic carbene/cobalt systems effectively catalyze sequential cyclization/cross-coupling reactions of 6-halo-1-hexene derivatives with trialkylsilylmethyl and 1-alkynyl Grignard reagents, which phosphine and amine ligands did not promote.     

Implementation of pi-pi interactions in molecular dynamics simulation

No explicit pi-pi interaction term has been incorporated in the conventional molecular dynamics (MD) simulation programs in spite of its significant role in the folding of biomolecules and the clustering of organic chemicals. In this article, we propose a technique to emphasize the effect of pi-pi interactions using a function of energy and implement it into an MD simulation program. Several trial calculations show that the pi-pi incorporated program gives improved results consistent with experimental data on atom geometry and has no unfavorable interference with the conventional computational framework. This indicates an importance of the explicit consideration of pi-pi interactions in MD simulation.     

Revised model core potentials of s-block elements

We developed new model core potentials (MCPs) for s-block elements from Na to Ra, in which the outer core (n-1)s and (n-1)p electrons are treated explicitly together with the ns electrons. By adding suitable correlating functions, we demonstrated that the present MCP basis sets show excellent performance in describing the electronic structures of atoms and molecules, bringing about accurate ionization potentials of atoms and very good spectroscopic constants of ionic and covalent molecules. The results obtained with the new MCPs are very close to the ones obtained using the all-electron correlation consistent basis sets of Dunning.     

Synthesis and characterization of titanium and zirconium complexes with silicone-bridged phenoxycyclopentadienyl ligands

Dimethylsilyl(2,3,4,5-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)(3-tert-butyl-5-methyl-2-phenoxy)titanium dichloride (1a), a useful catalyst precursor for olefin copolymerization, was synthesized at high yield starting from allyl-protected phenolic ligand 3a,which was first treated with 2 equiv. of n-BuLi to selectively give the dilithium salt of 3a along with 1-heptene, a coupling product of a protected allyl ether moiety and butyl anion. Addition of TiCl₄ to the resulting dilithium salt of 3a in toluene afforded 1a in 50% isolated yield. This methodology could be applied to the preparation of related titanium and zirconoium complexes 1b-1d, 8 with silicone-bridged Cp-phenoxy ligands, whereas the reaction starting from methyl-protected precursor 2a did not produce the zirconium complex 8. Copolymerization of ethylene and 1-hexene with the newly prepared complexes was also investigated.     

Synthesis and characterization of titanium alkyl, oxo, and diene complexes bearing a SiMe2-bridged phenoxy-cyclopentadienyl ligand and their catalytic performance for copolymerization of ethylene and 1-hexene

A series of titanium complexes bearing a SiMe₂-bridged phenoxy-cyclopentadienyl ligand were synthesized and characterized, and their catalytic behavior for copolymerization of ethylene and 1-hexene was investigated. Treatment of dimethylsilyl(2,3,4,5-tetramethylcyclopentadienyl)(3-tert-butyl-5-methyl-2-phenoxy)-titanium dichloride (1) with appropriate nucleophiles afforded dimethoxy complex 2, dimethyl complex 3, and dibenzyl complex 4. Standing a toluene solution of 2 in air afforded a dinuclear μ-oxo complex 5 as a single isomer. 1,3-Diene complexes 6-8 were prepared by reaction of 1 with the corresponding 1,3-dienes in the presence of 2 equiv. of n-BuLi. X-ray analysis of 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadiene complex 6 revealed that the diene ligand coordinates to titanium in s-cis fashion with a prone orientation. The newly prepared titanium complexes were applied to copolymerization of ethylene and 1-hexene upon activation with AlⁱBu₃ and [C₆H₅NMe₂H][B(C₆F₅)₄]. It was found that the alkyl complexes 3-4 and the diene complexes 6-8 showed higher activities than 1 at elevated temperature.