The carbenoid approach to peptide synthesis

A different approach to the synthesis of dipeptides is described based on the formation of the NHCHR1CONH-CHR2CO bond by carbenoid N-H insertion, rather than the formation of the peptide bond itself. Thus decomposition of triethyl diazophosphonoacetate catalysed by rhodium(II) acetate in the presence of N-protected amino acid amides 8 gives the phosphonates 9. Subsequent Wadsworth-Emmons reaction of 9 with aldehydes in the presence of DBU gives dehydro dipeptides 10. The reaction has been extended to a simple two-step procedure, without the isolation of the intermediate phosphonate, for conversion of a range of amino acid amides 11 into dehydro dipeptides 12 and to an N-methylamide 11 h, and for conversion of a dipeptide to tripeptide (13-->14). Direct conversion, by using methyl diazophenylacetate, of amino acid amides to phenylglycine-containing dipeptides 19 proceeds in good chemical yield, but with poor diastereoselectivity.     

Properties of the liquid crystals formed by certain 4'-n-alkylbiphenyl-4-yl 5-n-alkylthiophene-2-carboxylates

Thirty compounds, ten members of each of three homologous series of esters derived from 4-hydroxy-4'-n-octyl-, -nonyl-, and -decyl-biphenyl and the 5-n-alkylthiophene-2-carboxylic acids (methyl through to decyl homologues) have been prepared. The liquid crystal properties of these esters, which show extensive smectic polymorphism, have been investigated by thermal optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and miscibility studies. Four members of the corresponding 4-n-alkylbenzoates have also been prepared in order to compare their liquid crystal behaviour with the 5-n-alkylthiophene-2-carboxylate counterparts: both smectic and nematic thermal stability are higher for the 4-n-alkylbenzoates, by 30.6° and 36.8° C, respectively.     

An explicit procedure for discretizing continuous,optimal control problems

An explicit procedure for obtaining discrete approximations to general, nonlinear, fixed-time, continuous, optimal control problems with no intermediate trajectory constraints is presented. It is proved that, if the associated system of differential equations is linear in the control variable, then the optimal solutions of these approximationsconverge to extremals of the original continuous problem.     

Determination of substituent chemical shifts in the proton resonance spectra of the porphyrins

Reproducible proton chemical shifts in the porphyrin series are obtained when the spectrum is measured in chloroform using the zinc (II) complex of the porphyrin in the presence of an excess of pyrrolidine. This method is specifically demonstrated for the case of 2,4-dicyanodeuteroporphyrin-IX dimethyl ester which, as the free base, shows dramatic effects due to aggregation phenomena. The shifts obtained using the zinc (II) complex plus pyrrolidine method, which allow compilation of substituent chemical shifts in the porphyrin series, are shown to be the same as the less easily accessible infinite dilution shifts of the porphyrin free bases.     

2∶1 Complex of desoxycholic acid and ethyl acetate: Disorder in the structure at 298 and 163 K

The crystal structure of the 21 channel complex of desoxycholic acid and ethyl acetate has been investigated at 298 and 163 K. The space group isP2₁2₁2₁(No. 19) with four molecules of desoxycholic acid in the unit cell. The ethyl acetate molecules are enclathrated along the 2₁ axes parallel toc and exhibit differing degrees of disorder in the low- and room-temperature structures. Differences in the disorder imply that it is both statistical and dynamic in nature. Our best model for each structure yieldsR=0.064 [R _w =0.058,w=( ₂ F)^–1] andR=0.068 [R _w =0.064,w=( ² F) ^–1 ] for the ambient- and low-temperature studies respectively.IUPAC Nomenclature: 3, 12-dihydroxy-5-cholan-24-oic acid.