Selective ortho-cleavage of methoxymethyl- and 4-methoxybenzyl ethers

Iodine in methanol has been found to be an effective catalyst system for the cleavage of alkoxymethyl ethers. This catalyst system is particularly useful for the selective removal of ortho-methoxymethyl- and ortho-(4-methoxybenzyl) ethers in the presence of their para-counterparts. Further investigation of various metal salts in methanol for their ability to cleave alkoxymethyl ethers revealed high-valent salts as effective catalysts, presumably through the release of small quantities of HCl.     

Scope and mechanism of palladium-catalyzed amination of five-membered heterocyclic halides

Detailed studies have been conducted to determine the activity of palladium catalysts for the amination of five-membered heterocyclic halides and to determine the factors that control the scope of this reaction. Palladium-catalyzed aminations of the electron-rich furanyl, thiophenyl, and indolyl halides and of the related 2-halogenated thiazoles, benzimidazole, and benzoxazole have been shown to occur with a subset of amines. Various combinations of palladium precursors and P(t)Bu(3) were tested as catalysts for reaction of 3-bromothiophene with N-methylaniline, and the fastest reactions occurred with the Pd(I) dimer, [PdBr(P(t)Bu(3))](2). The fastest aminations of thiazoles, benzimidazoles, and benzoxazoles occurred with the combination of palladium trifluoroacetate and P(t)Bu(3) as catalyst.     

Electrospray tandem mass spectrometric analysis of zeaxanthin and its oxidation products

Carotenoids have been implicated in protection of the eye from light-mediated photo-toxicity caused by free radicals. Under conditions of normal oxidative stress the carotenoids serve as protective antioxidants; however, when the oxidative stress exceeds the antioxidant capacity, carotenoids can be oxidized into numerous cleavage products. The determination and identification of oxidized carotenoids in biological samples remains a major challenge due to the small sample size and low stability of these compounds. We investigated the reaction of various zeaxanthin cleavage products with O-ethyl hydroxylamine to evaluate their levels in a biological sample. For this, a sensitive and specific electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS) was developed, avoiding the classical lower sensitive and specific HPLC-UV and fluorescence absorption methods. Protonated molecules [M + H](+) of carotenoids upon collision-induced dissociation produced a number of structurally characteristic product ions. A series of complicated clusters of product ions differing in 14 (CH(2))and 26 (C(2)H(2))Da was characteristic of the polyene chain of intact carotenoids. All carotenoid ethyl oximes of zeaxanthin cleavage products were characterized by the losses of 60 and 61 Da in their MS/MS spectra. Through the application of the LC/MS/MS method, we identified two oxime derivatives of 3-hydroxy-beta-ionone and 3-hydroxy-14'-apocarotenal with protonated molecules at m/z 252 and m/z 370 respectively, in a human eye sample.     

Synthetic studies towards congeners of phomactin A. Re-examination of the structure of Sch 49028

The total syntheses of the epoxy cyclic hemiacetal structures 8 and 9, which are isomeric with the structure 6 proposed for the phomactin known as Sch 49028 isolated from the marine fungus Phoma sp. are described. Neither of these structures showed spectroscopic data consistent with those reported for the purported natural product, adding credibility to the proposal that the structure Sch 49028 does not exist in nature and that its NMR spectroscopic data should have been assigned as phomactin A (1).     

Determination of the pesticides Chlorpropham,Propham, Propoxur,and Terbucarb by low temperature phosphorimetry

Summary Simple, direct, and sensitive low temperature phosphorimetric methods for the determination of Chlorpropham, Propham, Propoxur, and Terbucarb in EPA solvent are described. The minimum detectable amounts are 0.01 p. p. m. for Chlorpropham and Propham and 0.02 and 0.3 p. p. m. for Propoxur and Terbucarb respectively. The ranges of linearity of the analytical calibration graphs are 0.05-7.5, 0.05–10, 0.5–50, and 1–50 p. p. m. for Chlorpropham, Propham, Propoxur, and Terbucarb respectively. The procedure for Chlorpropham has been applied to the analysis of a solid commercial formulation.

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Bestimmung der Pesticide Chlorpropham, Propham, Propoxur und Terbucarb bei Tief-Temperatur-Phosphorimetrie

Zusammenfassung Einfache, direkte und empfindliche Methoden für die Bestimmung der genannten Pesticide in dem Lösungsmittel Diethylether-i-Pentan-abs. Ethanol wurden beschrieben. Die geringsten nachweisbaren Mengen sind 0,01 ppm für Chlorpropham und Propham sowie 0,02 und 0,3 ppm für Propoxur und Terbucarb. Die Eichkurven verlaufen zwischen 0,05 und 7,5, 0,05 und 10, 0,5 und 50 sowie zwischen 1 und 50 ppm für Chlorpropham, Propham, Propoxur bzw. Terbucarb linear. Das Verfahren für Chlorpropham wurde zur Analyse eines festen Handelsproduktes angewendet.

     

Quantitative measurements of recombinant HIV surface glycoprotein 120 binding to several glycosphingolipids expressed in planar supported lipid bilayers

The interaction of recombinant HIV-1 surface glycoprotein gp120 (rgp120) with natural isolates of lactosylceramide (LacCer), glucosylceramide (GlcCer), and galactosylceramide (GalCer) has been quantitatively measured under equilibrium conditions using total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) spectroscopy. The binding affinity (K(a)) of rgp120 to these glycosphingolipids (GSLs), reconstituted at 5 mol % in supported planar lipid bilayers composed of 95 mol % POPC, is ca. 10(6) M(-1) for dissolved rgp120 concentrations greater than 25 nM. In contrast, at concentrations of rgp120 between 0.2 and 15 nM, rgp120 does not bind significantly to LacCer and GlcCer, but has a high affinity for GalCer with a measured K(a) value of 1.6 x 10(9) M(-1). However, protein surface coverage measurements show that this strong binding process accounts for very little of the total protein adsorbed over the entire concentration range studied. At a protein concentration of ca. 20 nM, the surface coverage is only 3% of that achieved at apparent saturation (i.e., when the protein concentration is ca. 220 nM). Thus the "high affinity" binding sites comprise only a small fraction of the total number of binding sites. Several other variables were investigated. Rgp120 binding behavior at membranes doped with alpha-hydroxygalactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer) was very similar to that observed with GalCer, showing that the presence/absence of an alpha-hydroxy moiety does not significantly affect galactosylceramide recognition. Phase segregation of GalCer, which occurs when the mole fraction of this GSL in a POPC bilayer exceeds ca. 0.1, was also investigated and showed no effect on binding affinity at low rgp120 concentrations. To investigate the influence of fatty acid chain length, GSLs with monodisperse C(18) and C(24) chain lengths, both with and without an alpha-hydroxy moiety, were synthesized, and their binding affinity to rgp120 was examined. Relative to the natural isolates (which contain a mixture of chain lengths), minimal differences were observed; thus among the compounds tested, fatty acid chain length does not affect GSL recognition. The results of this work should aid efforts to design anti-HIV-1 agents based on membrane-tethered, carbohydrate-based receptors for rgp120.     

Elevated plasma levels of haptoglobin in Duchenne muscular dystrophy:electrophoretic variants in patients with a severe form of the disease

Analysis of plasma proteins of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients and normal age-matched boys using two dimensional gel electrophoresis and densitometry indicated a three-fold increase in the average haptoglobin level in DMD plasma. Two electrophoretic variants of haptoglobin in which the alpha 2 chain had more basic or more acidic spots were found in DMD patients with a rapidly progressing form of the disease. The basic variant was present in relatively low amount. Possible reasons for the elevated haptoglobin levels are discussed.     

Improved synthesis of 3-aralkylidine-5-arylthiophen-2-(3H)ones

3-Aralkylidene-5-arylthiophen-2-(3H)ones can be prepared in two steps from 4-aryl-4-oxobutanoic acids through the intermediacy of butenolides and thiophenones generated by the sequential action of acetic anhydride, sodium hydrosulfide and aromatic aldehydes.