<em>Mesua beccariana </em>(Clusiaceae), A Source of Potential Anti-cancer Lead Compounds in Drug Discovery

An investigation on biologically active secondary metabolites from the stem bark of Mesua beccariana was carried out. A new cyclodione, mesuadione (1), along with several known constituents which are beccamarin (2), 2,5-dihydroxy-1,3,4-trimethoxy anthraquinone (3), 4-methoxy-1,3,5-trihydroxyanthraquinone (4), betulinic acid (5) and stigmasterol (6) were obtained from this ongoing research. Structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D-NMR, GC-MS, IR and UV techniques. Preliminary tests of the in vitro cytotoxic activities of all the isolated metabolites against a panel of human cancer cell lines Raji (lymphoma), SNU-1 (gastric carcinoma), K562 (erythroleukemia cells), LS-174T (colorectal adenocarcinoma), HeLa (cervical cells), SK-MEL-28 (malignant melanoma cells), NCI-H23 (lung adenocarcinoma), IMR-32 (neuroblastoma) and Hep-G2 (hepatocellular liver carcinoma) were carried out using an MTT assay. Mesuadione (1), beccamarin (2), betulinic acid (5) and stigmasterol (6) displayed strong inhibition of Raji cell proliferation, while the proliferation rate of SK-MEL-28 and HeLa were strongly inhibited by stigmasterol (6) and beccamarin (2), indicating these secondary metabolites could be anti-cancer lead compounds in drug discovery.     

Electrospun Porous NiCo2O4 Nanotubes as Advanced Electrodes for Electrochemical Capacitors

Novel, porous NiCo₂O₄ nanotubes (NCO‐NTs) are prepared by a single‐spinneret electrospinning technique followed by calcination in air. The obtained NCO‐NTs display a one‐dimensional architecture with a porous structure and hollow interiors. The effect of precursor concentration on the morphologies of the products is investigated. Due to their unique structure, the prepared NCO‐NT electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance (1647 F g^?1 at 1 A g^?1), excellent rate capability (77.3 % capacity retention at 25 A g^?1), and outstanding cycling stability (6.4 % loss after 3000 cycles), which indicates it has great potential for high‐performance electrochemical capacitors. The desirable enhanced capacitive performance of NCO‐NTs can be attributed to the relatively large specific surface area of these porous and hollow one‐dimensional nanostructures.     

Stereoselectivity in the Diels‐Alder Cycloadditions of a Facially Dissymmetric Bicyclo[2.2.2]octadiene‐Grafted Maleic Anhydride with Exocyclic Butadienes. Unexpected Facial Selectivity in the Cycloaddition with 2,3,5,6‐tetramethylidenebicyclo[2.2.2]octene

The Diels‐Alder cycloadditions of facially dissymmetric maleic anhydride 1 with facially nonequivalent exocyclic 1,3‐butadienes(dimethylidenebicyclo[2.2.2]octene 3 and 2,3,5,6‐tetramethylidenebicyclo[2.2.2]‐octene ( 4 )) were investigated. In each cycloaddition, the reaction occurred via the course in which 1 added exclusively by its syn‐face (same face as the etheno‐bridge) onto either π‐face of the exocyclic 1,3‐butadiene systems to produce only two of the four possible stereoisomeric monocycloadducts ( 8a / 8b and 9a / 9b ). In the Diels‐Alder cycloaddition of 1 with bis‐exocyclic butadiene 4 , however, both monocycloadducts 9a and 9b underwent subsequent cycloaddition with distinctive facial selectivity to produce the C_s‐symmetric bis‐cyclohexanobarrelene 10a as only bis‐cycloadduct.     

Chemical Transformations of 4,6-Dimethyl-2β-hydroxy-8-oxo-3,5,7-trioxatetracyclo[7.2.1.04,11.06,10]dodecane

Reactions of 4,6-dimethyl-2β-hydroxy-8-oxo-3,5,7-trioxatetracyclo-[7.2.1.0.^4,11.0^6,10]dodecane 1 with nucleophiles have been studied. Reaction of 1 with alcohols, triethylsilane, allyltrimethylsilane, and methylthiotrimethylsilane in CH₂Cl₂ in the presence of TiCL₄, gave the substitution products 2,7a, 7b, and 7c in 80-90% yields. The substitution reaction took place chemoselectively on the hemiacetal group of I. Reaction of 1 with cyanotrimethylsilane in CH₂C1₂ in the presence of TiCL₄, gave compound 8 and the rearranged product 9. The structure of 9 was proven by X-ray analysis.     

Synthesis of Tetraacetal Tetraoxa-Cage Compounds with Alkyl Substituents at Different Sites of the Oxa-Cage Skeleton

Tetraacetal tetraoxa-cage compounds 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 7, 13,14 , and 15 were synthesized by a short sequence. They were obtained from ozonolysis of endo adducts la, lb, 2a, 2b , and 6 in dichloromethane at ?78 °C followed by reduction with dimethyl sulfide. Ozonolysis of 7-anti-trimethylsilyl-5,6-bis-endo-diacetylnorbornene 8 under the same reaction conditions did not give the tetraoxa-cage 9 . The methylsulfinyl oxa-cage 13 derived from l-methylthio-5,6-bis-endo-diacetylnorbornene 11 was converted to compounds 14 and 15.