Solution and Solid State Studies of Urea Derivatives of DITIPIRAM Acting as Powerful Anion Receptors

Herein, we present the synthesis and anion binding studies of a family of homologous molecular receptors 4–7 based on a DITIPIRAM (8-propyldithieno-[3,2-b:2′,3′-e]-pyridine-3,5-di-amine) platform decorated with various urea para-phenyl substituents (NO₂, F, CF₃, and Me). Solution, X-ray, and DFT studies reveal that the presented host–guest system offers a convergent array of four urea NH hydrogen bond donors to anions allowing the formation of remarkably stable complexes with carboxylates (acetate, benzoate) and chloride anions in solution, even in competitive solvent mixtures such as DMSO-d₆/H₂O 99.5/0.5 (v/v) and DMSO-d₃/MeOH-d₃ 9:1 (v/v). The most effective derivatives among the series turned out to be receptors 5 and 6 containing electron-withdrawing F- and -CF₃ para-substituents, respectively.     

Design,Sustainable Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of a Novel Dual α2A/5-HT7 Receptor Antagonist with Antidepressant-Like Properties

The complex pathophysiology of depression, together with the limits of currently available antidepressants, has resulted in the continuous quest for alternative therapeutic strategies. Numerous findings suggest that pharmacological blockade of α₂-adrenoceptor might be beneficial for the treatment of depressive symptoms by increasing both norepinephrine and serotonin levels in certain brain areas. Moreover, the antidepressant properties of 5-HT₇ receptor antagonists have been widely demonstrated in a large set of animal models. Considering the potential therapeutic advantages in targeting both α₂-adrenoceptors and 5-HT₇ receptors, we designed a small series of arylsulfonamide derivatives of (dihydrobenzofuranoxy)ethyl piperidines as dually active ligands. Following green chemistry principles, the designed compounds were synthesized entirely using a sustainable mechanochemical approach. The identified compound 8 behaved as a potent α_2A/5-HT₇ receptor antagonist and displayed moderate-to-high selectivity over α₁-adrenoceptor subtypes and selected serotonin and dopaminergic receptors. Finally, compound 8 improved performance of mice in the forced swim test, displaying similar potency to the reference drug mirtazapine.     

Going beyond the borders: pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrroles with deep red emission

A two-step route to strongly absorbing and efficiently orange to deep red fluorescent, doubly B/N-doped, ladder-type pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrroles has been developed. We synthesize and study a series of derivatives of these four-coordinate boron-containing, nominally quadrupolar materials, which mostly exhibit one-photon absorption in the 500–600 nm range with the peak molar extinction coefficients reaching 150 000, and emission in the 520–670 nm range with the fluorescence quantum yields reaching 0.90. Within the family of these ultrastable dyes even small structural changes lead to significant variations of the photophysical properties, in some cases attributed to reversal of energy ordering of alternate-parity excited electronic states. Effective preservation of ground-state inversion symmetry was evidenced by very weak two-photon absorption (2PA) at excitation wavelengths corresponding to the lowest-energy, strongly one-photon allowed purely electronic transition. π-Expanded derivatives and those possessing electron-donating groups showed the most red-shifted absorption- and emission spectra, while displaying remarkably high peak 2PA cross-section (σ_2PA) values reaching ∼2400 GM at around 760 nm, corresponding to a two-photon allowed higher-energy excited state. At the same time, derivatives lacking π-expansion were found to have a relatively weak 2PA peak centered at ca. 800–900 nm with the maximum σ_2PA ∼50–250 GM. Our findings are augmented by theoretical calculations performed using TD-DFT method, which reproduce the main experimental trends, including the 2PA, in a nearly quantitative manner. Electrochemical studies revealed that the HOMO of the new dyes is located at ca. −5.35 eV making them relatively electron rich in spite of the presence of two B⁻–N⁺ dative bonds. These dyes undergo a fully reversible first oxidation, located on the diphenylpyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole core, directly to the di(radical cation) stage.

Ladder-type heterocycles encompassing two B⁻–N⁺ dative bonds possess intense green to red emission, large 2PA cross-sections and superb photostability.     

Unexpected α,β-unsaturated products of reductive amination of the macrolide antibiotic josamycin

Reductive amination of the macrolide antibiotic josamycin with alkyl amines, using three different reducing agents: NaBH₃CN, NaBH₄ and NaBH(OAc)₃, yields surprisingly different major products which are identified as either Lewis complexes, aminoalkyl derivatives or α,β-unsaturated derivatives of josamycin by ¹H and ¹³C NMR, FT-IR and ESI MS methods.     

The 41Σ+ electronic state of LiCs molecule

The 4¹Σ⁺ state of LiCs molecule is observed experimentally for the first time. The inverted perturbation approach (IPA) method is used to derive the potential energy curve of the state from the measured spectra. The experiment is accompanied by theoretical calculations of adiabatic potentials for excited states in LiCs including 4¹Σ⁺, performed with the MOLPRO program package. The irregular shape of the 4¹Σ⁺ state potential predicted by theory is confirmed in the experiment.     

Sensitivity considerations in polarization transfer and filtering using dipole-dipole couplings: implications for biomineral systems

The robustness and sensitivities of different polarization-transfer methods that exploit heteronuclear dipole-dipole couplings are compared for a series of heterogeneous solid systems, including polycrystalline tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)silane (TKS), adamantane, a physical mixture of doubly (13)C,(15)N-enriched and singly (13)C-enriched polycrystalline glycine, and a powder sample of siliceous marine diatoms, Thalossiosira pseudonana. The methods were analyzed according to their respective frequency-matching spectra or resultant signal intensities. For a series of (13)C{(1)H} cross-polarization experiments, adiabatic passage Hartmann-Hahn cross-polarization (APHH-CP) was shown to have several advantages over other methods, including Hartmann-Hahn cross-polarization (HHCP), variable-amplitude cross-polarization (VACP), and ramped-amplitude cross-polarization (RACP). For X-Y systems, such as (13)C{(15)N}, high and comparable sensitivities were obtained by using APHH-CP with Lee-Goldburg decoupling or by using the transferred-echo double resonance (TEDOR) experiment. The findings were applied to multinuclear (1)H, (13)C, (15)N, and (29)Si CP MAS characterization of a powder diatom sample, a challenging inorganic-organic hybrid solid that places high demands on NMR signal sensitivity.     

1H NMR studies of solvent and substituent effects on strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds

Chemical shifts of H-bonded protons in tetrabutylammonium hydrogen maleate and 14-substituted picolinic acid N-oxides have been measured in a number of dry solvents, of different activity, in order to distinguish between symmetrical single minimum and asymmetrical hydrogen bonds. In tetrabutylammonium hydrogen maleate the resonance was observed at 20.70 ppm and its was independent of the nature of the solvent used. The chemical shift value of picolinic acid N-oxide varies with the solvent. These observations suggest that the hydrogen bond is symmetrical in tetrabutylammonium hydrogen maleate but that it is asymmetrical in picolinic acid N-oxide. The chemical shifts of substituted picolinic acid N-oxides were correlated with σ_p, σ_m and Δ_pK_a. The substituent and solvent effects are compared and the position of the intramolecular H-bonded protons in picolinic acid N-oxides are estimated and discussed.     

Kinetics of the Protonation of Macrocyclic Amines in the Presence of Monovalent Cations in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

For macrocyclic bases such as: 1-aza-15-crown-5 (N15C5),1,4,10-trioxa-7,13-diazacyclopentadecan (21), 1,7,10,16-tetraoxa-4,13-diazacyclooctadecan (22) and 1, 4, 7, 13, 16-pentaoxa-10, 19-diazacycloheneicosane (23), the kinetics of deprotonation and protonation reactions in the presence of monovalent cations was studied using the temperature jump technique. For the sake of comparison, the measurements were also performed for 1,4-diazabicyclo[2,2,2]octane (DABCO) base, which does not form complexes with monovalent cations. The monovalent cations affect the temperature dependence of the kinetic parameters of deprotonation. They also affect the activation parameters, which is shown by a distribution of ΔH≠ and ΔS≠ values, but do not influence the value of ΔG≠.     

Selective Esterification of Gossypol by Copper Acetate in Acetonitrile-Spectroscopic Studies

Gossypol and its 1: 1 complexes with copper acetate in acetonitrile were studied by FTIR and UV-visible spectroscopy. With the complexation with Cu cation the tautomeric equilibrium of gossypol is completely shifted from the aldehyde-aldehyde to the lactol-lactol tautomer. The acidic character of O₁₁H group in the gossypol-Cu complex led to the selective esterification of the lactol form of gossypol by the acetate group.