Reaction of ketenes with N,N-disubstituted α-aminomethyleneketones VIII. Synthesis of N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3-chloro-6-phenyl-2H-pyran-2-ones

The dipolar 1,4-cycloaddition of dichloroketene to N,N-disubstituted 3-amino-1-phenyl-2-propene-1-onesled directly to N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3-chloro-6-phenyl-2H-pyran-2-ones only in the case of an usual aliphatic N,N-disubstitution. In the case of partial or full aromatic N-substitution, N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3,3-dichloro-3,4-dihydro-6-phenyl-2H-pyran-2-ones were instead obtained, which were dehydrochlorinated with DBN to the corresponding 4-amino-3-chloro-6-phenyl-2H-pyran-2-ones.     

Reaction of ketenes with N,N-disubstituted α-aminomethyleneketones. XVIII. Synthesis of N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3-phenyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran-2-ones

1,4-Cycloaddition of phenylchloroketene to N,N-disubstituted 2-aminomethylene-3,4-dihydro-1(2H)naphthalenones gave the corresponding adducts, namely N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-3-chloro-3,4,5,6-tetrahydro-3-phenyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran-2-ones II, in the case of aliphatic N,N-disubstitution or aromatic N-monosubstitution. Apart from IIf (NR₂ = NMePh), adducts II were unstable and were dehydrochlorinated in situ with DBN to give N,N-disubstituted 4-amino-5,6-dihydro-3-phenyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran-2-ones III in fair overall yields. Compounds III were dehydrogenated with Pd/C in boiling p-cymene to afford the title compounds generally in high yields.     

The crystal and molecular structure of a dinuclear copper(II) complex of a Robson-type macrocycle, [Cu2(C26H30N4O2)(H2O)2](BF4)2

Summary The crystal structure of the dinuclear complex [Cu₂(C₂₆H₃₀-N₄O₂)(H₂O)₂](BF₄)₂ was determined by x-ray crystallography. The crystals are triclinic, P¯1, witha = 10.945(5),b = 8.703(5),c = 8.495(5) Å, = 103.86(3)°, = 105.73(3)°, = 85.77(3)°, V = 756 ų D_c = 1.65 g cm^–3 for Z = 1. The copper(II) atoms are 5-coordinate and square-pyramidal. Selected bond distances are: Cu-N, 1.91 Å (mean); Cu-O(base) = 1.90(1) and 1.91(1) Å; Cu-O(apical) = 2.47(1) Å; There are O(water)-H ... F interionic hydrogen bonds in the structure. The Cu .. Cu distance is 2.847 Å.     

Aging Process Effects on the Characteristics of Vacuum Residue Oxidation Products with the Addition of Crumb Rubber

This paper considers the effect of aging processes on viscoelastic characteristics of vacuum residue oxidation products modified with crumb rubber. Viscoelastic properties were compared to original bitumen raw material-vacuum residue and vacuum residue oxidation products during short-term and long-term aging. The complex shear modulus of the vacuum residue and its oxidation products decreased with an increase in temperature. Short-term aging resulted in increased shear modulus for all samples.The vacuum residue oxidation product modified with crumb rubber had the maximum values of the rutting parameter and fatigue parameter. There was an expansion of the temperature range of plasticity: for the vacuum residue oxidation product with crumb rubber, its value was 67.2 °C. The curves of the black diagram of the modified vacuum residue oxidation product are shifted towards smaller phase angles with the increase in the shear modulus, which indicates the increase in the stiffness and elasticity of the rubber bitumen binders. The vacuum residue oxidation product modified with crumb rubber corresponded to the rubber bitumen binder of the grade RBB 60/90, according to its physical and mechanical indicators.     

Forecasting COVID-19 Epidemic Trends by Combining a Neural Network with Rt Estimation

On 31 December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology was reported in Wuhan (China). The cases were declared to be Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 has been defined as SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Some countries, e.g., Italy, France, and the United Kingdom (UK), have been subjected to frequent restrictions for preventing the spread of infection, contrary to other ones, e.g., the United States of America (USA) and Sweden. The restrictions afflicted the evolution of trends with several perturbations that destabilized its normal evolution. Globally, Rt has been used to estimate time-varying reproduction numbers during epidemics. Methods: This paper presents a solution based on Deep Learning (DL) for the analysis and forecasting of epidemic trends in new positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). It combined a neural network (NN) and an Rt estimation by adjusting the data produced by the output layer of the NN on the related Rt estimation. Results: Tests were performed on datasets related to the following countries: Italy, the USA, France, the UK, and Sweden. Positive case registration was retrieved between 24 February 2020 and 11 January 2022. Tests performed on the Italian dataset showed that our solution reduced the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) by 28.44%, 39.36%, 22.96%, 17.93%, 28.10%, and 24.50% compared to other ones with the same configuration but that were based on the LSTM, GRU, RNN, ARIMA (1,0,3), and ARIMA (7,2,4) models, or an NN without applying the Rt as a corrective index. It also reduced MAPE by 17.93%, the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) by 34.37%, and the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) by 43.76% compared to the same model without the adjustment performed by the Rt. Furthermore, it allowed an average MAPE reduction of 5.37%, 63.10%, 17.84%, and 14.91% on the datasets related to the USA, France, the UK, and Sweden, respectively.     

Enantioselective Synthesis of Phenylpropanetriols

The four stereomer 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy)-phenyl-1,2,3-propanetriols were obtained in about 30% yields starting from ferulic acid by a synthesis based on osmium catalyzed asymmetric dihydroxylation.     

An effective and rapid determination by MALDI/TOF/TOF of methionine sulphoxide content of ApoA‐I in type 2 diabetic patients

Increased oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) is characteristic of atherosclerosis. In this frame, high density lipoproteins (HDL) play an important role, being able to remove lipid peroxides (LPOs) and cholesterol from oxidized LDL, so exhibiting a protective role against atherosclerosis. A wide range of reactive compounds lead to the oxidation of methionine (Met) residues with the formation of methionine sulphoxide (MetO) in apolipoprotein A‐I (ApoA‐I). Consequently, the determination of MetO level can give both an evaluation of oxidative stress and the reduced capability of ApoA‐I in LPOs and cholesterol transport. For these reasons, the development of analytical methods able to determine the MetO level is surely of interest, and we report here the results obtained by MALDI mass spectrometry. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.