Creation of a thermostable firefly luciferase with pH-insensitive luminescent color

The thermal instability and pH-sensitive spectral property of firefly luciferase have hampered its use as a sensitive multicolor luminescent label or bioluminescent resonance energy transfer donor. With the intention of improving the thermostability of a previously found firefly Hotaria parvula luciferase mutant with minor pH-sensitive spectral change (V368A), further mutation (E356R) was introduced by taking a reportedly stabilized mutant of Photinus pyralis luciferase into account. The double mutant E356R/V368A showed significantly improved thermostability because > 90% activity remained after incubation for 1 h at 45 degrees C, with its specific activity being maintained. Unlike the wild type or V368A, E356R/V368A showed no change in the emission maximum of 568 nm even at pH 6.3, also implying a mutual relationship between thermostability and the proportion of yellow-green luminescent peak under acidic condition.     

Synthesis of 2-cyclohexenone derivatives via gold(I)-catalyzed hydrative cyclization of 1,6-diynes

The gold(I) complex (MeAuPPh3) was found to be a highly effective catalyst for the hydrative cyclization of 1,6-diynes to form the corresponding 3-methyl hex-2-enone derivatives with good to excellent yield. The proposed mechanism is described.     

Biradical processes in reactions between benzyne and tropone

The title reactions were investigated experimentally and theoretically. The benzyne--tropone pair has been known to give a Diels?CAlder [4+2] cycloadduct. However, in the present experiment using two sources of benzyne, many unexpected products were obtained. In particular, a zwitterion with a C?CCl bond is strikingly a major product, the structure of which was determined by the X-ray analysis. The bond is formed by quenching the Cl atom from the solvent CH₂Cl₂, which demonstrates that the reactions proceed via radical processes. DFT calculations revealed the elementary processes of the reactions. The presence of the novel zwitterion in the solid state has been interpreted in terms of the permanent dipole?Cdipole attractions/interactions/stabilization.     

An efficient reagent for synthesis of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes 3-methylthio-2-propenyl p-tolyl sulfone

Alkylation of 3-methylthio-2-propenyl p-tolyl sulfone (1) with an alkyl halide and a base (NaH or KOH-TOMAC) took place at the position α to the sulfonyl group to give optionally a mono- or dialkylated product (2 or 3), which was converted to β-monosubstituted or β,β-disubstituted α,β-unsaturated aldehyde (6 or 7), respectively, by TiCl₄-assisted hydrolysis followed by the removal of p-toluenesulfinic acid.     

Some weak fragments of Martin’s axiom related to the rectangle refining property

We introduce the anti-rectangle refining property for forcing notions and investigate fragments of Martin’s axiom for ℵ₁ dense sets related to the anti-rectangle refining property, which is close to some fragment of Martin’s axiom for ℵ₁ dense sets related to the rectangle refining property, and prove that they are really weaker fragments. T. Yorioka was partially supported by Grant-in-aids for Scientific Research No.16340022 and No.18840022.     

Rhodium-catalyzed rapid synthesis of substituted phenols from cyclobutenones and alkynes or alkenes via C-C bond cleavage

A novel rhodium-catalyzed synthesis of substituted phenols by the ring-opening reaction of cyclobutenones with alkynes as well as electron-deficient alkenes has been developed. Both reactions involve C-C bond cleavage of cyclobutenones, and an (η⁴-vinylketene)rhodium complex rather than a rhodacyclopentenone is considered to be a key intermediate.     

Synthesis and reactions of 7-substituted 1-cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acids as an antibacterial agent

1-Cyclopropyl- and 1-ethyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-1,8-naphthyridine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives having a sulfinyl or sulfonyl group at C-7 were synthesized from 2,6-dichloro-5-fluoronicotinic acid derivatives by the route involving the Dieckmann-type cyclization. The displacement reactions of these compounds with pyrrolidine and piperidine gave mainly the 7-(1-pyrrolidinyl)- and 7-(1-piperidinyl)-1,8-naphthyridine derivatives 24-27 , respectively. Enoxacin, a potent antibacterial agent, was also synthesized with the analogous route.     

Synthesis and properties of group 9 metal complexes bearing a β-ketophosphenato ligand

A novel β-ketophosphenato ligand bearing a bulky substituent, Tbt(2,4,6-tris[bis(trimethylsilyl)methyl]phenyl), on the phosphorus atom was newly designed and synthesized as a heavier congener of a β-ketoiminato ligand. Rhodium and iridium complexes bearing this new β-ketophosphenato ligand have been synthesized and fully characterized by spectroscopic and elemental analyses together with X-ray crystallographic analyses. The results of NMR spectroscopic studies and the X-ray structural analyses suggested that the β-ketophosphenato ligand has unique electronic features due to the low-coordinated phosphorus atom. Comparison of properties between rhodium β-ketophosphenates 2a,b and rhodium β-ketoiminate 7 revealed the character of the β-ketophosphenato ligand, where the trans influence of the phosphorus atom should be stronger than the nitrogen atom of the β-ketoiminato ligand.     

Quantitative determination method for trace amount of penicillin contaminants in commercially available drug product by HPLC coupled with tandem mass spectrometry

A quantitative determination method for trace amount of penicillin contaminants in an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) has been developed. Selective extraction of penicillin contaminants from the matrix containing API and specific separation among penicillin contaminants were achieved through an on-line column switching technique with gradient elution, followed by tandem mass spectrometric determination. Validation was conducted on the developed method in terms of specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, and detection limit, and appeared reasonable. The detection limit was estimated as 0.03 ng/ml or lower of the concentration of penicillin contaminants in the preparation, corresponding to 4 parts par billion (ppb) against the API. This fulfilled the regulatory requirement by the authorities.