Antitumor activity of Hypsizigus marmoreus. I. Antitumor activity of extracts and polysaccharides.

Antitumor activity of Hypsizigus marmoreus, one of the most popular Japanese edible mushrooms, was investigated. The aqueous and methanol extracts were tested against allogeneic tumor, solid sarcoma 180 and syngeneic tumor, Meth A fibrosarcoma. The aqueous extract was highly active in inhibiting growth of solid sarcoma 180, but not as much for Meth A fibrosarcoma. Fractionation of antitumor substances of the aqueous extract isolated four polysaccharides. Chemical analysis revealed one of them to be beta-(1-3)-glucan with a remarkable inhibitory effect against tumor-growth of sarcoma 180.     

Reversed-phase high-performance thin-layer chromatography of hematoporphyrin and its nickel,copper and zinc complexes

Summary The thin-layer chromatographic mobility of hematoporphyrin IX (Hp) and its metal complexes on octyl (C₈)- or octadecyl (C₁₈)-bonded silica gel plate is described. The mobility order for those compounds is regular on both kinds of plate with various compositions of methanol-phosphate buffer mixtures as the developing solvents; thus, Cu-complex < Ni-complex < Hp (free acid) < Zn-complex. The combination of a C₁₈-plate with an 85∶15 (vol/vol) mixture of methanol and phosphate buffer (pH 3) is recommended for the successful separation of these four compounds.     

Leaching behavior of metal-containing species in residual oils with different organic solvents

The leaching behavior of two different residual oils is investigated with 24 organic solvents including alkanes, aromatics, esters, ethers ketones, alcohols and nitrogen compounds. A 2-g portion of sample oil is shaken with 20 ml of the organic solvent. The leaching of the organic matrix of the oil is determined by weighing the dissolved organic matrix after removal of solvent. The leaching of vanadium, iron and nickel was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry after ashing of the dissolved fraction. The leaching of those metals depends strongly on the solvent used; for example, vanadine is almost completely leached into toluene, but only slightly into methanol. The leaching of iron is poor compared with that of vanadium or nickel. In most solvents, leaching of those metal-containing species is poorer than that of organic material. Exceptionally, N,N-dimethylformamide is more efficient in leaching vanadium species than organic material.     

Post-oxidative conversion of thiol residue to sulfonic acid in the binding sites of molecularly imprinted polymers: disulfide based covalent molecular imprinting for basic compounds

An imprinted polymer using a disulfide derivative as a template was treated with NaBH4 to yield the polymer with thiol groups in the binding sites. The thiol groups were then oxidized with H2O2/AcOH to yield the molecularly imprinted polymer with sulfo groups in the binding sites. This site conversion can provide amine-imprinted polymers, in which amine is retained to the imprinted polymer by the strong electrostatic interaction between the amino group and the sulfo group in the binding sites.     

Signaling molecularly imprinted polymers: molecular recognition-based sensing materials

Molecular imprinting is a template polymerization technique that can easily provide synthetic polymers capable of molecular recognition for given target molecules. In addition to their highly specific recognition ability, we are attempting to introduce signaling functions to molecularly imprinted polymers, enabling them to respond according to specific binding events. Some of our work regarding such signaling molecularly imprinted polymers is presented here, including molecularly imprinted polymers that induce spectral shifts of target compounds because of binding. Such compounds include hydrogen-bonding-based fluorescent imprinted polymers and metalloporphyrin-based signaling molecularly imprinted polymers.     

Selective flow-injection determination of methanol in the presence of ethanol based on a multi-enzyme system with chemiluminescence detection

A highly selective flow-injection system was developed for the determination of methanol. The system consisted of three immobilized enzymes with luminol chemiluminescence detection. First, methanol was oxidized in the presence of alcohol oxidase to yield formaldehyde and hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide produced was then destroyed by catalase. The formaldehyde formed in the first stage was further oxidized by NAD⁺-formaldehyde dehydrogenase. The NADH formed was oxidized by 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium methylsulphate (1-MPMS), and finally the reduced 1-MPMS was spontaneously oxidized and hydrogen peroxide was produced. The concentration of the hydrogen peroxide produced, which was proportional to the initial concentration of methanol, was determined by luminol chemiluminescence. The determination range was from 0.1 to 100 mg l⁻¹ and the response time was less than 2 min per sample with a relative standard deviation of less than 3%. The system showed good selectivity for methanol; the response was ca. 50 times higher than for ethanol.     

A lithiation approach to cordycepin analogues variously substituted at the C-8 position

Several 8-substituted cordycepins were prepared via LDA lithiation of 2′,5′-bis-O-(t-butyldimethylsilyl)-cordycepin and successive reactions of its C-8 lithiated species with various types of electrophiles. Wittig reaction of the 8-formyl derivative was also examined.     

Super acid-induced Pummerer-type cyclization reaction: improvement in the synthesis of chiral 1,3-dimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines

Improved synthesis of four stereoisomeric chiral 1,3-dimethyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines (1a, b, ent-1a, b) was achieved via the super acid-induced cyclization of chiral N-[1-methyl-2-(phenylsulfinyl)ethyl]-N-(1-phenylethyl)formamides (4a, b, ent-4a, b) using the Pummerer-type cyclization reaction as a key step. The cyclization leading to the isoquinoline ring proceeded in a quantitative manner when trifluoromethane sulfonic acid (TFSA) was used as the super acid, although Friedel-Crafts-type alkylation of 4-phenylsulfanyl TIQ derivatives (5) with benzene used as the solvent accompanied cyclization to yield the 4-phenyl-TIQs (7). The byproduct (7) was exclusively formed when a large excess amount of TFSA was used.