Methylene-azaphosphirane as a reactive intermediate

Reaction of the transient phosphinidene complexes R-P=W(CO)5 with N-substituted-diphenylketenimines leads unexpectedly to the novel 2-aminophosphindoles, as confirmed by an X-ray crystal structure determined for one of the derivatives. Experimental evidence for a methylene-azaphosphirane intermediate was found by using the iron-complexed phosphinidene iPr2N-P=Fe(CO)4, which affords the 2-aminophosphindole together with the novel methylene-2,3-dihydro-1H-benzo[1,3]azaphosphole. Analysis of the reaction pathways with DFT indicates that the initially formed methylene-azaphosphirane yields both phosphorus heterocycles by way of a [1,5]- or [1,3]-sigmatropic shift, respectively, followed by a H-shift. Strain underlies both rearrangements, which causes these remarkably selective conversions that can be tuned by changing the substituents.     

Bilayers and interdigitation in block copolymer vesicles

Amphiphilic block copolyethers assemble into membranes with thickness between 2.4 and 7.5 nm. The vesicular morphology has been confirmed by small-angle X-ray scattering combined with electron microscopy for diblock copolymers and triblock copolymers of both architectures. The scaling of the membrane thicknesses with the length of the hydrophobic block is in good agreement with the strong segregation theory for block copolymer melts, indicating a mixed and stretched conformation of the hydrophobic chain inside the vesicle membrane. This result is in contrast to previously published results where the hydrophobic membranes were observed to have bilayer geometry and polymer chains that are relatively unperturbed from their ideal Gaussian dimensions.     

The design of an on-line semi-preparative LC-SPE-NMR system for trace analysis

This paper reports the design of an on-line semi-preparative LC-SPE-NMR system and its use in the structural analysis of mixture components at the 0.02-1% level. The combination provides at least a five fold mass sensitivity increase over that obtained from typical analytical LC-SPE systems and a >30-fold total NMR sensitivity enhancement over analysis by LC-NMR. This is accomplished by using a novel on-line device to store, dilute (1-100-fold) and deliver (at an optimized flow-rate) the isolated component of interest to an SPE trap unit. The SPE unit consists of two cartridges connected in parallel to increase the overall SPE capacity and also to decrease the flow-rate through each trap for enhanced trapping efficiency. As the coupling of semi-preparative LC with NMR (through SPE) is well matched in terms of optimal mass loading for both techniques, only one LC-SPE cycle is required to enrich a 50 microg ml(-1) component (1% in a 5 mg ml(-1) mixture) for the acquisition of heteronuclear (1)H-(13)C NMR data using a conventional NMR flow probe. Furthermore, analytes at the 0.02% level (approximately 1 microg ml(-1)) can be studied using 2D (1)H NMR techniques if peak cuts from replicate sample injections (> or =3) are accumulated into the storage/dilution unit and the resulting solution processed by just one SPE trap and elute cycle.     

Comparison of the photophysical properties of osmium(II) bis(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) and the corresponding ethynylated derivative

The photophysical properties of osmium(II) bis(2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) have been recorded over a wide temperature range. An emission band is observed and attributed to radiative decay of the lowest-energy metal-to-ligand, charge-transfer (MLCT) triplet state. This triplet is coupled to two other triplet states that lie at higher energy. The second triplet, believed to be of MLCT character, is reached by crossing a barrier of only 640 cm(-1), but the highest-energy triplet, considered to be of metal-centered (MC) character, is separated from the lowest-energy MLCT triplet by a barrier of 3500 cm(-1). Analysis of the emission spectrum shows that both low- and high-frequency modes are involved in the decay process, while weak emission is seen from the second excited triplet state. The magnitude of the low- and high-frequency modes depends on temperature in fluid solution but not in a KBr disk. Apart from a substantial lowering of the triplet energy, the photophysical properties are relatively insensitive to the presence of an ethynylene substituent at the 4' position of each terpyridine ligand. However, the barrier to reaching the MC triplet is markedly reduced, and the vibrational modes become less sensitive to changes in temperature.     

The 4051-Angstroms band of C3 (A 1Piu-X 1Sigmag +, 000-000): perturbed low-J lines and lifetime measurements

Rotational analyses have been carried out at high resolution for the 000-000 and 000-100 bands of the A (1)Pi(u)-X (1)Sigma(g) (+) transition of supersonic jet-cooled C(3). Two different spectra have been recorded for each band, using time gatings of 20-150 and 800-2300 ns. At the shorter time delay the spectra show only the lines observed by many previous workers. At the longer time delay many extra lines appear, some of which have been observed previously by [McCall et al.Chem. Phys. Lett. 374, 583 (2003)] in cavity ring-down spectra of jet-cooled C(3). Detailed analysis of these extra lines shows that at least two long-lived states perturb the A (1)Pi(u), 000 state. One of these appears to be a (3)Sigma(u) (-) vibronic state, which may possibly be a high vibrational level of the b (3)Pi(g) state, and the other appears to be a P = 1 state with a low rotational constant B. Our spectra also confirm the reassignment by McCall et al. of the R(0) line of the 000-000 band, which is consistent with the spectra recorded towards a number of stars that indicate the presence of C(3) in the interstellar medium. Fluorescence lifetimes have been measured for a number of upper-state rotational levels. The rotational levels of the A (1)Pi(u) state have lifetimes in the range of 230-190 ns, decreasing slightly with J; the levels of the perturbing states have much longer lifetimes, with some of them showing biexponential decays. An improved value has been obtained for the nu(1) vibrational frequency of the ground state, nu(1) = 1224.4933 +/- 0.0029 cm(-1).     

How Constant Momentum Acceleration Decouples Energy and Space Focusing in Distance–of–Flight and Time–of–Flight Mass Spectrometries

Resolution in time–of–flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) is ordinarily limited by the initial energy and space distributions within an instrument’s acceleration region and by the length of the field–free flight zone. With gaseous ion sources, these distributions lead to systematic flight–time errors that cannot be simultaneously corrected with conventional static–field ion–focusing devices (i.e., an ion mirror). It is known that initial energy and space distributions produce non–linearly correlated errors in both ion velocity and exit time from the acceleration region. Here we reinvestigate an old acceleration technique, constant–momentum acceleration (CMA), to decouple the effects of initial energy and space distributions. In CMA, only initial ion energies (and not their positions) affect the velocity ions gain. Therefore, with CMA, the spatial distribution within the acceleration region can be manipulated without creating ion–velocity error. The velocity differences caused by a spread in initial ion energy can be corrected with an ion mirror. We discuss here the use of CMA and independent focusing of energy and space distributions for both distance–of–flight mass spectrometry (DOFMS) and TOFMS. Performance characteristics of our CMA–DOFMS and CMA–TOFMS instrument, fitted with a glow–discharge ionization source, are described. In CMA–DOFMS, resolving powers (FWHM) of greater than 1000 are achieved for atomic ions with a flight length of 285 mm. In CMA–TOFMS, only ions over a narrow range of m/z values can be energy–focused; however, the technique offers improved resolution for these focused ions, with resolving powers of greater than 2000 for a separation distance of 350 mm.      

Automated affinity selection for rapid discovery of peptide binders

In-solution affinity selection (AS) of large synthetic peptide libraries affords identification of binders to protein targets through access to an expanded chemical space. Standard affinity selection methods, however, can be time-consuming, low-throughput, or provide hits that display low selectivity to the target. Here we report an automated bio-layer interferometry (BLI)-assisted affinity selection platform. When coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS), this method enables both rapid de novo discovery and affinity maturation of known peptide binders with high selectivity. The BLI-assisted AS-MS technology also features real-time monitoring of the peptide binding during the library selection process, a feature unattainable by current selection approaches. We show the utility of the BLI AS-MS platform toward rapid identification of novel nanomolar (dissociation constant, K_D < 50 nM) non-canonical binders to the leukemia-associated oncogenic protein menin. To our knowledge, this is the first application of BLI to the affinity selection of synthetic peptide libraries. We believe our approach can significantly accelerate the use of synthetic peptidomimetic libraries in drug discovery.

This work reports an automated affinity selection-mass spectrometry (AS-MS) approach amenable to both de novo peptide binder discovery and affinity maturation of known binders in a high-throughput and selective manner.     

Technetium(III), Technetium(II), and Technetium(I) Complexes with Pyridine Ligands. Can Pyridine Coordination Stabilize the Low Oxidation States of Technetium?

The substitution chemistry of TcCl(3)(PPh(3))(2)(CH(3)CN) is rather facile relative to the analogous rhenium complex, since both the chloride and phosphine ligands are easily substituted for various pyridine ligands. Consequently a series of Tc(III) complexes with amine, pyridine, and polypyridyl ligands were prepared and characterized by (1)H NMR and cyclic voltammetry. In addition, the zinc reduction of TcCl(4)(py)(2) in the presence of pyridine results in TcCl(2)(py)(4). Structural and spectroscopic data indicate that this Tc(II) complex exhibits strong metal-pyridine interactions characteristic of low-valent amine complexes of Re(II) and Os(II). For example, a decrease of 0.04 and 0.06 ? is observed for the trans-Tc-N bond length in TcCl(2)(py)(4 )relative to mer-TcCl(3)(pic)(3) and [TcCl(2)(py)(3)(PPh(3))](+), respectively. This ability of pyridine to function both as a strong sigma-donor and moderate pi-acid ligand has resulted in the isolation of technetium complexes in various oxidation states with similar ligand environments. As a result, a structural comparison of [TcCl(2)(py)(3)(PPh(3))](+), TcCl(2)(py)(4), TcCl(tpy)(py)(2), and other known Tc(III) and Tc(II) pyridine complexes is presented. Crystals of [TcCl(2)(py)(3)(PPh(3))]PF(6) are triclinic, with space group P&onemacr;, Z = 2, and lattice parameters a = 12.677(4) ?, b = 13.064(4) ?, c = 13.103(5) ?, alpha = 110.14(3) degrees, beta = 101.12(3) degrees, gamma = 96.61 degrees, V = 1959 ?(3), and R = 0.0615 (R(w) = 0.1148). Crystals of TcCl(2)(py)(4) are tetragonal, with space group I4(1)/acd, Z = 8, and lattice parameters a = 15.641(4) ?, c = 16.845(6) ?, V = 4121 ?(3), and R = 0.0373 (R(w) = 0.0290). Crystals of TcCl(tpy)(py)(2) are orthorhombic, with space group C222(1), Z = 4, and lattice parameters a = 9.359(3) ?, b = 16.088(6) ?, c = 18.367(4) ?, V = 2765 ?(3), and R = 0.0499 (R(w) = 0.0599).     

Total Synthesis of d,l-Isospongiadiol: An Intramolecular Radical Cascade Approach to Furanoditerpenes

A stereoselective oxidative free-radical cyclization of beta-keto ester polyenes 7 and 19 has been accomplished as a one-step entry to the tricarbocyclic synthons 8and 21 which contain five and six stereogenic centers, respectively. These key synthons possessing an axial carboethoxy group at C-4 were ultimately converted to the spongian skeleton (8--> 14 and 21 --> 25 -->14). The synthesis of d,l-isospongiadiol (3) from the common intermediate 14 was realized after introduction of the 2alpha-hydroxy group in the spongian A-ring via epoxidation of silyl enol ether 28 and subsequent desilylation.     

Convenient Asymmetric Syntheses of anti-beta-Amino Alcohols

Condensation of allylborane reagents 9 and 12 with aldehydes gave anti-3-[(diphenylmethylene)amino]-1-alken-4-ols 10 and 13 with high relative and absolute stereocontrol. Subsequent deprotection gave the corresponding free anti-3-amino-1-alken-4-ols 11 and 14. Alternatively, reaction of imines 13a, 13f, and 13g with trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride and acidic methanol gave, via rearrangement, double inversion, and hydrolysis, the isomeric anti-4-amino-1-alken-3-ols 22, 38a, and 38b in good yield. The stereochemistry of the rearrangement products has been established by a single crystal X-ray study of compound 37 and by chemical correlation.