Liquid Injection Field Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry of Cyclic Metal Carbonyl Complexes with Tetra-Antimony Ligands

Reactions of (norbornadiene)Cr(CO)₄ or cis-(piperidine)₂Mo(CO)₄ with R₂Sb-SbR₂, and cyclo-(R′Sb)_n (R′ = Et, n-Pr; n = 4, 5) give the complexes cyclo-[M(CO)₄(R₂Sb-SbR′- SbR′-SbR₂)] (1: M = Cr, R = Me, R′= Et; 2: M = Mo, R = Et, R′ = Et; 3: M = Mo, R = Et, R′ = n-Pr). Not accessible to established characterization methods, the oily, extremely reactive unpurified mixture of 3 with scrambled ligands was characterized by mass spectrometry using liquid injection field desorption ionization (LIFDI).      

Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis of Allylic Alcohols and Derivatives and their Applications in Organic Synthesis

Allylic alcohols represent an important and highly versatile class of chiral building blocks for organic synthesis. This Review summarizes the plethora of methods developed for the catalytic asymmetric synthesis of enantioenriched allylic alcohols. These include: dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR/DKAT), nucleophilic 1,2‐addition to carbonyl groups, allylic substitution, oxidation of C? H bonds, the addition of O nucleophiles to π systems, reduction of unsaturated carbonyl compounds, and an alternative route from enantioenriched propargylic alcohols. Furthermore, these catalytic asymmetric processes are exemplified by their applications in the syntheses of complex molecules such as natural products and potential therapeutic agents.     

Multidimensional nano-HPLC coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for analyzing biotinylated proteins

Multidimensional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a key method in shotgun proteomics approaches for analyzing highly complex protein mixtures by complementary chromatographic separation principles. Here, we describe an integrated 3D-nano-HPLC/nano-electrospray ionization quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry system that allows an enzymatic digestion of proteins followed by an enrichment and subsequent separation of the created peptide mixtures. The online 3D-nano-HPLC system is composed of a monolithic trypsin reactor in the first dimension, a monolithic affinity column with immobilized monomeric avidin in the second dimension, and a reversed phase C18 HPLC-Chip in the third dimension that is coupled to a nano-ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometer. The 3D-LC/MS setup is exemplified for the identification of biotinylated proteins from a simple protein mixture. Additionally, we describe an online 2D-nano-HPLC/nano-ESI-LTQ-Orbitrap-MS/MS setup for the enrichment, separation, and identification of cross-linked, biotinylated species from chemical cross-linking of cytochrome c and a calmodulin/peptide complex using a novel trifunctional cross-linker with two amine-reactive groups and a biotin label.

1‐Thiacyclooct‐4‐yne (=5,6‐Didehydro‐3,4,7,8‐tetrahydro‐2H‐thiocin), and Its Sulfoxide and Its Sulfone

1‐Thiacyclooct‐4‐yne (=5,6‐didehydro‐3,4,7,8‐tetrahydro‐2H‐thiocin; 9 ) can be prepared from thiocan‐5‐one ( 6 ) in three steps by applying the so‐called selenadiazole method. The heterocyclic alkyne can be oxidized to the corresponding sulfoxide 16 and sulfone 17 . Due to their geometrical strain, all three cyclic alkynes show high reactivities in Diels? Alder and 1,3‐dipolar cycloadditions. Moreover, tetrathiafulvalenes can be prepared from 9 and 16 by the reaction with CS₂.     

Differential geometric analysis of alterations in MH α‐helices

Antigen presenting cells present processed peptides via their major histocompatibility (MH) complex to the T cell receptors (TRs) of T cells. If a peptide is immunogenic, a signaling cascade can be triggered within the T cell. However, the binding of different peptides and/or different TRs to MH is also known to influence the spatial arrangement of the MH α‐helices which could itself be an additional level of T cell regulation. In this study, we introduce a new methodology based on differential geometric parameters to describe MH deformations in a detailed and comparable way. For this purpose, we represent MH α‐helices by curves. On the basis of these curves, we calculate in a first step the curvature and torsion to describe each α‐helix independently. In a second step, we calculate the distribution parameter and the conical curvature of the ruled surface to describe the relative orientation of the two α‐helices. On the basis of four different test sets, we show how these differential geometric parameters can be used to describe changes in the spatial arrangement of the MH α‐helices for different biological challenges. In the first test set, we illustrate on the basis of all available crystal structures for (TR)/pMH complexes how the binding of TRs influences the MH helices. In the second test set, we show a cross evaluation of different MH alleles with the same peptide and the same MH allele with different peptides. In the third test set, we present the spatial effects of different TRs on the same peptide/MH complex. In the fourth test set, we illustrate how a severe conformational change in an α‐helix can be described quantitatively. Taken together, we provide a novel structural methodology to numerically describe subtle and severe alterations in MH α‐helices for a broad range of applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Synthesis of 2,2,5,5‐Tetrasubstituted 1,4‐Dioxa‐2,5‐disilacyclohexanes via Organotin(IV)‐Catalyzed Transesterification of (Acetoxymethyl)alkoxysilanes

(Acetoxymethyl)silanes 2 , 7 a – c , and 10 a – c with at least one alkoxy group, of the general formula (AcOCH₂)Si(OR)_3?n(CH₃)_n (R: Me, Et, iPr; n=0, 1, 2), were synthesized from the corresponding (chloromethyl)silanes 1 , 6 a – c , and 9 a – c by treatment with potassium acetate under phase‐transfer‐catalysis conditions. These compounds were found to provide 2,2,5,5‐organo‐substituted 1,4‐dioxa‐2,5‐disilacyclohexanes 3 , 8 a – c , and 11 a – c if treated with organotin(IV) catalysts such as dioctyltin oxide. The reaction proceeds through transesterification of the acetoxy and alkoxy units followed by ring‐closure to form a dimeric six‐membered ring. The corresponding alkyl acetates are formed as the reaction by‐products. With these mild conditions, the method overcomes the drawbacks of previously reported synthetic routes to furnish 2,2,5,5‐tetramethyl‐1,4‐dioxa‐2,5‐disilacyclohexane ( 3 ) and even allows the synthesis of 1,4‐dioxa‐2,5‐disilacyclohexanes bearing hydrolytically labile alkoxy substituents at the silicon atom in good yields and high purity. These new materials were fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, and X‐ray analysis (trans‐ 8 a ).     

Sonication‐Induced Coiled Fibrous Architectures of Boc‐L‐Phe‐L‐Lys(Z)‐OMe

An ultra‐short peptide Boc‐L ‐Phe‐L ‐Lys(Z)‐OMe (Z=carbobenzyloxy) was shown to act as a highly efficient and versatile low molecular weight gelator (LMWG) for a variety of aliphatic and aromatic solvents under sonication. Remarkably, this simple dipeptide is not only able to form coiled fibres but also demonstrates self‐healing and thermal chiroptical switching behaviour. The formation of coiled assemblies was found to be influenced by the nature of the solvent and the presence of an additive. By exploiting these properties it was possible to modulate the macroscopic and microscopic properties of the organogels of this ultra‐short peptide, allowing the formation of highly ordered single‐domain networks of helical fibres with dimeric or alternatively fibre‐bundle morphology. The organogels were characterized by using FTIR, SEM, NMR and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Interestingly, CD experiments showed that the organogels of Boc‐L ‐Phe‐L ‐Lys(Z)‐OMe in aromatic solvents exhibit thermal chiroptical switching. This behaviour was hypothesized to stem from changes in the morphology of the gel accompanied by conformational transformation of the gelling agent. The fact that such a small peptide can demonstrate hierarchical assemblies and the possibility of controlling the self‐association is rather intriguing. The self‐healing ability, chiroptical switching and more importantly the formation of helical assemblies by Boc‐L ‐Phe‐L ‐Lys(Z)‐OMe under sonication, make this dipeptide an interesting example of the self‐assembly ability of ultra‐short peptides.     

Functionalization of Metal–Organic Frameworks through the Postsynthetic Transformation of Olefin Side Groups

For the first time, the adaptability of the C?C double bond as a versatile precursor for the postsynthetic modification (PSM) of microporous materials was extensively investigated and evaluated. Therefore, an olefin‐tagged 4,4′‐bipyridine linker was synthesized and successfully introduced as pillar linker within a 9,10‐triptycenedicarboxylate (TDC) zinc paddle‐wheel metal–organic framework (MOF) through microwave‐assisted synthesis. Different reactions, predominately used in organic chemistry, were tested, leading to the development of new postsynthetic reactions for the functionalization of solid materials. The postsynthetic oxidation of the olefin side groups applying osmium tetroxide (OsO₄) as a catalyst led to the formation of a microporous material with free vicinal diol functionalities. The epoxidation with dimethyldioxirane (DMDO) enabled the synthesis of epoxy‐functionalized MOFs. In addition to that, reaction procedures for a postsynthetic hydroboration with borane dimethyl sulfide as well as a photoinduced thiol–ene click reaction with ethyl mercaptan were developed. For all of these PSMs, yields of more than 90 % were obtained, entirely maintaining the crystallinity of the MOFs. Since the direct introduction of the corresponding groups by means of pre‐synthetic approaches is hardly possible, these new PSMs are useful tools for the functionalization of porous solids towards applications such as selective adsorption, separation, and catalysis.     

Small‐Peptide‐Based Organogel Kit: Towards the Development of Multicomponent Self‐Sorting Organogels

The results presented here highlight the extremely useful nature of ultra‐short peptides as building blocks in the development of smart multicomponent supramolecular devices. A facile bottom‐up strategy for the synthesis of a small library of stimuli‐responsive smart organogelators has been proposed based on the predictive self‐assembly of ultra‐short peptides. More importantly, the narcissistic self‐sorting of the gelators has been evaluated as a simple method for the efficient co‐assembly of a donor–acceptor dual‐component gel, allowing the investigation of possible future applications of similar systems in the development of a supramolecular photo‐conversion device. Interestingly, it was observed that the self‐organization of the components can lead to highly ordered systems in which discrimination between compatible and non‐compatible building blocks directs the effective organization of the chromophores and gives rise to the formation of an excited‐state complex with exciplex‐like emission. The current report may prove important in the development of organogel‐based multicomponent smart devices.