Imidazole‐Based Small Molecules that Promote Neurogenesis in Pluripotent Cells

Reported herein are two imidazole‐based small molecules, termed neurodazine (Nz) and neurodazole (Nzl), which induce neuronal differentiation of pluripotent P19 cells. Their ability to induce neurogenesis of P19 cells is comparable to that of retinoic acid. However, Nz and Nzl were found to be more selective neurogenesis inducers than retinoic acid owing to their unique ability to suppress astrocyte differentiation of P19 cells. Our results also show that Nz and Nzl promote production of physiologically active neurons because P19‐cell‐derived neurons induced by these substances have functional glutamate responsiveness. The present study suggests that Nz and Nzl could serve as important chemical tools to induce formation of specific populations of neuronal cell types from pluripotent cells.     

Selenium‐Mediated Dehalogenation of Halogenated Nucleosides and its Relevance to the DNA Repair Pathway

Halogenated nucleosides can be incorporated into the newly synthesized DNA of replicating cells and therefore are commonly used in the detection of proliferating cells in living tissues. Dehalogenation of these modified nucleosides is one of the key pathways involved in DNA repair mediated by the uracil‐DNA glycosylase. Herein, we report the first example of a selenium‐mediated dehalogenation of halogenated nucleosides. We also show that the mechanism for the debromination is remarkably different from that of deiodination and that the presence of a ribose or deoxyribose moiety in the nucleosides facilitates the deiodination. The results described herein should help in understanding the metabolism of halogenated nucleosides in DNA and RNA.     

Bromamine-T as an efficient amine source for Sharpless asymmetric aminohydroxylation of olefins

Asymmetric aminohydroxylation of various olefins was carried out using bromamine-T as nitrogen source in the presence of (DHQ)₂PHAL ligand. The new nitrogen source has been found to be effective in terms of yield and reaction time. The optical purities of the products could be obtained with up to 99% ee.     

A simple and efficient tetradentate Schiff base derived palladium complex for Suzuki–Miyaura reaction in water

A simple and efficient catalytic system based on Pd complex of tetradentate Schiff base ligands is found to be highly active (up to 99% isolated yield) for Suzuki–Miyaura reaction of aryl bromides with arylboronic acids in water at room temperature. Further the scope of this protocol has been extended to the Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction of aryl chlorides with arylbronic acids in isopropanol.     

Phosphine-free Suzuki cross-coupling reaction: a mild and selective method for the carbon–carbon bond formation in aqueous tea extract

A mild and selective protocol has been developed for the palladium-catalyzed phosphine-free Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of aryl bromides with arylboronic acids in aqueous tea extract at room temperature. It is noteworthy that the aqueous tea extract plays an important role in the reaction, and various functional groups are tolerated under the optimized conditions. The reactions proceeded with very good chemoselectivity in favor of the bromo instead of the chloro group even at higher temperatures. Furthermore, this protocol could be applied to the cross-coupling of 4-bromoindole without protecting the base sensitive amine group with arylboronic acids in moderate to excellent yields.     

Adsorption and surface complexation of trimesic acid at the alpha-alumina-electrolyte interface

Adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms and surface complexation of trimesic acid onto alpha-alumina surfaces were investigated. Adsorption kinetics of trimesic acid with an initial concentration of 0.5 mM onto alpha-alumina surfaces were carried out in batch method in presence of 0.05 mM NaCl (aq) at pH 6 and 298.15, 303.15 and 313.15 K. Adsorption isotherms were carried out at 298.15 K, pH 5-9, and 0.05 mM NaCl (aq) by varying trimesic acid concentration from 0.01 to 0.6 mM. Three kinetics equations such as pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and Ho equations were used to estimate the kinetics parameters of the adsorption of trimesic acid on the alpha-alumina surfaces. Ho equation fits the experimental kinetics data significantly better and the estimated equilibrium concentration is in excellent agreement with the experimental value. The adsorption data were fitted to Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption model and the later best fits the adsorption isotherms. Comparison of adsorption density of trimesic acid with that of benzoic and phthalic acids follows the sequence: benzoic acid < trimesic acid < phthalic acid. The negative activation energy and the Gibbs free energy for adsorption indicate that the adsorption of trimesic acid onto alpha-alumina is spontaneous and facile. DRIFT spectroscopic studies reveal that trimesate forms outer-sphere complexes with the surface hydroxyl groups that are generated onto alpha-alumina surfaces in the pH range of the study.     

Pluronic F-127: An Efficient Delivery Vehicle for 3-(1'-hexyloxy)ethyl-3-devinylpyropheophorbide-a (HPPH or Photochlor)

To determine the impact of delivery vehicles in photosensitizing efficacy of HPPH, a hydrophobic photosensitizer was dissolved in various formulations: 1% Tween 80/5% dextrose, Pluronic P-123 and Pluronic F-127 in 0.5%, 1% and 2% phosphate buffer solutions (PBS). HPPH was also conjugated to Pluronic F-127, and the resulting conjugate (PL-20) was formulated in PBS. Among the different delivery vehicles, only Pluronic P-123 displayed significant vehicle cytotoxicity, whereas Pluronic F127 was nontoxic. Compared to PL-20, HPPH formulated in Tween80 and Pluronic F-127 showed higher cell-uptake, but lower long-term retention in Colon26 cell compared to PL-20. The higher retention of PL-20 was similarly observed during in vivo uptake with BALB/c mice baring Ct26 tumors. In contrast to the in vitro uptake experiments, PL-20 showed slightly higher uptake compared to HPPH formulated in Tween or Pluronic-F127. A significant difference in pharmacokinetic profile was also observed between the HPPH-Pluronic formulation and PL-20. Under similar in vivo treatment parameters (drug dose 0.47 µmol kg⁻¹, light dose: 135 J cm⁻² at 24 h post-injection of PS), HPPH formulated either in Tween or Pluronic F-127 formulation showed similar in vivo PDT efficacy (20–30% tumor cure on day 60), whereas PL-20 showed 40% tumor cure (day 60).     

Crystallography,Molecular Modeling,and COX-2 Inhibition Studies on Indolizine Derivatives

The cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme is an important target for drug discovery and development of novel anti-inflammatory agents. Selective COX-2 inhibitors have the advantage of reduced side-effects, which result from COX-1 inhibition that is usually observed with nonselective COX inhibitors. In this study, the design and synthesis of a new series of 7-methoxy indolizines as bioisostere indomethacin analogues (5a–e) were carried out and evaluated for COX-2 enzyme inhibition. All the compounds showed activity in micromolar ranges, and the compound diethyl 3-(4-cyanobenzoyl)-7-methoxyindolizine-1,2-dicarboxylate (5a) emerged as a promising COX-2 inhibitor with an IC₅₀ of 5.84 µM, as compared to indomethacin (IC₅₀ = 6.84 µM). The molecular modeling study of indolizines indicated that hydrophobic interactions were the major contribution to COX-2 inhibition. The title compound diethyl 3-(4-bromobenzoyl)-7-methoxyindolizine-1,2-dicarboxylate (5c) was subjected for single-crystal X-ray studies, Hirshfeld surface analysis, and energy framework calculations. The X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the molecule (5c) crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system with space group P 2₁/n with a = 12.0497(6)Å, b = 17.8324(10)Å, c = 19.6052(11)Å, α = 90.000°, β = 100.372(1)°, γ = 90.000°, and V = 4143.8(4)ų. In addition, with the help of Crystal Explorer software program using the B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) basis set, the theoretical calculation of the interaction and graphical representation of energy value was measured in the form of the energy framework in terms of coulombic, dispersion, and total energy.