Charge Dispersal in the Quinuclidine Radical Cation and in the Quinuclidinium Ion,as Revealed by PE and ICR Spectroscopy

The n ionization energies I and the gas-phase basicities GB of CH₃-, Cl-, or CN-substituted quinuclidines have been measured by PE and ICR spectroscopy. The dependence of the shifts ΔI and ΔGB (relative to the values of the parent molecule) allow conclusions about the charge dispersal accompanying the n ionization or the protonation of quinuclidine in the gas phase. The agreement with the results of a minimal basis set ab initio calculation is excellent. Comparison of the solution pK_a values with either I or GB reveals that 2-substituted quinuclidines exhibit sizeable solvent-induced proximity effects, i.e. that the corresponding quinuclidinium ions are more acidic in solution than expected on the basis of the gas-phase basicities. This agrees with earlier results concerning 2-substituted pyridines.     

The Electronic Structure of Vinyl Ethers and Sulfides with Interrupted Conjugation Examined by Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Photoelectron spectroscopy has been used to examine the consequences of steric inhibition of conjugation in a distorted vinyl sulfide and vinyl ether. Based upon the degree of interaction a deviation from coplanarity of 70°–75° is calculated for 9-oxabicyclo[3.3.1]non-1-ene ( 3 ) and approximately 75°–80° for the sulfur analog 6 .     

Callimorphine: identification and synthesis of the cinnabar moth “metabolite”.

Callimorphine, a putative pyrrolizidine alkaloid metabolite found in some Arctiid moths which feed as larvae on plants containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids, has been identified and synthesised.     

Tandem Michael‐addition/cyclization synthesis and EGFR kinase inhibition activity of pyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidin‐7(8H)‐ones

5‐Methoxy and 5‐anilinopyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidin‐7(8H)‐ones 2a‐2f were obtained by a tandem Michael addition‐cyclization reaction of methanol and anilines with pyrimidinylpropynoate 5. Methoxy derivative 2a was obtained in 62% yield by treatment of 5 with methanol and potassium carbonate. Anilino derivatives 2b‐2f were prepared in 31–71% yields by reacting 5 with the corresponding anilines in refluxing methanol. This methodology accomplishes Michael‐addition and pyridopyrimidinone ring formation in one‐pot and affords the desired products in reasonable yield without chromatography. Propynoate 5 did not react with 4‐cyanoaniline under these conditions. Reaction of 5 with 2‐aminopyridine gave the unexpected arylpyrido[2,3‐d]pyrimidinone 8 in 58% yield and reaction of 5 with imidazole afforded Michael‐adduct 9 in 69% yield. Compounds 2a and 5 were submicromolar inhibitors of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase.     

Comparison of fingerprint-based methods for virtual screening using multiple bioactive reference structures

Fingerprint-based similarity searching is widely used for virtual screening when only a single bioactive reference structure is available. This paper reviews three distinct ways of carrying out such searches when multiple bioactive reference structures are available: merging the individual fingerprints into a single combined fingerprint; applying data fusion to the similarity rankings resulting from individual similarity searches; and approximations to substructural analysis. Extended searches on the MDL Drug Data Report database suggest that fusing similarity scores is the most effective general approach, with the best individual results coming from the binary kernel discrimination technique.     

The reaction of 2,4,6-tris(trimethylsiloxy)-1,3,5-triazine with chlorocarbenium ions: a new access to 1-oxa-3-azabutatrienium and 2-azaallenium salts

Chlorocarbenium salts - of the Vilsmeier-Arnold type react with the silylated isocyanuric acid to give 1-oxa-3-azabutatrienium salts under mild conditions. From reactions of diarylchloromethenium salts - with and ketones or tertiary carboxamides high yields of 2-azaallenium salts were obtained. A few chloro substituted 2-azaallenium salts were prepared from and carbonyl compounds. The mechanisms of the new reactions are discussed.