A unified synthetic approach to polyketides having both skeletal and stereochemical diversity

An efficient systematic approach to the diversity-oriented synthesis of polyketides has been developed to provide both skeletal and stereochemical diversity. Each synthetic intermediate is also a desired polyketide fragment and no protecting group manipulations are required. A first-generation synthesis provides a 74-membered polyketide library comprising six different skeletal classes, each in one to five steps from propargylic alcohol precursors. A study of epoxyol opening reactions revealed unusual reactivity trends based on epoxide configuration.     

Synthetic models of the reduced active site of superoxide reductase

We report the synthesis, structural and spectroscopic characterization, and magnetic and electrochemical studies of a series of iron(II) complexes of the pyridyl-appended diazacyclooctane ligand L(8)py(2), including several that model the square-pyramidal [Fe(II)(N(his))(4)(S(cys))] structure of the reduced active site of the non-heme iron enzyme superoxide reductase. Combination of L(8)py(2) with FeCl(2) provides [L(8)py(2)FeCl(2)] (1), which contains a trigonal-prismatic hexacoordinate iron(II) center, whereas a parallel reaction using [Fe(H(2)O)(6)](BF(4))(2) provides [L(8)py(2)Fe(FBF(3))]BF(4) (2), a novel BF(4)(-)-ligated square-pyramidal iron(II) complex. Substitution of the BF(4)(-) ligand in 2 with formate or acetate ions affords distorted pentacoordinate [L(8)py(2)Fe(O(2)CH)]BF(4) (3) and [L(8)py(2)Fe(O(2)CCH(3))]BF(4) (4), respectively. Models of the superoxide reductase active site are prepared upon reaction of 2 with sodium salts of aromatic and aliphatic thiolates. These model complexes include [L(8)py(2)Fe(SC(6)H(4)-p-CH(3))]BF(4) (5), [L(8)py(2)Fe(SC(6)H(4)-m-CH(3))]BF(4) (6), and [L(8)py(2)Fe(SC(6)H(11))]BF(4) (7). X-ray crystallographic studies confirm that the iron(II)-thiolate complexes model the square-pyramidal geometry and N(4)S donor set of the reduced active site of superoxide reductase. The iron(II)-thiolate complexes are high spin (S = 2), and their solutions are yellow in color because of multiple charge-transfer transitions that occur between 300 and 425 nm. The ambient temperature cyclic voltammograms of the iron(II)-thiolate complexes contain irreversible oxidation waves with anodic peak potentials that correlate with the relative electron donating abilities of the thiolate ligands. This electrochemical irreversibility is attributed to the bimolecular generation of disulfides from the electrochemically generated iron(III)-thiolate species.     

A simple and versatile method for the synthesis of acetals from aldehydes and ketones using bismuth triflate

Acetals are obtained in good yields by treatment of aldehydes and ketones with trialkyl orthoformate and the corresponding alcohol in the presence of 0.1 mol % Bi(OTf)3.4H2O. A simple procedure for the formation of acetals of diaryl ketones has also been developed. The conversion of carbonyl compounds to the corresponding 1,3-dioxolane using ethylene glycol is also catalyzed by Bi(OTf)3.4H2O (1 mol %). Two methods, both of which avoid the use of benzene, have been developed.     

Temporary anion states and dissociative electron attachment to isothiocyanates

The temporary anion states of isothiocyanates CH3CH2=C=S (and CH3CH2N=C=O for comparison), C6H5CH2N=C=S, and C6H5N=C=S are characterized experimentally in the gas phase for the first time by means of electron transmission spectroscopy (ETS). The measured vertical electron attachment energies (VAEs) are compared with the virtual orbital energies of the neutral-state molecules supplied by MP2 and B3LYP calculations with the 6-31G* basis set. The calculated energies, scaled with empirical equations, reproduce satisfactorily the experimental VAEs. The first VAE is also closely reproduced as the total energy difference between the anion and neutral states calculated at the B3LYP/6-31+G* level. Due to mixing between the ring and N=C=S pi-systems, C6H5N=C=S possesses the best electron-acceptor properties, and its lowest-lying anion state is largely localized at the benzene ring. The anion states with mainly pi*C=S and pi*N=C character lie at higher energy than the corresponding anion states of noncumulated pi-systems. However, the electron-acceptor properties of isothiocyanates are found to be notably larger than those of the corresponding oxygen analogues (isocyanates). The dissociative electron attachment (DEA) spectra show peaks close to zero energy and at 0.6 eV, essentially due to NCS- negative fragments. In spite of the energy proximity of the first anion state in phenyl isothiocyanate to the DEA peak, the zero-energy anion current in the benzyl derivative is about 1 order of magnitude larger.     

Investigations on organo-sulfur-nitrogen rings and the thiocyanogen Polymer, (SCN)x

The synthesis and full characterisation of a series of 1,2,4-thiadiazoles is reported. (SCN)(x) has been studied by a variety of techniques and the data compared with 1,2,4-thiadiazole and 1,2,4-dithiazoles. The observed data suggest that the polymer consists of 1,2,4-dithiazole rings linked by nitrogen atoms. For (SCN)(x), the MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy showed a parent ion at 1149 and a series of peaks with (SCN)(2) repeat units (116 m/z); this result implies that (SCN)(2) may be the monomer unit of the polymer. Its IR spectrum shows a very broad peak with maximum at 1134 cm(-1) consisting of several overlapping peaks in the same region as ring vibrations for 1,2,4-thiadiazole and 1,2,4-dithiazole compounds. Peaks in the Raman spectrum in the range 400-480 cm(-1) support the presence of disulfide units within the polymer. The solid-state (13)C NMR (99 % (13)C-labelled) spectrum is dominated by two singlets of equal intensity at approximately 187 and 184 ppm with low intensity peaks in the range 152-172 ppm, in approximately the same range as both 1,2,4-thiadiazoles and 1,2,4-dithiazoles. The solid-state (15)N NMR (99 % (15)N labelled) spectrum displays two major peaks of similar intensity at 236.9 and 197.2 ppm, which are clearly very different environments to those observed in bis(3-bromo-1,2,4-thiadiazol-5-yl) disulfide, but similar to 1,2,4-dithiazoles. The X-ray structures of seven C-S-N systems are reported. Preliminary studies on (SeCN)(x) suggest that literature references to this polymer may be in error with the red solid actually being red selenium.     

Empirical modeling of human face kinematics during speech using motion clustering

In this paper we present an algorithm for building an empirical model of facial biomechanics from a set of displacement records of markers located on the face of a subject producing speech. Markers are grouped into clusters, which have a unique primary marker and a number of secondary markers with an associated weight. Motion of the secondary markers is computed as the weighted sum of the primary markers of the clusters to which they belong. This model may be used to produce facial animations, by driving the primary markers with measured kinematic signals.     

Taylor dispersion monitored by electrospray mass spectrometry: a novel approach for studying diffusion in solution

This work describes a novel approach for monitoring analyte diffusion in solution that is based on electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). A mass spectrometer at the end of a laminar flow tube is used to measure the Taylor dispersion of an initially sharp boundary between two solutions of different analyte concentration. This boundary is dispersed by the laminar flow profile in the tube. However, this effect is diminished by analyte diffusion that continuously changes the radial position, and hence the flow velocity of individual analyte molecules. The steepness of the resulting dispersion profile therefore increases with increasing diffusion coefficient of the analyte. A theoretical framework is developed to adapt the equations governing the dispersion process to the case of mass spectrometric detection. This novel technique is applied to determine the diffusion coefficients of choline and cytochrome c. The measured diffusion coefficients, (11.9 +/- 1.0) x 10(-10) m(2) s(-1) and (1.35 +/- 0.08) x 10(-10) m(2) s(-1), respectively, are in agreement with the results of control experiments where the Taylor dispersion of these two analytes was monitored optically. Due to the inherent selectivity and sensitivity of ESI-MS, it appears that the approach described in this work could become a valuable alternative to existing methods for studying diffusion processes, especially for experiments on multicomponent systems.     

Triol protection with 6-benzoyl-3,4-dihydro-(2H)-pyran

6-Benzoyl-3,4-dihydro-(2H)-pyran will protect 1,2,3-triols such as glycerol as their corresponding spiro-[5-phenyl-3,6,8-trioxabicyclo[3.2.1]octane-4,2[prime or minute]-tetrahydropyran]s and 1,2,4-triols (less efficiently) as the corresponding trioxabicyclo[3.2.2]nonanes; the hexol mannitol is converted into the corresponding bis-protected product.     

Coulomb forces on DNA polymers in charged fluidic nanoslits

We investigate the repulsive electrostatic interactions between a DNA polyelectrolyte and the charged walls of a fluidic nanoslit. The scaling of the DNA coil size with the physical slit height revealed electrostatic depletion regions that reduced the effective slit height. These regions exceeded the Debye screening length of the buffer, λ(D)(buffer), and saturated at ≈ 50 nm when λ(D)(buffer) reached 10 nm. We explain these results by modeling a semiflexible charged rod near a charged wall and the electrostatic screening by the polyelectrolyte. These results demonstrate the surprisingly long range over which a nanofluidic device can exert field-effect control over confined molecules.     

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of trans-dihydrodiol derivatives of monosubstituted benzenes from the corresponding cis-dihydrodiol isomers

Enantiopure trans-dihydrodiols have been obtained by a chemoenzymatic synthesis from the corresponding cis-dihydrodiol metabolites, obtained by dioxygenase-catalysed arene cis-dihydroxylation at the 2,3-bond of monosubstituted benzene substrates. This generally applicable, seven-step synthetic route to trans-dihydrodiols involves a regioselective hydrogenation and a Mitsunobu inversion of configuration at C-2, followed by benzylic bromination and dehydrobromination steps. The method has also been extended to the synthesis of both enantiomers of the trans-dihydrodiol derivatives of toluene, through substitution of a vinyl bromine atom of the corresponding trans-dihydrodiol enantiomers derived from bromobenzene. Through incorporation of hydrogenolysis and diMTPA ester diastereoisomer resolution steps into the synthetic route, both trans-dihydrodiol enantiomers of monohalobenzenes were obtained from the cis-dihydrodiols of 4-haloiodobenzenes.