Lanthanide induced shifts of aromatic 1,2,3-trimethoxy compounds: Conformational analysis of tetrahydrofurofuran-lignans in solution

Summary The solution conformations of 1,4-diaryl-tetrahydro-1H,3H-furo[3,4-c]furans were determined by means of the LIS technique using a modified LIS-simulation program specially designed for the requirements of the aromatic 1,2,3-trimethoxy arrangement as a bidentate coordination site for the NMR shift reagent. The resulting geometries were confirmed by force field calculations (MM2-87) and compared with X-ray derived structures. Reliable data for the conformations in solution allowed a quantitative estimation of the circular dichroism based on the coupled oscillator model.

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Lanthanideninduzierte Verschiebungen von aromatischen 1,2,3-Trimethoxy-Verbindungen: Konformationsanalyse von Tetrahydrofurofuran-Lignanen in Lösung

Zusammenfassung Es wurden mittels der LIS-Technik die Konformationen von 1,4-Diaryl-tetrahydro-1H,3H-furo[3,4-c]furanen in Lösung bestimmt. Dazu mußte ein modifiziertes LIS-Simulationsprogramm entworfen werden, das auf die besonderen Verhältnisse der aromatischen 1,2,3-Trimethoxy-Gruppierung eingeht, welche in den untersuchten Verbindungen als zweizähnige Koordinationsstelle für das NMR-Verschiebungsreagens fungiert. Die resultierenden Geometrien wurden mittels Kraftfeldrechnungen (MM2-87) überprüft und soweit vorhanden auch mit Röntgenstrukturdaten verglichen. Für die Lösungskonformationen wurde eine quantitative Abschätzung des Circulardichroismus auf der Basis des Modells für gekoppelte Oszillatoren durchgeführt.

     

Eine neue Mikro- und Ultramikro-Bestimmung von Sauerstoff in organischen Verbindungen mit Hilfe eines W?rmeleitf?higkeitsdetektors

Zusammenfassung Zur Bestimmung des Sauerstoffs wird die organische Probe in Helium-Atmosphäre gecrackt; die sauerstoffhaltigen Crackprodukte werden über Kohle zu Kohlenmonoxid konvertiert. Um das Kohlenmonoxid von den übrigen Crackprodukten, wie H₂, N₂ und CH₄ abzutrennen, wird es zu Kohlendioxid oxydiert und danach an einem Molekularsieb bei 20° C durch Adsorption zurückgehalten; H₂, N₂ und CH₄ werden aus der Apparatur gespült. Sobald in der Probeleitung reines Spülgas auftritt, wird das adsorbierte Kohlendioxid durch Erhitzen desorbiert und im Detektor gemessen.

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Summary For the determination of oxygen the organic sample is cracked in helium atmosphere. Cracking products, containing oxygen, are converted to carbon monoxide by coal. For separation from the remaining cracking products (H₂, N₂, CH₄) carbon monoxide is oxidized and then adsorbed on molecular sieve 5A at 20°C; H₂, N₂ and CH₄ are flushed out. As soon as pure carrier gas flows through the sample pipe, carbon dioxide is desorbed by heating the molecular sieve and flushed to the detector.

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Es ist uns eine angenehme Pflicht, der Shell Austria AG., Wien, insbesondere Herrn Direktor Dipl.-Ing. R. Wallner, für die Gewährung eines Forschungsstipendiums an den einen von uns (E. W.) ergebenst zu danken.     

SEASONAL TRENDS IN ERYTHEMAL and CARCINOGENIC ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION AT MID-SOUTHERN LATITUDES1989–1991

A network of solar carcinogenic/erythemal ultraviolet radiometers has been established in New Zealand. Daily integrated irradiances of this biologically harmful ultraviolet radiation for 1989, 1990 and 1991 are reported from radiometers located at Wellington (41°S) and Christchurch (43.5°S) and for 1990 and 1991 from the Auckland (37°S) radiometer. Although the monitoring program has not been running sufficiently long to discern any long-term changes in levels of solar ultraviolet radiation, shorter term trends are apparent, which are attributed to a seasonal cycle in levels of ozone at midlatitudes and changes in atmospheric aerosols.     

Parallelization of three-center electron repulsion integrals

The parallelization of the three-center electron repulsion integrals arising from the variational fitting of the Coulomb potential is presented. A scheme for dynamical load balancing of the corresponding loop structure is discussed. The implementation in the density functional theory program deMon using the message passing interface is described. The efficiency of the parallelization is analyzed by selected benchmark calculations     

An Unexpectedly Stable Chiral Hydrido-Solvent Complex of RuII: A mechanistic link in the enantioselective hydrogenation of pyrones. Preliminary communication

The ligand (6,6′-dimethoxybiphenyl-2,2′-diyl)bis[3,5-di(tert-butyl)phenylphosphine] ( 1 ) forms an unexpectedly stable hydrido-bis-solvento complex of composition [RuH(isopropanol)₂( 1 )]BF₄, ( 2 ) under the conditions used in the enantioselective hydrogenation of pyrones. The structure of 2 , determined by X-ray diffraction, represents the first well-characterized chiral five-coordinate bis-phosphine ruthenium-hydride complex stable as a solvento complex, and provides a structural link in the enantioselective pyrone hydrogenation cycle catalyzed by [Ru(OAc)₂( 1 )]. Using the arene complex [RuH(p-cymene)( 1 )]BF₄ ( 3 ), the chiral pocket of coordinated 1 is shown to be relatively rigid, via NMR spectroscopy. This is reflected in restricted rotation about one of the four P–[3,5-di(tert-butyl)phenyl] P? C_ipso bonds at room temperature.     

Exploring CH-activation pathways in bifunctional zirconocene/borane systems

The dimethylsilanediyl-bridged ansa-zirconocene dichloride 1, that contains a pendent allyl substituent at a Cp-ring, adds HB(C(6)F(5))(2) to the vinyl group to yield the bifunctional zirconocene/borane complex 2. Substituted benzimidazoles were added to the strongly electrophilic borane moiety as protective groups, which allowed subsequent chloride versus -CH(2)SiMe(3) exchange at zirconium to take place by treatment with the respective alkyllithium reagent. Alternatively, the introduction of active sigma-ligands at zirconium is carried out first, followed by the hydroboration reaction. This route was followed for the synthesis of the diphenyl-ansa-zirconocene/borane complex 12. Complex 12 reacts slowly in solution by intramolecular electrophilic attack of the borane at its adjacent Cp-ring, followed by deprotonation using a [Zr]-Ph group to yield the zwitterionic complex 14 featuring a borata-tetrahydroindenyl moiety as part of the ansa-metallocene framework. Complex 14 was characterized by X-ray diffraction. It adds PMe(3) at zirconium to yield 15. Thermolysis of 12 with excess PMe(3) leads to the formation of the (aryne)zirconocene complex 18, which is stabilized by PMe(3) coordination to zirconium and PMe(3) addition to boron. N-Methylbenzimidazole adds to the -B(C(6)F(5))(2) unit of 12 to give the 1:1 adduct 19. Thermolysis of 19 at 80 degrees C in benzene solution in the presence of one additional equivalent of N-methylbenzimidazole results in deprotonation of the substrate to yield the sigma-N-methylbenzimidazolyl zirconium complex 20 (as a mixture of two diastereoisomers). An additional N-methylbenzimidazole ligand is bonded to the B(C(6)F(5))(2) unit in this product.     

Chemistry and Biology of Cylindrols: Novel Inhibitors of Ras Farnesyl-Protein Transferase from Cylindrocarpon lucidum

Farnesyl-protein transferase (FPTase) is an enzyme responsible for the farnesylation of Ras protein. Farnesylation is required for cell-transforming activity in several tumor-types, and therefore, inhibition of FPTase activity may be a potential target for anticancer drugs. Our continued search for novel inhibitors led to the isolation of a number of bicyclic resorcinaldehyde cyclohexanone derivatives named here cylindrols A(1) to A(4), cylindrols B and B(1), and a number of known compounds, from Cylindrocarpon lucidum. The compounds were isolated by bioassay-guided separation using Sephadex LH-20, silica gel, and reverse phase HPLC. Structures were elucidated by extensive application of 2D NMR and X-ray crystallography. The determination of absolute stereochemistry was accomplished by CD measurements. Chemical transformations of the most abundant compound resulted in a number of key derivatives which were critical for the evaluation of structure activity relationship. These compounds are members of ascochlorin family and showed a wide range of inhibitory activity (0.7 &mgr;M to >140 &mgr;M) against FPTase. The FPTase activity was noncompetitive with respect to both substrates. Isolation, structures, chemical transformations, and FPTase activity are discussed in detail.     

Application of the shape group method to conformational processes: Shape and conjugation changes in the conformers of 2-phenyl pyrimidine

The shape group method (SGM) and the associated (a,b)-parameter maps provide a detailed shape characterization of molecular charge distributions. This method is applied to the study of the variations of shape and conjugation of conformers of 2-phenyl pyrimidine in their electronic ground state. Within the SGM framework, the method of (a,b)-parameter maps provides a concise, nonvisual, algorithmic technique for shape characterization of molecules with fixed nuclear geometries. Moreover, shape codes derived from the (a,b)-parameter maps afford a practical means for efficiently storing the shape properties of molecules in an electronic database. The shape codes of two or more charge distributions can be compared directly, and numerical measures of molecular shape similarity can be computed using a technique that is simple, fast, and inexpensive, especially in relation to direct, pairwise comparisons of electronic charge densities. The quantitative and automated nature of the method suggests applications in the field of computer-aided molecular design. In this study, the method is used for the first time to determine detailed numerical shape codes and shape similarity measures for a nontrivial conformational problem involving changes in energy and in conjugation. Numerical shape similarity measures of eight conformers of 2-phenyl pyrimidine are determined and correlated with variations in conformational energy and conjugation. The competing effects of steric repulsion and conjugation lead to important correlations between conformational energy and shape. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.